The Element Theory (Homeopathy and the Elements) has shown to be a powerful tool in analyzing and prescribing for cases. The rows of the periodic table represent basic life themes. The columns of the periodic table are the stages in a process of development, coming to a
The Element Theory (Homeopathy and the Elements) has shown to be a powerful tool in analyzing and prescribing for cases. The rows of the periodic table represent basic life themes. The columns of the periodic table are the stages in a process of development, coming to a rise, culmination and fall. A short description of the Stages is in Table 1.
In literature one can find many examples of successful analyses with the Element Theory. Nice examples of course are those where the analysis was done without the Element theory and still all the information is there to confirm the theory. For instance, a case was presented where a man who wanted to become an artist, left Calcutta and his girl-friend for Bombay, was rejected there as an artist, and in his romantic moods went to prostitutes, thinking of his beloved girl-friend, but contracted syphilis. Antimonium crudum was prescribed on his romanticism. But there is: rejected (stage 15), as an artist (Silver series), with romanticism (Sulphur): together Antimonium crudum. Or he left (Stage 15) his girlfriend (Sulphur) to become an artist (Silver series).
Table 1: Stages
| Stage | Theme |
| 1 | The spontaneous start, the impulsive beginning. Things are done without being thought over, without reflection. This leads to naive, instinctive, simplistic and even childish or foolish behavior. It can lead to one-sidedness, which seems rigid. Manic. Alone and lonely. |
| 2 | Unsure, timid. Doesn’t know what he is worth, what he can do, so remains passive or adapts to the situation. He just watches and feels watched at the same time, so he hides. He wants and needs protection and support. Bewildered and overwhelmed. |
| 3 | Searching, for the right thing, trying and comparing possibilities. He feels unsure and easily underestimates himself, so he cannot come to a conclusion. He avoids a decision, does not commit himself. |
| 4 | The real official start. It can be the founding of business, a marriage, a contract. The decision is made, the commitment stated. But one can feel unsure, astonished that it can be done. This can lead to irresolution and amazement. |
| 5 | The preparation of the work, the plans and proposals after the start is made. But the work looks too big, the mountain to high too climb, insurmountable. So he is easily discouraged, disappointed in his provisory plans. He alternates between going on and giving up, avoiding and postponing the work to his unrealistic goal. |
| 6 | This is the challenge. One has to do things, prove one’s power. One is forced to act; it is inevitable and inescapable. It has to be done, the bridges are burnt behind him. It takes courage and bravery. In the extreme it is the daredevil. The fear of a possible failure can make him do his act alone, covered and secretive. |
| 7 | Training leads to perfection. He can do his act, but knows he has still to learn a lot more. He has to practice to become a master of everything. He wants to learn from others, likes to cooperate to see how others do things. He likes to teach and help others on their road to become a master. |
| 8 | This is the real work, everything learned so far has to be assembled, put together. But the amount of work is massive, huge. So one needs perseverance, endurance, power and force. One feels pressured due to lack of time, struggling against deadlines. One has to push and fight against the inertia of matter and resistance of people. One can be irritated by opposition. |
| 9 | The body of work has been done, but the last details have to be filled in. Practically the goal is reached. Virtually the work is finished. Minor adaptations can be made after the dress rehearsal. The book can be completed after the corrections of the proofreaders. The contract just has to be approved and signed. But the fear of a blunder, a failure at the examination can make one call the whole thing off. |
| 10 | The goal is reached. One feels at the top, the summit. It is the glory of the winner, the brilliance of a victory. Everything falls into place. It is obvious that one is oneself, the noble person that decides independently and is self-sufficient. One can become so convinced of the success and righteousness, that one becomes rigid, fixed and haughty. Balance and imbalance. |
| 11 | This is the maintenance. One has to hold and keep the position reached, things have to be conserved and preserved. One wants to enjoy the affluence and prosperity. One wants to expand and share the wealth and fortune. Sustenance is possible, but heavy. One protects like a guardian or shepherd. Benevolence. Benign tumors. |
| 12 | The power is exerted to the utmost, is overdone like a tyrant. One still has full power, but feels threatened from all directions. Suspicious of betrayal and attack, one defends the power in an exaggerated way. It is overdone, leading to opposition. It is too much of a good thing: overshooting, overdoing, overstating, and boasting. The conservative one rules by division, defending against revolution and decline. |
| 13 | The position can only be held partly, half. One has to retreat and retire. One has to reduce and shrink. But one holds on to old and obsolete things with nostalgic feelings. The antique and outdated things from the past, which are the best, must be retired and withdrawn. But they are held in honor in the reduced space. The atmosphere is musty, moldy. |
| 14 | Form without power; mask, facade, mummy, fossil. The real power is gone, but externally it still seems to function well. One is dismissed, put on a sidetrack. One feels powerless, weak, drained, discharged, empty and hollow. One hides behind the form, diverting real responsibility. Coward. |
| 15 | The loss. This is the stage of disappearance of what has been achieved, the bankruptcy, defeat, and death, being fired. Everything is burnt. It can be felt like a shock, being poisoned. One can fight and resist, refusing to give over. Or one can give in as a surrender, sacrifice or abdication. The best is to forgive and forget. |
| 16 | Things are over, in essence. Only the remnants and ashes are left, the leftovers. The remnants can be in a state of decay, putrification, producing an offensive and rotten odor and ugly view. One is disgusted and becomes an outcast. It is like a beggar in rags, seducing and tempting others to give. Only memories are left, bringing one in a state of fantasy of greatness. Deepening and reconciliation. Lazy. |
| 17 | This is the eradication, all has to be erased. It has to be ceased, extinguished, abolished, aborted and finalized. One can be forced to quit or flee, being expelled as an outcast. One has to let go everything, even forget memories. It frees, makes one loose from bonds. One can let go with humor. The opposite is to hold on to things, even taking them without asking. |
| 18 | This is the denial of action, of everything. It is the pause between actions: rest, holidays, sleep, meditation, coma, death. Things are latent, idle, inert, inactive and quiet. Externally there is no interaction or communication: autism, cocoon. Internally there can be a transformation. The sensation is of being free, floating, confused, and unconnected. |
Universal
The idea was that the stages were typical for the periodic table and the mineral kingdom. The Stages are an intrinsic part of the periodic table, the 18 columns being the 18 stages. But the idea behind the Stages is that of a process, developments, where things come into existence, grow, culminate, decline and in the end disappear again. This idea lies at the heart of everything in nature. Life comes and goes. In a way the idea of a process is the least obvious for the mineral Kingdom where elements are seen as unchangeable. It is more the plant and animal kingdom where the idea of life and process is more prominent.
The classification of the Plant kingdom is one of families, which are further grouped in orders and classes. The plant families have shown to have a general theme or problem. This is very much alike the series in the mineral kingdom. For instance, the family of the buttercups, the Ranunculaceae, has the theme of a child that feels alone and forsaken in a hard and raw world, where it needs protection from parents or other adults.
Sankaran came up with the idea to differentiate each family by miasm. The members of a family can be differentiated by specific miasms: acute, typhoid, ringworm, malaria, sycosis, cancer, tuberculosis, lepra and syphilis. These miasms are not the disease as such, but a way of being and perceiving the world, a way of how to handle the problem of the family. For instance, Aconitum is in the Acute miasm of the Ranunculaceae, so Aconitum experience the sudden, acute shock of being threatened and alone in the hard world.
When one takes a closer look at the miasms as Sankaran treats them, it turns that they are very much like the Stages. The Acute miasm resembles Stage one with concepts as: acute, sudden, unforeseen, impulsive, naive. Table 2 shows the relationships.
Table 2: Stages and miasms
| Stage | Sankaran | Disease |
| 1 | Acute | |
| 2 | Typhoid | Cholera |
| 3 | Ringworm | |
| 4 | ||
| 5 | Malaria | Malaria |
| 6 | ||
| 7 | ||
| 8 | Pertussis | |
| 9 | ||
| 10 | Sycosis | Gonorrhoea |
| 11 | ||
| 12 | Cancer | Diphteria |
| 13 | ||
| 14 | Polio | |
| 15 | Tuberculosis | Tuberculosis |
| 16 | Lepra | Lepra |
| 17 | Syphilis | Syphilis |
| 18 | Sleeping Disease |
Stages and miasms
For me the conclusion is that the Stages are a deeper idea of which the miasms are an expression. The Stages are abstract, rising from a mathematical formula, so they are underlying and not just limited to periodic table. The Stages turned out to be more basic than the periodic table as such. This is at first a surprise since the stages seemed to be intrinsic to the periodic table.
With the idea of the Stages being universal, they also can be applied to other kingdoms. The differentiation of plant families can be done with Stages. For me this feels more precise than using the miasms. The first advantage is that we refrain from the use of the concept of miasm, which has been used in homeopathy in so many different ways that it has given rise to many such disputes and much confusion. More important though, is that the Stages give a strait sequence, which is not the case for the miasms. And this advantage arises from the fact that the Stages are naturally given. The miasm on the other hand were deduced from remedy pictures. There were in homeopathy lots of discussions of how many miasms there are. Some said there were only three, like Hahnemann had projected. Later Tuberculosis was added, and Cancer. But the question remains, are there more miasms, more than Sankaran has described. For instance is polio is separate miasm, or should it be placed in one of the existing miasms? The stages resolve this problem by itself, as the amount is naturally given.
Sankaran made a huge step forward with the differentiation by miasms though. Finding them as basic themes and the way to use them was a deep insight. But the Stages refine the whole idea and bring it to a deeper level of abstraction and understanding, as they underlie nature. The miasms are an expression of the Stages and that is why they fit in so nicely.
The nosodes can be differentiated by miasm as Table 2 shows. In the Plant kingdom the plant families can be differentiated by Stages. An example is given for the Ranunculaceae in Table 2.
In the Animal kingdom families can also be differentiated by Stages. As an example this has been done for the snakes as given in table 3.
Table 3: Stages and snakes
| Stage | Snake/Ophidi |
| 1 | |
| 2 | Naja |
| 3 | |
| 4 | Elaps |
| 5 | Cench. |
| 6 | |
| 7 | Crotalus-h. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Vipera |
| 10 | Lachesis |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Bothrops-i |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Hydro-c. |
| 15 | Dendro-p. |
| 16 | Biti-a. |
| 17 | |
| 18 |
Questions
Some homeopaths will ask what is the advantage of all this. One might think it is just a theoretical exercise. In my experience that is not the case. It is just the opposite: it is a very powerful tool in understanding remedies and analyzing cases. It has the same power as it had for the mineral kingdom. There is only one drawback, which is that the Stages are not given by nature for the Plant and animal Kingdom, as they are for the mineral kingdom. In the mineral kingdom, the place in a column gives the Stage. In the other kingdoms the Stage has to be deduced from the remedy picture. But one needs only a few clues for that deduction and then the whole idea of the Stage can be applied.
Stages and Plant Kingdom
The stages can also be applied to the Plant Kingdom. An example is that of a woman with breast cancer. She felt very unprotected and had a fear of being forsaken by her partner. Hydrastis was chosen as it is in Stage 12, known for cancer, and the theme of forsaken and unprotected is that of the Ranunculaceae. In table 4 the relationships for the Ranunculaceae are shown.
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Jan Scholten
