The theme of healing is so comprehensive in homeopathy that it includes the diagnosis: we speak of diagnosis-therapy. If we diagnose in the patient Calcarea Carbónica, then the treatment will be Calcarea Carbónica.
For Hahnemann, healing means restoring health (aphorism 1 of the Organon). This concept of healing is framed within Vitalism. Vitalism, even before Hippocrates, considers that healing is achieved by restoring health in opposition to Mechanism or Organicism, a philosophical movement promoted by Galen, which holds that healing is achieved by combating the symptoms: antipyretics for fever, analgesics for pain, astringents for diarrhea, etc. At present, organicism also includes reparative therapeutics such as transplants or organ replacement.
In aphorism 2, Hahnemann points out that healing should proceed in a rapid, gentle, and durable way. It should be clarified here that in some translations of the Organon the word “permanent” is misused instead of “durable”. Both words come with a different conceptual content. Permanent means definitive, immutable, in such a way that the patient once cured should not require a new treatment until his natural death. In contrast, the word durable suggests the possibility of getting sick again at some point in life. These conceptual differences serve to consider the depth that is achieved with homeopathic treatment and whether the susceptibility towards getting sick has been cured. In the same paragraph, Hahnemann speaks of destroying the disease. Perhaps this is not an adequate term, since it does neither correspond to Vitalism nor to the spirit that arises from the whole of Hahnemann’s work.
Aphorism 3 deals with the technique of homeopathic treatment and points out the importance of knowing the obstacles to healing at the end. With regard to obstacles, being far advanced of his time, he refers to the so-called risk factors in aphorism 77: a poor diet, our sedentary lifestyle and stress. And although for Hahnemann, the symptoms produced by these factors are not caused by true chronic diseases, they are of great importance, as healing cannot be achieved without their removal.
Aphorism 252 is restrictive: if the best chosen remedy does not produce improvement, this is due to an erroneous way of life or to the situation in which the patient is living. In aphorisms 259, 260 and 261, he points out the importance of obstacles to healing. We must not forget that Hahnemann, before creating homeopathy, had written numerous articles on hygiene and dietetics. He advised his patients against the consumption of beef and pork and prohibited tobacco, tea and coffee. He also recommended daily outdoor walking.
Hahnemann mentioned the iatrogen miasm produced by allopathic medicines. Nowadays we can say – not only by drugs – but also by environmental pollution, radio-frequency bombardment, anabolic-containing chickens, antibiotics, hormones, and vaccines. And, of course the toxic substances contained in processed foods, such as additives, that are bioaccumulable.
Paschero wrote: “The transgressions of natural laws produce spurious symptoms that are often corrected with the rectification of hygiene, naturalism and morals.”
To understand the purpose and scope of healing we must consider the concepts and definitions of health and illness.
An ancient and limited medical definition of health was: A state in which the organic being performs his functions normally. The WHO gives us a more complete definition: It is the complete state of physical, psychic and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease. In my opinion, this definition is still incomplete. Let’s look at another and make the analysis: Health consists of inner peace and harmony with nature and others. One of the meanings of the word peace is good harmony, so that inner peace would be the same as saying “harmony of the different parts of the organism”. These parts include the functions and sensations; body, soul and spirit; will, affectivity and intelligence. Later we will discuss these parts of the person’s interior. Before, let’s have a look at the definition which is – in my opinion – more complete and synthetic: Health is the harmonic relationship between the microcosm (which is the human being) and the macrocosm (which is the universe).
The word harmony is essential for a deep understanding of the concept of health. Harmony is given by natural order and derives from natural laws. In harmony we find beauty. Harmony is the good relationship between parts. One speaks of the harmonious relationship between people.
Udraka, the greatest Hindu healer, a contemporary of Jesus, said:
The laws of nature are the laws of health and he who lives according to these laws will never get sick. He, who obeys these laws, maintains the balance between all his parts and thus achieves true harmony. Harmony equals health and disorder means disease. That what produces harmony in all parts of man is medicine and establishes health. Everything in nature has been made to meet the needs of man; in the same way you can find everything in medical secrets. What is medicine for one is poison for another, this is why a man can be healed with that which would kill another man.
In aphorism 9 of the Organon, Hahnemann expresses admirably the concept of health:
In the healthy condition of man, the spiritual vital force (autocracy), the dynamis that animates the material body (organism), rules with unbounded sway, and retains all the parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation, as regards both sensations and functions, so that our indwelling, reason-gifted mind can freely employ this living, healthy instrument for the higher purposes of our existence.
In this aphorism the master tells us about the harmony of all parts of the organism. He points to the existence of the body, the vital force (which Kent says is the vice-regent of the soul) and of the spirit. From this follows, that the spirit does not become sick. This aphorism can be understood in all its dimensions if we remember what the master wrote in 1805 in his book Aesculapius in balance, five years before the appearance of Organon: “And yet, oh man! How lofty is thy descent! How great and God-like thy destiny! How noble the object of thy life! Art thou not destined to approach by the ladder of hallowed impressions, ennobling deeds, all-penetrating knowledge, even towards the great Spirit whom all the inhabitants of the universe worship?“
In this aphorism, Hahnemann tells us, without ambiguity, that the purpose of life and the transcendent destiny of man is to approach God, that is, to reconnect, which means the reunion of man with his creator. And the way to achieve this is through sensations (affectivity, love), actions (will) and knowledge (intelligence).
Based on these three focuses – affectivity, will and intelligence, which constitute the essence of the human being or his true Self (the ‘real‘ me), the spirit endowed with reason, is related to the Great Spirit.
Paschero said: “To fulfill the highest purpose of existence is to become aware of the metaphysical relationship with the whole and to find ones own salvation as a human person.”
Here, Paschero mentions the word salvation and introduces us to metaphysics. From him is the phrase which he repeated so many times in his master classes and in his writings: “Medicine cannot be separated from Religion, Philosophy and Metaphysics.” And although he doesn‘t refer to homeopathy but to medicine, it generates, on one hand, the criticism of some homeopaths who call him a mystic, and on the other, it opens a discussion among some of his disciples. These argue that approaching homeopathy through philosophy or religion, will achieve nothing but pollution and confusion.
What does it mean to cure?
Cure and treat are often used as synonymous terms. However, Latin etymology establishes differences. To cure comes from sanare which means to restore health; to treat comes from curare, which means to help, to apply medicines.
Homeopathy, framed in Vitalism, treats and cures, since it uses medicines and restores health, as Hahnemann writes in aphorism 1 of the Organon.
According to biblical tradition, when Jesus cured, he placed the sick person in their center. According to many authors from the East and West, being in the center, means nothing more than finding oneself and to know ones true identity. It is very significant that, intuitively, some patients in the consultation mention that they are not themselves, not being in their center. For these authors, the disease is nothing more than the alteration of the harmonious circulation of divine energies flowing through body and mind.
According to this concept, cure consist in removing obstructions that impede the free flow of energy. The healings of Jesus, of the priests of the charismatic movement, or those achieved through faith or prayer, possibly originate in the opening of the channel through which that divine energy circulates by means of the spirit. There are some who argue that the diseases cured in this way are spiritual ones. In fact, any illness can be treated by cure and the description of “spiritual” is wrong, because the spirit does not get sick. The confusion comes from the assumption that illnesses are being cured from the spirit.
According to Hahnemann it is not the spirit that becomes sick as written in aphorism 9 of the Organon. Antonio Blay sheds light on this theme in his book on Creatividad y plenitud de vida (Creativity and fullness of life):
God is the Being, the Absolute Life, which is expressed in me through the Self. Therefore, insofar as I am I and open to God, to the Absolute, Reality or any other name that you want to give, to the extent that I’m aware of my deep identity and open myself to the absolute source that God is, to the same extent will the energy that comes from that source function in me with freedom and will I be able to solve all things including health problems.
Concept of health and illness from the metaphysical and religious point of view
Every living being develops, and development is achieved through learning. And this learning is based on problem solving. In esotericism it is said that man has two ways of learning: consciously, facing every problem that presents to him, or unconsciously through eluding and repressing problems. To learn in this way means to learn through suffering. What is of interest for us as physicians is to know what the disease wants to teach the patient and what the patient does not want to learn.
The following is a summary of these concepts from Thorwald Dethlefsen’s book Life and Human Destiny:
Disease is a carrier of information. There are no senseless diseases. Disease is a partner in the path of evolution. The most important and primordial step of the patient is to be in harmony with the disease, to give his consent. To be ill means that man has fallen out of order and is not living in accordance with law.
To heal means to sanctify it, to bring it closer to salvation. Homeopathy cures through information carried by the homeopathic remedy, which produces an amplitude or expansion of consciousness. Homeopathy, with its remedies, provides the patient (microcosm) with that which is missing from the macrocosm of the vegetable, mineral and animal kingdoms. The Law of Similarity is universal in such a way that it transcends the field of medicine. That’s why a depressive needs a black room and not bright colors, or someone who lost a relative is not consoled by a joke.
Kent prescribes a similar example in his book on Homeopathic Philosophy:
“But the girl would not be tranquilized and cured of her grief for the loss of her companion, if her mother were angrily to scold her (heterogeneous alloeopathic influence), but, on the contrary, her mind would be still more distressed by this attack of grief of another kind; and in like manner the sorrowing girl, if we were to cause an apparent but only palliative alleviation of her grief, by means of a gay entertainment, would subsequently in her solitude sink into still more profound sadness, and would weep much more intensively than previously for the death of her friend (because this affection would here be only of an opposite enantiopathic character).“
This is about a woman suffering from melancholia after losing her partner. If she is treated allopathically, by cheering her up, she will aggravate. But homeopathic treatment consists of using a nurse who is a good actress and simulates the same pain in another corner; this will cure her state of melancholia.
From the religious point of view we can also see the fulfillment of the law of similarity. In Paradise, man was forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge. The serpent convinced him to eat the fruit of knowledge and to know good and evil. In this way he separates from Unity, falling into polarity and sin. He became ill through knowledge and through knowledge (learning) he will cure and return to Unity. The cane of Aesculapius is another symbolic example of similarity: the serpent which descends from the tree, making man sick, is similar to the serpent that ascends the cane of Aesculapius.
Dethlefsen writes:
“Jesus became the Saviour because he did not avoid suffering. He did not demonstrate his power by accepting the challenge: “Step down from the cross if you are the Son of God”. Rather he took suffering – the sins of this world – upon himself. He became the doctor of this world. Indeed when God made himself like man (though not equal to him) he himself became the world’s medicine. Since then the sick body and the spilled blood of Christ have been given to human beings as a healing remedy in high homeopathic potencies, using material bread and wine as carriers“.
Does only Homeopathy cure?
To analyze the subject of the epigraph, I want to begin with a paragraph written by a well-known Argentine homeopath:
The disappearance of guilt, abandonment, irresolution, and compassion by means of psychotherapy leads to suppression and subsequent morbid metastasis for the simple reason that healing did not proceed from the vital force.
My intention is not to debate with this paragraph. I just take it because it seems to me that it describes in a more extreme and therefore clearer way the real problem that suppression constitutes. Homeopathy is not Truth. Truth, by nature, are the laws of Similitude and Cure, being the foundation and reason for the existence of Homeopathy. To avoid the risk of suppression, we must subordinate to the law of Similarity to the Law of Cure. Remember that suppression is not the mere disappearance of symptoms, it also implies the morbid metastasis or aggravation of the patient. Experience shows that suppression is possible by means of allopathy, surgery, psychotherapy, education models, simple scrubs on skin rashes, flowers, acupuncture, and even homeopathy. Therefore, we have to pay attention to the development of the patient and observe the fulfillment of the postulates of the Law of Cure.
The most appropriate technique to avoid the risk of suppression with homeopathic treatment is to prescribe for the totality of symptoms and to consider the patient’s biopathographic history.
Having made these considerations and returning to the paragraph of the colleague, we can affirm that the mere fact of acting on the vital force with homeopathic medicines will not exempt us from suppressing. Conversely, not acting directly on the vital force with other therapeutic means does not always imply a suppression. What is the intimate mechanism of the healings of Jesus, the priests of the charismatic movement, or the cures achieved through faith, psychotherapy, acupuncture, or macrobiotics? The phrase of Florencio Escardó already became universal: “True medicine is that which cures.” We as homeopaths cannot claim the exclusivity of healing. Hahnemann himself, in paragraphs 288, 289 and 290 of the Organon, recognizes the utility of magnetism, a healing force denied and so stupidly dismissed by a century, according to Hahnemann’s own words. The master points to the existence of magnetizers endowed with great natural power who are able to cure old ulcers, amaurosis, partial paralysis, etc. As a corollary, we can say that the name of the therapy used is the least important. Only the fulfillment of the Law of Cure matters.
The great merit of homeopathy is to have discovered this Law insinuated by Hahnemann, enunciated by Hering and completed by Kent. Its postulates are: Diseases heal from the inside out, from top to bottom; the symptoms of the disease disappear in the same order, and the diseases suffered from are cured in the reverse order of their appearance.
Does healing intervene in evolution? Does true cure depend on self-knowledge or spiritual evolution?
Trying to answer these questions we have to review various definitions and concepts of the terms and consider the thoughts of authors such as Paschero, Antonio Blay, Abraham Maslow, Ken Wilber and others. These authors in particular have dedicated themselves to the subject of Self-realization.
All their lines of thought agree that everything in nature evolves, the plant is being completed starting from a the seed, man from the union of gametes. The differences appear when we look for the meaning or the purpose of evolution of human beings, taking into account that besides a body, they have a soul and spirit. As we have seen, for Hahnemann, the purpose of life is to approach with our intelligent spirit the Great Spirit who is wordshiped by the inhabitants of solar systems. For Paschero, men’s goal is to reconnect with the Whole, with the Absolute. While for Blay we must move from our center, that is the consciousness of the Self – God, to the supreme coordinating center, that is, to God. Dethlefsen wrote: “Only from knowing their origin can man recognize his goal. The goal is perfection. Perfection is the expression of Unity. Unity is called God. ”
But how do we reach that goal? In reality, for us mortals, the goal is the way, and this way has several routes, the first is the satisfaction of our basic needs, the second, self-realization, which can be accessed through self-knowledge, and the third is spiritual evolution.
What is the role of healing in the evolution of man? With homeopathy we can help the patient to satisfy some of their basic needs and help them discover their true essence, their true Self, which is hidden, concealed and blocked by the persoanlity that he represents in life. This personality corresponds to the homeopathic remedy the suffering patient is in need of. When we say that such a person is Lycopodium, we are referring to this personality.
The basic needs, which must be fulfilled as a condition for Self-realization, are not only physiological but also psychological and are provided by the environment: security, freedom, respect, love, etc.
Self-realization means to be oneself through discovering one’s identity. And to know one‘s identity means to know who one is. Identity is the true essence of the person. It is what remains unchanged throughout life. The plenitude the master Paschero often spoke about is nothing more than the actualization of the potential of the authentic Self. And the authentic or real Self is constituted by three attributes, or three irradiating focuses: will, affectivity and intelligence. The will is also energy and action. Affectivity includes love, friendship, the feeling of beauty, harmony, and adoration. And intelligence includes judgement and intuition.
It is important to emphasize that one does not have will, affectivity and intelligence, one is these three qualities.
To achieve the development or expression of these three qualities, external stimuli such as knowledge or affection are needed. But these are not what develops us. What develops us are the responses to these stimuli. In other words, realization is not acquired, it is discovered. Therefore, the only thing any educator can do, including the homeopath, in addition to prescribing the simillimum, is to insinuate or to suggest. Self-realization leads to the development of talents and to the fulfillment of our mission or destiny and vocation.
As seen before, an important aspect when dealing with health is the harmony that must exist between will, affectivity and intelligence. Blay says:
If energy is missing, the person will be a victim of the will of others, if affectivity is missing, he will be alone and isolated. If intelligence is missing, he’ll not find meaning in things and the world will be a maze.
There has to be balance between these three faculties, each of them must be at the service of the other two, in such a way that they act synergistically. This is an example: The teacher who uses his intelligence and knowledge, expresses love through a kind and affectionate relationship with the students, and at the same time, puts all his energy and will in the act of teaching. Being talented or creative is not synonymous with Self-realization, neither is it a sufficient quality to speak of a self-actualizing person. We find this example in Van Gogh.
In addition to the harmony between these three faculties, it is necessary for these to circulate from the inside out, as radiating foci of energy. Anything that blocks this free expression causes suppression and therefore disease. Maslow argues that “any unused skill, ability, or organ can become a center of disease.”
To better understand Paschero’s statements about Self-realization, I will try to summarize an explanatory scheme around which much of the work of Antonio Blay revolves.
There are three Selves. The true Self to which we referred, the Idea Self and the Ideal Self. The authentic, real, true or genuine Self is the deepest, it is the springboard for spiritual evolution. This Self does not change, does not increase, does not diminish, it always remains the same and even transcends the person. It is the Higher Self.
The Idea Self is what our parents tell us that we are, it is the infantile Self, for example, I am stupid, clumsy, bad, vague or I am the most intelligent. As homeopaths we can add, that besides the traits acquired by the environment, all congenital or temperamental mental symptoms and neurotic characteristics belong to it.
And finally the Ideal Self that constitutes what one wants and seeks to be. It is the reverse of the Idea Self (I would add that it is a kind of compensation of the Idea Self): I am superior, I am very intelligent or I will be very intelligent.
The Idea Self coincides, in large part, with the shadow of C.G.Jung. The shadow consists of all the facets of reality that the individual does not recognize or does not want to recognize of himself and therefore discards. And that what he discards or rejects is projected to the outside, because he has not solved it in the interior. Therefore, the inner struggle is moved to the outer world. This explains why many moralists end up being libertines, or why those who have criticized the rigid upbringing of their parents end up educating their children in the same way as they have experienced it. The rejection of or intolerance for braggart is nothing more than the rejection or the internal struggle against the braggart that one carries within oneself hidden and buried in the unconscious. Self-realization consists in solving the Idea and Ideal Self which together constitute the Personality we represent in life. And this Personality is what prevents the expression of our true Self.
My own experience and case studies from homeopaths of all times and places demonstrate that the homeopathic remedy contributes greatly to the process of Self-realization. Not less important is self-knowledge that allows us to discover the person which we are and which we must transform to access the authentic Self.
In this exploration it becomes necessary to overcome the dual vision. There are no qualities and defects as Blay argues, there are only qualities that are more or less developed. The very definition of the word defect is indicating to us that it is a deficiency. The procedure consists in identifying the defect, recognizing having it, accepting it and transforming it. To accept it means to observe it with objectivity, without criticizing or rejecting it. To accept means to approve and endorse it. It is not about taking pleasure in the defect nor to be content with it. We have to understand the defect through undergoing and experiencing it. It is not a question of understanding it only intellectually. The symptom denotes a fault. The one who is ill with pride is so because he lacks humility, he who is ill with affective indifference is so because he lacks love, and he who is ill with of selfishness is so because he lacks generosity. Maslow, a psychologist with great clinical experience and a universally recognized author, has investigated hundreds of cases of healthy people concluding that: “Human nature, the intrinsic being of man is good, promoral. The craving for destruction, sadism, cruelty, malice, etc. is not the essence of man but the reaction to the frustration of our intrinsic needs, emotions and potentialities.” And he later adds: “Evil is largely a human weakness and ignorance that is forgivable, understandable and also curable.” Paschero often repeated that the essence of man is always good.
Characteristics of the healthy person according to Maslow:
They have a greater acceptance of oneself, of others and of nature.
They have greater spontaneity.
They have greater independence and desire for intimacy.
An improvement in interpersonal relationships is observed.
They have greater creativity.
They enjoy life in general and not only moments of triumph or climax.
They are less in need of praise and other‘s affection.
They look less for honor, prestige and rewards.
They are more generous and altruistic.
They do not judge or condemn nor do they become disillusioned.
The role of the homeopath towards the patient
With homeopathic treatment, when we have the luck to prescribe the simillimum, we can achieve rapid and profound changes as may not be achieved with any other therapy. To find this simillimum, it will be necessary in most cases to know the affective problem of the patient.
That which has to be cured in the patient is being misinterpreted by some homeopaths when reducing the meaning of healing to the cure of the disturbed vital force. For Paschero, that which has to be cured is the basic experiential conflict, the affective suffering of the patient. If we do not mobilize that nucleus, the patient can improve but will not achieve a deep cure. This does not mean that the remedy should be directed to the symptoms of that affective nucleus, but that they will serve us in the diagnosis, to hierarchize, and later to evaluate the evolution of the case. With the homeopathic remedy, the imbalance of the vital force is corrected and the totality of symptoms are cured. This leads to an inner state of freedom, as these symptoms acted as impediments in the process of personal fulfillment, and in some cases a change of the vital attitude towards life can be observed, with a clearer vision that allows one to initiate the path of spiritual evolution.
Paschero pointed out that prescribing the remedy was not enough, that besides, in the treatment, the patient has to be led; however he was not a behaviorist. He did not give advice, but he inquired of the patient his work, hobbies and vocation, and incited him to find his vocation and mission in life. He did not tell him what the meaning of life was, but wanted him to seek the meaning of his life within himself. And he made his point that the goal was to have an essential relationship with people and things.
Modern communication techniques state that spoken words only have an effect of 7%. The remaining 93% consist of the tone of voice, body language, body attitudes and other energies. In the medical act it is inevitable to exert a certain degree of influence on the patient. This requires from us homeopaths to avoid a paternalistic tone and not to give any advice or directives that imply the transmission of some ideology. Possibly, the patient has a higher level of consciousness or aspirations than ours. The most we can do, is to bring them to the doorstep of spiritual evolution, choosing for the patient the path or disciplines according to their essence and nature. If he wishes, he will do so through Religion, the Cabala, the secret teachings of the orders of Freemasonry or Rosicrucian, metaphysics, philosophy, etc.
All this does not relieve the doctor of his role of being a counselor and educator in the field of health. In aphorism 224 Hahnemann says:
There are mental symptoms that are the result of lack of education, bad habits, moral corruption, neglect of the mind, superstition or ignorance. These cases will diminish and be improved by sensible friendly exhortations, consolatory arguments, serious representations and sensible advice.
And in aphorism 225 and 226 is written:
Continued anxiety, worries, vexations, wrongs and the frequent occurrence of great fear and fright, over time destroy the health of the body often to a high degree. They heal quickly if they are treated by means of psychical remedies such as the demonstration of confidence, friendly exhortations, sensible advice and with an appropriate diet and regime.
To conclude I will transcribe a paragraph written by Paschero that summarizes the concepts expressed in this work:
Clinical experiences that doctors have in privacy, reveal that no patient is cured if he fails to unblock, release and exercise his will to heal, if he does not find himself, does not respond to the deep demand to know who he is, to know the meaning of his life, if he doesn‘t find inner peace and the fulfilling of his instinctive need to grow and to develop his faculties, capacities and consciousness of being.
References
Blay, A. (1998) Creatividad y Plenitud de Vida. Ed. Iberia. España
Blay, A. (1992) Ser, Curso de Psicología de la Autorrealización. España
Downling, L. H. (1998) El Evangelio de Acuario de Jesús el Cristo. Levi. Ed. Sendero. España.
Johnson, J. (1993) El Sendero de los Maestros. Ed. Radha Soami Satsang Beas. España.
Paschero, T. P. (1983) Homeopatía, Ed. Ateneo. Buenos Aires
Reid, Daniel( ) El Tao de la salud
Synnestvedt, S. (1982) Swedenborg Testigo de lo Invisible, Ed. Marymar. Buenos Aires.
Maslow Abraham. (1993) El hombre autorrealizado. Ed. Kairos. España.
Wilber Ken . (1999) La Conciencia sin Fronteras. Ed Kairós. España.
Wilber Ken ( 1998) Antología. Ed. Kairós. España.
Wilber Ken. (1998) El ojo del espíritu. Ed. Kairós. España.
Dethlefsen Thorwald (1990)Vida y destino humano. Ed. Edaf. España.
Dethlefsen Thorwald.(1993) La enfermedad como camino. Ed. Plaza & Janés. España.
Betancourt Darío.(1985) Vengo a sanar. Ed.Tierra Nueva. Guatemala.
Chopra Deepak.(1991) La perfecta salud. Ed. Vergara.
Kudos to Katja Schütt and Alan Schmukler for translating this work by Dr. Luis Detinis.
Understanding health and sickness, the role of Homeopathy, and the role of the Homeopath, on this deep level is a lifelong endeavour.
It would be wonderful to have access to more like this in English. Thank you for sharing.