Reviewed by Dr. Joe Rozencwajg
Pub. Narayana Verlag 2014
Hardcover – 208 pages
ISBN: 978-3-95582-049-7
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
This relatively short book starts with the general themes related to spiders and scorpions, followed by more information about their anatomy, lifestyle, behaviors and how this links with the remedies themselves. Some of this information is given in more detail with each remedy, though not enough for my personal taste. I find the author’s approach absolutely fascinating and one of the best ways to remember the materia medica.
The Spiders are Aranea Diadema, Aranea Ixobola, Latrodectus Hasseltii, Loxosceles Reclusa, Tarentula Hispanica, Tegenaria Atrica and Theridion Curassavicum. The Scorpions are Androctonus Amurreuxi Hebraeus and Scorpio Europaeus. Each remedy is studied through its main themes with the associated rubrics, then often but not always, the main zoological features that seem relevant to the understanding of the remedy.
A few cases are then described, with the reasoning leading first to an animal remedy, then to either a spider or a scorpion, and finally explaining the choice of the specific one. Extended follow-up is given.
I really enjoyed reading it. It is easy to read, clear and concise, the latter being also its weak point, as I kept wanting more details about each remedy and more interesting and actually SRP facts. I would have loved to read about the other spiders and scorpions that have been proved and are populating our materia medicas. It pushed me into more detailed Materias Medicas by other authors, those lacking the clarity of language and the really live link between the animal and the remedy that Jonathan Hardy has been able to provide.
Although it might read as a paradox, the best way I found to summarize this book is that it is a short, in-depth, concise and detailed one. I can only wish for more of the same.
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