When discerning a patient’s constitutional type, we need
to know exactly what we are searching for. Are we looking for
a disease state, or are we looking for characteristics that
will point to what a person looks like in health?
Heilkunst looks at the constitution of a person in a different
light than the “classical” homeopathic world does.
Heilkunst views the constitution on the same basis as Dr. Hahnemann
did, namely as a function of the state of health, which can
be affected by disease to a greater or lesser degree. In classical
homeopathic literature, the “constitutional remedy”
is found by looking for the remedy that has the largest totality
of symptoms that would match the symptoms of the patient. The
remedy is then given once, to work on the one imbalance that
is believed to reside in the patient, as well as to fortify
their “vital force.”
If you were to go back to Hahnemann’s writings, you would
find that he did not prescribe a remedy based on the constitution
(as it is perceived today in homeopathy) of the patient. Dr.
Hahnemann did refer to the constitution of the patient in his
Organon of the Medical Art, but he always referred
to the constitution as relating to health, and not relating
to disease. This can be found in aphorisms §5.1, §81.1,
§102.2, §117.1, §117.3, §136 and §138.2.
James Tyler Kent was the first homeopath to prescribe in this
manner, in what came to be termed a “constitutional remedy.”
Heilkünstlers follow Hahnemann’s teachings, and prescribe
remedies for the disease(s) that reside in the patient, as well
as a remedy to strengthen the sustentive side of the Life Force,
the constitution. The remedy for the constitution is given to
keep the patient in homeostasis and to build up a resistance
to future diseases; when we prescribe a remedy for the constitution
of a person, we are not finding a remedy that matches a disease
symptom picture, i.e., we are not treating homeopathically (similar
suffering).
Hahnemann did not treat for the health of the patient with remedies;
rather, he prescribed the proper regimen for the body, soul
and spirit through diet as was outlined in the introductory
article by Rudi Verspoor. In Dr. Hahnemann’s day, most
people were naturally healthy by virtue of their lifestyle -
eating whole, live food and getting adequate activity, good
hydration and proper sleep. There were the occasional disease(s)
that engendered themselves within a person, but on the whole,
people in the country were healthy.
Dr. Hahnemann did note that upon arriving in Paris he was surprised
by the level of disease in the average person who lived in the
city compared to country folk. Two hundred years later, we see
the emergence of the opposite picture from that of
Hahnemann’s time: we see a few people in good health,
but the majority do not have general good health with only a
few disease states. Heilkunst, therefore, builds up the sustentive
force within the individual through edification of good regimenal
principles, and using the remedy for the constitution.
In order to unearth the appropriate remedy for the constitution,
the practitioner needs to find out what the patient would look
like in a state of relative health, to discover what is left
in the patient after all or most of the diseases are eradicated.
The practitioner is endeavoring to learn how a person goes through
their life and how they experience the world, how they react
to traumas and events. He wants to discern what the characteristics
of the patient are, and how the patient would react to different
stimuli in different situations. The practitioner also establishes
the patient’s various likes and dislikes.
When there are many diseases present, it is at times challenging
to see the state of health beneath the disease layers. At these
times, the practitioner would request the above information
as it related to the patient when they were young and not so
laden with the disease element(s), in effect identifying the
characteristics which pre-date the symptomology associated with
disease, which pre-dates the pathogenesis.
Through extensive clinical research, Heilkünstlers have
found that there are six genotypical constitutions, Silica,
Lycopodium, Calcarea carbonica, Pulsatilla, Phosphorus,
and Sulphur. From the thousands of patients who have
visited our clinics, these six constitutions appeared over and
over again once the patients had been cleared of most of their
identifiable diseases, including their chronic miasms.* These
six constitutional types kept appearing when the “constitutional
case” was taken based on the conventional schema, such
as the well-known one provided by Dr. Pierre Schmidt almost
a half a century ago.
Hahnemann identified the various members of the human organism:
the Wesen or Dynamis, which is the principle that animates the
organism, the Leib or physical body, the Gemüt or body
mind, the Geist or intellectual mind (which is linked with man’s
spiritual aspect), the Seele or soul aspect where feelings originate
and the Sinn, which is the intuitive and reasoning aspect of
the mind. It appears that each of the genotypes relates to one
aspect of the organism, Sulphur to the Wesen or Dynamis, Calcarea
carbonica to the Leib, Pulsatilla to the Gemüt,
Lycopodium to the Sinn, Phosphorus to the
Seele and Silica to the Geist.
Every person has all six constitutions within them to a certain
degree, and usually one of the six tends to bleed through and
color the state of health or constitution. It is not a fixed,
static state and can fluctuate throughout a lifetime, as life
is a dynamic affair. We can also turn to Dr. Rudolf Steiner
and Anthroposophy for another understanding of the constitution.
In anthroposophy, we find that the constitution is an attribute
that relates to the physical body of the four-fold man: the
physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the ontic
organization or ego. As the temperaments are related to the
etheric body, the astrological indices are related to the astral
body and the personality or character to the ego or ontic organization.
Generally, these six constitutions are divided into two triads,
and a person may move around within these triads during his
or her lifetime. One triad is Silica/Pulsatilla/Phosphorus,
the other is James Tyler Kent’s anti-psoric triad, Lycopodium/Calcarea
carbonica/Sulphur, and he believed that a person could
cycle through all three of these constitutional types in a lifetime.
Another way of looking at the six constitutions is to categorize
them depending on which mind is the dominant driving force in
the person. If the body mind, the gemüt, commonly known
as the emotional mind, prevails, the person will react with
their gut instinct and will fall into another triad which we
refer to as residing at the dynamic pole or Leib (the earth
pole); here the genotypes are Sulphur, Phosphorus and
Pulsatilla. These constitutional types often react
to an event or situation before they really think through the
implications of their actions. Their energy is more radial,
hot and emotional, and there is a heavier energy associated
with them. People on the earth pole triad are more earthbound,
looking outwards, and generally have tremendous energy.
If the intellectual mind, the sinn, the brain mind, rules the
person, there is a more logical than emotional color to the
person. This triad is referred to as residing in the spirit
(or cosmic) pole, and the genotypes are Calcarea carbonica,
Lycopodium, and Silica. These constitutional types
at the cosmic pole are more internal and will think things through
before reacting to a situation, more so than the earth pole
constitutions. The cosmic pole energy is more sclerotic and
cold, and people with these genotypes are more in their minds
and heads, rather than residing in their bodies.
As well as the genotype, there are six phenotypical constitutions,
Natrum muriaticum, Nux vomica, Sepia, Arsenicum, Lachesis
and Staphysagria. The phenotype is a diseased state
that occurs when the person (in their genotype) cannot cope
with the shocks and traumas of life, or has a combination of
deep traumas. The phenotype is the coping mechanism that the
person needs in order to survive. This overlay is a constitution
as well as a disease state, and as a person gets healthier,
s/he will need the phenotype less and less, and will eventually
revert back to the genotype. Not everyone has shifted (or will
shift) into a phenotype, as not everyone needs this adaptive
armor. Through clinical observation, however, it was found that
these overlays distorted the clear picture of the genotype time
and again. As soon as the phenotype was lifted, the genotype
would appear. The genotype relates to the genetic level that
is physical and physiological, whereas the phenotype is not,
and is made up of disease and the interplay between health and
disease.
Just as Heilkunst has introduced Steiner to Hahnemann and the
genotypical constitutions, it is now time for Dr. Wilhelm Reich
and orgonomy to meet Hahnemann and the progression to the phenotypical
constitutions. In psychology, specifically rooted in Freud,
and elucidated and expanded upon by Reich, there is the theory
of neurosis which is subdivided into stasis neurosis and psychoneurosis.
Stasis neurosis is the result of external physical blockages
that prohibit a person from expressing their generative, creative,
sexual power. The moralistic attitude of the church, society
or family will lead to unsatisfied sexual urgings and swallowed
rage. You can see this in the Lachesis, Sepia and Staphysagria
phenotypes.
Psychoneurosis is the result of blocked generative energy that
a person generates within themselves and is not set by the outside
world. The resulting sexual fantasies start in childhood and
are at the core of this neurosis. You can see this in the Natrum
muriaticum, Arsenicum and Nux vomica phenotypes.
In light of the above, reading materia medica becomes a lesson
in discernment, as all of the materia medicas to date mix in
the constitutional features with disease features.
This has come about because of a lack of understanding of the
difference between the expressions of a constitution (state
of health) along with its various preferences, likes and dislikes,
all based on typological aspects of a person, and a state of
disease that distorts such normal preferences into aversions
and addictions. As a result of this confusion, the general process
of questioning a patient to elicit symptoms mixes the symptoms
of disease with constitutional characteristics and characterological
features.
A clear picture of a healthy constitution, or an unambiguous
picture of disease, still needs to be elucidated. The materia
medica of health has yet to be extracted from the existing materia
medicas. As Dr. Edward Whitmont once stated, the entire materia
medica is a treasure waiting to be organized properly, like
a symphony orchestra prior to the conductor’s arrival.
Fortunately, knowledge of the six genotypes and six phenotypes
is readily available, and much of the modern writings on these
remedies inadvertently provides us with the portrait of health
sufficient enough to see the genotype. Some such works are those
of Catherine Coulter for adults, and Paul Herscu for children.
*Please see separate article in this e-zine, as well as the
e-book that has been published by the Hahnemann College for
Heilkünst, which can be accessed freely at http://www.heilkunst.com/autism/book_excerpt.html
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