When we analyse a case with the idea of the different levels of experience, the main difficulty is to differentiate between level 4 and level 5, being the level of the character and the vital sensation.
The different levels of experience, of which I have written extensively, and I believe are well known by the majority of homeopaths, represent in short:
the body (level 1 is the tangible, measurable quantitative level, level 2 is the functional qualitative level) and
the mind (level 3 is the emotional level, and 4 the mental level) .
Looking for a similimum, we aim at level 5, which Sankaran calls the ‘Sensation level’ and I -in line with Hahnemann- the ‘Vital level’. As Hahnemann considered disease a disturbance from the ‘vital force’, expressing itself with signs and symptoms on mind and body, it must by definition be a level beyond mind and body. It doesn’t get more classical than this.
In practice, it turns out not to be easy to differentiate between level 4 and 5. The major question being: what belongs to the ‘character’ and what is ‘vital’ ? We don’t prescribe on the personality, yet there is a personality in front of us and the ‘Vital’ disturbance will also be expressed on the mental/emotional level. How to make a distinction? Over and over again homeopaths in Master Classes expressed their difficulty deciding what characteristic belongs on which level. Therefor we need some clarification.
The first observation is that disturbances originating on level 4 are responsible for psycho-somatic symptoms.
Up to now I concentrated on the unconscious layer of the Psyche, where the -what I call- ‘mythical’ difficulties produce symptoms.
The ‘mind’ itself has three layers if you will: the conscious, subconscious and unconscious. This is general psychology we are familiar with. Mythical conflicts have to do with collective initiation thresholds, or we could say: universal experiences. When a person gets stuck and is unable to take the necessary steps, the body will come to a rescue with producing sudden, severe and therapy-resistant symptoms. Other pointers are that they have a clear begin and will melt like snow for the sun when resolved. The symptoms will only succumb to dragging the unconscious to the conscious layer. This can be brought about by all kind of cathartic psychological approaches. Or with a homeopathic remedy. Usually, it only needs to be given once, and the results are dramatic. While many homeopaths might think the action was so profound, it must have been a similimum, according to me it is a level 4 mythical prescription Why I say so is because the symptoms disappear, but the patient is the same. With a similimum the ‘sick is restored to health’ as Hahnemann tells us to pursue. This is something different than taking the symptoms away, regardless of the fabulous relief a patient might feel.
Restoring the sick to health -in my understanding- means the person becomes freer (cfr Vithoulkas), more OK with himself (and hence the world) and more coherent.
There is no need to talk more about the conscious part of our mental level as we are all too acquainted with it in daily functioning. We rationalize, explain, understand, calculate and reason with it. In homeopathic practice it delivers few if any symptoms.
The subconscious mind is the seat of neuroses, which we all have to a more or lesser extent. On that layer also reside the delusions, our irrational thoughts, fears and actions.
Here is where it becomes hard.
Delusions have been considered for a long time as the deepest level in a person and a basis for prescription. In the background there is always this idea that a homeopathic remedy acts better the more it encompasses the ‘essence’ of the person. This left us with the difficulty to define what the elements of this essence are. The history of homeopathy showed that the definition transferred from ‘totality of symptoms’, to ‘essence’, to ‘basic delusion’ to ‘sensation’. (Some go a step further and go to ‘source’, level 6 so to speak). I work with 5 levels which I consider sufficient for homeopathic purposes, for the time being.
In practise it is not easy to differentiate between a basic delusion and a vital disturbance.
Let me attempt to give a few possible hints.
As stated earlier: the Vital disturbance/ State will express itself with signs and symptoms on mind and body. Expressing on a Mind level inevitably includes language, hence symbolizing.
I make a little excursion here to depict the ramifications of that. Language is a symbolizing activity of the psyche. It is how we are able to navigate and communicate in our world. From the earliest childhood, even as an infant, it starts with learning who is ‘me’ and who is ‘mama’ or the other. All objects in the world of the child get a label: bottle, cooky, doll, rabbit. Soon also moral connotations are added to this super-fast expanding vocabulary: good, bad, beautiful, dirty, naughty. In only a few years the whole world is mapped and identified, including the power and influence of words. One can refuse or demand, make jokes, lie, shock, upset, seduce and so much more with it.
As soon as the child learns to speak, it learns symbolizing. Its stuffed animal is a ‘rabbit’ but so is the pink talking up and singing creature in a video clip, the simplified drawing in his story book as well as the real rabbit in the neighbour’s garden. A small child recognizes an apple in two dimensions, drawn and painted in red, yellow or green depictions in his books, no matter how big or small, as well as a bigger than life advertisement, an apple tree or a speaking apple on television. Children understand, implicit, that the symbol represents the ‘real thing’, no matter how distorted, as long as it contains enough characteristics to recognize the pattern. That is why children don’ see difficulties in drawing a ‘man’ with only a circle for his head, a vertical line for the body and 4 lines for the extremities. Adults understand recognize more symbols than they realize in public buildings and places. In short: symbolizing starts as soon as we come on this planet and defines our perception of reality. It differs depending on the culture we are born in, and accounts for an important part of our character (and an extra difficulty for the homeopath: we must take culture into account in our analysis).
Back to the fact that level 5 necessarily expresses itself -mainly- by language, hence level 4, by symbolizing. That gives a kind of ‘noise’ or interference to the expression of the vital sensation. The patient might struggle to find the right words. What is his sensation after all? Nobody ever asks such question; it is the way a person perceives himself (and thus the world) but it is so familiar, it never seemed to be necessary to verbalize it. Until you go to a homeopath….
So that is one form of noise. Another one is ‘explaining’ the vital sensation. For instance, the patient says: ‘because’ ‘the reason is that’ etc. Rationalisations contaminate the report.
Or the patient adds interpretations to his vital sensation, for instance: ‘it feels as if my energy is sucked away’, ‘it is my fear of abandonment’, ‘I cannot but stand by powerlessly’.
And finally, the patient might be unable to find suitable words or can’t express himself clearly. After weeding out the noise caused by symbolizing, interpreting, explaining and lacking language, we still have to differentiate between level 4 and 5.
The most important question is: how can we know the information gathered is either and experience (5) or a product of the mind (4).
The patient is, generally speaking, unable to help us with this and we have to proceed in indirect ways. Penetrating the mind in an attempt to push through to the vital level almost always leads to extensive exploration of the subconscious mind, with all its associations, imaginations and comparisons. What comes out is predictable mind stuff and remarkably yields mostly to ‘conceptual remedies’ (like Vulcano, Wind, Black hole, Laser beam). Often these remedies bring about wonderful cures. But as said: it might as well be a mythical prescription. We witnessed level 4 cures and therefor know how deep and spectacular cures might be.
