Radical Healing with Marketa & Me

“The reconnection that is the essence of healing is a process that reaches deeper and deeper, reshaping your consciousness and redirecting your energy so that your body is brought into greater and greater synchrony with the pulsing of the larger wholes of which you are a part. The farthest reaches of healing stretch the mind and stagger the imagination. It is a matter of cosmic proportions.”
Rudolph Ballentine, Radical Healing, 1999

My last year of self-reflection and reaching out about my progress has brought me to understand that balanced health always comes down to Awareness and the timing of it, Synchronicity. My last year has been one of  "Being" and "Action" in this regard. With Homeopathy its' amazed me how much I've managed to accomplish internally and externally.

Part I) On "Being" over the Last Year

"Being in the middle of it"; being at a "Standstill", in "The eye of a storm" or the "Vortex"...defined "...in Cartesian philosophy [as] a rapid rotatory movement of cosmic matter about a center, regarded as accounting for the origin or phenomena of bodies or systems of bodies in space". See the handy dandy online dictionary.com site for Vortex definition(s). Also, see the Kees Dam's Lac maternum piece in Interhomeopathy that has insight on potency* as well as timing for healing (at the end of the case, http://www.interhomeopathy.org/sweet_sweet_mothers_milk).

* - Something that I am contemplating and experimenting with these days is Potencies as "levels of awareness". So, please send me anything you find that links these two things. And for that matter, anything on Repetition of Dose as it relates to "synchronicity" too.

This place of stillness is not passive, but very active with rapid movement and change. In myself, over the last few years I have lived shifts weekly, granted mostly monthly, but at times almost daily. The state appears to be one of contradiction. It is and it is not. As you know, contradiction interests us Homeopaths. It's where we can get a hold of a patient's state. Often when there is discomfort with contradictions our patients come to us for help (even when they are not aware of it). I have concluded with experience, that there is a dis-ease with living with one's contradictions. Something akin to hypocrisy or, more precisely, the feeling of a disconnect in and to one's life. But, contradiction or being able to sit with discomfort can bring us closer to living in harmony in the end. For instance, there can be a co-existence of opposites: with darkness comes light, etc. With balance and, thus, health we can have polarities reside with each other in peace. In my case, I believe now with the help of Homeopathy that I live with healthy contradictions, not the ones that indicate I am hiding something - and, in fact when I was unhealthy I didn't even know that I was full of contradictions of the kind that couldn't really be integrated.

I feel the new Systems of Homeopathy that exist are what I am all about these days. They can seem contradictory as well, but they are in a good way. Systemizing something but having within the system a freedom to be creative is having things that appear to be polar opposites peacefully co-exist. This is what, I believe, appeals to so many of us with the systemic perspective now of our Materia Medica because it contextualizes the parts to make a whole...Starting with myself, I am a being who is a system: complex and, at last, coming to a simplicity, in that I am not a mass of confusion or parts that are disconnected. Rather my parts are now running together towards an end that makes sense of all the independent pieces. This is an example of the "reconnection" in the opening quotation.

Recently I read the words of the plenary speakers for a conference on "Aging and Spirituality" to



A mystical song from Marketa Irglova's Muna, 2014

be held in Los Angeles (the same weekend of Louis Klein's October Vancouver seminar, so no palm trees for me). "There are circum-stances that must shatter you; and if you are not shattered, then you have not understood your circumstances. In such circumstances, it is a failure for your heart not to break, and it is pointless to put up a fight, for a fight will blind you to the opportunity that has been presented by your misfortune." At times like these, indeed all the time as we grow older, author and gerontologist Jane Marie Thibault suggests that we think of our lives not as a journey, but as a pilgrimage. Mature spirituality is not just about smelling the roses on an endless path. The truth is that like it or not, we are all on our way to the same ultimate destination. "Dignify the shock," she writes. "Sink, so as to rise."(Leon Weiselter on Thibault. See Fierce with Age website for info.).  For the Homeopathy seminar that I am off to next month see here: http://www.homeopathycourses.com/louis-klein-master-seminars-2015/. It'll be all about the New Methodologies and how to actually apply them, always useful - clinically relevant as is Klein's trademark.


Part of the reason I am at last getting into my stride as a Homeopath is that I am integrating my own experiences/traumas - all the parts of my life...living an existence that has all my memories - experiences of them even at the cellular level - coming together to make a whole. Ahhhh, a whole manifested being! This is a big deal 'cause all the reading and attempts made in the past are now finally paying off. Thanks to the transformative power of Homeopathic remedies. Being both a patient and also having my own patients has afforded me the opportunity to witness healing that moves us to a reconnection with the cosmos, the "larger wholes", again from the opening quotation/book Radical Healing.

It is very much a time of transition for me. This is the stuff about me being in flux, but yet at a standstill (in the Vortex). I have had several years of practice with my patients, observing them. Moving from watching their hand gestures to their responses when sharing their stories during the Intake interview to seeing their miraculous cures.

I can fully appreciate what a blessing it is that we can learn and grow ourselves as healers from their journeys towards being whole. As a patient myself I have had the benefit of the healing work of some great Homeopaths that have helped me make the shift that has then enabled me to be better at being there for my patients, and, of course, being a better individual for myself, my family and friends. I wonder which came first, the chicken or the egg? Did I already have an ability for being a Homeopath or did my patients impart this ability on me? My feeling is it's about standing still...long enough, in my case, as I am almost ADHD or at least very impatient at times;-)

Detachment (with compassion as in Buddhist teachings on Attachment) has allowed for a true connection with others. I am not talking here about taking on the issues of our patients, but, rather, hearing with self-awareness what is going on - again the state of the person, what they are about, their stories, their life's themes, their issues or the problem of their case (to be precise and according to Scholten). To paraphrase a Canadian author in an interview I just heard the other day: Empathy is not about pity or even compassion but about getting into the shoes of others, their lives. Good Homeopathy is like Art, a good novel or a beautiful painting with perfectly executed brushstrokes...and in so many ways...including being poor and starving, ha ha.

One aspect of my own case has been coming to terms with my Shadow, one that in the past put me into a state of shame (or guilt on a good day). But with Homeopathy, an acceptance of my Shadow is making it possible to move forward. Although I am not exactly aiming to embrace it, I want to come to a place of acknowledging it and integrating my past "shameful" or at least "regrettable" actions/patterns in order to move thru them to a new place (one that has me detached enough from them so as to be able to recognize in the moment when I am basically behaving in certain ways in order that I can shift gears and act differently). To change habits/patterns is hard, but with energetic shifts that Homeopathic remedies offer we have hope to do this...to be transformed and be closer to being Whole.

In just a sec I will touch on the concrete things I am doing with patients, using specific Families of remedies that I find extremely beneficial for this work, especially in times of change or transition. As many of you know, we see many of our patients at these times of what I see as a discomfort with their old ways. Even if they do not know it, this is when they often turn to Homeopathy. And do I not know it myself. I just had my case taken by an outstanding Homeopath because I too am at a time like this again; on all fronts of my life (or facets of my case). I am shifting and moving but in a still enough place - Hello Vortex or "Eye of the Storm" - so, this time not exactly stuck like I was several years ago. I think, therefore, a snapshot of my state is likely very clear...I certainly love it when I get a patient that comes to me in this state. I hope that my dis-ease is clear, but do hope it gets cleared up sooner than later too...Any day now I will take my remedy - just awaiting its arrival by post and then will hopefully get a nudge in the right direction.

Always a sign for me that a patient has moved from the primary reaction of a remedy - that sets the impetus into action but is doing most of the work - to the secondary reaction with their Vital Force or their own "innate healing action" doing its thing. This is about the inner core of the person...what energizes their actions because the self-awareness has kicked in:-) So, which came first? me witnessing this or me taking the lead to spot out the patient's state based on my own self-awareness? As you know, whenever we ask the chicken or egg question we can never know the answer. It would be about being sure of not only the causative agent(s) but also assuming we know what is the desired outcome. And this is not at all possible to know (even once it is supposedly a "closed case") nor desired...except when we forget to be humbled by the results we see in our practices...remembering to be amazed at the possibilities that unfold before our eyes.

Part II) On "Action" this Recent Year of My Life

When we see the secondary reaction we know it cause the patient is not the source or substance speaking any longer but comes from a place of "Doing" or "Action" (and not "Being the Source"). At the start of any curative action with a good remedy, we see an uncanny - almost comical - reaction of the patient that can only be described as a possession. There's a hold on them that is somewhat like a Proving. But because there are beneficial aspects like being energized, eating or sleeping better, having some meaningful dreams (huge!)...as well as their old symptoms coming to the fore (as in Hering's Law), we know it is not a Proving.

I personally need to see this clean reaction to know that the remedy is more than just good, but correct - as in the best possible fit I can get or match them to. For me, I believe it is at this place that self-awareness is finally truly possible and that's what is gonna to make it possible for healing to happen for them (myself included). This possibility allows for what we know to be the secondary reaction to kick in. I have come at last to this place: awareness is key and without it I realize I would not have any hope of moving out of a place of feeling ill at ease. I used to be on a path or journey stopping to smell the flowers along the way, but this was not much different from early on (when I had no inkling of myself as a person in need of help) when I was actually just distracting myself with, well, distractions (diversions or diverging off the path) - engaging often in self-destructive and harmful acts to avoid the core issues of my life. I have now shifted with Homeopathy to being a pilgrim.

Unfortunately, I think I have to still sink a little more on this pilgrimage of mine. Shit. But, shit happens, and, therefore, I will hopefully be able to rise out of this shit and come out the other end with dignity: with some wisdom. Cross your fingers for me for the next several months. It is going to get ugly...again, but deeper and better in the end I hope. I am hoping that with early remedies and with "work on my issues" and all that stuff that it'll not be as low as in the early part of my pilgrimage. For me, turning to Buddhism has been helpful and not necessarily a crutch but a pillar of support that I feel has been loving and kind and brings with the meditation (and a sprinkling of yoga) that I've tried to do has rubbed off on me. And with this round, I will be more conscious about it as a practice in my life. So, again cross your fingers for me, cause I feel precariously perched and could easily fall off the wagon without an impetus such as Homeopathy.



More than Once makes this worth a listen...it's mystical
and magical music.

I have been listening to some lovely songs with very relevant lyrics...truly spiritual works. They are by Marketa Irglova on her second album called Muna. All the songs are simply sublime and I could listen to them a thousand times. I listen to music when I work on cases, not at first but once on a roll having found at least the direction I feel that is going to get a remedy for a patient. I listen to music when I clean house and cook as well. In the morning it helps me get grounded to start the day and then later on as a steady pulse of energy if I need to be driven and keep going when I am focused. I am listening to music right now as I type out thoughts to share with you. I feel connected to the planet with music...but not if I am in nature - either at the seaside or by big freshwater bodies of water or in the woods. I was fortunate to have a summer just now of all of these with the last being a trip north of Toronto to do some camping and canoeing ("I am Canadian" as one of our beer ads proclaims, lol). Nature and the music I am listening to these days helped me revive after all the activity of the last year (The new Blue Rodeo album In our Nature is excellent as well. Canadian stuff, unlike Marketa - who is in Iceland these days but from the Czech Republic originally - all prior to her Once debut at the Oscars and on Broadway).

Here's my list of what I did in terms of "Action":

1) Lots of great cases/patient work with an expansion of how I prescribe. Part of this focus on my practice came 'cause I made a decision to let go of being the book sales representative in North America for Narayana Publisher's - this was hard to do...but, now I see that I had to or I wouldn't come to where I am ready to go the extra mile - i.e.- full time practice...which enabled me to get good cases of Plants, new remedies (and old ones or ones that are very related/close to Polycrests on the Periodic Table (i.e. - Ozone) or close Botanically...as in new Plant remedies).

2014's 20th Anniversary Issue: The Past, Present
and the Future of Homeopathy

2) Plant System articles/cases, one for Simillimum and one for The American Homeopath (reflective of my coming home, as it were, as I often go seeking outside of my roots/self to connect, i.e. - get approval from outside of myself - so, local publications represent a shift for me).

3) Lacs reviews of books/cases for publication (another Simillimum piece- already published and also The American Homeopath again, this one pending - need that remedy to kick my butt into gear to wrap it up, especially an accompanying case of Lac delphinum).

4) Prescribing for Miasms and Chakras with new remedies -- New Nosodes (Klein), Colours (Ambika Wauters) and Gemstones (Peter Tumminello) -- with work on a curriculum for teaching other Homeopaths...

5) And for patients something I am doing: a Memoir Writing group - that will also be for myself to document my personal life journey (a Homeopathic Autobiography of sorts)...oops, pilgrimage. The latter is going to be made into my Thesis for Louis Klein's Master Clinician Course, as that is what is left to do to be a full graduate of it. What came first, the chicken or the egg here? for sure, it was the chicken in that it grew (albeit from the egg) organically (and free run, lol) so as to then become a proposal for being a Thesis. I will for sure share what I learn from running a group for patients that have had success with Homeopathy with me and who memoir write with me to give meaning to their lives - what the group is going to do over the next several months. I hope all the patients I invited are going to sign up in the next few weeks....many of whom are the ones that I have prescribed, intermittently, remedies for their evolution since doing well for a least a couple of years on their Constitutional remedies. These "intermittent" rxs are the Colour, Sound and Gemstones that I have been working with of late. Love 'em and will share with you all in future on this experience.

6) I will mention that I have on the back burner but always running though my mind (again, need the impetus of my remedy!) the idea or the makings of a Book Club for us Homeopaths. To keep us all up to date with the prolific authors/Homeopaths we have in our midst and that without we can not practice in a way that advances us and our work for the benefit of patients. So, slowly but surely it will happen...if you contact me on this or any of my cases or articles I will send you what interests you. Next I will either have condensed versions here in my Blog of cases or a write up on the Vancouver Klein seminar I attend in less than a month...or on credentials and staking my claim in Homeopathy as a practitioner (see below)...or on the above, #4) or #5). Um, so many ideas, so little time.

So, at last I start to finish up. To show you how slow change is for me and many of the people I see I will say, that also in the last year, I have moved from a place of being an outsider to wanting to be an insider: at last, acknowledging that credentials are a good thing and that it doesn't mean that if I join an association or society of Homeopaths or get licensed and such that I am a sell out. I have always been a renegade to a degree in all that I have done (even Social Work, how? who knows?). On one level it helped me to get a perspective that was unique in order to have insights not possible if I was too much on the inside. But now, I am again awaiting the magic of Homeopathy to do its thing so I can start again!! on my applications. This all is another story and another posting. Patience is a virtue and with the awareness of my own (slow) evolution I am able to at last see that I must be patient with my patients as well. At the start I was always like "Hurry up and heal" but now see it is time and time only that we need to give ourselves and others for healing...being pilgrims that are going at a pace that works for them, so as not to get blisters or end up hobbling or even crawling on the path. So, having said that, give me a few months to reach out again and blog a piece on something for you all.

BTW, my remedy has arrived just today - yikes!@#!! Wish me luck! Until next time, I wish you all the best in whatever capacity you are moving forward in your endeavors, or "Actions". If we all keep in mind, that "Being" is valid and that without it there is no movement/change, or "Action". As you know, it is just the other side of the same coin. Be well in all the ways that you all are able. Peace.

                                ____________________________________________

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and righting, there is a field. I will meet you there." Rumi
 

Our Lacs Literature: Lacking No More!

Book #1) One of the first Homeopathy books I ever owned was the great collection of Milks from Homeopathic Links (The Materia Medica of Milk: Collected Articles). It brought the Family of Lacs into our awareness. With its' superb Introduction covering the group's Themes thru to information on the individual substances/rxs & their symptoms it was simply brilliant (13 rxs from Lac asinum to Lac suis with Lac humanum sitting appropriately in the middle). It was well worth what I thought to be a hefty price during my "student days". Just like breastfeeding, how can any Homeopath argue that Lacs are not a natural grouping. Most certainly a classification we have benefited from...or, should I say, been nourished by.

Some practitioners resist prescribing based on Families, but, nonetheless, will group remedies according to some form of classification: we are all familiar with pathology based groupings. Longstanding ones or chronic ones, dare I say, that come to mind are "The Grief Remedies", "The Insane Remedies", the Headache or Diarrhea Remedies, not to forget the Malarial Remedies or Whooping Cough Remedies, etc. Our old time masters and, of course, Hahnemann were doing this. Naturally the Miasmatic rxs can be seen as pathologically based but as you know, Hahnemann himself did not only mean to classify a rx per dx but also as a way to clear ancestral Miasmatic imprints that were more about susceptibility as far as energetic resonance - even from one's cultural/geographical perspective as has been discussed of late (another posting my friends). All in all, since early times in our history, Themes of remedies were observed. As early as Kent the Essence of remedy pictures were being captured as a predecessor to modern Family Classification - of the variety I am speaking about when I talk about the Themes of the Milks for instance. Kees Dam's Introduction in the Materia Medica of Milk is still worth referencing to this day as it set the bedrock from which we can add to our knowledge of the Lacs: "I have attempted to give a format that can serve as a start for anyone who wants to elaborate, expand and deepen it more." (p. 22) A great way to bring a resource and a Family into the fold. 

The Lacs definitely have their Themes with individual remedies of the Family falling under various groupings. A prime example of this is found in Louis Klein's Clinical Focus Guide. For Lac delphinum he has the rx as part of the following "Homeopathic Groups & Miasms: Soft-sided Group, Milk Group, Cancer Group, Rabies Miasm". (p. 151)  This rx is a prime example of the many expressions in human form of a remedy's source...of course, there are so many, but the Lacs certainly do lend themselves to this. Personal Aside for Your Information: It takes one to know one - I am a Lac rx and when I behave and think in a way that relates to source it's almost funny, I have to say...now that I can have a sense of humour about my rx, which was not easy initially...likely because I am finally moving out of the state, at last!! It is not a pretty picture to be a Lac, let me tell you!
 

Further to this, we can also look at Families, for example, within the context of the Source. Homeopathic Families can be from a Botanical Family: The groundwork of both Scholten and Yakir's work that we are now able to benefit from with their Plant Systems that are based on Botanical Classification. Substances with common elements/composition can be grouped together, with Lacs or Acids being obvious examples of this. Thus, Lacs can be grouped via their similar constituent parts/chemicals never mind their Themes as per Mental/Emotional and their Physicals (And Phys as you may know can very well express under Themes that tie them to the Mental sphere of the state).

Here is Milks info with Contents to look over and Lac-c case: http://www.narayana-verlag.com/The-Materia-Medica-of-Milk/Corrie-Hiwat-Harry-van-der-Zee/b1275?page=1 

Book #2) So, if we were to put Family groupings on a Classification Continuum of sorts we would have the Pathology based remedies at one end and on the other end we would have something like what Massimo Mangialavori does in his work: remedies of different sources grouped under headings such as "Destruction/Self-Destruction". See here as example: (http://www.narayana-publishers.com/Self-Destructiveness-The-Acids-and-Similars-in-Homeopathic-Medicine/Massimo-Mangialavori/b2547).

Under this heading you find not only Acids but Spiders, Solanaceae and many other sources of remedies that have the Theme of Destruction. Just to be clear, he points out that we Humans by nature are destructive, but, as is the case in Homeopathy when a Theme of Destruction (or whatever other Theme/element that can be named as a Rubric for example) is found in a case or in a remedy it has to be really a big deal or predominant – albeit it can be subtle but running almost as an unseen undercurrent in the case, as with the Acids. So, maybe we see Destructiveness at the onset of illness in a subtle way and as well on mental plane in less obvious way then we would with, say a Snake (mind you some Snakes have destruction in subtle ways too (it all depends, as we say!) – but outward Destruction is a little different than what the Acids are about – they burn thru things and harm themselves along the way even more than   Snakes).

The Lacs work of Massimo Mangialavori is grouped under the heading or Theme of "Identity and Individualism". See here: http://www.narayana-verlag.com/Notes-Session-5/Massimo-Mangialavori/b1832?page=1

I am sure that his latest book, Praxis, would have some Lacs info as well and one day I hope to find out...got it on my Wish List;-)

I should mention here that Kees Dam points out that Rajan Sankaran has the Lac element as being the "basic feeling" for a patient in his way of viewing Lacs as a Family and that the "compulsion" is the Mammal aspect of the rx/state (this is captured as well by Massimo's heading). You feel that your identity is not strong and so you act to individualize yourself, the story of my life folks, lol! Sankaran's reference is in Spirit of Homeopathy...and on p. 9 of M.M. of Milk.

The Family of Lacs is an obvious grouping and now with all the great literature available to us it would be a total shame if we are not prescribing from the full range of available and potential Milks. I simply can't fathom that there are practitioners that think only to use just what was available in Hahnemann's time – Lac caninum as an example of a rx that gets overly prescribed from what I sense (note - it was a Rottweiler that sourced the milk). As early as 1905, James Tyler Kent stated in his lectures on Lac caninum: "All the milks should be potencized, they are our most excellent remedies, they are animal products and foods from early animal life and therefore correspond to the beginning of our innermost physical nature. If we had full provings of monkey's, cow's, mare's and human milk they would be of great value." (Lectures on Materia Medica).

Book #3) Jane Cicchetti in her lovely book Dreams, Symbols, and Homeopathy has a whole chapter on "Milk Symbolism" and it is here you can get a good sense of the potential that Kent saw for the Lacs. She shares with us that in his time there were Lac caninum, Lac felinum and Lac vaccinum (cow's milk) as proven by Samuel Swan, MD. He also did provings of individual constituents of cow's milk, including Lac defloratum. See pp's: 169-78 for info on this.

At the start of my studies in Homeopathy I missed the earlier Links journal issues with lots of Lac cases – the historic Lac maternum work of Tinus Smits, for instance...when he first introduced this remedy to the international Homeopathic community (5/99, Volume 12, Millennium issue of Homeopathic Links). I started my subscription in 2004 and there was always mention of the Lacs but interestingly I did not see the rxs as belonging to a Family. We most often learn from our cases and since I had no Milks in my caseload (or did I?) I didn't take much notice of the literature (until I got my Milks book that is and actually still somehow only viewed theorectically). As mentioned already I am a Lac rx, but early on in my career I was not given this rx, so I think I can be forgiven my Lac(k) of awareness and interest in the Lacs... but for a while now many of my patients have done well on Lacs when called for - now it doesn't surprise me that at any given time a Lac will be needed by someone that we are seeing in our practice.

Nowadays newbies on the scene can take the Lacs for granted, getting exposure to a very nice array of books that have since been published, complimenting the Links Milks beautifully. Since there will be a Lac coming your way any day now, ha ha, I will continue with my overview of the Lacs Literature and what information I know to be available to date.

Already, you have the Mangialavori info...which incidently was not exactly a book but part of the Session Notes from his 3 year International Post-Graduate Course (read, advanced course, as in the HMC of Klein that we have on our shores - they both do Webinars, so now, hey, you don't have to travel...mind you Italy would be grand! I can't complain cause this summer I go to Klein for advanced learning, he holds a retreat on an Island...Bowen Island, B.C. - I can hardly wait, my first time and so feel I now have Arrived!). Note - Massimo's MM and his Theming work were part of MacRep and was available to Homeopaths with that software early on.

This is everything else that we have to date:

Book #4) The journal Spectrum of Homeopathy did a great issue on Lacs called Cats and Dogs. This was issue number 1 of 2012. Here we get a view from the pinnacle of what Homeopathy can offer by way of prescribing the Lacs: simply outstanding, as are all things Spectrum. Half of the issue is devoted to the Canidae Family remedies – with Husky and Coyote cases by David Johnson of the US thru to Lac caninum (Alsatian) or German Shepherd by Heinz Wittwer of Switzerland. All are presented so as to give a well rounded picture of the Lac-c related remedies.

The other half of the issue is on the Felidae Family remedies. It has the basics of what are similar in the Cat Family with awesome cases from Britain's Jonathan Hardy of Lac-leoninum and Sanguis panther tigris (does a DD of the Big Cats as do the Joshi's that is handy to have on hand). And
there is a wild case, so to speak, of Alize Timmerman of the Netherland's whereby she treats a couple that are 2 very different Lacs (Caninum and Leolinum!). You can see commonalities or Themes, but, more to the point, what was clearly illustrated for me was that the correct Lac must be given and that if one sticks with only a few Lacs in their prescriptions it will not be helpful in anyway for our patients. Been there, done that...in my cases for instance where I over or misused Lac-maternum in lieu of the exact milk of another mammal, as in Lac-leoninum or lupinum. Mind you, it was not totally for naught because in one case when I "opened with" Lac-m it brought out the true state of a boy that was there all along but quite hard to pin point...as is the case with Lac-lupinum. This is mentioned specifically about this rx in a book I will tell you about later...Lac Remedies in Practice (why oh why, did I not see that his dream of putting on a wolf's head for "Show- and-Tell" in his Kindergarten was not an indication of him resonating as a wolf, lol).

Here is info on this most wonderfully up-to-date resource: http://www.narayana-publishers.com/spectrum-homeopathy/spectrum-of-homoeopathy-012012?fromOverview=homeopathy-news

Book #5) I'll mention here that my other source of info on the Lacs early on was what I got from Louis Klein in his HMC course that I finished Spring of 2012. He has great cases and off the top of my head I can recall (and visualize from the videocases) the Lac-caprinum patient – a fabulous case whereby the sexual aspect of not just the goat itself but the lonely goat herder was captured in this man, fascinating, and a nice curative rx for him (as clearly no other Lac rx would have been). As with all of Klein's material he Themes it right away and beautifully, with the Lacs being no exception. Something to keep in mind with the Lacs from his practice and what I can now confirm: with patients needing a Lac, you see the Animal but in a muted form: washed, as if with milk. As an example of this: my Lac-delphinium case stopped competitive sports due to being too aggressive when playing sports. This was in order not to injure others on her own team but especially the opposing side. This is a great example of the human expression of this source...those noses are hard on dolphins (and even sharks can be dissuaded from attacking dolphins when a pod of them put their "noses to the grindstone", ha ha). The patient's sport was hockey and as some of you may know, you can really get hurt and hurt others in this sport, especially when it is played Canadian style. As well, from Klein, his take on this Lac in particular is that there are Family Secrets - this is somethg unique to Klein about Lac - delphinum/what he has seen in his practice...it is in fact what lead me to the rx (okay, my Clinical Supervisor lead me to the rx based on Klein's work...I shall not lie - which I would never tell a lie, even though I am a competitive animal, but since I am a Lac I likely wouldn't as much as one which has a venom for instance, ha ha).

Book #6) A comprehensive book about the Lacs that really is gorgeous and also shifted how Lacs/Animal consciousness/rx states have been viewed is Nancy Herrick's Animal Mind, Human Voices: Provings of Eight New Animal Remedies. It was actually on the scene prior to the Milks book (it was published in 1998, 4 years earlier).  Five of the 8 Animals are Milks, specifically: Elephant, Lion, Wolf, Dolphin, Horse. Rat is there, but blood not milk, Dinosaur - milk not available understandably (fossilized bone thank you very much)...and Butterfly is indeed an Animal Remedy but an Insect one at that and with no milk of course (ps - NYC cockroaches are known to produce something akin to milk for their young!). Interestingly, Mangialavori's "book" that has Lacs also has Insects and Parasites in it as well. So, maybe an Insect and Mammal are feasibly closer than a Plant and a Lac would be - and since I am a Lac I would say this to be true, cause only now can I spot out a Plant patient. Mind you early on I not only had a blind spot for them but did as well for Lacs and Animals in general, due to being the muted Animal that I am;-)

As far as reading material, you do not get much better than the Herrick book. She really set the stage for source info laid out beautifully as well as Theming with the Provers words/info captured in such a beautiful/artful way...poetry in motion...and practical for us as well. If you have not read this book, get your hands on it - it is equal to the Milks MM but admittedly it would be a luxury if it was a toss up between the Links Milks book or this one...but, if money is no object both are essential...one is the Science and the latter, Herrick's, is the Art with a definite and strong cross over. The two make a perfect starter kit on the Lacs for Homeopath's of all stripes.

Here is info on the book with a PDF of the Contents and as a "Reading Exerpt" there is some info on Lac- delphinium...with rubrics from her beautiful proving...the Intro is also there and you get what she learned from doing these Animal Kingdom Provings:
http://www.narayana-verlag.com/Animal-Mind-Human-Voices/Nancy-Herrick/b1894?page=1
 

Books #7) & #8) At this point I would be totally amiss not to bring into the conversation Patricia Hatherly...adding to our ever growing list of books. Of everyone associated with Lacs, I think of Hatherly as the "Mother of the Milks"...especially Lac- maternum, Colostrum and Lac-humanum. I had access to her first book, albeit borrowed from a colleague and not read cover to cover, (was at the same time that I read Melissa Assilem's Matridonal Remedies, which incidentally I would say is another book for the List - see my earlier posting on this book, which I have not numbered or placed on the Lacs list, but could very well as it's a necessity just as Tinus Smits work on Lac-m and Lac-h, see also my posting on his work...specifically the "Universal Layers").

Patricia Hatherly is a one-woman-show as far as Milks, Breast Feeding, and the connection between the two! This was true with her first published book and is just as true today with her second book, The Lacs: A Materia Medica & Repertory (2010). As far as I am concerned she is part and parcel of the Theme of this Family! It expands on her earlier published book called The Homoeopathic Physician's Guide to Lactation which came out in 2004. A thorough work that covers lactation issues so as to prescribe for mother and baby to help with problems that arise for either with breastfeeding. Patricia Hatherly is a Lactation Consultant and Homeopath in Australia. In 2002 she did the proving of Lac-m and in this book she does a DD of Lac-m and Lac-h and also looks in detail at Lac-c. Her first book covers the constituents that make up human milk and detailed info on the physiology of human lactation (covered as well in the MM/Rep). 

Her work relates to the concepts of Nurturance, Bonding and Attachment Theory that are all part and parcel of the Themes of the Lacs. The very core of what the Lacs are about starts here for us humans as was mentioned in Kees Dams work but really is brought home by Hatherly. Spelt out: Humans are Mammals that need to be brought back to the breast, as in needing the remedies of the Family of Lacs for ourselves/our patients because we have evolved to the point that we actually are no longer Securely Attached, i.e. - not having been able to latch on as it were to our own mothers, and, thus, to our roots as Mammals...hence, Hatherly's tie in with breastfeeding and why we ought to get back to the basics of this as well as use Lac rxs to address states that we get into due to a breakdown in our natural ways. This essential "lack" can very well address the very Human problems we have despite the other Kingdoms that our patients may well belong to...and so, even if one is a Mineral or an Insect for that matter (and least we forget, a Plant) maybe at some point mammary gland remedies - just as with the Matridonal remedies - may be called for in the case/at some point in time.

I now do have Hatherly back in my life - just this winter Patricia generously sent me a copy of her MM and I do love it just as others do. I will write a full review for a North American journal to highlight it for those that somehow are not aware of it. There are already 2 reviews pointing out how it is clinically useful. Roger van Zandvoort correctly calls it an "Opus" of a book...and he should know as he is a repertory man extraordinaire. So his naming it as such certainly does make the argument for having it on your shelves. Having said this, I will say that the prescribing of Milks from my experience is about having the right frame of mind to grasp that a Lac is needed either "Constitutionally" or as a matter of clearing a state that is somehow imprinted onto the patient and, therefore, it could be a matter of needing a Lac for the reasons as outlined in the Themes of the Family with a particular one being necessary to do the job...really, as with all remedies, the correct one at the right time is what it is all about! Aside: funny enough Kees Dams (I need to meet this man!) has this to say on what is the perfect Simillimum - interestingly it is in a piece he did on Lac-m in Interhomeopathy, February 2006 - "It must be given at the right time and in a form that can be dealt with." There are two other points and more great stuff in this piece that elaborate further on finding the Simillimum that really reinforce my sense that Lacs are actually underprescribed (that is the correct Lac for the patient needing a Lac if they do - recalling my sense that Lac-c is overprescribed, but in my opinion it is not actually being given as a Lac rx per se).

And now here are the 2 Hatherly reviews that might help tip things in favour for her work:

http://www.narayana-publishers.com/spectrum-homeopathy/spectrum-of-homoeopathy-012012?fromOverview=homeopathy-news

http://www.minimum.com/reviews/the-lacs-materia-medica-repertory.htm

Lastly, Hatherly has a newsletter that you can get sent to your inbox and it is on her website that you can sign up for it, Milk Matters: http://www.patriciahatherly.com/
Note - her site has great articles/cases and provings that you can read/get a sense of how intertwined her Lactation consulting work really ties in with Lac prescribing for states induced by the problems that can arise for women and infants at the time of birthing/breastfeeding, etc. 

Book #9) So, without further ado since you already have added this to your own Wish List, I will side step Australia from whence Hatherly and one other Lacs author hale from (coming up...)...to mention that Farokh Master has a book (actually power point slides from a lecture it would seem) that I would say needs a quick mention because we are after all doing an inventory of our Lacs Literature.

It was made available to the Homeopathic world in 2010 and I had always scanned it along with my Klein notes when considering a Lac rx. Now, I have such a plethora of material I just whip thru them all like a card deck - got it, need it, want it - when thinking a Lac rx is warranted for a patient. But the Master book is perfect in particular when needing to DD the Milks based on only Physicals...and not on doctrine of signatures and such, as in seeing clearly Animal traits put onto Humans (opposite of Anthropomorphism). A quick note on this here: it's not as obvious in most cases until you actually know what the rx is - until you do, all the words used and gestures do not make for an easy prescription...once they are on the rx though, let me tell you, they are literally speaking the source and it is crazy! You see it in subtle ways once you have come to the rx and you look back at the words of your patient. Anyways, back to Master's book: I find it very trustworthy as it has great info on the Physicals of the rxs as already mentioned...as he does par excellence in all his work from anything such as Snakes, Fungi to his top notch Pediatrics clinical guide of 75 remedies. He really rounds out the info that was lacking not too long ago - but, thankfully not so much these days. I am still grateful for the book because it was helpful in all my cases...the other books I had initially did not have enough on the Physicals...and as happens in our Literature on whatever topic each book has it's own special gems that can only be found in the one book and no other and so, you have to constantly be re-reading, borrowing, using your Reference Works or such and then doing it all over again when you next suspect a rx from a certain Family although you already prescribed from that group of rxs!

Here is the Master book with the Contents and Lac equininum info as a PDF, a "Reading Excerpt":
http://www.narayana-verlag.com/Lacs-in-Homeopathy/Farokh-J-Master/b929?page=1 

#10) One more diversion prior to the Last Book, Number #11)...If you look at the website of Narayana and do a search of "Lacs" you will see a DVD of a "Congress" (Seminar for us North American's) with a Homeopath named Jonathan Hardy...I was there in the flesh, maybe I am in the video?! not as a case - although I very well could be - but as an seminar participant! Anyways, this was a lecture as part of the Mental Health Congress that had Scholten, Klein, Sankaran and others that was outstanding (see my previous "review" posting on the Congress). Unfortunately, from what I can see of the Contents the male Lac- leonium case is not there - it really struck a cord with me as it was a prime example of doctrine of signatures/the source in Human form as in Animal Mind, Human Voices...it was almost Animal Mind and Voice. The patient embodied the lone male lion that is forced to leave the Pride and make his way in the world on his own, trying to not only get a mate(s)/females but to even survive on the savannah (or in this case, in the pub life of England - where Hardy hales from - that is very social, but, alas, not for the lone Lion:-(

There is a female patient that gets Lac-leoninum but for the life of me I can't seem to remember her as clearly the lone male Lion...I do recall it being a great case but I can not get a visual on her - hey, I could get the DVD and then it will come to me...fortunately, the last book I will tell you about has a great DD on Lac-leoinum and Lac-felinum that really informs beautifully on the version a woman needing Lac-leoinum is about...but, to finish with Jonathan Hardy, if we can get in print his data from his experience that would be great - hint, hint Narayana Publishers, cause I am seeing you have established him as an author with you and published his work on Spiders and Scorpians (I have that on my "Wish List" too, along with the DVD - this List of mine is getting a little out of hand I must say, there is such a flurry of publishing activity it makes for hard choices on the budget of a Homeopath!).

Here is the info on the DVD: http://www.narayana-verlag.com/Mammal-Remedies-in-Homeopathy-1-DVD/Jonathan-Hardy/b15923?page=1
Note- Bonus material: you get to see the Matridonal rxs come alive with the adapt use by Jonathan Hardy in 2 cases in the 2 hrs of footage. Until recently, there was little on their use other than from the Homeopath that brought their use to us, Assilem - and her perspective is one that you have to wrap your head around and get into the groove of her prescribing/her framework or overall context in order not to miss an opportunity to get your patient their needed Matridonal rx! I had, fortunately, my teacher, Louis Klein's cases - off the top of my head I believe it was Umbilicus humanus...always huge learning for me to see his video cases when I was in the HMC cause having a patient matched to the MM of the rx is always the best and Klein put his patients up and we dissected the case so that a way to recognize the rx in one's own practice was what it was about, love ya Lou!

#11) So, we are at the last book at last...on what has proven to be a very extensive Literature List. I have saved the best for last (but in no way, would I say not to get at the very least 2 others of the above books if you are starting to build up your Lacs Library). This one really struck a cord with me, maybe my Umbilicus cord, ha ha. It could have been the timing on this - and I have to thank a local Homeopath, Nadia Bakir for mentioning it in a local discussion group on Face Book when someone else was asking about a case...that was maybe 1 year and a half ago right about now and I am still singing the praises of this well done book...which is, drum roll: Lac Remedies in Practice: Clinical Material Medica with Cases by Philip Bailey - our other Australian Milks Homeopath...what is in the water there anyways?

This book like Hatherly's book came out in 2010 - okay, there definitely is something going on to have them both resonating with Lacs and getting their works out the same yr. Well, it matters not cause they are very different books and compliment each other nicely. So, what is it about this book that I like so much....hum, let me thinkie on this. Firstly, I would have to say, the Themes Bailey has of the Lacs have a different spin in many ways from others - but not out of orbit or anything, just a slight shift but enough that he expanded the horizon for me personally on Lacs and the possibilities they hold for patients in our modern world that is so very devoid of love, support, interconnectedness, etc that is helpful and kind...somehow with the cases he has Down Under one gets the distinct sense of alienation that people needing Lac rxs would feel - they are trying to survive (Animal quality/Kingdom) and yet are really not aware of this...sort of somehow stands out with Bailey, as no other Homeopath's Lac cases for me. So far, I am aware I have not said anything concrete, but that is the quality I had upon reading the 15 pages of the Introduction's Themes...it was as if you get a feel of the Themes more than just the words with Bailey: Missing Foundation, Ambivalence, Paradise Lost, Alone & Co-dependent, Where is the Man?, Victim Consciousness, and Push & Pull for instance are 7 of the 12 Themes....not including ones that are unique to each of the 8 rxs that Bailey has info/rubrics, cases for: from Lac humanum to Lac lupinum - this last one being very good info that somehow had me really appreciate his unique spin on the Lacs. For instance, the case had a feel that was so different from others I had...and with this book I was able to really see some of my cases with clarity where I had been lost with them prior to getting this book. I would whole heartedly recommend this book. I have learned not to judge a book by its cover - this is a nice one mind you - but in terms of Bailey I had judged him by his author pic and ruled out this Lacs book as anything I would have been interested in because I believed his Homeopathic Psychology book was something that was very simple, my can I ever be judging! So, will have to check that one out one day....and always remember never to think just cause someone is good looking that they are not necessarily flakey, and boy, who am I to pronounce on flakiness!!

Here is the info on the book with the FULL Introduction!! As well for another "Reading Exerpt" the great folks at Narayana got the great folks at Emryss to allow for the Lac delphinum chapter and verse be included for your reading pleasure. Enjoy: http://www.narayana-verlag.com/Lac-Remedies-in-Practice/Philip-M-Bailey/b9157

Oh, a review too. And a good one to give a sense of what makes this book special (I forgot that Bailey breaking it down, his thinking at time of case taking & case analysis is very, very helpful): http://www.narayana-verlag.com/Lac-Remedies-in-Practice//Review/r37

So, Everyone! it has been fun to do this little exercise -- an inventory of our Lacs resources. I hope it will prove to be helpful for those of you trying like myself to always get the best value for your hard earned dollars. It is totally exciting times for us Homeopaths because we have so many quality books to chose from now and, therefore, so many more remedies we can match our patients to when they come to us for help...what really we all strive to do, heal those that cross our paths on their and our own journeys of healing.