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.

 
 

Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Rebirthing with Tinus Smits

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks within, awakens. Carl Jung

Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear. Lao Tze

This is sort of funny to say, but I experienced this past summer as I would normally the wintertime: as a time to regroup, nurture and heal and then come out of it as if I have been in a cocoon – emerging into the light of day renewed.

There are a few reasons that account for this: you may recall from my last Blog entry, I have a nice remedy newly in my system (& not a Butterfly one). Actually an understatement: a GREAT remedy; actually THE remedy of all remedies for me, my actual Miasmatic remedy. And as we can see happen with our patients, I have been integrating this deep acting remedy and have been relearning what my natural flow of being is all about – it’s all about being in your own skin as if you are a new born babe emerging into the world for the first time. Totally Deep.

There is also the fact that I have had the benefit of having holidays galore…I was truly blessed to get out into nature lots. I live in an urban jungle that is noisy, polluted, crowded and on the go 24/7, so to have been away from my city and got to another one in Canada that has a different vib and feels as if it is set in a postcard was a good thing: namely Vancouver, British Colombia. Did a camping trip that was on what is called the Sunshine Coast. This was great and gave me not only time to feel peaceful but to also think about my life: my priorities and my practice of my values, my “occupation” and such.

After a brief sojourn back to my home where I was able to have peace and quiet in a different way - thru organizing, purging of stuff for recycling or tossing things into the garbage or to yard sale…bye bye lamp shade we never even used, toddler toys, games and various trinkets (yes, I was on the verge of becoming a hoarder). My family was out and away most of the days, so it was peaceful without the regular routine of activities and meals to be cooked. After that we went again to be in the woods for another camping trip.

This time it was in one of the lovely provincial parks that my province, Ontario, has and it was with a campsite that we had to ourselves on the rocky shore of a beautiful lake, one of the deepest lakes in this Canadian province. And we were under what is called Mazinaw Rock that rises 100 metres above the water. It was no less spectacular than the awesome Sunshine Coast of the Pacific Ocean – so different, but, like, the ocean, the lake waters of Ontario are so cleansing and renewing for me. Whenever I get out of the city and go hiking, biking or just sit under the shade of many trees I feel calmer, stiller…centered.

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. Lao Tzu

More important than the quest for certainty is the quest for clarity. Francois Gautier

Able to experience the present: “Health, I realized, was man’s freedom to be in the moment and fulfill the purpose of life.” This from Sankaran’s Substance of Homeoapthy where he recaps his first foray into publishing his thoughts for the homeopathic world (namely in the Spirit of Homeopathy). It is apt that I re-cap this specific definition of health/disease for you…as it is where I feel that I’m at. Having started something: learning about and studying Homeopathy, getting immersed into it with a little bit of practice, a little bit of politics, a little bit of advanced study and clinical interning and even this, my Narayana Publishing connection I am now at a point in time that I am needing to regroup and redefine further what it is that I am doing.

Am I doing this Homeopathy thing as one should? Ought I to do it differently? Am I acting with my patients, the community, myself, anyone I encounter from a place of fully being present and, hence, empowered. I digress, but at this point I have to interject something that will make sense somehow in this renewal of mine. Gary Zukav of Dancing Wu Li Masters fame, in his Seat of the Soul (also dated but nonetheless what I have lying around and have read of late – coincidence that my purging is allowing for me to come across what I need to see again with new eyes? No, naturally not a coincidence as there are none;-)

Anyways, in the chapter on "Power", he speaks of the authentically empowered human being as being clear on his or her perceptions and thinking. “Clarity is the perception of wisdom. It is seeing with wisdom. It is being able to perceive and understand the illusion, and to let it play. It is being able to see beyond the activities of the personality to the force of the immortal soul. It is being able to understand what it is that is striving to come into being – the health and integration of the personality and the evolution of the soul.”

The above quote/train of thought on the part of Gary Zukav ends with this last little sentence: “It is the ability to recognize nonphysical dynamics as they appear within the world of time and matter.” This explains why we get recharged in nature, at least for me, cause when I sit in the woods and hear the silence as well as the call of the birds, wind, trees and even the inchworms and other little critters I think that is when my soul and the surroundings are one and the dynamic is non-physical…beyond time and space, but closer to pure energy. An energy transference happens and from that you can be at one with nature as best is possible while in the form of your personality/body and in this lifetime.

So, with all the camping and getting into the great outdoors I can say that I am having a homeopathic career crisis and feel great about it! Sounds crazy but I had to reflect on the subconscious and conscious level about my higher purpose – the trees made me do it!. Like, getting to the point in my life where I am empowered is where it’s at these days. Finally as this is the year that I turn the BIG 5Oh!! I could have just read crappy magazines in the woods – I recall the days where I would have read at the beach, listened to music and tuned out to “recharge”, but as of late, when I am out in the woods or at the seaside – Portugal’s Algarve is where I do my seaside – I do my best casework and/or best personal reflecting (that be a combined rubric;-)

This summer, as compared to the last few, has been the most subtle yet fruitful in the best possible way yet for me.

The other factor or last reason that I think that I truly feel renewed after the summer is that I was working on the case of a wonderful patient. The person and her case brought up for me the whole Rebirthing aspect of homeopathy. It, again, is full of synchronicity. When you need to learn something to move your practice forward the right patient always seems to come along.

Before I talk about the case as another reason for my renewal I want to say it’s in the context of the whole concept of Rebirthing homeopathically or of “manifesting onto the earth” as the late Tinus Smits terms it, that I am writing this Blog entry. That being said, what you’ll get today my dear friends is my journey of discovery on this topic’s literature that I personally have discovered and apply in my clinical work.

Actually, the case is still at a beginning stage: really the remedy is for a woman who came with a chief complaint of having her and her young children needing help to overcome traumatic/medicalized birth experiences – her prescription is one that encompasses her life history; the sense of being overwhelmed in the manner that she experienced is covered by the remedy – her children, to be treated still, will likely (at least one) be needing at some point to be cleared of the imprint of the mother’s state while pregnant/from labour. To be determined as of yet. Now, for me, the way I framed the case came right away due to my knowledge of the Rebirthing books - what is to follow.

It has been awesome to date to encounter some of the works that we have in our literature. But, what I am realizing at this time in my practice, is that as you go deeper into knowing about yourself the deeper you can use the materials at hand - ones that I started with a few years ago are now more meaningful to me as I get, in effect, Rebirthed – I tell ya, that Miasmatic remedy is doing wonders!

So, onwards: First things first, the conception of the whole Rebirthing thing for me started with this book: State of the Mind Influencing the Foetus (1999, B. Jain Publishers). Talked on this in earlier entry as you may recall.

In so far as Farokh Master stating that “This book is about the effect on the foetus of [due to] the mother’s state of mind.” in relation to one of my earlier cases whereby the mother’s state was so very obviously what influenced the state of the foetus there could be no mistaking it for anything else in terms of etiology as well as presenting symptoms. The case: a girl, age 3 at the time, was in a state of grief having had a shock from when she was in utero. This case was what I considered my first totally cured case but was really about my first encounter with the concept in practice of Rebirthing.

The patient having received Ignatia did exactly that. And once having manifested fully was able to live normally in terms of not having the imprint of the terrible shock her mother experienced in the last 2 weeks of pregnancy. It was a beautiful unfolding of the self, this girl’s healing – with her actually going through the motions of birthing herself in effect to get into the world – to come alive and be vibrant and to experience health as in Sankaran’s realization of being free to experience the present…as far as fulfilling her purpose in life, at her tender age we came to see that she was able to meet her developmental milestones…to just be engaged, learn, laugh and to have no more fears and anger.

The case is in Interhomeopathy here: http://www.interhomeopathy.org/ignatia-severe-trauma-in-utero

If you want to read the full write up just let me know and I’ll email it to you. I kept extensive notes and wrote up a summary so as to see clearly the unfolding of the cure.

Having obtained the book before this patient, I hadn’t used it. It was there as if waiting for the right moment to be read – to be birthed in effect.

Once, however, I realized the potential of the above case, the relevance of Rebirthing as a concept was clear to me for future suitable cases. I had a case of a child that was highly sensitive and had seemingly been in her state since birth, like the above case. A totally different situation as I had little to work with in terms of information on the pregnancy as I was not at the time of case taking asking on the details of pregnancy – as there wasn’t really a link in my mind as nothing traumatic happened/normal pregnancy, etc. But, once I got to using the book again for this case, I was well on my way of seeing the relationship of the mother/child and even the father’s role in the state of this and all other young patients (starting from conception). This child was already school age, so, maybe why initially I hadn’t thought of the pregnancy/birthing aspect of the case as being relevant...now I know better.

I have always had an interest on Attachment Theory and have thought at times to research on it in relation to homeopathy. With cases like the above in my career to date what I have learned so far, is that the bonds are formed in the womb and sometimes even long before conception! For now, I will stick to what happens in this lifetime - for past lives, the book that I am reading currently and will recommend is the Chakra Prescribing and Homeopathy by Grahame Martin (2007) - more another time.

I digress as I have a tendency to in speech and now in this Blog. So, what was I saying? Oh yes, with the next case that related to my Master book, I ended up finding the remedy, from the write up of a remedy based on the assumption that the pregnancy was instrumental to this state.

And get this, later, once the response was favourable – not necessarily cure (have to admit was hit and miss as to whether was working - it was definitely a good superficial remedy or one to get a layer off for me to see deeper into the case. Oh yes, it was cool cause with prescribing based on Farokh Master’s book it turned out that the state of the mother while pregnant with the patient, age 4 at the intake if I recall correctly, was heavily influential in the case. So, working backwards did the trick: i.e. - get presenting sxs then find out what the etiology was – common for me (I also drive backwards better than forwards – is there a rubric for that?). The next remedy that came up was the one that lead me to my next book on my Rebirthing journey…in terms of reading the literature.

I was working at the time at one of our city’s Homeopathic suppliers – we are blessed to have Riverdale Homeopathy, not just with remedies but with books!! – and it was Ananda, a colleague and very nice person, that told me that she thought that with my bent I would appreciate the book Inspiring Homeopathy: Treatment of the Universal Layers by Tinus Smits. It wasn’t exactly a book – it just now is one but was at the time a photocopied affaire and from what I could see it was just a pricey bunch of paper! This is a literally a “never judge a book by its cover” situations.

So, who is this Tinus Smits? What is this flimsy little thing masquerading as a book (actually it was substantial in terms of number of pages)? Why me, am I that flaky?? for Ananda to suggest I read a “book” about the Treatment of the Universal Layers?? Is it some Sequential Approach as in Rudi Verspoor’s work?? (not that I am totally adverse to aspects of this approach – however, what makes homeopathy so unique is its’ individual approach – esp with all the remedies we have to work with - we have no excuse not to find the patient’s remedy!! Unfortunately, there are many times we're not able to get the simillimum as we have perceived the case incorrectly and other factors that we all can improve upon…digressing again, sorry.

Well, needless to say, it is up there with the best books I read in a long time and REALLY opened me up – to the Rebirthing concept outside of my little own perspective/experiences at the time of reading. Shortly after reading Smits I also had the opportunity to learn of other relevant books due to what was available to me on Riverdale’s bookshelf.

It was also just shortly before Tinus Smits passed away (April 2010) when I was reading the book. I also had the opportunity of meeting someone in my area of the country that was directly trained with him and that has since become a dear friend/colleague. For me, it was no coincidence (yet again) that I was able to have contact with the work of Tinus Smits while he was still alive. I think as I read Inspiring Homeopathy I felt his energy on the planet – I felt it as a sense of him struggling to ensure that his work would be carried on – & it wasn’t a frantic or panicked energy, it was, rather, an intense and higher energy that was necessary to ensure that his legacy would not be for naught.
As you may know, he was in the process of having his work with Autistic children of many years get published. This is Autism: Beyond Despair, which is about the approach of clearing imprints of toxic substances that have damaged the brains of children with Autism, known as CEASE Therapy. Summed up: use of Isopathic homeopathy in conjunction with using core remedies for support through the clearing of these imprints. He has a lovely son that is making sure that this work is getting out there and being accessible to families with Autistic children. Quickly to mention here is that he also was dedicated in setting up what is now a successful school in Nepal for homeopathy that is about access to the healing art of homeopathy. (see http://www.narayana-publishers.com/spectrum-homeopathy/tinus-smits-has-died?fromOverview=homeopathy-news along with this tribute: http://nepal-bihc.blogspot.com/2010/05/in-memoriam-tinus-smits.html).

It almost is a further extension of the Inspiring Homeopathy book – the work to bring back children that are cut off from the world – the ultimate state of being separate, unborn is to be Autistic (as well as being in a coma or insane, admittedly, there are different ways to be cut off). The extremes are all harsh and heartbreaking to witness in all their forms. But, at the very least, to be fully alive is simply to be born. But, from what I have seen and experienced first hand and have read in the 2 Smits books along with further explorations on Rebirthing there are so many people not manifested onto the planet.

According to Smits the Universal layers that need to be experienced if there is an unmanifested patient are different than what he deems as Individual Layers or Accidental Layers, the latter being caused by vaccination, accidents, allopathic drugs or important emotional afflictions. The Individual Layer is what we as homeopaths are usually trying to match to a remedy state: “…[Everybody] needs his individual remedy, but once arrived in the universal layers only a few remedies have to be used” (p. 1 of 2004 “book” – the flimsy little version*)

* - new book, the real book: http://www.narayana-publishers.com/Inspiring-Homeopathy-Final-edition/Tinus-Smits/b11560 Note- there are 57 pages of Exerpts, so Intro, Contents and “Theory” chapter – packed to the gills, which, incidently, we all have as a foetus while in the womb till our lungs develop as part of our trip down memory lane of human evolution – and all before we even go thru birth! & talk about digressing!)

When I read this stuff at first, I did 2 things: #1) I said, what the heck is this about and #2) I kept on reading and couldn’t wait to talk to Ananda – she and I live in the same town, but opposite ends, but given we saw each other lots and were on the same subway line, I thought, we must get together and talk on this…it never happened, other than at work. In the cute little shop we gabbed indirectly on the work of Smits and, well, just started prescribing based on what we were learning (she more on the next book and me on Smits and Assilem – sort of interchangeably).

My point being: read Smits with an open mind (no need to ask constantly, “what the heck is this?” cause you have this heads up that it’s all good) and don’t necessarily prescribe the remedies he does that go with his Layers (use the Layers as you would any part of the life history but with the added twist that some of the remedies are appropriate and some not the best that you can find to move your patients through the Layers – that being said, here is what he says on Rebirthing or what he calls manifesting for patients that need to come into themselves:

"So the purpose of life is not to be as healthy as possible and to stay in a stable balance during our whole lifetime, but to experience life in order to progress and to become more aware of who we really are...real health is dynamic and is characterized by a strong reactivity...Does this dynamic conception of health mean that mankind is condemned to be unhealthy and that health is an illusion? As long as we are still occupied with the resolution of our universal layers yes. But once we arrive at our centre, we are connected with the Source, once we live at a higher level of consciousness, we are able to grow in consciousness adjusting our energy also on the physical level in the way that we can avoid illness, at least chronic illness. At that level a person does not have anymore deep hidden traumas which can cause any disturbance of chronic nature. Because at that level we are linked with our Higher Self...".

One thing I really like of Smits’ is the distinction he makes of Classical homeopathy and Inspiring Homeopathy, which I would also broaden up and encompass modern progressive homeopathy in many ways *

* - not to say that our forefathers and mothers were not healers in much the same ways of our modern pioneers or that today’s groundbreakers are not basing their work on classical foundations while advancing the cause.

With the first he speaks of how the totality of symptoms was more the approach and with his system/work he is more process orientated. I lean towards this way, but it is not to say that a direct match of sxs in the case is forgotten in relation to the remedy selected. The ideal also is really to do what Smits does with his CEASE therapy in that one clears any Accidental Layer that the patient may have impeding them to really start on their healing journey – with this step being of course the first step, if necessary, on the path to cure. See website on CEASE for the details. As mentioned his son and others are setting up trainings to ensure the protocols and use of Isopathy based on current modern toxic substances can be cleared/addressed homeopathically – in actual fact really the energy imprints can really likely only be cleared this way and without the energetic work the bio-chemical work and supports that Smits writes about/his protocols will not work – as he had found with almost 300 cases of Autism.

His process is about looking at the roots of suffering and not just removal of symptoms. In our language it’s about getting to the core of the case, the essence of the remedy state. IMO, the one problem with his work is he’s made seven layers with nine remedies as the basis of the whole system. It is a little simple that way – in particular, for me, in relation to the number of remedies being worked with. Note- granted he often says that the core remedy initially was a unique remedy needed and then when the patient is moving into the broader human problems they are to move to the remedies he found to address the layers that all humans encounter in our existence here on this planet in this life time - the Rebirthing ones.

He had from his introduction in the second version of the book, not the newly Emeryss published book, planned to expand his system – not sure on the number of remedies. But as far as the Layers to manifest fully – I have used, for sure, the remedies for the reason of addressing a Layer in a case and had some success but I have found that I had to use other remedies as well – namely Matridonal remedies of Assilem – to be discussed next.

A little more on Smits: I think he wasn’t planning to add Layers – the newly published book does indeed have 7 Layers. The nature of the Layers being Universal means they are all that is needed…I do feel that he was bang on in his choice of the 7 issues or Layers he came up with.

Here are the Univeral Layers or in my way of speaking: The Issues of All Humans to become Complete. He did get to the crux of human existence nicely.
Layer #1): Connecting the Inner Force (Lack of Confidence)
Remedy 1) Carcinisinum
Remedy 2) Cuprum metallicum: Everything Under Control
Remedy 3) Carcinisinum cum Cuprum
Layer #2) Lack of Self-Love
Remedy 4) Saccharum officinale, the Magic Sugar
Layer #3) Lack of Incarnation
Remedy 5) Lac-Maternum, Mother Earth
See this on Smits bringing this Lac into our MM and comparing with Lac-h: http://www.patriciahatherly.com/published-articles/HL2007_2.pdf
Layer #4) Lack of Protection
Remedy 6) Vernix Caseosa
Layer #5) Victimized Forever
Remedy 7) Rhus-tox
Layer #6) Good or Bad
Remedy # 8) Anacardium
Layer #7) Disconnection with the Soul
Remedy #9) Hydrogenium

See this for little more: http://www.tinussmits.com/3845/inspiring-homeopathy.aspx

What do you think? Any Layer or issue to be taken away? Did he forget something – anything huge that’s staring you in the face and he just happened to miss it?? Not really, eh? I was impressed with his overall approach to healing and then with this, I certainly couldn’t argue that he was forgetting something. And I did try.

Smits reminds us to view the Layers or rather the working through of the Layers as something that is horizontal and not a vertical process – and that a person can go from one layer to another but may need to stay in one Layer for quite a number of months or a year or so…but with another Layer not stay long re- needing a remedy of a Layer or “skip” a Layer or not even need to go through it, etc. It isn’t necessarily a linear journey but a meandering one and one that is all about the timing and needs of the patient that is embarking on the trip to be a fully present human being.

What really is valuable for us as healers/homeopaths is that Smits exemplifies how in our work we must also focus on ourselves as homeopaths/humans/beings on our own path of healing to do good work; he always puts himself in the equation as he discusses his profound and amazing cases – he really was a brave and strong man and a person that was a gift to our profession and to the world at large.

He died of cancer – and because of this, I see one case of all the many in Inspiring Homeopathy to be of particular interest. It is a man in his early 60’s that came to him with a cancerous tumour -- I sense from reading the case it was many years ago. Smits, himself, died in his early 60's of cancer. This case is the basis for his discussion of cancer and of his explorations of Carcinosinum as a remedy and really as part of the Miasm or the grounds for getting into the state of cancer – I don’t think he uses the Miasm concept in practice from what I can see – more, just gets the Layer (I suppose with use of Isopathy and his 9 remedies, he feels he does not need in his system – he may have originally used as basis, as in the Harry van der Zee’s re-birthing concept/Smits published in Links from the start of his publishing his work and, hence, was well aware of van der Zee's work).

Basically, the First Layer is essential reading just for the fact that his homeopathic historical research and personal reflections on cancer as a disease is part and parcel of the symbolism of human dis-ease – and specifically his understanding of the formation of tumours can be seen as a microcosm of the larger internal struggles of ourselves. In this way, we can view Carcinosinum’s remedy state as the disease of us North Americans – as the Yersinia (Plague) Miasm or the Leprosy Miasm are more prevalent, for instance, respectively in Europe and India (see Louis Klein, Scholten and Sankaran for more on these).

“Health has not to be considered a stable state but as a dynamic state…Loss of balance is an invitation to resolve deeper underlying problems and to grow in consciousness to a deeper understanding of the purpose of life and life in general and to attain a higher energetic level…To be “cured” means the acceptance of the process and to dive in to the deeper perturbations that caused his illness.” Tinus Smits, p. 6 2nd Ed.

Further to this Smits gets into the details with his remedies and how to tell when a patient moves from one Level to another – broadly speaking, what happens is that a shift occurs when they move along in their journey with the aid of homeopathic remedies – this is essentially a shift from one Layer to another. And, yes, I think Smits pretty much captured it with his 7 layers – I can speak from my own experience to say that once I got through some issues (said with British accent or a lisp as one would say ‘Advertisement’ or ‘Sexual’, so ‘issues’, please, with a capital “I”). I certainly did have what he alludes to: “The remedy that was so helpful before then is of no use and the patient can sometimes feel a big lose of energy, sadness and physical problems, depending on what layer is coming up.”

He elaborates that before reaching a new stable state of good energy and mental and emotional balance some time can pass and “…this passage to a new and higher level of awareness has to be carefully and professionally accompanied by the homeopath”.

Having had an sort of incubation period this summer I feel I am slowly coming into the next level – for me my Miasmatic remedy is somewhat similar to the Inspiring Homeopathy rxs of Smits*

* - later when I get into Birth Trauma and Miasms in Labour of Harry van der Zee you will see that these systems – Miasms from modern advanced approach of Klein, Scholten and Sankaran as well as Smits., van der Zee and Assilem are not necessarily one and the same but, at the same time, can almost be superimposed onto each other as systems that are really about processes to move thru to attain healing/cure (with Klein being the biggest exception to this and Assilem being closest to Smits).

To finish up here I will give you some more of Smits himself on the homeopath’s role because he really stresses this and rightly so, because to practice with his system you need to be doing your work -- on your, you know what: Issues, which rhymes with “Tissues”…and, yes, you will need tissues for the tears that flow when you sit with your pain - your own Truth (gotta face the music/I had to walk in the shadows and it was not a pretty picture to see myself for who I really have been, behind my compensations/delusions).

“To prescribe successfully these remedies consultations have to be directed in a special way. There is a big difference between collecting symptoms and, repertorising and prescribing the most probable remedy on one hand and the deeper understanding of the patient that leads to the correct remedy – mostly with much repertorising – on the other hand….There are different levels of interrogation and prescribing. The patient will tell only certain aspects of his deeper inner self if there is some invitation on the energetic level of the homeopath, otherwise he will only present simple facts. It is important on what level the consultation takes place. This is a matter of resonance.”

He actually states clearly that without personal work and having gone thru the Layers yourself the resonance can not happen: I really haven’t gone into the Layers – which is the meat of the book…actual MM of the remedies which are the Layers, but Tinus Smits did from what I can see and he did in the end go to the Hydrogen Level or the disconnection with the soul. It may be that he actually was so able to resonate with the suffering souls of all his patients that he left the earth early and went into the cosmos to get re-energized by the Great Mother so as to be able to come back and continue his life’s journey re-intergrated so as to manifest next time and not to have to learn the lessons that go with cancer again.

As Harry van der Zee states “A disease is…both the problem and the solution” and further to this in relation to the passing of Tinus Smits, “Since diseases can function as teachers, suppressing diseases prevents the individual from learning the lessons diseases have to offer…it is not something that should not have been, but rather a welcome opportunity that helps the individual, or in epidemics the group, to learn a specific lesson.”. These are golden words really and for this reason the lesson Tinus Smits learned is one that can help us – homeopaths and all who are open to healing themselves and their communities; for we are here in North America a culture that is riddled with cancer and without facing the demons of this state we will not get to a place to heal from what this Layer is all about. Calling it the layer of "Lack of Confidence" is ironic considering that we seem on this continent to be so self-assured, but in reality if you scratch the surface, you get this: (quoted by Smits to illustrate the underlying theme of Carsinosinum):

People who see themselves as unworthy see others as unworthy.
Neale Donald Walsh, The New Revelations

Remember by his own admission: “To be ‘cured’ means the acceptance of the process and to dive into the deeper perturbations that caused his illness.” Perhaps, the ills of society – the prevalence of Autism, the abject poverty he saw in Nepal, and the indifference and ignorance all around us about these issues was too much and he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and not enough homeopathic professional support – he self treated at times from what he says and may not have had a homeopath guiding him along in his journey of healing. Hopefully, for him next time round – and there is no doubt in my mind that he will back amongst us – he will get the support of energetic medicine in the manner that he gave so lovingly to all his patients – you will see in his cases how present he was and how he resonated with the pain and suffering of the people he treated. He deserves the artistic guidance of a true healer as he was himself.

I eventually will talk on what are called the Matridonal Remedies brought into existence by Melissa Assilem and made up by Helios under her guidance – totally remedies that Rebirth us and have us resonate fully in tune with Mother Earth and the Cosmos. But firstly a side bar on the most amazing work of Harry van der Zee in his 2 books.

The first one of which he matches the Miasms with the stages of the birth of a human being: Miasms and Labour – from 1999 originally (English) and reprinted in 2003 in English as the demand was there to bring it back. The second book, which I read more in detail is his Homeopathy for Birth Trauma from 2007. I wept as I read it as it is deeply moving for me just as the work of Smits has been. I find that these two sensitive men are so beautiful and that if I meet Tinus in the future – when he comes back – or ever do get to meet Harry, the dedicated and wonderful Links editor, I’ll embrace them and ask that they hold me…and believe you me, I am not a huggy kind of person…in fact, I can still barely do the European kiss on the cheek thingy in greeting, even with my Mediterranean mother-in-law of whom I like lots. They are that special to me – men that truly have embraced the feminine energy of the Universe.

These books are literally about Rebirthing and with them I really was impacted in viewing each person in front of me differently. To this day each patient is someone waiting to come into themselves fully and I see that they suffer due to not being fully present. Due to van der Zee I will always factor in a) that their birth could have been traumatic and a process that took their reality/Self out of themselves and may, in effect, need to be re-done, b) that they are stuck somewhere along the way – wait till we get to Melissa baby (and the other woman will touch upon, Patricia Hatherly). Patients can be literally stuck in the birth canal or even still in the umbilicus cord (one of the actual remedies). Also, c) they are really a child of the Universe and if they are helped to be reborn then they can truly be connected to their soul, which I believe is part of the greater energy of the Cosmos.[1]

For details see here: http://www.narayana-publishers.com/Harry-van-der-Zee/en/a970

Reading these 2 books, I feel, are really important for all homeopaths. I wonder if the homeopathic community that is often so much at odds could come together on at least the basic concept of an infant needing to be treated for birth trauma/and or a parent for pregnancy and labour issues and that could be deemed worthy of prescribing on as is part and parcel of the presenting state.

Even if you are into pure Hahnemannian homeopathy, whatever that actually is, you may be able to relate on this. And, especially if you are into Sequential homeopathy, it could be a starting point and maybe if a lasting cure is effected it would be warranted to leave well enough alone for a period of time/let patient sit with remedy and realize that could be not just be about removing layer, but be the remedy called for based on the overall history of the patient and not just a phase to be treated. Its not to say that those practicing the new methodologies may as well forget about this body of work – Rebirthing and manifesting literature – has a perspective and treatment that is essential for real healing to happen in the fullest sense that can be achieved. I have found that even if someone is reading lots of the current literature that this body of work is often missed.

I will only say “Try it you’ll like it” and leave it at that. I think that the wonderful work of Harry van der Zee as editor of Links and in bringing the Materia Medica of Milks to us speaks for itself – his contributions to the advancement to homeopathy should alone have our interests piqued into what he has discovered in his explorations around the impact of conception, pregnancy, labour and birth on children and adults alike (based, you’ll see on many many cases that he either went back to re-open or started seeing from this new perspective – as if reborn himself).

All the great homeopaths that I love seem to come to their insights without having forced their experiences into a theoretical model…but have a sort of birth into their discoveries. They are simply open to what their patients bring to them and then once they see patterns they have shifts of awarenenss that then enable them to see what is happening – this is how any true explorer in any field really operates – true science is, afterall, discovering the laws of nature…it’s not making theories and formulas based on abstract thoughts…the abstraction is of something observed, material or otherwise.

So, let's move towards my last book in my journey of discovery on the Rebirthing rxs/experience. While I was reading all these books – including on the Lacs, in particular on Lac-m and Lac-h in Links, the available books, etc. I was applying them in practice.

As you all know when you can reference a patient or somethg in the flesh it makes for understanding the material better. This was the case for me once I started on Melissa Assilem’s Gifts of the Mother: Matridonal Remedies of the Humanum Family. This is from 2009 and, so it’s fairly new on the scene. I saw the cover of the book when I worked at good ol’ Riverdale. And, boy did I think it was some new age book and steered clear of it for the longest time. Having said that, again I have to credit Ananda for having getting around to reading it. And once I started to read it, suddenly either some stuck cases or new ones that were coming to me just in time it seems, started spinning around in my mind. Unexpectedly, I was embarking on taking patients through a Rebirthing that could not have happened without the remedies that Melissa Assilem brought into our MM.

These are the six remedies that she considers to be of the Matridonal or of the Humanum Family and the Summaries I gleaned from the book:
1) Lac humana - On becoming Human
2) Folliculunum - "The Forgetting of Self" hormone
3) Placenta humana - The Conflict Rx (this rx often follows Lac-h) (DD with Hydrogen and Helium)*
4) Vernix caseosa humana - The Protector Rx*
5) Aqua amniota humana - Fetal waters, Back to the Womb, Soul Recognition Rx
6) Umbilicus humanus - True Soul Retrieval Rx (DD Lac-m)

* - Tinus Smits as quoted by Assilem "Vernix enables us to stay in cintact with the outer world on all levels without being overwhelmed by it and to know what our own feelings are and what this of others are without mixing them up."

From the Introduction of the book: “These remedies are as old as we are. They have been responsible for our evolutionary journey. Born from our very beginnings. There is much we can learn from them. As in the homeopathic order of things, these remedies are arranged to go backwards in time…This is the story told- through these remedies – of connecting with the earthly journey of our soul…This book is about the insights these remedies give to us into who we are and how we were and are shaped. The knowledge these remedies bring to us is about our story as human animals, our evolution, our genesis, our struggle to incarnate and the possibility of a reconnection with our purpose.”

In her Introduction Melissa Assilem acknowledges the influence of the book The Descent of the Child by Elaine Morgan and also the work of Alice Miller (no one book of hers). I feel the Morgan book is essential to read – I happened to come across it just before reading the Assilem book and when I was just starting to read about homeopathic Rebirthing. Although non- homeopathic it just seems to fit perfectly with what Smits, van der Zee and Assilem are all discussing/writing on. See my description of it in Blog entry on the lovely book The Child’s World by Linda Johnston (the book that got me to Blog on books in the first place).

The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self by Alice Miller was originally published in German in 1979 but it's as though it was written just yesterday for those of us in the helping profession presently. It's very good to read to “get your shit together” as a healer – read in my past life as Social Worker/counsellor.[2]

I will end on the Melissa Assilem book and say it is really great in terms of expanding on Tinus Smits and Harry van der Zee as well as the Lactation/Mother’s milk work of Patricia Hatherly. Incidently, the brand spanking new Hatherly book is looking good from the peek I have had of it.

With the Assilem book there is a MM on the remedies. It is, rather, not just totally awesome but truly good homeopathy whereby you can prescribe based on the M/E and Physicals that you see in your patients. Again, another case of never judge a book by its cover. However, surprisingly, there are no children’s cases using these Matridonal remedies. That would be nice to see as in conjunction with the van der Zee birth trauma I’m sure the Matridonal rxs could be well used right off the bat and nip the effects of trauma from caesarian, forceps and other over medicalized situations that occur for infants all too often.

More to compare with Smits and for you to see on Melissa Assilem: “There is no one way to use these remedies. Much of what I have described [in the book], is the energy of the remedies. Conveying their spirit, and their unique metaphor. Each person will have a different need for them. Each practitioner will have a different slant in them….These are universal remedies in that each of us has rubbed up against them…It seems to me that our job as practitioners is to listen to the words of our clients and feel out their yearnings, then to prescribe remedies that reflect all of this back to them”. Note- Like Smits, she gets into the nitty gritty of potency/dosing and also when one state is fading and next should be prescribed upon. Love this as we never can get enough of this!

See here for more on the book - an exerpt from Narayana: http://www.narayana-verlag.de/homoeopathie/pdf/Matridonal-Remedies-of-the-Humanum-Family-Assilem-Melissa.05335_2Introduction.pdf Also see her websiteand get the proving of Folliculinum article and Hpathy interview with her and loads more: http://www.melissaassilem.net/index.html

A Wise woman: like our honorary members of the Great Goddess Tribe, Tinus and Harry. So, with this I will say enjoy exploring the experience of Rebirthing for yourself and with your patients. You will travel down roads – or rather back up the Umbilical Cord – that you never thought possible to truly be with your patients as they manifest and heal fully. They will come full circle to who they are and reconnect to their purpose and you too will be a happy homeopath when you get the most amazing insights that you have ever had with your patients.

Although I would like to go on, I feel this is all you, gentle reader, can take of me!! I am also ready to continue regenerating and getting Rebirthed, i.e. – go to bed, LOL. But, will quickly squeeze in a few things FYI: a) in Homeopathic Links we have a wealth of information and don’t forget that if you subscribe you can get access online to nearly all the back issues, so you can see the formation of the work of Smits, Hatherly on their work with Lac-m and Lac-h…in a 2006 issue you get to see a Philip Bailey case of Lac-h...they all were brewing up their ideas, they were in incubation for a while before they actually published books. In the Links Lac’s book and now the new Hatherly Lacs book you likely will have everything you need (do not forget the Master and the Bailey books though to round off your collection).

Still squeezing in: In Spectrum of Homeopathy's last issue (Issue 5), Elements of Life the theme is not just on rxs of the Elements of the Periodic Table but, also, it has as a major theme in its' case that of Rebirthing. See the husband and wife team of the Joshi’s piece on Conception and Birth…like totally on my pet concept (it’s like they knew this is my thing these days;-). Also, there is a most amazingly beautiful case of a young suicidal woman that is Petroleum (by the Sensation homeopath of Belgium, Karim Adal). It is sensational, literally, and is literally as well about Rebirthing in order to manifest (as though the editors knew I would need to have a current case at my disposal to illustrate to you on the impact of birth trauma on a case…this is not exactly as it were (as in the Harry van der Zee books), but the case really shows that you have to be broadening it up to get the remedies our patients need. The cincher of this case is when the Adal leaves and asks in an off-the-cuff manner on the pregnancy and gets his etiology just like that (a must read).

So everyone, I wish the best to you in your work on all levels and I hope you all can manifest fully: I am aiming to during this lifetime as best I can with what I am working with. In the meantime I will get out in the woods one more time before Old Man Winter comes knocking at my door. A hike in the Autumn in my neck of the woods is the best medicine along with laughter – so a good chuckle at a campfire in the woods is really what I think I will self prescribe in the next few weeks (along with a glass of red wine or a hot chocolate to ward off the crisp air).

Oh yes, I am also aiming in the near future to start up a new Blog and it will be deep baby deep. I’m going to get into my own and my patients healing with homeopathy (with permission, including from myself!). It’ll be in relation to Rebirthing and Manifestation, so, actually any aspect of personal and spiritual/Universal growth and the development of us and the world.

Will keep you posted as to when I am due to give birth to this baby.

[1] Remember The Child’s World by Linda Johnston for reminding us that adults are often stuck developmentally in an aspect of childhood/development and need homeopathic remedy(ies) to move onward and manifest.

[2] Recommended reading as well is Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror (by Judith Herman from 1992). Note to self here, mention at end of this on my new Blog I am hoping to start in next few mths to touch on these books and others on Attachment Theory, trauma and other related topics.