Hi David,
I was taught that the four basic tenents of homoepathy are:
1. The Similimum (Law of similars)
2. Totality (Law of single remedy)
3. Potentizing (law of minimum dose)
4. Provings - if the substance is not prescribed based on the symptoms elicited during a proving, it is not homeopathy.
I was also taught that Hering's Law is actually not a law, but a general rule. It was actually incorrectly labeled a law by Kent. Andre Saine has an interesting discussion of it at
http://www.homeopathy.ca/articles/heriing_law.html
My purpose in bringing this up is to let Danielle know that the homeopath she asks may still be a classical homeopath even if he doesn't state the guiding principles exactly as David has stated them.
The similimum or law of similars and the totality or single remedy are 'must haves'. They should also understand the relationship of the rubrics to the provings and understand the direction of cure. There is a lot of controversy about the term 'minimum dose'. Some homeopaths think that means the lowest potency and others think it means the highest, most dilute potency. But regardless, they all use what they consider to be the minimum dose.
[ 22. December 2002, 15:17: Message edited by: sreischman ]