By David Little

Part 1:

Homeopathy did not appear out of vacuum. The seeds of this noble healing art go back 1000s of years to the Bronze Age and beyond. In the Western tradition the origins of the healing arts are found in the works of the lineage of Hermes, Asclepius, Pythagoras and Hippocrates and is linked to works of the ancient Egyptians, Pelasgians and Indo-Aryans of South Asia. In around 2000BC to 1800BC tribes of Indo-Aryans migrated to Greece and brought with them their ancient traditions. They intermingle with the indigenous Pelasgians-Egyptian lineages established the Bronze Age European lineage of philosophy, psychology and healing. These are the seeds.

The gains of the Bronze Age period of integration came to close with the Dorian invasion of Greece and the area. The art of writing and recording history was almost lost but the bards and scribes who had memorized all the important data saved the older knowledge for being completely lost. The led to the Greek Renaissance in around 500BC, which was led by a Pelasgian named Pythagoras. Pythagoras travelled around entire Meditation area, Egypt and India tracing the teachings to their origins and collecting information. This led to the rise of the Pythagorean school of metaphysics and healing.

Pythagoras taught about the music of the spheres and life as different frequencies that may be harmonious and dissonant. This "music" has its "scales and tones" that make up different frequencies of vibration in the cosmic pneuma, the universal vital force. He founded the western tradition of classical music, the 7 note scale, as well as the Pythagorean-Hippocratic lineage of the healing arts. It was he who spoke of health as harmonious tone of the pneumatic vital forces and disease as a mistuning of this life power. That is why we still speak of the nervous or muscular system as having "tone" and use statements like "feeling in and out of tune" when speaking of feeling good or bad.

All of these images are part of an ancient archetypal language that goes back 1000s of years. These definitions are linked to the German words Stimmung (tone, tuning, atmosphere, aura, good vibrations, etc) and Virstimmung (dissonance, mistuning, derangement, bad atmosphere, bad vibration, etc.) found in the Organon of the Healing Arts. These terms have their origin in the Pythagorean-Hippocratic lineage and have been part of western medicine for 2, 500 years.

Pythagoras also elucidated the teaching of the primordial homoeomeries, which are the essential patterns and forces that are the building blocks of the macrocosmic and microcosmic universe. The ancients called these powers the 3 vital forces (+/0/-) and the five elements, the ether, air, fire, water and earth. In the macrocosm the 3 forces manifest as the neutral, positive and negative poles and in the living organisms the psychic force (0), the life force (+) and the natural force (-).

These three forces are witnessed in the atom as the neutron, proton and neutron and in the human body as vital wind, heat and cold. The five elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether) are considered different frequencies of pneuma in the form of solids, liquids, incandescence, gases and space. These powers are witnessed in the macrocosm as gravity, weak nuclear forces, strong nuclear forces, electromagnetic and space. In the human being they are found in life energy and the four chemicals that make up the human genes. In the human body they are also witnessed in the energy centers and pathways found in the spine, organs, systems and tissues.

The primordial homoeomeries and the elements make up the four classical temperaments and their 12 mixtures. Hahnemann was very well aware of this system and one finds refers to the classical temperament and diathetic constitutions in his writings and casebooks. In his day this knowledge was taken for granted but today few homoeopaths understand the system. This is because we have forgotten our roots and lost important parts of our heritage.

These teachings if very similar to the Aryur Veda and Yoga because they share a common origin and share images known throughout all the Indo-Aryan peoples from South Asia to Europe. Remember the English language I am using right now is an Indo-Aryan based language the goes back to the same ancient Mother tongue in prehistory. Wisdom from this beginning is still stored in the collective Unconscious and is coded in history, mythology, religion, fables and stories.

These archetypal powers were called the primordial homomeries by Pythagoras, which means the similars from which all things are composed.
The three forces and 5 elements are a symbolic patterns used to categorized all phenomena. This was an ancient language that sprang from the collective Unconscious in the form of visions, altered states, dreams and intuition and guided the ancient seers in their investigation of the outer realms of the universe and the inner realms of consciousness. Much of this knowledge was lost during the Dark Ages but during the European Renaissance it reappeared.

Portions of the established Church resisted these changes so inquisition was begun to purge culture of "pagan ideas". At this time the ancient wisdom was driven underground in secret societies and into alchemical language. This ancient wisdom again went into decline during as the industrial revolution was on the horizon but the Deist of Europe and America rebelled against the materialistic scientific paradigm because they wish to integrate the best of the ancient classical wisdom with the new sciences. Samuel Hahnemann was one of these individuals as he was Deist, Mason and Universalist. He was a master of ancient as well as modern languages and was a great student of history, metaphysics, philosophy, psychology and medicine. His studies in all these fields formed the basis for the development of Homoeopathy.

There is no wonder that many homoeopaths wish to study the seeds, roots and branches of human thought. It is no surprise that they wish investigate deeper than the surface and peer into collective Unconscious so they can re-enter a world where archetypes function and images of wisdom appear in the twilight of consciousness. These impulses to go deeper come from the Self and part of the process of Individuation. In this way, they are only walking in the footsteps of Hermes, Asclepius, Pythagoras, Hippocrates, Paracelsus, Hahnemann, Goethe and Jung.

MIASMS IN HAHNEMANNIAN HOMOEOPATHY

Hahnemann is the Founder of modern epidemiology. He was very well aware that infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms and he called these disease causing powers "miasms". This word was used by Hippocrates to described epidemic diseases. The ancient Greeks also used the word "psora"
to stand for a host of skin complaints and their concomitant symptoms.
Hahnemann did not invent these words but he did bring them up to date for his time. We must do the same.

Hahnemann was the first to introduce a coherent study of infectious diseases which included constitution, temperament, heredity, predisposition, susceptibility, the moment of infection, the prodrome, the primary stage, latent stage, secondary stage and the suppression syndrome.
He also noted that the congenital constitution and environmental factors are strong conditioning factors in the development of the pathological symptoms. He once suggested that some skin disorders were caused by "miasmatic animalcula", i.e. microorganisms. On the spread of Asian cholera to Europe Hahnemann wrote:

"On board ships-in those confined spaces filled with moldy, water vapors the cholera miasm finds a favorable element for its multiplication and grows into a enormously increase brood of these EXCESSIVELY MINUTE, INVISIBLE LIVING CREATURES so inimical to human life of which the contagious matter of the cholera most probably consists."

Hahnemann introduced the terms acute, half-acute and chronic miasms and recorded the differences of these infections most accurately. On this basis he introduced the collective case taking method so that he could discover specific genus remedies that had the power to prevent, abort and treat the affects of these infectious complaints. On this foundation Hering introduced the nosodes, which are potentized miasms. He made his own nosodes for several acute miasms as well as half acute miasms like rabies and chronic miasms like psora, tuberculous, sycosis, and syphilis. These remedies also play a great role in preventing, aborting and treating infectious diseases and their affects.

Hahnemann's early study of infectious diseases and their sequels is based on observations of how epidemic diseases affect the human psyche and soma. Acute miasms are self limiting infections like cholera that reach their crisis quickly and end in death, recovery or feeling never-well-since the attack. Half acute miasms are infections that have a longer incubation period like rabies and reach crisis after a short to medium period depending on the circumstances. Chronic miasms are life long infections like syphilis that are not self limiting and do no naturally resolve over time. Toward the end of his career Hahnemann noted that the affects of a chronic miasma like psora could be passed by heredity. These ideas completed the system. All of this has proved valid by modern science.

On the basis of this information one can say with all certainty that Hahnemann's definition of the miasma is microorganisms and miasmic diseases are the negative affects of unresolved infections on the human organism.
This is an early study of acquired infections, auto-immune states and immuno-deficiency disorders that goes far beyond the understanding of modern medicine. This may have been hard to understand in 1828 but in 2005 Hahnemann teachings have come of age. It is very surprising that some homoeopaths still don't realize this! To some the miasms have become everything BUT the affects of infections on the vital force, the human organism, and the immune system.

HERING, HEMPEL AND KENT

The origin of the metaphysical concepts of the miasms is Hemple's comments on Hering's statements in the preface to The Chronic Diseases Their Peculiar Nature and Their Homœopathic Cure; S. Hahnemann (Hering’s Preface of Hempel’s Translation, 1845. Hering wrote:

"The shallow opponents of Homœopathy (and we never had any other!) pounced upon the theory of the psoric miasm with a view of attacking it with their hollow and unmeaning sarcasms. Making Psora to be identical with itch, they sneeringly pretended that according to Hahnemann’s doctrine the itch was the primitive evil, and that this doctrine was akin to the doctrine of original sin recognized by the Christian Faith."

To Hering's statement Hempel added the following comments:

"As it would be absurd for a philosophical Christian to reject the doctrine of original sin, so it is absurd for any one who professes to have a clear perception of Homœopathy, to reject the doctrine of an hereditary morbific miasm. It is this principle which Hahnemann calls Psora."

The Deists held the view that human beings were shaped in perfection and fell from an Eden-like paradise into a state of delusion and suffering.
In Hempel’s additional comments he quotes the teachings of Rousseau on this subject, which Samuel learned from his father at a young age.

Hempel continues:

"If we admit with Rousseau that everything which leaves the hand of God, is perfectly holy, then the first created man must have been perfectly pure, and must have appeared in the image and likeness of his maker."

Hempel then proceeds to discuss the fall of humanity from this Eden-like state. He notes, however, that the decline from this harmonious state, was in reality, a necessary phase of human development. Experiences that look like a negative development often have positive long-term evolutionary goals.

Hempel wrote:

"This is relatively speaking, a fall, although, this fall, having been the first necessary phase of human development, it may, in reality, be considered a progress."

Hahnemann never said psora was the original sin but in The Friend of Health he said that the real blessing in this world was wisdom and health that beckons one "Back into Eden", the archetypal paradise. In the Deist philosophy which Hahnemann professed, human destiny is to be reunited with Divine Life through the seeds of the celestial harmonies deposited in human nature. The delusion of separateness rising out of the human psyche naturally produces a corresponding negativity in the physical world.
Homœopaths have always held a universal vision that includes humanity as whole, as collective groups, and as individuals. The ultimate goal of Homœopathy is the restoration of the human race to harmony with nature and the spirit.

Hempel continues:

"In proportion as man’s spiritual nature becomes developed and purified, this psoric miasm will be diminished, and will finally be completely removed from the life of humanity. This complete physical regeneration of human nature will necessarily be attended with great changes in all the external relations of man, education, mode of laboring, living, etc., etc."

Hempel believed that as humanity’s spiritual nature becomes purified they would become more immune to psora and the other miasms. James Tyler Kent’s Lectures on Homœopathic Philosophy echoed a similar vision of the origin and the fall of humanity. Boenninghausen taught that innate predispositions were the proximate cause and that the fundamental cause was psora. Although the psora stems from prior infection, its ramifications go back to the ancient of human days.

The first mention of the words "original sin" is found in Hering and Hempel’s discussion with the critics of the psora hypothesis. Hering was defending Homoeopathy from the charge that homoeopaths thought psora was like the original sin. Hempel tried to turn the same argument around on his opponents by showing how the Deist looked at such things. About the deeper aspects of the genesis of disease. James Kent said:

"It is altogether too extensive, for it goes to the very primitive wrong of the human race, the very first sickness of the human race, that is the spiritual sickness, from which first state the race progressed into what may be called the TRUE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO PSORA which in turn laid the foundation for other diseases. (Lectures on Homœopathic Philosophy; J. T.
Kent, Chronic Diseases – Psora, page 146.)

Kent does not called psora the origin sin! He says that the spiritual sickness that developed in humanity is what led to the SUSCEPTIBILITY TO PSORA. This is really quite different than the idea that psora IS the original sin. Some have tried to blame Kent for saying psora was the original sin and say this is all because of Swedenborg's philosophy. One can see, however, that this discussion predates Kent and goes back the philosophy of the Deist, which includes Rousseau and Hahnemann!

MIASMS TODAY

Charles Hempel is responsible for introducing metaphysical ideas into the subject of the miasms. His source of inspiration was Rousseau, a principle Deist philosopher with whom Samuel Hahnemann was familiar with since childhood. Hempel equated psora with the principle division from the humanity from its spiritual nature. Kent actually sought to correct this idea by saying that first came the decline from spiritual perfection and THEN this established the SUSCEPTIBILITY to psora and all other physical diseases.

As one can see some of today's homoeopaths have taken up a very metaphysical view of the miasms, which is similar to the ideas of Hempel.
They do not, however, make the clear demarcation between the perfection & spiritual decline - susceptibility & predisposition - and physical disease, psora and the miasms like James Kent did! They are followers of Hempel without even realizing it. It is not surprising that they are looking for a deeper meaning to health and disease but they have confused the spiritual and mental decline with its outcome, which is the susceptibility to physical diseases like psora.

Psora did not come before the susceptibility to psora appeared. It is understandable, that some persons like Hempel, wish to see something positive in the fall of humanity, the miasms and human suffering in general. A wish to see suffering as part of our evolution is a human need to give meaning to the bitter-sweet qualities of life. After all, a well treated miasm produces more immunity, vitality and a better sense of well being. In the long run miasms and anti-miasmic treatment may make the human race stronger. These is some truth in the idea that a greater good may come from what looks bad at the moment

Secondly some have mixed up the miasms with the primordial homoeomeries. They have tried to make psora, sycosis and syphilis the three forces (0/+/-) rather than realize that the three forces come BEFORE the miasms! Once again it is a matter of putting the cart in front of the horse! The miasms, like all phenomena, follow the patterns of the primordial homoeomeries. This is why they say things like a plant has the syphilitic miasm when a plant can't possibly have syphilis but can it share certain archetypal disease patterns with human beings.

This is because the same homoeomeries (forces or elements) are affected in man, animal and plant so the patterns are very similar. All carbon based organic structures share the Anima Mundi, the vital principle that comes with the primordial homoeomeries. That is why similar archetypal patterns can be witness in the plant and animal realms. Even the mineral world shares these patterns and energies but in a more inert state.

So one can see that the desire for understanding the collective Unconscious and returning to the roots of our psyche is at the base of the metaphysical views that have been part of Homoeopathy for a long time. Even Hahnemann coded certain Deist and Masonic teachings into the Organon and other writings. The text of aphorism 9 is a perfect example. Some of these words in his writings come directly from the texts of these traditions. His letters are full of philosophical and religious counseling as well as suggestions on diet, exercise and regimen. In one letter he spoke of God as the "Divine Architect", the true Grand Mason! This is because one must use every tool available to heal the body, mind and spirit.

So my Dear Leela and others....I do not set any boundaries on the human mind nor do I attempt to set limits of the research of my colleagues. I only ask that they go deeper and understand the origins of our science, philosophy and terminology. I only ask that they get their terms straight so it causes less confusion and ridicule. I only ask that they educate themselves better by going back to the roots rather than accepting confused new age ideas. I only ask that they understand exactly what Hahnemann was talking about when he spoke of the infectious miasms. I only ask that they learn how to use the tools Hahnemann left to treat these deadly diseases that kill 1,000,000s every year.

I only ask that they understand the role of the homoeomeries in Eastern and Western medicine and do not confuse them with the miasms. I only ask they don't put the cart in front of the horse and go backwards by using the wrong terms. When we are speaking of the homoeomeries at least we should use the correct terms. When we are speaking of the infectious miasms and sequels let us use the correct terms. We do not need to "get rid" of any of these ideas, we need to correct the mistakes of the past and move forward with more knowledge.

I would also request my colleagues as the "reach for the sky" (psyche, homoeomeries, archetypes, metaphysical studies, etc.) to keep their feet very well "grounded on earth" (the study of medical science and pathology).
I beseech them to study the *clinical view* of the miasms I have been speaking about. Hahnemann has left us tremendous tools to treat the affects of epidemic and endemic infectious diseases but very few are really using them. When homoeopaths think that miasms are everything BUT the affects of infectious diseases our science is in danger of losing one of its greatest assets.

As Hering said it is the duty of all of use to advance Homoeopathy further than the Founder and correct any mistakes that have entered our science. We need to bring all this data up to date in accordance to the latest scientific information without losing our vitalist principles and sophisticated methods of studying both the group and individual anamnesis.
At the same time, we should investigate the mysteries of Nature and the human psyche and spirit as deeply as we possibly can and apply that wisdom to the healing arts.

I have taken the time to write this letter because the healing arts are a sacred trust. I don't want to argue with people nor get into long debates but I am willing to stand up for what I believe in and what I think is in danger of being lost or confused. My fingers are sore and my eyes are tired but my spirit is strong in the knowledge that I have given what I have to give without taking anything from others.

Part 2:

Homeopathy is a medical science and healing art not a religion. We should not start worshiping Hahnemann as if he was perfect nor treating the Organon as if it was a religious text that contains no mistake. We also should not impose our personal spiritual beliefs on others. Nevertheless, I agree with Jung that one can't separate metaphysics, religion, philosophy, legends, myths, fables and stories from the human psyche nor the healing arts. This is because these subjective contemplations carry deep archetypes that originate in the collective unconscious and have very deep influence on the human psyche and soma. Philosophy is part of the healing arts that can't be ignored. Hahnemann wrote:

"Philosophy represents the highest ideal towards which the human mind is imbued with a desire to struggle. Philosophy is not only the highest of all sciences; it is also the basis and the fundamentals of all others. No science can exist without philosophy, for without its help it falls to the level of a handicraft or at any rate of a subsidiary subject. This is true above all of medicine." (Samuel Hahnemann, His Life & Work; R. Haehl, Volume 1, page 251.)

Homeopathy is not just an objective science like allopathy because it includes the subjective realms of the human mind and studies the entire human condition. Hahnemann included philosophical ideas inspired by Deism and the Masons in his writings including the Organon. Boenninghausen transformed an ancient hexameter that was used to assess the deviation of the Soul from the path righteousness to case taking in his classic work Judgement of the Value of Characteristic Symptoms.

This review of the symptoms is based on 7 essential questions Who, What, Where, Why, With What, What Mode and When? I guarantee that if you keep asking these questions they will reveal the deepest aspects of the mental and physical symptoms! This is because they are based on the deepest philosophical question possible "Who am I".

It is my opinion that one can't ignore philosophy in the healing arts because they are an integral part of the human psyche and human experience.
In Homoeopathy we do not separate the psyche and soma and only look at the body like the reductionist scientists. Hahnemann wrote that we needed to study the Gestalt of the disease as expressed by the symptoms of the body and soul not just the body. We have to look at the whole human being, which includes the Unconscious and its expressions.

In Homoeopathy we look at the psyche and soma as a functional polarity that makes up a whole. In psychology this includes the persona, shadow, anima-animus, collective unconscious and Self as well as the body and its systems, organs and tissues. To be a good homoeopath one must understand the psyche and soma as well as the human condition. This cannot be done without a philosophical attitude.

It was Hempel who first placed a spiritual interpretation on psora and linked it with Christian tradition. He wrote the evil fruits must be the results of evil forces associated with serpent and devil. He felt this principle of division and desolation in the material organism is what "Hahnemann called psora". There is nothing like this in the Chronic Diseases! This is a very long way from Hahnemann's ideas that primary psora was caused by scabies (mites), tinea (fungi), herpes (viruses) and bacteria (staphylococcus, etc).

Kent echoed his interpretations in his writings although in a different manner. Kent taught that the origin of disease was in do to changes in the will and understand and bad actions. This then produced the psoric-susceptibility and the result was psoric-infections. This is in line with Swedenborgian philosophy.

As a Deist and Mason Hahnemann would probably not object to philosophical discussions about our origins. He probably would not object discussing how humanity may have left a former Eden-like state. He would most likely be very familiar with the idea that spiritual decline was a precursor to physical disease. In truth, however, Hahnemann never spiritualized the miasms. He considered the miasma to be a microorganism and the miasmic diseases to be the unresolved affects of infections. The following footnote on page 75 is closely related to aphorisms 5 and 72 of the 5th and 6th editions of the Organon.

"Or have these various, acute, half-spiritual miasms the peculiar characteristic that - after they have penetrated the vital force in the first moment of the contagion (and each one in its own way has produced
disease) and then, like parasites, have quickly grown up within it and have usually developed themselves by their peculiar fever, after producing their fruit (the mature cutaneous eruption which is again capable of producing its miasma) - they again die out and leave the living organism again free to recover?"

(The Chronic Diseases Their Peculiar Nature and Their Homœopathic Cure; S.Hahnemann (Theoretical Part), Nature of Chronic Diseases, footnote, page 75.

This paragraph teaches the difference between the acute and chronic miasms. Acute miasms are rapid in their onset and reach crisis after a relatively short period of time. Hahnemann notes that this genus of microorganisms is self-limiting so they leave the patient either in convalescence or dead. Patients who do not completely recover from acute miasms usually suffer from the chronic miasms.

"On the other hand, are not the chronic miasmas disease-parasites which continue to live as long as the man seized by them is alive, and which have their fruit in the eruption originally produced by them (the itch-pustule, the chancre and the fig-wart, which in turn are capable of infecting others) and which do not die off of themselves like the acute miasmas, but can only be exterminated and annihilated by a counter-infection, by means of the potency of a medicinal disease quite similar to it and stronger than it (the anti-psoric), so that the patient is delivered from them and recovers his health?"

(The Chronic Diseases Their Peculiar Nature and Their Homœopathic Cure; S.Hahnemann (Theoretical Part), Nature of Chronic Diseases, footnote, page 75.)

Acute miasms involve self limiting parasitical infections like measles, mumps, cholera, smallpox, etc. Chronic miasms are not naturally self-limiting like leprosy, TB or syphilis. They are lifelong infections that are caused by microorganisms that do not die off by themselves. They last for the entire life of the person unless cured by Homœopathy. This is the major difference between acute and chronic miasms. One may be "never-well-since" an acute miasm as a sequel but the miasma-parasites are gone.

Not all long lasting degenerative diseases are caused by chronic miasms. Organon (§74-§81) explains that there are three types of long lasting degenerative diseases. These are the man-made and physician caused diseases, disorders based on continual pathogenic influences, and diseases based on the chronic miasms. These can all cause long-lasting degenerative diseases.

Diseases based on maintaining causes (continual emotional stress, bad diet, occupational hazards, environmental induce disorders, the affects of poverty, etc.) have the potential to self heal if the obstacles to health are removed early. For example, if one stays in a dark basement for a week and gets cold, stiff and fevered they usually will recover if taken out of this environment. Long term exposures that cause pathological damage, however, may produce a "never-well-since" syndrome. If the same persons stayed in a cold basement for 5 years they may not recover. This would produce a pseudo chronic disease (never-well-since the exposure) in terms of time but not a chronic miasm! It is about time people understood the difference.

All three of these chronic disorders are often combined to make a complex disease. According to the footnote to aphorism 78 of the Organon there are two great categories of chronic miasms, the inherited and acquired. The inherited miasm is uncovered by studying the collective diseases of the family while the acquired miasm is found in the individual history of the patient. It is statements like the above that make Samuel Hahnemann the Founder of modern epidemiology.

For homoeopaths to de-link Hahnemann's miasms teachings from acquire infections, the inherited affects of epidemic and endemic contagion, auto-immune disorders and immuo-deficiency diseases is a great mistake.
Hahnemann Chronic Diseases is an early study of the immune system that needs to be brought up to date not transformed in pseudo-spiritual doctrine.

Some speak as if miasms are only inherited conditions but this is not the case. Miasms are based on prior infection either in one's ancestors and/or acquired in this life. Most of Hahnemann references to the acute, half acute and chronic miasms refer to the acquired infections! When he speaks of syphilis he is talking about patients whose blood and tissue are teaming with spirochetal bacteria!

Hahnemann writings contain teachings on vital force, constitution, temperament, the soul, intellect and emotional disposition, hereditary predispositions, susceptibility, acute and chronic diseases, layers, iatrogenic disorders, long lasting chronic-like states caused by maintaining cases, and the infectious acute, half-acute and chronic miasms. Some persons are mixing all these facets of pathology with miasms and making the miasms everything!

This has caused other to make the miasms nothing because they are nothing special. Now we have two extremes that are constantly fighting with each other! One sided says the miasms are the cause of everything and the other says miasms mean nothing. On and on it goes ("everything" "nothing") where it stops nobody knows!

In order to solve this dilemma I suggest returning to Hahnemann's original postulates which clearly state that the miasma are "disease-parasites" and miasmic diseases the affects of unresolved infections. This is the middle path that avoids the above extremes. Let us apply this information in a scientific manner to the vital force and the system of mass defense which includes humoral as well as the activities of the immune system. This is a very fruitful area of research.

At the same time that I support the study of philosophy and psychology I also suggest the we all study the medicinal sciences very seriously. It is time for homoeopaths to understand what Hahnemann's miasms really are and put the ghost of Hempel's ideas to rest.

Part 3:

Dr. Stahl of the medical school at Montpellier, France is considered the Father of modern Vitalism. This school was a strong supporter of the works of Hippocrates and the dynamism known as physis, the Vis Medicatrix Natura. He introduced the idea of the Anima Mundi and the vital principle.
His system was called mono-dynamism because he taught that the Anima/soul was the one power behind all functions. This view is similar to those who make no distinction between the soul and vital force. Dr. Barthez, also of Montpellier, propose what is called duo-dynamism. In his view the soul was related to consciousness and free will and the vital force was an instinctive, autonomic life power that pervaded the entire organism on a subconscious level. Hahnemann's view was very similar to Barthez in this regard. Hahnemann spoke of trio-dynamism in aphorism 9, i.e. the vital force, the physical organism, and the reason gifted spirit. All of these powers are interrelated and synergistic but to call them all the exact same thing is not quite accurate.

One must also understand the angle which Hahnemann is coming from in his discourses on the vital force. Hahnemann taught that orthodox medicine mistook the instinctive actions of the vital force during crisis for the healing power of Nature (Physis). If the patient was plethoric they would bleed the patient because this is what "Nature" would do to someone with so-called excess blood in crisis. If the patient had a digestive upset one should use a emetic because vomiting is what "Nature" would do during a stomach crises. In their view nature used diversion during crisis so they also sought to use diversion in the form making artificial ulcers and irritations and the like. In this way they claimed they were imitating Nature and were Her ministers. Hahnemann was quite critical of their claim!

Hahnemann went to great lengths to point out that blindly following the instinctive actions of the vital force during crisis was not the best procedure to undertake. He opined that one should use their reason-gifted mind to understand the laws of Nature and follow them in such a manner that one can harness the positive aspects of the vital force while leaving its tendency to over react behind. This is best done by observing the cardinal principle of dynamic healing Similars Cure Similars and using homoeopathic remedies. Hahnemann realized that the disease-tune vital force was a destructive power that should not be blindly mimicked while the homeopathically-altered vital force was an essential aspect of the healing process.

The vital force (Gr. Lebenskraft) is an essential power associated with the Latin term,Vigour Vita, which is the embodiment of life and vitality.
It is a dynamism that is one with all the sensations and functions of the human organism. It is not the nervous system, immune system or any physiological system per se yet it is innate to all of them and links every function together. Like vitality itself is can be witnessed in living organisms yet it can't be grasped with the hands. When Hahnemann uses the word "spiritual" he is using this word in the manner it was used by the Greek naturalists where is means immaterial life dynamis, power or force rather than something ecclesiastical. It is spirit-like in this sense as a invisible life giving power.

The powers of consciousness associated with free will, reason and feeling are related to the soul (Gr. Seele) intellect (Gr. Geist) and emotional disposition (Gr. Gemuet). The soul is transcendental; the intellect is related to the rational functions usually associated with the brain; and the emotional disposition is related to the feeling tones usually associated with the heart. The physical organism is the sum total of all physiological systems, organs and tissues. We can not see the human Esse nor the vital force but we can witness Vitae through the Gestalt-display of the total human organism, which includes psyche, the life force and soma. In this way, the psychic, dynamic and physical powers work together synergistically as a total unified field in which the whole if more than the sum of its parts.

These are some of the basic ideas behind Vitalism.

Sincerely, David Little

© David Little, HOE: 1996-2008, all rights reserved, http://www.simillimum.com