AV: So trying to find an explanation for ‘the’ homeopathy is wrong.
G: You notice that it gets you into trouble: first you say that there is not one type of homeopathy but that there are different applications according to the level and goal you are aiming for; then you come to the conclusion that there is no consensus because there are different systems and methods that all work. And rather than hoping that they will all narrow down to one system, which will then be canonized, you prefer to leave the different systems free. Everything that is canonized, whether it is literature, architecture, painting, religion, poetry, has the consequence that you have the choice between conforming or being excluded.
AV: Or worse. But isn’t there a theory-of-everything that spans all schools of thought, applications, levels and systems?
AV: Or worse. But isn’t there a theory-of-everything that spans all schools of thought, applications, levels and systems?
G: Of course there is, otherwise, you can’t even speak of homeopathy: there is a dividing line between homeopathy and non-homeopathy, as is the case with everything you focus on. To define something, you need a number of characteristics (dots, as you’d say) that form a pattern and make that pattern distinguishable from all the others.
AV: You mean that a few characteristics, insofar as they signify general characteristics, are sufficient? ‘Fruit’, for example, is such a general characteristic, but we need more to see a pattern, for example ‘yellow’: that already limits the possibilities quite a bit. If we also have ’round’, the choice becomes even smaller and ‘sour’ ensures that you are left with a lemon. In a manner of speaking.
G: That’s what I mean. Can you apply that to homeopathy?
AV: Let’s see: we have: a healing method, based on the law of similarity, with potentiated drugs. That’s about it. I’d exclude the healing setting as an absolute. It does not apply if, for example, people buy a homeopathic kit and help themselves or family members with the help of a concise manual.
G: When they treat family, there is a patient, a healer and a remedy. In self-medication, patient and healer coincide.
AV: With specifics, there is no question of individualization, so I left that out as well. But in the vast majority of cases, the healing setting and individualization is part of the pattern.
G: Importantly, they are not crucial features, but the first three are, which make the difference with all other systems.
AV: So we have the theory that covers it all?!
G: (smiles) That’s right. Any questions?
Horizontal and vertical similarity
AV: We’ve already discussed the ubiquity of the principle of similarity, so I think we can start on my list of questions.
G: Why don’t you start?
AV: I notice that a lot of questions have been solved….
G: If you tackle the essentials first, the details may not matter as much.
AV: We’ve talked about the fact that everyone is unique. There is really no other option. In all of creation, there are no identical phenomena, but there are many similar ones. As I wrote in “The Charm of Homeopathy”, the ultimate consequence of individualization is that everyone needs a different remedy. But that can never be an effective system where you must find the similar source among billions of possibilities. So, it has to be ‘similar enough’, perhaps belonging to the same ‘family’ to cause resonance….
G: That’s the horizontal similarity, but there’s also a vertical similarity. Homeopaths who work in a shamanic way usually apply it, consciously or unconsciously. That, again, could lead to amusing homeopathic discussions.
AV: Because we don’t know or understand the workings or the laws. It would benefit homeopathy if we could use both ‘similarities’, horizontal and vertical. Perhaps that is also the reason why some homeopaths claim that all patients need either an animal remedy, a polychrest or a miasmatic remedy. It could be the vertical capstone. Not surprisingly, this is a remedy from a realm other than the similimum.
But aren’t we creating a problem now? What does vertical remedies? How do we find out? Figuring out horizontal remedies don’t seem that difficult at first glance, although it sometimes remains guesswork. Let’s say we’ve given a Spider remedy but we’re looking for another more suitable Spider. We only have about thirty of them in our catalogue, but 50,000 spider species have been described: how can we ever choose the right one!?
G: Those thirty are enough to find one that resonates….
AV: …… am I saying, but is this correct?
G: For the time being, yes.
AV: Look, that’s one of those typical answers that frustrates me: the feeling that we have to be satisfied with an explanation that is not the true explanation, but for the time being we can’t understand the true one.
The ‘preliminary’ explanation: resonance
G: That’s right. Consider for a moment that your body is made up of trillions of cells, each of which is made up of trillion atoms, and that there are thousands and thousands of processes of dizzying complexity going on every second. And then also remember that this body, which is a universe in itself, is part of a greater whole, is in contact with all human and other beings and has constant interchange, with the whole nature in which this body moves, breathes, steps and lets it traces. All nature is aware of your presence and if you are attentive, you will catch all the signals of that nature of the earth, the air, the water, the stones, algae, mosses, plants, flowers and animals, and in that whole overwhelming symphony of vibrating life you would like to change everything, balance and harmonize everything with one homeopathic remedy?
AV: If you put it that way, it seems too ambitious. It is actually a miracle that a well-chosen remedy can have any effect at all in this complexity.
G: That’s the potential of homeopathy. If there is a false note in this whole interplay, this symphony I just depicted, due to a badly tuned instrument, a homeopathic remedy can help tune this instrument and the whole symphony will sound harmonious again.
AV: It seems like most people have more than one instrument out of tune. Would we need more than one remedy?
G: We use images and analogies to convey our ideas, but a human being is not a symphonic orchestra with material instruments. For the sake of comparison, we have also omitted the mental, emotional, and cosmic influences. Sounding out of tune is a figure of speech, just as the old books speak of “disorder in the system” or a “disturbed dynamis”. They refer to an original natural order and harmony. It is not perceived but in harmony or ‘order’ it sets man free to make use of this instrument for higher purposes: the famous aphorism 9 in the Organon. It is only when there is disorder, disharmony or ‘false notes’ that we notice it and are troubled by it. When organs are working well and harmoniously attuned to each other, you don’t feel them. They accomplish their task continuously, at lightning speed and with immense complexity. This happens in the background, without drawing attention. When there is a signal of pain or discomfort, it can come from the headquarters as well as from the periphery. The conductor may be unwell, or a violin may be out of tune. Sometimes order is restored spontaneously, the human body and by extension all living beings are equipped with a self-healing ability.
AV: What we call the flu is actually the self-healing ability that cleans up and puts on piled garbage from the cells outside. As a result, we feel unwell, go to rest, fast for a while, our body produces a fever and so we can dispose of that garbage.
G: You can see the same mechanism at work in other diseases.
AV: I’m also inclined to prescribe homeopathic remedies when I have the impression that the self-healing ability can’t make it on its own or could use a little help. But chronic diseases are a whole different story; You could rather call that an innate ‘imperfection’. With the similimum, the patient remains basically himself and the world unchanged experience: the whole discussion about whether there is such a thing as a ‘Healthy Lion’ or whether the ‘Lion song’ disappears when the patient is cured. When a patient needs the drug Lac Leoninim, i.e. lion, the ‘lion song’ that disturbs the patient’s song disappears after ingestion, according to some homeopaths. They compare it to a disturbance on the radio that makes your broadcast disturbed and unclear. But the similimum is based on the uniqueness of the patient: how could we take this away? What would remain would then be the same human primordial melody for everyone: all the same. So, in a sense, the ‘imperfection’ remains. Why?
G: It’s my toolkit, if you will, to gain experiences in 3D from a specific perspective.
AV: And because you don’t want to have the same experience twice, everyone is different, is that it? For that matter, why do you never create two or more identical phenomena?
G: Why should I? Once the experience is enough.
AV: Because you can create anything, just for fun.
G: I’m having enough fun, thank you.
AV: I mean, if you can make everything, you can make two of the same copies, right? Identical twins come pretty close but are not identical.G: But identical phenomena exist; You can clone from female creatures without the intervention of males.
