Aphorisms 246, 247 and 248 of the 6th Organon

[Sheri Nakken]

from David Little on Aphorisms 246, 247 and 248 of the 6th Organon:

I will pull all of this together for you at the
end. Here is some more explanation.
Dear students and colleagues,

The ghost of the mechanism continues to appear in
the minds of some persons. There are still too
many persons that teach one can give the LM
potency daily for months in a mechanical fashion
to every patient no matter what the reaction the
remedy produces. I have responded to this myth in
another medium so I thought I would share the
post here. I bet some of you are tried of hearing
this from me! Nevertheless, there may be some
parties that have not read these details before.
The following document is based on Hahnemann's
teachings contained in aphorism 246, 247 and 248 as translated by W. Beoricke..

Aphorism 246

"Every perceptible progressive and strikingly
increasing amelioration during treatment is a
condition which, as long as it lasts, completely
precludes every repetition of the administration
of any medicine whatsoever, because all the good
the medicine taken continues to effect is now
hastening towards its completion."

1. Hahnemann clearly says that when there is a
"perceptibly progressive and strikingly
increasing amelioration" is a condition that
"COMPLETELY PRECLUDES" any "REPETITION" of the
remedy whatsoever. This is because the good
effect of the remedy is now "hastening" towards
its completion. Although single dose and
infrequent dose cures are not the majority of
chronic cases but they do take place in a
significant minority. This is more often in very
sensitive patients, in functional diseases and in
the early states of pathology. There are
occasions, however, where advanced pathological
states of several years duration is cured by
single doses or infrequent repetitions of the LM
potency. Under these condition the repetition of
the remedy is counter indicated because the
remedy is already heading for cure very quickly
and the repetition of the remedy under these
conditions runs the risk of slowing down the cure
and causing aggravations and antagonistic counter
actions of the vital force. When their is a
dramatically increasing amelioration it is always
best to leave well enough alone!

"This is not infrequently the case in acute
diseases, but in more chronic diseases, on the
other hand, a single dose of an appropriately
selected Homoeopathic remedy will at times
complete even with but slowly progressive
improvement and give the help which such a remedy
in such a case can accomplish naturally within 40, 50, 60, 100 days."

2. Single dose cures are often the case in acute
diseases but in chronic diseases a single dose
usually only produces a "slowly progressive
improvement" that will accomplish what it can
naturally within 40, 50, 60, 100 days. This is,
however, but rarely the case; and besides, it
must be a matter of great importance to the
physician as well as to the patient that were it
possible, this period should be diminished to
one-half, one-quarter, and even still less, so
that a much more rapid cure might be obtained."

There is a great difference between a "strikingly
increasing amelioration" and a "slowly
progressive improvement". Hahnemann makes it
clear that "anytime" during treatment there is a
strikingly increasing amelioration. the remedy
should be stopped as long as this lasts. This
case be caused by a single dose, short series of
split-doses or after the remedy has been repeated
for some time. Hahnemann then takes up the
discussion of cases in which a single dose can
only cause a "slowly progressive improvement"
that may take up to 100 days to show any
significant improvement. Under these conditions
the remedy should be repeated at suitable
intervals to speed the cure to 1/2, 1/4 or less
the time it would take with the exclusive single
dose wait and watch method. When using the 4th
Organon dry dose method the remedy can not be
repeat until the duration of the remedy ceases and the patient relapses.

4. Now Hahnemann offers five conditions that must
be met to speed the cure of slowly progressing cases.

a. The remedy must be "perfectly homeopathic". b.
It must be highly potentized. c. It must be
dissolved in water. d. It must be given in a
proper small dose. e. It must be repeated in
definite intervals that experience has taught the most suitable.

If the remedy is NOT perfectly homeopathic one
best not repeat it. How can you tell if the
remedy is perfectly homeopathic if you don't
carefully test it at the start of treatment. The
Paris casebooks show that it was Hahnemann
practice to give either a single dose (usually by
olfaction) or short series of 3 to 7 doses over a
period of a week and had the patient come back in
7 days. He never sent anyone off for 1 month at
the start of a case with a preconceived remedy
schedule. He always checked his remedy very
carefully at the start of treatment to make sure
it was not the wrong remedy or a partial
simillimum. Everything that Hahnemann says in
aphorism 247 and 248 about speeding the cure is
conditioned by his statements in aphorism 246.

Aphorism 247

Aphorism 247 explains why one needs to use the
medicinal solution that is succussed prior to
administration and given it in split-doses. He
gives the reasons why it is difficult to speed
the cure with the unmodified dry dose or
unadjusted liquid dose. Then Hahnemann says:

"But if the succeeding dose is changed slightly
every time, namely potentized somewhat higher
(pp. 269-270) then the vital principle may be
altered without difficulty by the same medicine
(the sensation of natural disease diminishing)
and thus the cure brought nearer".

Aphorism 248

Aphorism 248 continues the theme that started in
aphorism 246 where Hahnemann taught when the
single dose wait and watch method is appropriate
(in perceptively progressive and strikingly
increasing ameliorations) and where one should
repeat the remedy at suitable intervals (case
where a single dose can only cause slowly
progressive improvement). Aphorism 248 follows on
the discussion of the five conditions for
speeding the cure and the need to adjust each
dose so that patient never receives the exact same potency twice in succession.

"For this purpose, we potentize anew the
medicinal solution (with perhaps 8, 10, 12
succussions) from which we give the patient one
or (increasingly) several teaspoonful doses, in
long lasting diseases daily or every second day,
in acute diseases every two to six hours and in
very urgent cases every hour or oftener.

The "purpose" Hahnemann is speaking about how to
adjust the potency when repeating the remedy to
speed the cure of cases that would only slowly
improve on a single dose or infrequent
repetitions. This includes BOTH acute and chronic
diseases. For this purpose we potentize anew the
medicinal solution prior to the administration of
each dose so that patient never receives the
exact same potency twice in succession. Then
Hahnemann offers a method for treating for long
lasting protracted diseases where a single dose
can only produces a slow progressive improvement
over 30 to 100 days at best and even this is
rarely the case. it is more common for the
patient to relapse calling for repeated doses.
Aphorism 248 teaches how to speed the cure of
resistant cases to 1/2, 1/4 or less the time it
takes with the exclusive single dose wait and watch method.

In protracted cases, the remedy may be repeated
daily or on alternated days if necessary as long
as there are no aggravations or new symptoms. It
must also be noted that in sentence 1 of aphorism
246 Hahnemann says every strikingly increasing
amelioration "during treatment" is a state that
"precludes" the repetition of the remedy as long
as it lasts. This means that anytime during a
series of split-doses there appears a dramatic
increasing amelioration the remedy should be
stopped as long as this state lasts. If one stops
the remedy under these three conditions
(aggravation, new symptoms, dramatic increasing
amelioration) over medication can be avoided while the cure greatly speeded.

Hahnemann noted in aphorism 246 that acute
diseases are often cured by a single dose. When
he speaks about giving the acute remedy every 6
hours or less it means in resistant acute
disorders that can not be cured by a single dose.
The same conditions apply. There is no need to
repeat the dose when there is a strikingly
increasing amelioration in acute diseases any
more than in a chronic diseases. All the
conditions discussed in the aphorism 246
condition all the statement that follow in
aphorism 248. If one ignores the first sentence
of aphorism 246 they leave out 1/2 of Hahnemann's
case management strategies that deals with strikingly increasing ameliorations.

In the footnote to aphorism 246 Hahnemann says
one can give the remedy daily "WHEN NECESSARY".
This same when necessary applies to the
statements on the daily dose in aphorism 248! It
is amazing some persons can completely ignore or
change the meaning of everything Hahnemann says
in aphorism 246 and its footnote. Then they say
Hahnemann only taught that one should give
everyone the remedy daily or on alternate days in
chronic diseases and every 6 hours or less in
acute diseases no matter what. This type
selective amnesia takes a few words out of
context with the rest of the text and ignores
hundreds of words that explain Hahnemann's
complete posology and case management strategy in
detail. To say Hahnemann said always give the
daily dose for months and forget the "when
necessary" a grand misnomer that puts the patient in danger.

It is very difficult to learn how to use the LM
potency properly just by reading the 6th Organon.
There was supposed to be a living lineage of
teachers that could clarify the points and add
oral teachings that are not contained in the 6th
edition. Hahnemann was teaching Boenninghausen
about the LM method when he died. Melaine
Hahnemann asked Boenninghausen not to speak about
the new methods in pubic until after she
published the 6th Organon. Unfortunately, this
task was not accomplished before the Baron and
Melaine passed away. By the time the 6th edition
was published in 1920 all those with personal
knowledge of the LM potency had died. This makes
it extremely difficult to put the entire LM
method into perspective without studying the
Paris casebooks, the testimony of those with
inside information, and the eyewitness accounts
of those who witnessed Hahnemann's practice between1838 to 1843.

Hahnemann shared LM cases with Beonninghausen as
he hoped the Baron would someday pass on his
teachings on the new method. These cases showed
how Hahnemann actually gave the LM potency in the
clinic. This information was complemented by the
eyewitness account of Dr. Croserio, who worked
closely with Hahnemann in his last years. Dr.
Croserio's letter to Beonninghausen IHahnemann's
Doses of Medicine, Lesser Writing,
Boenninghausen) shows that the Founder often gave
single doses (usually by olfaction) followed by
at least one week of placebos while he waited and
watched. The Paris casebooks confirm that
Hahnemann used this method quite often in the
1840s. This proves that Hahnemann did NOT always
give the daily and alternate day dose to every
patient. He often used single doses usually by olfaction but not always.

Dr. Croserio's letter clearly points out that;
"Even in acute diseases it was a rare case to see
him [Hahnemann] allow the patient to take more
than one spoonful in 24 hours". Dr.Croserio's
eyewitness account proves that Hahnemann did not
always use the daily or alternate day dose or
give acute remedies every 6 hours or less. The
rapid repetition of the remedy was specific for
the treatment of resistant acute and chronic
disorders. In aphorism 246 Hahnemann clearly
states that acute diseases often are cured by
single doses in a striking manner! If one gives
the remedy every 6 hours in a mechanical fashion
i n these cases the outcome would be
aggravations, accessory symptoms and antagonistic
counter actions of the vital force.

Dr. Croserio also noted that anytime during
treatment Hahnemann observed strong medicinal
actions he would reduce the dose or stop the
doses and give placebos while he waited and
watched. This method has also been confirmed by a
study of the Paris casebooks. Hahnemann did not
speak about how much placebo he was using in the
1840s in the 6th Organon. That would have alerted
the general public to the fact that he was using
almost as much milk sugar in water as active
medicine. The Founder rarely gave the daily or
alternate days dose for very long without placing
the patient on placebos for one or more weeks. I
have not see one case in the entire Paris
casebooks where Hahnemann gave the daily or
alternated day dose from months on end without
stopping the medicine and given 1, 2 even 3 weeks
of placebo. Hahnemann constantly used this "On
again - off again" method throughout his
treatment. The idea that Hahnemann always gave
the daily dose or alternate day dose for months is a complete complete myth.

I have not written this discourse with the idea
of proving a point to a single party. I have
written this post for the benefit of the
Homoeopathic community at large and for the good
of their patients. The first Hippocratic maxim is
"Do no harm". Homeopathy is a very safe system
when one follows the basic checks and balances
introduced by Samuel Hahnemann. The biggest
danger inherent in homeopathy is from over
medication with potentized remedies. This can
cause remedy induced symptoms, medical diseases,
and antagonistic counter actions of the vital
force. These conditions can become very serious
if the over medication is excessive. None of this
has to happen if one follows all the principles
elucidated in aphorism 246, 247 and 248 in a
careful manner. If one just takes one or two
words out of context and ignores the rest they
take the law in to their own hands and are
personally responsible for any suffering they cause.

Simila Minimus Sincerely, 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

[Irene de Villiers]

Sheri,

You (and others you quote) are confusing the excessive or inappropriate use of remedies during illness with the suitable frequent controlled use of remedies during health (for prophylaxis or proving use).

The ONLY aphorism that applies to the use of remedies in HEALTHY people - is aph 141, where Hahnemann points out how impossible it is to have ANY ill effects and how absolutely the opposite occurs - but read his own strong wording on that matter:-)

...Irene
--
Irene de Villiers, B.Sc AASCA MCSSA D.I.Hom/D.Vet.Hom.
P.O. Box 4703 Spokane WA 99220.
www.Furryboots.info
(Info on Feline health, genetics, nutrition & homeopathy)
"Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt one doing it."