Dear Students and Colleagues,

I believe that their are four major pillars of homeopathy. These are similars cure similars; the single remedy; the minimal dose, and the potentized remedy. These are the checks and balances that Hahnemann introduced to make our healing art a safe and effective method. Everyone who follows these four principles is a true homeopath in my books no matter what their particular style. I would like to review these points more closely and elucidatw how the work together.

1. The principle of similars curing similars is part of Nature and the foundation of our healing art. This principle comes first although it has a very broad application and can be used in a number of different ways. This principle can be applied on individuals as well as collective groups suffering from fixed diseases of common cause and similar symptoms. Hahnemann even pointed out that nosodes are potentized in a manner that makes them similar to the natural diseases not the same as the infective agent. It would be very dangers if one tried to use the same substance on the physical level. The law of similars has been quote since the time of Hippocrates but it has always had limited applications because of its inherent dangers. Paracelsus did his best to overcame the dangers through alchemical processes but only attained limited success. It was Hahnemann who finally worked out a system of checks and balances that allows one to use the law of similars in a global fashion.

2. The single remedy. Some misconstrue the principle of the single remedy to mean one single remedy throughout treatment. This is not the case. It simply means to give one single remedy at the time rather than more than one remedy at once. This is because the vital force can respond to its fullest potential to dynamic remedies when it can focus all of its energy on one response at a time. It also allows one to know exactly what their medicine is really doing without confusing the issue with several medicinal substances at once. Hahnemann used a chief remedy over longer periods of time but he also used tandem remedies, alternations and a series of remedy when he thought they were needed. I always try to use as few remedies as possible to get the job done. If you use your repertory and materia medica well and build a base of clinical experience one finds that one can do more and more with less and less.

3. The minimal dose. This maxim is rarely understood. Some persons continue to mix this point up with the idea of using high potencies. Hahnemann made it very clear that the size of the dose is different than the original amount of the substances found in a potentized remedy. In the 6th Organon he wrote that the size of the dose becomes all that more critical the more homeopathic the remedy and the higher the potency. Too many pills, too drops and too many teaspoons lead to over medication and causes unneeded aggravations, accessory symptoms and antagonistic counter actions of the vital force.

This is why Hahnemann no longer used the full drop doses when he got to 30c and began to put 1 drop on 500 tiny poppy seed size pellets. Then he only gave the patient 1 or 2 of these tiny pills. Later he began to take 1, rarely 2 of these tiny pills and making up 8 tablespoons medicinal solutions, etc. This was introduced to control the size of the dose and the potency factors more precisely and make it possible to adjust the remedy very carefully. The smaller the dose the more easy it is to repeat the remedy, if and when needed to speed the cure.

4. The potentized remedy. Potency as we know it began when Hahnemann made up the 3c potency, which was his Roman numeral I potency. This is when he wrote the classical "What are Medicines and What are Poisons" and prove Arsenicum on himself. Hahnemann did not used the C scale in the same manner as many today. He potentized his remedy by 1, 000, 000s each time so he only used used the roman numbers I (3C), II (6C), III (9C), IV (12C), V (15C), VI (18C), VII (21C), VIII (24C), IX (27C), and X (30C). His favorite potencies in the clinic were the 6c, 12c, 18c, 24c and 30c. The means his scale increased in 3 degrees per potency and he like to use remedies 6 degrees in potency apart. This is Hahnemann's series and degrees! When he started using the high potencies like 198c, 199c, 200c he started using Arabic numbers in his casebooks. Of course his last experiments were with the LM potency 0/1 to 0/30.

In his early career Hahnemann used grains and drops of single remedies. Compared to others he was using the minimal dose because he always tried to use a little as possible not as much as one can. Some parties say that using crude doses is not homeopathy but I would say it is early homeopathy. All editions of the Organon from the 1st to the 6th work on their own levels. Once in a while I will use a drop of a remedy like Crateagus in a serious heart failure, etc. This is more like Hahnemann in 1810 than 1840! Some homeopaths still swear by the "magic of mother tinctures". Even Hahnemann still used the crude arnica tincture in bangs and bruises while giving internal arnica even in his last years. I have documented these prescriptions. There is still room for mother tinctures of non toxic plants although the minerals, poisons and most animal remedies can't be used in this way. The miracle of potency is that it opened up the door to using *anything* as a medicine. That is truly fantastic. Before the minimal dose and the potentized remedy the law of similar was hard to control and only had limited applications.

I call these areas of homeopathy the four cardinal principles because they are the lowest common denominator. These are the checks and balances that Hahnemann introduce to make our system safe and effective. With this as a basis there is a tremendous variety of schools and methods that do good work. Lastly, I would like to say that the 4th, 5th and 6th Organon all work well on their own levels. The dry dose, olfaction and the medicinal solutions are all safe and effective methods when they are applied in a proper manner. Although, I often speak about the medicinal solution I am very well aware that the dry dose, when giving in a proper small dose, is an effective method. The point is use the tiny amount possible like 1 or 2 small pills. These should only be increased if necessary. Too many pharmacies and practitioners still believe in Kent's misguided idea that the size of the dose does not matter. It is time to understand the importance of the minimal dose.

Hahnemann even spoke about using 1 dry pill fo the LM potency the 6th Organon although I have yet to find a case where he used the LMs this way. The key when using the dry dose is to keep the size of the dose to a minimum. Large amounts and random numbers of pills are often counter productive in the long run because they accumulate in the vital force and can lead to over medication. Over medication by using too large a dose and repeating the remedy to many times is the number one cause of side-effects. Once this is understood homeopathy is very safe because of the system of checks and balances enshrined in the four cardinal principles. When one ignores the cardinal principles they move into experimental ground and uncharted waters.


Simila Minimus,
Sincerely, David Little

PS. All you old homeopaths and others who may have heard this all before please excuse me. Those who don't like what I have written may press on their trash icon. There are always persons new to homeopathy on these lists. I always try to write things for them that I think are important.

Dear David Little

Thank you for posting your information,its important to know and constantly be reminded of.
Yes many do use way to many and or way too big of a 'pill' some of the 'pills' given out here in the usa are the size of an asprin that is aprox a dose of 20-30 granules of #10 poppysize. All needed is as you said one/maybe two #10 granules.

Thanks
Gina Tyler

1.Hahnemann even pointed out that nosodes are potentized in a manner that makes them similar to the natural diseases not the same as the infective agent. It would be very dangers if one tried to use the same substance on the physical level.

2.This is because the vital force can respond to its fullest potential to dynamic remedies when it can focus all of its energy on one response at a time. It also allows one to know exactly what their medicine is really doing without confusing the issue with several medicinal substances at once.

Just a few questions, David.

In 1. above, are you suggesting nosodes are potentised in some other manner. What other manner?

In 2. above you state: ' This is because the vital force can respond to its fullest potential to dynamic remedies when it can focus all of its energy on one response at a time...'

How do you know this? How do you know that the VF does not react to more than one remedy?

You say in the second part of that para: 'It also allows one to know exactly what their medicine is really doing without confusing the issue with several medicinal substances at once.

Are we more concerned with curing the case quickly and effectively or with marking our books with the single remedy that did it?

Jeff Tikari

Quote:

Originally Posted by j tikari Are we more concerned with curing the case quickly and effectively or with marking our books with the single remedy that did it?

Translation: "I'm a polypharmacist and proud of it."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gina Yes many do use way to many and or way too big of a 'pill' some of the 'pills' given out here in the usa are the size of an asprin that is aprox a dose of 20-30 granules of #10 poppysize. All needed is as you said one/maybe two #10 granules.

Dear Gina,

Hahnemann clearly taught that the size of the dose and the potency were two different factors in posology. He wrote that the size the dose becomes more critical the more perfectly homeopathic the remedy and the higher the potency. I have tested this hypothesis for over 20 years and found it to be true and correct. During my first decade of practiced I followed Kent's ideas and paid no real attention to the size of the dose. I even used what might be called the "oops" method where on told the patient to open their mouths and threw a random number of pills under the tongue! When I found myself causing aggravations I reread the Organon and decided to tests its methods. It did not take long to find out Kent was wrong and Hahnemann was right! I have found that the smallest dose possible causes the best healing action! In homeopathy less is often more!!!

Sincerely, David Little

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff 1.Hahnemann even pointed out that nosodes are potentized in a manner that makes them similar to the natural diseases not the same as the infective agent. It would be very dangers if one tried to use the same substance on the physical level.

Hahnemann was speaking about the process of potentizing the remedy as we know it. This changes the nature of the miasms being used to something that is similar not the same as the natural disease.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff In 2. above you state: ' This is because the vital force can respond to its fullest potential to dynamic remedies when it can focus all of its energy on one response at a time...'

I did not say that the vital force doesn't react to the more than one remedy at a time. If fact, the reason an improper combination can cause trouble is because it can produce several inharmonious reactions going at once. Hahnemann taught that the VF reacts better to one remedy at a time. He used the analogy of how the mind can only really focus well on one thought at a time.

IMO, it makes sense that their is only so much vitality. When this vitality is focused laser-like on one reaction it is bond to be stronger then when the same amount of vitality is defused in a number of differing directions that may have to deal with remedies that are partial simillimums or completly wrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff You say in the second part of that para: 'It also allows one to know exactly what their medicine is really doing without confusing the issue with several medicinal substances at once.

Yes, this is VERY important. First of all, no one really knows how several remedies will act together on each individual patient. Combination remedies are NOT PROVEN on the healthy and no one knows the affects of mixing all these remedies together. Many combinations have remedies with contradictory mental symptoms, differing thermals, opposite modalities, etc. When you give a combination and there are aggravations, accessory symptoms, and new symptoms there is no way to tell which remedies are causing these problems. Combination remedies are often given by allopathicoid disease names and are not individualized to the causes, signs, symptoms and attending circumstances related to individual case at hand. Using several remedies at once under these conditions also increases the change of suppression. The reason we use 1 proven remedy at a time is that it is scientifically the most prudent thing to do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Are we more concerned with curing the case quickly and effectively or with marking our books with the single remedy that did it?

We are most concerned with safety and understanding the checks and balances that make homeopathy a safe and effective method. We are most concerned with proving single remedies on the healthy so we no exactly what they will do in disease. We are most concerned understand how the each and every remedy is acting on the vital force and the disease. We are most concerned with having a system of posology that controls the powers of individual remedies. We are most concerned with understanding if a remedy is causing a curative action, an aggravation due to over medication, accessory symptoms due to partial simillimums, new symptoms due to wrong remedies or a healing crisis. We are most concerned in having a case management system that can assess the actions of the each and every remedy on the patient and their disease in a safe and reliable manner. We are most concerned with understanding which remedy worked well so we can select complimentary remedies to complete the cure, if necessary. None of this can be done with combinations.

One single remedy at a time selected by the originating cause (when it can be known), the objective signs, the subjective symptoms and the attending circumstances is certainly fast enough in the hands of a well trained homeopath. Safety, not speed, is the primary concern of a conscientious health care practitioner. Besides I have never seen anything that works as fast as a perfect simillimum. Sometimes one remedy cures an entire case and at other times one needs to use a few well chosen remedies to reach the goal. One rarely if ever needs to use as many remedies that are found in some of these combinations that have umpteen remedies!

I have experimented with combination remedies and compared them with single remedies, alternations and a series of remedies if needed. I found that combination sometimes work, sometimes suppressed the symptoms, sometimes confused the case because one could not tell what remedy was causing what side-actions. Even when they worked they did not work as quickly as a well chosen single remedy or series of single remedies. Also, I have discussed this with persons that used combinations for years and then serious took up the study of traditional homeopathy. They have shared many of the same observations.

I would advise those using combinations to study the shortcomings of polypharmacy and understand the signs of suppression and how they are different than the proper direction of cure. I would suggest they understand the signs of a good selection, a similar aggravation, a dissimilar aggravation and accessory symptoms and what they mean. I would suggest that they understand that the size of the dose matters as complex posology methods are offend crude. I also suggest they LEARN the homeopathic material medica well enough that they don't have to always fall back on a shotgun approach. I also suggest that they experiment with single remedies, alternations and series of well chosen remedies rather than always try to give everything at once. I would also suggest they don't imagine their method is so much faster than traditional homeopathy!

Sincerely, David Little

Dear David Little

This is the best spirited defence, I have ever come across, in support of classical homeopathy. You have, very ably, reflected the opinions of the followers of true 'classical homeopathy', and exposed the hollowness of the advocates of 'combination' therapy.

These people are a strange lot, and they keep using the name of homeopathy, without understanding, or , perhaps not caring about the fundamentals of Homeopathy. They are least bothered about the probability of suppressions, and what they are interested, is a palliation.

May your tribe increase.

Regards

Murthy

Dear David Little

I am a member of some other forums, and would like to quote your posts, appropriately. Since, the comon goal of all of us is the spread of 'proper homeopathy' can I quote you, by using these posts?

I may even start a topic titled 'David Little's musings'.

Murthy

Hi David,

Quote:

Originally Posted by David I have found that the smallest dose possible causes the best healing action!

Question:
What is the smalles dose possible?

Regards

Luise

The smallest(the minimum) dose that will cure.
The smallest dose is also the maximum dose; the dose that will not impede the cure or do any harm.

Kind regards, Piet