The Making of A Homoeopath Part III
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1994 Mar / Apr Vol III No 2.
Gunavante S M.

In part I of this series we dwelt on the qualities which a Homoeopath should possess to be a success; in Part II we focussed on the immense contribution made by the masters from Hahnemann downwards. The aspiring homoeopath, we hope, is by now well set to follow the footsteps of the pioneers. In the current issue we shall take up the study of the Organon of Medicine in which Hahnemann has elucidated every aspect of fundamental principles governing the application of this science in practice, giving reasons for them.

An analysis of 291 Aphorisms in the Organon leads us to classify them under eleven broad heads viz:

1. Physicians duties- 9 Aphorisms.
2. About Homoeopathy and the Law of Cure- 26 Aphorisms
3. The role of Vital Force in health and disease- 7 Aphorisms
4. The nature of diseases, acute and chronic- 48 Aphorisms
5. Discovering the powers of medicines the conduct of proving 50 Aphorisms
6. Symptoms, their importance in selecting the remedy- 40 Aphorisms.
7. Instructions for taking the case- 25 Aphorisms
8. The practice of medicine viz how the physician has to judiciously employ the remedies in order to ensure homoeopathic cures 64 Aphorisms.
9. The potency and the dose- 20 Aphorisms.
10. Criticism of Allopathic practices- 12 Aphorisms.
11. Accessory or alternative therapeutics measures such as use of magnets, electricity, mesmerism etc- 6 Aphorisms.

We shall summarize the Aphorisms containing Hahnemanns affirmations regarding what the physicians aims, objects and duties should be. These are covered by Aphorisms 1 to 8 and 61.

Aphorism 1: The physicians high and only mission is to restore the sick to health, to cure as it is termed. Hahnemann describes elsewhere in the Organon as to what is sickness?" (Disease). "What is health and what are the means the physician should employ to "cure" the disease.

Aphorism 2: The highest ideal of cure is rapid, gentle and permanent restoration of health (or removal and annihilation of disease in its whole extent), in the shortest, most reliable and most harmless way, on easily comprehensible principles. Every word in this Aphorism is pregnant with deep meaning. Note the ideal cure is rapid, gentle and permanent. It should be attained in the shortest time, and in the most harmless way. The therapy should be based on easily comprehensible principles. Homoeopathy alone fulfills all these criteria as will be explained in Aphorisms which follow:

In Aphorism 3: Hahnemann lays down the qualifications which a homoeopathic physician has to acquire, if he is to fulfill the "highest ideal of cure"

1. He should clearly perceive in each individual case of disease what is to be cured. This he can only do through his knowledge of various diseases; knowledge not only of their disturbed physiology and pathology but the characteristic symptomatology (indications of medicines) as well.
2. He should possess a thorough knowledge of the curative powers of medicines (knowledge of medicinal powers) acquired through a study of the provings (materia medica).
3. He must develop the ability to choose the medicine which is most appropriate in each case, according to symptomatic indications of the patient which match those of the remedy.
4. He must know the proper dosage (potency) and the period of intervals for repeating the dose.
5. Finally, he should know the obstacles to recovery in each case and how to remove them so that the restoration to health may be rapid, gentle and permanent. It is only when a physician masters these skills, Hahnemann affirms, can we say that he understands how to treat judiciously and rationally and that he is a true practitioner of the healing art.

In Aphorism 4: Hahnemann expects the physician, whom he calls preserver of health to know the various causes of disease (such as infringement of the rules of health- wrong habits of life, excess of any kind, overeating, alcoholism, sexual indulgence, lack of exercise, inadequate rest, violent temper etc). This knowledge enables the physician to advise his patients to take preventive measures and preserve their health.

Hahnemann carries the discussion of these points further in next Aphorism 5, in which he directs us to seek the "most probable exciting cause of the acute disease and to discover the fundamental cause in a chronic case from the most significant points in the past history. These investigations will involve enquiry into the constitutional tendencies, moral character, occupation, mode of living, social and domestic relation, sexual function etc.

Elaboration on the theme of recognizing "what is to be cured" and of perceiving the "portrait of the disease" to be cured, Hahnemann (after referring to the exciting cause and fundamental cause of the disease in Aphorism 5) now goes on to instruct us in Aphorism 6 as to how to construct the "portrait of the disease". In doing this he warns of the futility of transcendental speculation (so faithfully practiced by the old school) as to what is deranged in the interior of the organism. The old school searches for the prima cause morbi in the interior amounts to speculation, as the internal processes are invisible and hidden and can receive no confirmation from experiences, even with the highest powers of penetration. (One may ask if the tremendous progress made by modern methods of investigation such as X ray, Sonography, Endoscopy, Echocardiography, pathological examination of blood, urine, platelet count, triglycerides etc, is not of any use!! The reply is that all these investigations can show us only the results of the interior and invisible process, which are the real causes, and these causes can only be the subject of speculation. These certainly are of use in assessing the diseases, its diagnosis, prognosis and progress, though it may not directly help in selection of the remedy. Hahnemann points out in his footnote no 3 to this Aphorism that it is enough if the physician attends carefully to the symptoms which are cognisable by the senses through the phenomenon the disease displays. He stresses that symptoms are the sensible and manifest representation of the diseases (and its morbid action) and asks how else can we wish to cure the disease if we ignore the symptoms which "so plainly address themselves to us".

Hahnemann therefore elucidates that the physician being an unprejudiced observer should take note of nothing except the changes in the health of the body and the mind which can be perceived externally by means of the senses; he should notice only the deviations from the former healthy state deviations:

1. which are felt by the patient himself
2. those which are reported by those around him
3. those observed by the physician.

All these perceptible signs represent the entire disease and form the true and only conceivable portrait of the disease.

Hahnemann now tells us how we have to go about in the choice of the remedy. He points out that it is the symptoms alone (of the portrait of the disease) that demand and point to the remedy suited to relieve them the totality of symptoms of this outwardly reflected picture of the internal essence of the disease. He describes this totality as the affections of the vital force which he describes more precisely in Aphorism 9. The deranged vital force (which governs the whole organism) as reflected in the totality of symptoms is the sole means when by the disease can make known what remedy it requires. This totality must be the principle, the only thing, the physicians must take note of in the choice of the most appropriate remedy to cure every case of disease and transforms it into health. In short the physician should, by means of his art, choose the most appropriate remedy, being guided by the totality of symptoms which reflect the disordered vital force.

In Aphorism 8, Hahnemann affirms that it is inconceivable that after the removal of all the symptoms of the disease and when all the signs of health have been permanently returned there could remain anything but health. This is intended as a reply to those who said that "Homoeopathy can remove the symptoms, but the disease remains." Such a statement could only be made by those who view the disease as something which, even after the cure, may some day burst forth at its pleasure. This view can only be held by those who hold thoroughly material notions respecting disease and do not understand that disease is a state of dynamically deranged vital force.

Hahnemann finally comments on the duty of the physician in Aphorism 61. He says, had the (old school) physicians been capable of reflecting on the sad results of the antagonistic employment of remedies, viz transient relief followed by invariable aggravation, they would have long ago discovered the grand truth of permanent and perfect cure following the homoeopathic employment of medicines according to similarity of symptoms in the most minute doses.

In our next article in this series we shall discuss about Homoeopathy and the Law of Cure.

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