| Today we have the pleasure
to have with us Dr. SML Fayeton who is a medical doctor and homeopath
in France.
E.D.B.: Welcome to the Hot-Seat of
Homeopathy4Everyone. We have already enjoyed three of your
cases published in previous editions of the magazine *. In these
cases we discovered an approach to the patient which is slightly
different from what we are accustomed to in the English speaking
homeopathy world. The reason for this appears to be your interest
in the work of Dr. Elizalde Masi, mixed of course with the cultural
differences between English and French speaking communities.
You were initially trained by "French"
pluralist homeopaths, but you said that very soon you were prescribing
only one remedy at any time. Can you tell us about your evolution
as a homeopath?
SML F.: Right from the beginning when I was taught "French
pluralism", for me it was just obvious to prescribe
only one remedy at one time. Homeopathy can only be unicist. When
a fever is Belladonna, how could it be Ferrum phos or Aconite? I
immediately understood that people used several remedies at one
time due to laziness.
When I was in Rwanda, I had a collection of remedies in 5CH only.
A young Rwandese girl prepared 7C, 9C and 30C from these dilutions
by diluting and succussing them further. When I did not know what
remedy to use, I used allopathic medicines. This allowed me to know
where I was with my prescriptions.
When I met Dr. Mureau in Brussels, he gave me the tools to progress
in the unicist way by introducing me to the "Broussalian",
a translation of Kent in French. The repertory of Kent was unfamiliar
to the French homeopathy teachers of that time. Then, Dr Schmitt
made me read the Organon and the works of Kent.
My contact with Dr. Masi allowed me to discover Ghatak, and the
coherence that exists between the central hypothesis of a remedy
and the symptoms of this remedy. This new way of studying remedies
immediately improved the results for my patients.
This new way of studying remedies has set me off on a long and
difficult adventure of progressing in homeopathy, but it is intellectually
satisfying. So, I learned from teacher to teacher.
E.D.B.:
When you worked in Rwanda you chose to use conventional medicine
when you were not sure about your prescriptions. From your cases
published in this magazine, it is clear that you still rely to a
certain extent (referral to consultants) on conventional medicine.
Can you tell us more about how you perceive the relationship between
homeopathy and conventional medicine?
SML F.: When I worked in Rwanda, I was learning. I found out that
people healed faster with homeopathy than with allopathic treatment.
Nowadays I rarely use conventional medicine. In my opinion, both
medical techniques have their role to play.
Allopathic medicine is useful when we have no better solution for
the day to day management of man's suffering, because of a chronic
or a temporary deviation of their vital energy. Homeopathy is useful
to re-establish a healthy balance in the vital energy, which is
the real definition of "bringing back to health", so the
patient doesn't need allopathic medicine.
The value of modern medicine is in its capacities of diagnosis
and imaging. On the downside there is a risk of it becoming a terrorist
occupation making the world's population live
in fear through its early diagnosis campaigns by making people conscious
about their illnesses years before they become apparent, often without
any hope for effective treatment or cure. People are not allowed
anymore to be in peace, enjoying an apparent state of health. They
are often forced into becoming the objects of treatments and care
until death follows. Whatever we do, death will arise anyway.
Even in homeopathy we cannot guarantee a cure. Only on some occasions,
due to good luck or an efficient use of the Masi hypothesis, can
we find a perfect simillimum for a patient which will allow perfect
cure. In many other cases, the work of the homeopath and the patient
is a work in progress, possibly through the prescription of a number
of remedies.
E.D.B.:
For the sake of argument, one could say that prescribing a succession
of remedies is a form of pluralism.
SML F.: I would not call this pluralism when the aim is to prescribe
only one remedy at a time. The remedy may then allow one to discover
something new, a new perception, something more specific leading
to a new (better?) remedy. During this difficult process, we help
the patient to progress towards a better level of health all through
ups and downs, even when there is no rapid, smooth, perfect and
definite cure according to the wishes of Hahnemann, who himself
did not always obtain such a perfect result.
Being a unicist is a way of approaching the patient. It is about
prescribing based on the totality of the content of the case and
not only by using the symptoms of the present.
Yesterday a patient called me. She was panicking. She suffered
with a peri-arthritis of the shoulder. My remedies had not had any
effect. She was given cortisone treatment. She also suffered a short
bout of blurred vision. An MRI was performed. She was diagnosed
with multiple sclerosis. After a mammography she was told she had
a cyst which the doctors wanted to sample because it may be cancer.
I revisited her file from all angles and could not think what other
remedy to give. I rang her and said her: "I cannot understand
your case." She replied: "It is not your fault, I did
not tell you my whole story. I told you I was happy with my new
friend but I was deluding myself. I now regret the man I left to
live with him." The consultation lasted another hour and I
have given her a new remedy.
E.D.B.:
Your answer is an illustration of how difficult homeopathy really
is. This brings me to the following observations: A number of patients
will give up homeopathy if they don"t perceive any immediate
success. Many homeopaths perceive the use of conventional medicines
as very toxic or even suppressive making further homeopathic prescriptions
even more daunting.
Should we reach for homeopathy prescriptions
and techniques that advertise a more reliable success rate and/
or try to rely purely on "natural" treatments to "bridge"
between the first contact with the patient and the time of the first
'successful" homeopathic prescription (as perceived by the
patient/client)? You mentioned how the study of the "central
delusion" is a demanding technique. Demanding usually means
difficult. Are there different types of homeopathy that can be practiced
at different levels?
SML F.: Of course, one can practice homeopathy on different levels.
This is what Dr. Masi said: "The first level concerns
the organic plane; the level of the lesion. The second level concerns
the combination of the hierarchised symptoms. The third level looks
out for the leitmotiv, the being of the patient. The third level
is all that drives the patient in his/her choices and engagements
throughout life which has its similarity in the hypothesis of the
essence of the remedy. The essence is not a global impression of
the remedy or something that has to do with the symbolism of the
remedy, it is the result of the thorough study of the pathogenesis
of the remedy.
To practice on the level three, for a follower of the technique
of Masi, all prescriptions are based on the totality of the patient.
In many cases we only perceive a part of this reality (totality).
This partial similarity is often sufficient to achieve a deep action
on the patient through the remedy. This gives us confidence in our
prescriptions.
It is unusual for a case which has been thoroughly researched by
the practitioner, not to benefit from the prescription(s). The effort
of the practitioner will sustain the patient, who then will want
to continue to collaborate towards a cure.
Of course during this collaboration we can count on the patient's
patience through our interventions which procure some relief, knowing
that we will do better as soon as this is possible.
Many patients feel well and are satisfied to come and "collect
their dose" every two or three months, when a
previous prescription appears to have lost its effectiveness. And
one day, after having read or studied a remedy, one suddenly realises
the patient is a Mr. or Mrs. so and so and therefore receives the
remedy that covers the 3rd level. After this, the patient will return
less and less to see the homeopath and will enjoy a stable health.
This can be a simple singular symptom that points to a remedy for
which there is no or only an incomplete hypothesis.
I remember a patient, who was a grand-mother. Throughout her life
she had been treated with homeopathy. Her homeopath passed away
and she came to see me. She did well until she was 80 years old.
At that point, a cardiac insufficiency declared itself. I give her
heart treatment and explained to the family the seriousness of the
situation.
Then one day she told me a dream: Everything was dirty, she cleaned
everything; remedy: Curare. She made a full recovery. I stopped
the heart treatment and she lived until the age of 103, in a village
in the mountains serving the community as well as she could. She
was so well psychologically that she attracted all the young people
who enjoyed visiting her, seeking her wisdom.
When she was 103, her family decided she would be better in a home.
Arriving there she was vaccinated against flu, which caused a flu-like
condition which proved fatal. But then 103 years old is already
quiet good.
I would like to cite Nestor Godoy who was Dr. Masi's
pharmacist for 30 years, when he presented a case of a centenarian
who died during treatment by Dr. Masi :
"Death doesn"t need to be
a frustration for the doctor, but can be seen a success because
he/she helped the patient to enjoy the maximum of their talent,
both physical and spiritual, during each life stage. When life comes
to an end, the function of the doctor ceases, not in the sense of
a failure but a satisfaction of mission accomplished both from the
point of view of the doctor and the patient."
Of course, this was a centenarian, but I think this applies to
all cases where a conscientious doctor did all he/she could for
the patient, even when this patient was very young. I remember very
well two patients who came to me in an advanced stage of cancer
with metastases, who I managed to help for one year. They both told
me in the last month of their lives: "I live the
best part of my life, there is so much love around me."
Of course they both talked about the love of their family and friends
but also referred to the "divine" love. This humbles the
doctor and makes one think about what is the real euthanasia or
the "good" death.
E.D.B.:
The good "euthanasia", indeed the death that comes in
peace is one of the great things homeopathy has to offer.
You were very generous in allowing me to
translate into English a synopsis of Dr. Masi's work and philosophy
produced by the AFADH which is published in this edition as a separate
article. How much different is Dr. Masi's work from many
of the other prescription techniques practiced in today's homeopathy
world? Is there a possibility that the different approaches presented
by various schools will finally come to a "unified" technique,
or will cultural and language differences and the need for patient/client
satisfaction stop this from happening?
You wrote to the editor of the magazine about
how close Ananda Zaren and Dr. Masi were in their conceptions of
homeopathy.
SML F.: I am very much interested in Ananda's
conceptions, they are very close to Dr. Masi's
ideas. The Wound is the Vulnerability. The Wall is the Egotrophy.
The Mask is the "hidden" Egotrophy.
Dr. Masi added the egolyse (the failure of the Wall) and the heterolyse
(the Vengeance).
Dr. Masi was the first to search for the essence of a remedy by
using a systematic methodology. Others have searched for and proposed
methods that have a more appealing mechanism. Some have resorted
to the pre-Hahnemann theory of signatures, looking for an aspect
in the nature of the substance to support a hypothesis of the remedy.
Dr Masi is not opposed to any of these techniques, he wished there
were botanists, zoologists (in France we are lucky to have Dr. Agnes
Flour) and mineralogists amongst homeopaths to improve understanding
of the proved substances.
He deemed that the "exterior"
study of the substance teaches us only little about its essence
in comparison to its proving. In the proving, the symptoms of the
remedy manifest themselves in the words of the experimenter. It
is his opinion that the hypothesis of a remedy should be built on
the experimenter's words and only then can it
be compared to the nature of the substance to find a coherence.
The modern homeopathy schools are also looking for an intellectual
order in the large number of remedies possible. They use a horizontal
classification system. Jan Scholten searches to increase the knowledge
on metals through the periodic table. Rajan Sankaran classifies
the elements of creation through botanical, zoological and mineral
criteria based on elements from the pathogenesis. For example: Thuya
feels fragile, so he will verify whether all conifers feel fragile.
It appears to me that the search for the sensation according to
Sankaran's concept is not far removed from the way Masi interrogated
his patients: he continued until he obtained the precise symptom
by asking repeatedly: Porque?, para que? (Why? What for?).
The horizontal classifications are of great interest for the future
of homeopathy and are not opposed to Masi's work.
Dr. Masi brought us an original vertical classification system;
he looks in each remedy for the metaphysical conflict that is the
source of all pathology and all the symptoms in the pathogenesis
under the influence of the particular energy proved.
He classifies remedies according to the Divine perfection longed
for: the Divine intelligence, the Divine providence, the Divine
immutability, the Divine eternity, etc. within the subgroups for
each Divine perfection longed for, its particular aspect. He succeeds
in Hahnemann's dream of uniting all diseases
into one: psora: the imbalance of man who wishes to play God in
one particular aspect or suffers of not being this aspect (inferiority
complex?).
Dr. Masi said: "Those who wish to study the drama of men without
discovering the metaphysic aspect of this drama are naive."
Those who have not embraced Masi's method perceive
it to be very intellectual, even hazy, without any interest for
their practice. Nevertheless, every time I hold a seminar on the
Masi method, my colleagues are surprised and tell me "but
this is very useful for our daily homeopathic work!"
Dr Masi taught us to read the pathology of the mental attitude
using the Aristotle-Thomism reference to help in answering the following
questions: What is the purpose of this function? Is it used by the
patient in its natural purpose?
What is thought? What is its purpose?
Nux Vomica is sensitive to injustice. What is justice, what are
its deviations, it pathologies, etc?
Coffea is charitable. What is charity, what are the deviations
of charity, what are the pathologies of charity? Can there be excess
in love or service, can there be a deviation in the way of loving
or rendering a service?
Aloe wants to reconcile. What is reconciliation, how can the desire
for reconciliation be pathologic?
Masi said: "One cannot imagine a surgeon who does not start
by studying the normal anatomy before working on the deformations".
The doctor who wants to work on the mental symptoms has to learn
in an objective way (not through the vision of his/her own psoric
tendencies) "the normal anatomy" of passions, virtues
and human activities in general. He could not find a more precise
and profound research than the Aristotle "Thomism thinking
which are found in the writings of Thomas d'Aquin.
All these finding by homeopathy researchers have their place and
one day, I think, will find their unity. But it is logical to think
that the noumenal homeopathy by Dr. Masi will embrace this unity
because it touches on the most profound of disease in man. When?
Masi thought it would be in the 4th millennium.
I think that the progress of homeopathy is so great everywhere
that I have good faith in it happening in the 22 century.
E.D.B.:
We thank you very much for sharing these very revealing thoughts
and experiences of homeopathy with us. We are also grateful that
you helped us in making some of Masi's work available to the English
speaking community.
There may be readers who would like to find
out more about Dr. Masi's work. Is there somewhere they can go?
SML F.: In September 2009 we have our yearly congress. (10-13 September)
The group will be very international with people coming from Russia,
Poland, Brazil, Argentine and other places. They all bring their
translators and there is room to constitute an English speaking
party as well. The congress is held in a lovely setting: Le Domaine
de Chadenac, 43000 Ceyssac in France. Masi's
work and approach of remedies is discussed through the presentation
of cured cases brought by participants.
For more information write to: l'AFADH, Le Clos de Corsac, Bât
les marronniers, 43700 Brives Charensac, France Tel ++ 33 4 71 02
92 98 or Email: afadh@free.fr
E.D.B.:
I will be there and will assure translation to English if this is
required.
-------------------------------------------------------
Edward Debeukelaer
homeopathy for the patient behind the symptoms.
edward@debeukelaer.fslife.co.uk
-------------------------------------------------------
Addendum: Dr. Fayeton Discusses Her Method " A brief
correspondence
10300 and Other Unusual Dilutions Used by Dr. Fayeton
I had the pleasure of translating a few human cases that were sent
to me by Dr SML Fayeton. I then discovered that she uses dilutions
like 12000, 10300, 15000, 21000, 1001 and 12001.
It is unusual to come across these types of dilutions so I asked
her what they referred to. This is her response;
Much of my homeopathy technique is based on the study and teachings
of Dr A. Masi. He suggested that we use these "intermediate"
dilutions to approach the ideal dilution for the patient. A 1M,
10M or 50M dilution may be a good choice for the patient, but sometimes
the 1300, 10300 or 12000 is even better suited and will help the
patient to improve further.
After some experimenting, I found that the 12000, 15000 and 18000
are the ones that gave me the best results. To simplify the work
of my pharmacist I now restrict the use of these "new dilutions"
to these three. He makes them for me according to the Korsakoff
method.
I have no set theory to decide what dilution to use. When a patient
is responding well to a remedy I will trial the different dilutions
to allow the remedy to do as much as possible of the work it can
achieve in this patient.
Of course the "1" (like 1001
and 10001 dilutions) refer to the technique of plussing. Again here
I have no fast rule but If a response to one particular dilution
was very satisfying, plussing is often all that is needed to obtain
further results.
http://www.hpathy.com/casesnew/fayeton-brassica.asp
http://www.hpathy.com/casesnew/fayeton-natrum-mur.asp
http://www.hpathy.com/casesnew/fayeton-myrica.asp
-------------------------------------------------------
Vita Dr Fayeton:
Medical studies in Paris, doctor in 1960
1965 " 1967 Homoeopathy in Region of Toulouse, urgency city
1968-1969 Rwanda, homoeopathy in Bush Health Centre
1971-2008 Practice in Le Puy-en-Velay
1977 - 1983 Teaching of Homoeopathy for the "Groupe Lyonnais
d'etudes Medicales Lyon"
1984 " 2008 Founder and President of AFADH (AFADH ; Association
Française pour l'Approfondissement de la Doctrine Homéopathique
( French association for the profound study of homeopathic doctrine)
First teaching in homeopathy: pluralist technique, CHF in Paris,
1959
"I found that pluralist prescription was irrational
and always used only one remedy at a time." Further
homeopathy education:
1969-70 Unicist technique, Dr. Mureau in Belgium
1970-71 With Dr. Schmidt in France2003 meeting with Dr Masi.
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