What is Contained in the Repertory?

The Repertory generally represents states of pathology or disease.  The most important symptoms used in prescribing a homeopathic remedy are symptoms that are based on disease states.  The healthy areas of the individual’s life are usually not as helpful in finding the correct remedy.  Disease represents limitations of freedom in the individual’s life.  The following are rubrics listed in the Mind section of the Repertory:

Benevolence (9)

Cheerful (10)

Laughing (61)

Tranquility (29)

These represent qualities that become symptoms when they are out of balance in the person’s life (limitations of freedom).  For example, the rubric “Benevolence” could be used for someone who constantly gives their possessions and money away at the cost of being poor and in continuous ill health.

Confusing Rubrics

Rubrics are sorted using the first word of the rubric, while the remainder of the rubric is used as a modifier.  For example, on p. 63 you will find the rubric “Love, Ailments from Disappointed” which actually means ailments from disappointed love.  On p. 12, you find the rubric “Clinging, children, of, awake terrified, know no one, scream, cling to those near.”  This refers to a child who awakens terrified and clings to anyone who is near.  The sort is on the word “Clinging.”

How Is the Repertory Used?

Cases are seldom solved by using a single rubric or symptom.  The process of choosing rubrics and combining these to choose the right remedy is called repertorization.  Generally between three and ten separate rubrics are chosen to solve a case.  Appendix I contains a sample blank repertorization sheet.  You may want to make copies of this sheet to use in repertorization.  Each rubric chosen is written on the top of the repertorization sheet.  The remedies are entered into the corresponding columns as either grade one (1), two (2), or three (3).  Finally the numbers are totaled up to see which remedy(s) are best represented in the repertorization.  The last step in analyzing a case is to study the materia medica of the most well-represented remedies in the repertorization and to choose one that best fits the case.

Ideal-sized rubrics to choose are often ones that are neither too large or too small.  Using rubrics that are too large takes a great deal of time to repertorize and often results in a repertorization that leads only to the most common remedies (polychrests).  An example of a rubric that is too large to be useful is the rubric “Head Pain” on p. 132, which contains over 500 different remedies.

Using rubrics that are too small can also create problems.  This may result in excluding the right remedy from the field.  When a rubric contains ten to twenty remedies, this is generally thought to be ideal-sized.   Repertorization can be a time-consuming process.  In recent years, the use of computers has made this whole process automated and almost instantaneous.

There is no right or wrong way to repertorize a case.  Some homeopaths tend to use many rubrics and others use just a few.  Many different strategies may ultimately lead to the selection of the right remedy.  Again, what is most important is that the repertory is a tool to suggest to you possibilities for further study of remedies leading to the best remedy selection.

A sample case is as follows: John is a forty three-year-old single male who has had an acute, severe sore throat for the last three days.  The pain is markedly worse when swallowing liquids, and is only on the left side.  The pain is also worse when swallowing warm fluids.  There is significant pain in the throat pit.  There is a very strong craving for pasta.  He says that he is afraid to take any medication for this because it might poison his system.  The rubrics that were used in the analysis are as follows:

Throat, Pain, Swallowing on, Liquid (459)

Throat, Pain, Left (458)

Throat, Pain, Swallowing, Warm Drinks (459)

Throat, Pain, Throat Pit (473)

Stomach, Desires, Farinaceous (485)

Fear, Poisoned of Being (46)

You can see the repertorization in Appendix I.  The remedy that comes through most strongly is Lachesis.  Lachesis is a remedy that is noted to have severe sore throats that are worse on the left side.  One of the keynotes for this remedy is pain that is worse when swallowing liquids.  People who need Lachesis also tend to be warm and are worse from heat.  A single dosage of Lachesis 30C was administered, and the symptoms resolved completely in six hours.

How to Choose the Most Important Symptoms

The best rubrics to use are those that most characterize the symptoms of the case.  Avoid symptoms that are common for the particular pathology of a case and choose rubrics that are uniquely characteristic of the individual person.  Common symptoms of a particular disease do not tell you about the person who has the disease.  Homeopaths prescribe for the person and not for the disease.  Also, mental symptoms and general symptoms are often more helpful in finding a remedy than physical symptoms are. Common symptoms of various diseases can be found in many medical books, such as Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment A Lange Medical Book by Tierney, McPhee, Papakakis, and Schroeder. Some homeopathic software also has this feature.

For example, when someone has a urinary tract infection, the symptom “pain in the bladder” is common and much less useful than the symptom “pain that is only better when the individual is taking a warm bath.”  Another example is someone with a migraine headache associated with vomiting.  The symptom “head pain with vomiting” is very common in migraines and would be less useful than the symptom “head pain associated with violent twitching of the right eye” (a symptom that is not commonly associated with migraines). Finally, the symptom of “anxiety” is common, whereas the symptom of “fear on waking of something under the bed” is far more characteristic.

Additions

When new information is found about a remedy or new provings are performed, this information is then added to the repertory.  This is the reason that many of the more modern repertories are larger than the older repertories.  There also are published additions that can be written into the repertory.  One example is the Additions of George Vithoulkas.  Also, remedies can be added to rubrics when we see a particular symptom repeatedly cured in our cases, even if this is not listed in the materia medicas.

How Can I Learn to Use the Repertory More Effectively?

The best way to learn to use the repertory is to practice.  The more you look up rubrics and find your way around the repertory, the easier it becomes.  Repertorization exercises such as those recommended in the next several lessons can be helpful.  Ultimately, however, the best way to learn the repertory is through study of cases.  There are also several courses available in the further study of repertory.

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Dr.Todd Rowe is a licensed homeopathic physician in Arizona. He teaches extensively and has written several books on classical homeopathic education including Homeopathic Methodology and the Homeopathic Journey. He is the past-president of the National Center for Homeopathy and serves on the Board of Directors for the Council for Homeopathic Education. He is the director of the American Medical College of Homeopathy and the Society for the Establishment of Research in Classical Homeopathy.