Dr. Marcelo Candegabe

Dr. Marcelo Eugenio Candegabe was born on 26 September 1950. He qualified in medicine at the University of Buenos Aires in 1981, and graduated from the Escuela Medica Homeopatica Argentina "Tomas Pablo Paschero" in 1982. He was a direct student of Tomas Pablo Paschero. Currently he is professor of homeopathic doctrine, philosophy and history at the Escuela Medica Homeopatica Argentina "Tomás Pablo Paschero". He wrote several books about these topics and is the director of the Distance Learning University "Universidad Candegabe de Homeopatia" in Buenos Aires.

Welcome to Hpathy Dr. Marcelo Candegabe. We feel honored to introduce two great representatives of the world of homeopathy in our monthly journal!

KS: You had the luck of coming in touch with homeopathy quite early, when you were cured with Nux vomica at the age of three. Was your journey through homeopathy a straight one from that time?

MC: First, I want to thank you for the invitation to this interview, which is an honor for me. In a certain way it was from that point that the journey to homeopathy began. At the age of 9 or 10 I understood that the official or regular medicine was not the same as homeopathy. In my naiveté and until this moment, I only knew homeopathic remedies. Only with the years did I begin to see that homeopathy was not the usual medicine, or at least not the medicine which the majority of people used. This encouraged my revolutionary spirit, which I always had, even as a small child.

KS: One of your students, Dr.C. Amengual, once said of you when opening a congress, that what impressed him the most was your enthusiasm when talking about homeopathy. Where does this enthusiasm come from?

MC: I know Dr.C. Amengual for many years and have great respect for him, and if he was impressed by my enthusiasm in teaching, then it’s because he has the same enthusiasm. Since childhood I had the wish to become an Archeologist, particularly Egyptologist, an historian, astronomer and …homeopath. I always had a strong inclination to everything related to investigation. To discover and investigate was, and is still my passion. Choosing medicine did not prevent me from studying these other topics, which were followed by quantum physics over the years and for which a lot of enthusiasm is necessary. My true intellectual treasure is my library, which keeps the testimony of my search and my intellectual and spiritual desires.

KS: You have studied with three great masters of homeopathy: Dr.Tomas Pablo Paschero, Dr. Eugenio Candegabe and Dr. Alfonso Masi-Elizalde. What were their most important contributions to your professional development?

MC: Over the years you recognize what you know and what is part of your knowledge. It is a melting pot of incentives, hierarchically accumulated over the years. These incentives come from different sources, from the masters, partners, loves, and those we are fond of, from inner questions and especially questions from students. However, it is true that I had the privilege to meet these great masters and possibly the most important homeopath of the 20th century in America. I'm grateful that my father, Eugenio, left me a space at his side which allowed me to grow freely and according to my own individuality. He cannot imagine what importance this was for my development.

From my father I learned that the whole theory needs to be practiced to have scientific value. I learned that intention and impulse are valuable, but that only with great effort can you achieve your destination. Something which I will carry with me for the rest of my life, is that he always paid attention to my considerations, even if sometimes we did not agree. Just as I got to know the study of materia medica from the hands of Eugenio, Alfonso was like the brother of my father. I owe to him my enthusiasm for the homeopathic doctrine. From a very young age I talked with him innumerable times after his master classes. Masi had the virtue of controversy. I say virtue because this gave the academic discussion the element which nourished his disciples with eagerness to learn. I will never forget the last encounters with him, together with Dr.Cataldi, and our conversations after dinners. The discussions were about the Thomistic aspect of Hahnemann and the influence of Emmanuel Swedenborg on homeopathy. Those were long evenings, unforgettable because of their content and the passions they evoked. The last one was shortly before his death. For Masi, I was "Marcelito" as he called me, much because of his affection and somewhat to "place me", as he never kept secret our differences in public. He always respected me and we could handle our differences due to the love we always felt. My likable Alfonso knew of my esteem and my admiration for him.

Master Paschero was different. He was the early rain in my spirit, who nourished me and nourishes me through time. It is impossible to describe the sensation of being at his side, to those who did not know him. He exuded an unusual brightness. He always offered himself, so his disciples felt important. He had the virtue to encourage the search for personal realization, as the most transcendent aim of the human being. Paschero's homily was his constant declaration that the human should reach the plenitude of life as the real purpose of existence, and that this plenitude is only reached if the inner will drives us towards an altruistic life where "to give" is the real reason for living. He was so, in everyday life, in every small act, and in his dedication to others. For Paschero the realization of life is made in the first step with the closest human. The fellow man is the one chosen to go towards the absolute, the superior Mind or God. In this way he understood homeopathy as the only medicine which could collaborate in this path towards the personal realization, "liberating" the human from his miasmatic hindrances, so that he can reach the highest purpose of existence, if he wants, as postulated by Hahnemann in § 9 of the Organon of the Medical Art.

KS: You said of Dr. Tomas Pablo Paschero that he was your physician, teacher, spiritual leader and the most transcendent person in your life. Following his example you required the homeopathic physician to be a spiritual human being. What characterizes such a physician?

MC: As I have said previously, if the physician understands that homeopathy offers him the possibility to aspire to a higher level of consciousness, understanding that the better he knows himself the better he will know his patients, and that the true aim of homeopathic treatment is to increase the level of being of humanity to a superior state of humanization, only then can he aspire to be a good homeopathic prescriber. Otherwise he will move away from the true destiny which homeopathy offers to him: the authentic spiritual realization of himself and his patients.

KS: You are teaching homeopathic doctrine and philosophy to homeopathic students. Unfortunately there doesn’t exist a worldwide standard for homeopathic education and often these fundamentals are missed in homeopathic educational courses. How do you view the importance of mastering these?

MC: The question is complex. On one side one needs to learn the doctrine, the technique and materia medica. But the art of being a homeopath only develops in those who have a talent for these fundamental topics. This can be observed in the masters of homeopathy of all time.

KS: Could you tell us something about your fascinating concept of algorithms? Which relationship code exists between the patient and remedy and how can this help us in homeopathic prescribing?

MC: The algorithm is a complex mathematical code which uses different individual values collected over time. Hahnemann used the symptomatic code of the patient to find the simillimum among those remedies which share the same pathogenetic picture. The algorithm is an intermediate step, approaching a mathematical relation between the patient and a group of mathematically similar remedies, so that the physician can chose the most appropriate remedy according to the totality of symptoms. A detailed explanation with the scientific fundamentals of the method can be found on the following website: http://www.universidadcandegabe.org.

KS: You are now working on the concept of animal algorithms. In what way is this analogous to human algorithms, and how different?

MC: Veterinary homeopathy is a wonderful test of our investigations and discoveries. In this case we have adapted the algorithm so that a group of veterinarians can use it in an experimental way. Currently, Dr. Andrea Brancalión of the prestigious "Escuela de Veterinaria Homeopática de Cortona", Italia, and Dr. Graciela Berrastro of the "Escuela Médica Homeopática Tomás Paschero de Buenos Aires", Argentina, both teachers at the "Universidad Candegabe de Homeopatía" (distant learning university), have developed a plan for the veterinary algorithm. They work together with a group of colleagues on this plan, which is derived from successfully treated cases. Soon it will be within reach of those who want to use it.

KS: Could you tell our readers something about the Argentine Method of Pure Homeopathy (of Candegabe/Carrara)? What inspired you to develop this method of case analysis and how do you see it benefiting homeopathic practice?

MC: At the beginning of the nineties I initiated an investigation, together with Dr. Hugo Carrara, in order to standardize criteria of classical homeopathy. We observed that the general mistake in prescriptions was that in case taking too much importance was paid to symptoms which had no individualized modalities. We established principles and rules which lead in 8 steps, to a prescription free of prejudices. Our conclusions are described in the book "Approximation to the Pure Method of Homeopathy" (published in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German). This methodology allows a more practical clinical case taking within classical homeopathy, based on taking modified symptoms which go hierarchically from historical symptoms which are still present, to the actual modified local symptoms. We designed a grid with 9 hierarchies of symptoms which bring about the repertorization of the 3 to 5 most hierarchic modified symptoms. In this way the repertorial analysis can be made by all homeopaths in the same way for a given case. This permits an objective analysis of symptoms which should be taken free of subjective speculations. Over a period of time this method was used by physicians in many parts of the world with great success.

KS: Eugenio and you have developed a theory, which you modified further with H. Carrara, about the energetic level of the constitution and about the model of coherence of the ill constitution. Can you explain these concepts to our readers and especially their therapeutic and diagnostic value?

MC: Every theory needs to bring forward a prognosis in order to be accepted as a science. The prognosis is possibly the most scientific point of a theory. In this way the human has increased his knowledge in the course of time. I have developed a theory, together with Eugenio and Hugo, about the energetic level of the ill constitution of the patient which allows us to know "a priori", whether our patient can aggravate or not, whether the homeopath can expect a rapid or slow cure, what we should observe in acute cases, or whether the applied remedy is only a partial simile to the case according to his individuality.
For those interested in, in the section of "Research" - "Scientific works" on the website of our university you can find the complete work: http://www.universidadcandegabe.org.

KS: Currently, homeopathy is undergoing a hard time worldwide. What position does homeopathy have in Argentina? How do you see homeopathy’s future?

MC: The world has always been to some extent, unfavorable for the development of homeopathy. There have always been interests to block the possibility that homeopathy occupies the place it deserves within the medical sciences. Since Hahnemann's time until today, homeopathy has had its detractors and enemies. Nevertheless it is the science which has resisted violent scientific attacks the most in the course of time. This should give us optimism for the future, especially today, when other advanced sciences like quantum physics, biology and modern mathematics begin to demarcate a new models are considered scientific. There should triumph a human movement in the world so that homeopathy is duly appreciated. We really stand before a turning point, a point where human destiny is lead towards a paradigm change. I believe in the latent virtues in the human beyond the rough daily reality and wish that everyone meets up again with the angel of light and peace which lies expectantly at the bottom of the soul. I remember Paschero saying: “Nobody can expect to change something in the world if he does not change himself first”. It is the development of the intimate vocation of our spiritual being towards which all our efforts should be directed, in order to influence the ethical principles in this moment for a profound change in humanity.

KS: You have been working quite actively all your life in several homeopathic societies in your home country as well as abroad, and also as a teacher of the Escuela Medica Homeopatica "Tomas Pablo Paschero" and director of the Distance Learning School. Have your attempts to promote homeopathy worldwide proved to be satisfactory?

MC: I have never thought about this. I humbly think that the personal satisfaction has been that I could travel around the world like a pilgrim, and meet friends with other realities and who speak different languages, and with whom I have shared and share the magic and wonderful adventure to teach homeopathy.

KS: You mentioned the high number of backsliders during the first homeopathic school year due to their unrealistic and difficult to fulfill expectations. Homeopathy is a science and art which requires much time and hard study to master. What advice can you offer homeopaths and students for their study and practice?

MC: A great Argentine homeopath wrote many years ago: "Homeopathy is understood in one night and studied for a whole life". Whoever approaches homeopathy should do this with the wonder and spirit of a child. In this way he will discover new levels of understanding all his life, like an eternal lover of the “divine homeopathy”, as Hahnemann called her. In this way the spirit of truth and magnanimous diversity of the great master will be received.

KS: Your website and educational program is absolutely wonderful! I'm glad the website is published in English now and I’m sure that many homeopaths will feel inspired by your knowledge and teachings. I hope that your book can soon be read in English, so that all homeopaths can benefit from your methodology.
Thank you very much Dr. Marcelo Candegabe for sharing these very interesting thoughts and experience. It has been a pleasure to have you with us!

The interview was translated by Dr. María Gabriela Ruscica (E.M.A.H.), Alan Schmukler and Katja Schütt.

Katja Schütt
Associate Editor
Homeopathy 4 Everyone (Hpathy.com)