Beonninghausen on the Psychological Profile.

[David Little]

Hello Minutus,

This is a section of a review on the importance of the psychological
profile from an article I wrote some years ago. I think this work goes
right to the heart of the discussion of the "state of the [emotional]
disposition (Gr. Gemuetszustand) " as noted in aphorism 211.

A Contribution to the Judgment Concerning the Characteristic Value of Symptoms
From Boenninghausen's Lesser Writings.

Boenninghausen’s Lesser Writings’ are a testament to the tremendous
contributions the Baron made to homoeopathy. The scope of his experience
and depth of his perceptions helped place homoeopathy on a solid footing.
In A Contribution to the Judgment Concerning the Characteristic Value of
Symptoms we find one of the most interesting discourses ever given on case
taking. This lecture represents the Baron’s case taking methods in his
later life, years after he published the Therapeutic Pocket Book. In this
work he takes his teachings on location, sensation, modification and
concomitants to the next level.

In this lecture Boenninghausen presents to a congress of homoeopaths
what he considers fundamental to proper case analysis. He begins his
discussion by introducing the concept of strange, rare and peculiar
symptoms as expressed in aphorism 153 of the Organon. He continues his
discourse by introducing a 12th century hexameter from the theological
scholastics that made a deep impression on his mind. This verse was used as
a meditation to judge the nature of the deviation of the spirit from the
path of harmony. The verse contains the following seven keywords. Quis?
Quid? Ubi? Quibus Auxiliis? Cur? Quomodo? Quando?

These seven rubrics mean Who? What? Where? With what? Why? In what
manner? When? The Baron suggested that these seven questions contained all
the essential facets of a proper case. This analogy of Boenninghausen's
demonstrates how deeply the homoeopaths of old searched for the deeper
philosophical truths.

The seven rubrics designated in this maxim seem to contain all the
essential momenta which are required in the listing of the complete image
of a disease. May I be allowed, therefore, to attach my remarks to this
scheme with the desire that this hexameter, which was formerly used only by
theologians, may now be also impressed on the memory of homoeopaths and be
put to use by the them.

The Lesser Writings, Boenninghausen, A Contribution to the Judgment
Concerning the Characteristic Value of Symptoms, page 107.

Boenninghausen was concerned that the homoeopaths of his time were not
paying enough attention to the Organon and The Chronic Diseases. What was
true then is a hundred times truer today as we are only beginning to
understand our own heritage. He was especially worried that homoeopaths
were ignoring the instructions left by Hahnemann in aphorism 5 which deals
with the physical constitution, the mental and emotional character, social
and domestic relationships, occupation, sex functions, age, the aetiology
and the miasms. The Baron was also concerned that students did not really
understand Hahnemann’s teachings on the totality of the symptoms in
aphorisms 6 and 7. Let us see how all of this is addressed by
Boenninghausen's interpretation of the ancient hexameter. This brings us to
the first of the Baron's seven grand questions, who? This teaching echoes
aphorism 211 of the Organon which teaches that the state of the
psychological disposition "often tips the scales of balance in the
selection of the remedy".

Who Suffers?
The first question of the Baron von Boenninghausen's homoeopathic
hexameter goes to the most essential point of all, Quis, which means who?
This naturally leads the patient to the inquiry, who am I? which is the
oldest philosophical question. The homoeopath must know who they are
treating if they wish to know what they suffer. The vitalists always look
at the entire gestalt of symptoms whereas a mechanist sees each part in
isolation. Without knowledge of the patient we cannot understand the
essential nature of the disease or its signs and symptoms. The Baron wrote:

"Quis? As a matter of course the personality, the individuality of the
patient must stand at the head of the image of the disease, for the natural
dispositions rest on it."

The Lesser Writings, Boenninghausen, A Contribution to the Judgment
Concerning the Characteristic Value of Symptoms, page 107.

By knowing the disposition of the individual in health we can judge
what is strange, rare and peculiar to the present disease state. These
changes in the natural disposition are very important because they
represent the deepest aspects of a human being. Boenninghausen called the
predisposition of the psychological make-up the proximate cause. The psyche
is "nearest cause" of most internal diseases.

To this first of all belongs the sex and the age; then the bodily
constitution and the temperament; both if possible, separated according to
his sick and his well days i.e., in so far as an appreciable difference has
appeared in them. In all these peculiarities whatever differs little or not
at all from the usual natural state needs little attention; but everything
that differs in a striking or rare way therefore deserves a proportionate
notice. The greatest and most important variations are here found mostly in
the states of the mind and spirit, which must be scanned all the more
carefully, corresponding to only few remedies.

The Lesser Writings, Boenninghausen, A Contribution to the Judgment
Concerning the Characteristic Value of Symptoms, page 107.

In this quote Professor T. L. Tafel appears to translate Gemuet and
Geist as 'mind and spirit. The term Geist may be translated as rational
spirit, intellect and intelligence and the term Gemuet as the emotional
disposition and mood. This phrase indicates the functional polarity of
human consciousness that manifests as the intellect and feeling.

The first question is Quis (Who?) Who is it that is ill? A human being
is more than the sum of its parts like the mind, brain, heart and liver.
The innate physical constitution and mental temperament make up the
individuality of the body and soul. These constitutional factors include
the age, sex, physical constitution and “state of the mind and spirit”.

"The spiritual and dispositional individuality of the patient is the
most important, often almost the only deciding points in the selection of
the remedy, where the disease involved is one of mind or spirit, and
generally the two disturbances present themselves so conjoined into one
that the signs of the one only has their full and definite character from
the other."

The Lesser Writings, Boenninghausen, A Contribution of the Judgment
Concerning the Characteristic Value of Symptoms, page 108.

The sevens rubrics reflect the whole mind/body complex and are general
symptoms. Who are they as a person? What is the nature of their
disposition, temperament and character? What do they look like? What is
their personality like? What do they do? How do they live? How do they
relate to people? What are their personal habits? What are their inner
beliefs? What is their age and sex? What is their sexuality like? This is
included in the Organon because it gives insight into the individual body
and soul that makes up the unique human organism.

As we can see from this article the study of psychology is much more
than recorded a few mental symptoms. The psychological profile is a study
to the total psyche and its predispositions. This study is greatly aided by
Jung's view of the components of consciousness which includes the persona,
shadow, anima-animus, collective unconscious and the self. This work helps
the homoeopaths understand complementation, compensation, projection,
transference, complexes, actualizations and archetypes. No review of the
psyche is complete without a deep study of the unconscious for it is a
grand source of striking, extraordinary, unusual, and odd characteristics
that often make up the proximate cause. May this benefit all.

Similia Minimus, David Little
---------------
"It is the life-force which cures diseases because a dead man needs no more
medicines."

Samuel Hahnemann

Visit our website on Hahnemannian Homoeopathy and Cyberspace Homoeopathic
Academy at
http://www.simillimum.com
David Little © 2000