At 10:24 PM 9/3/2002 +0200, you wrote:
Hello,
You have to put all the aphorism and footnotes into context. What I say
can be back up with statement from the Organon. I also have had the
pleasure of reviewing 100s of cases from Hahnemann's Paris Casebooks. This
shows one exactly how Samuel gave his medicines and helps fill in the holes
in some of the statements found in the Organon. Yes, the LM can be repeated
more frequently than the higher potency Cs. The reason for this is that
their action is very deep but their durations are not as long. This always
on to adjust the dose and case management procedure as one goes along. This
gives one the advantage of both a high and low potency remedies, i.e deep
action and repeatability, when necessary.
The above statement says nothing about using doses mechanically. It
shows that the LMs can be repeated more frequently than the high C
potencies, when necessary. Hahnemann never gave the daily dose or alternate
day dose for days, weeks, months and years on end. This is proven by his
personal casebooks. He would interpolated periods of placebos with his
remedies or stop the medicines whenever he saw a progressively improvement
or an aggravation. He might give a remedy on every day or other day for a
certain period but it was usually followed by equally long periods of
placebo according to the reactions of the patient.
Hahnemann says "may" not must. You should link this quote with the
footnote to the previous aphorism 247, where Hahnemann first introduces the
idea of the daily dose. The comes before the above statement and qualifies it.
"The same well-chosen medicine can now be given daily, even for months,
when necessary.
Note the words "when necessary". Yes, one can MAY give the LM daily, WHEN
NECESSARY, to speed the cure. It does not says you "must" give the remedy
daily whether it is necessary or not. This note about the necessity of
using the remedy also applies to the statement directly following it in
aphorism 248.
Yes, this is true but it says nothing about giving the medicine daily
mechanically. It is only speaking about using the remedy at suitable
intervals and working up through the potencies. He often stopped the remedy
and give only milk of sugar and watchd the action of the remedy. When and
how long he gave placebo was individualized by the circumstances. When he
used olfaction he usually give a single dose and waited one week.
This dose not say daily. It says "almost". Hahnemann often give a series of
doses followed by placebos to assess the action of the remedy on the
individual. Compare with giving one dry dose and waiting 1 to 3 months this
is almost daily. He had his cases come back every 7 days at the start so he
could change the dose or give placebo quickly. Many of these cases only
received 3 doses over that week. This is quite different than putting a
person on a mechanic daily dose for weeks and months on end. This is
individualization.
This does not mean that you have to give the remedy daily. It means
that the glass is made up fresh each day it is used. Hahnemann gave almost
as much placebo as medicine. The daily dose for months on end is not found
anywhere in his casebooks.
This does not refer to the daily dose. This refers to the split-dose which
can be used over a span of several days.
Yes but not in a mechanical fashion. He suggest daily repetition, when
necessary. You must read all the aphorisms on posology together. The first
topic taken up is when a single dose of the LM potency produces a
strikingly progressive improvement in the patient’s symptoms.
"During treatment, every noticeably progressing and conspicuously
increasing improvement is a state which, as long as it persists, generally
excludes any repetition of the medicine being used because all the good
being produced by the medicine is still hastening towards completion. This
is not seldom the case in acute diseases."
Organon of the Medical Art, Hahnemann, O’Reilly 6th Edition, Aphorism 246.
When a single dose of the LM potency produces an obvious progressively
increasing amelioration the remedy should not be repeated! This is because
the simillimum is already hastening toward cure at the fastest rate
possible. Whenever this happened Hahnemann would stop the remedy and give
placebo. Give this personal a daily dose and you will ruin the case. Then
Hahnemann writes:
"On the other hand, with somewhat chronic diseases, there are, to be
sure, some cases that have slow, continuous improvement based on one dose
of an aptly selected homeopathic medicine (taking 40, 50, 60, 100 days to
complete the cure, depending on the nature of the medicine) but this is
very seldom the case. Also, it must be a matter of great importance, to the
physician as well as to the patient, to foreshorten this period, if
possible, by half, three-quarters, indeed even more, in order that a far
more rapid cure might be attained."
This says that in SLOW moving cases that would take 40, 50 or 100 days
to complete the cure we should speed the cure! The first part is about the
STRIKINGLY PROGRESSIVE AMELIORATION. This says DON'T repeat the dose. The
second part is about SLOW improvements. The repeating of the dose to speed
the cure is for those cases in which it is NECESSARY. The following
directions are for those slowly improving cases.
"The most recent and frequently repeated experiences have taught me
that such rapid cures can be favorably carried out under the following
conditions:
1. Select with all circumspection, the aptly homeopathic medicine.
[the first condition is that the remedy is simillimum. If you repeat the
wrong remedy mechanically it can cause serious problems. How do you know
you have the right remedy if you give daily for months without testing it
cautious first???]'
2. Use a highly potentized [fifty-millesimal] dose, dissolved in water.
[the second condition is to use the medicinal solution.]
3. Administer a properly small dose of this to the patient.
[using the smallest rather than largest dose is important to prevent
aggravations]
4. Give a dose of the solution at intervals that experience has shown to be
the most distinctly appropriate for the best possible acceleration of the
treatment.
[This says one must use their experience to figure out how often to give
the remedy. It does not say give it mechanically daily, etc]
5. Prior to each administration of a dose of the solution, alter the degree
of potency of the dose. It is very important that the degree of potency of
each dose deviate somewhat from the previous and subsequent ones. This is
so that the life principle, whose tunement is to be altered to that of the
similar medicinal disease, may never feel itself agitated to adverse
counter-actions and enraged, as happens when repeated, unmodified doses are
given, especially when such doses are rapidly repeated one after another.
[The remedy must be sucussed to change the potency so that patient never
receives the exact same potency twice in succession.]
Organon: of the Medical Art, Hahnemann, O’Reilly 6th Edition, Aphorism 246.
All the statements about the daily and alternate dose are related to
SLOW MOVING CASES not fast moving cases. These remedy also should be
stopped when ever their is a strikingly progressive improvement, new
symptoms or an aggravation. One has to take what is said in aphorism 246,
which gives the first instruction on posology together with the footnote to
247 and the statement in 248
1. a. 246 says anytime a remedy causes a progressive amelioration [fast
improvement] the medicine should be stopped. When there is a striking
improvement the single dose or during the repetition of the dose the remedy
should be stopped because the cure is already taking place. This is not a
mechanical dose. This is responding to circumstances. Hahnemann gave
placebo when this happened
b. Then Hahnemann says in cases of SLOW amelioration one may repeat the
remedy at suitable intervals to speed the cure when the five conditions are
met. This includes. first and foremost, *having the correct remedy* and
then adjusting the dose properly.
2. In the footnote to aphorism 247 Hahnemann introduces the idea of the
daily dose for the first time but qualifies the statement with the words;
*when necessary*. This means when the daily dose is not necessary it should
not be used. He makes this clear in part one of 246 as well. No bothers to
read these two essential statements.
3. The statements in aphorism 247 as well as those that follow are related
only to slow moving cases. He is teaching how speed the cure in those cases
where it could 50 to 100 days on a single dose to show marked improvement.
If a dose or a short series of doses causes a strikingly progressive
improvement or a sign of aggravation his instructions are to *stop the
medicine*. Doctor Croserio wrote in his eyewitness account of the master in
Paris that he always stopped his LM doses when he saw good remedial action,
gave placebo and waited and watched. This point does not come through in
the Organon very well but it is obvious if you read 246 carefully and
Hahnemann's person casebooks.
Yes, the dose can be repeated to speed the cure in slow ameliorating
cases at suitable intervals in accordance with experience (aph 246). On
must put all these statement together in the order they are presented to
understand the pattern. The most important aspect that is overlooked it
what Hahnemann really says in part one and two of aphorism 246 and the
footnote to aphorism 247. These statement condition everything that is said
about the daily and alternated day dose which follows.
The mechanical repetition of the LM potency daily for days, weeks and
months on end has caused some very bad aggravations. In come circles they
are saying the LM aggravates worse than the Cs given by the old method.
Some are saying the worse aggravations they have ever seen were caused by
the LMs! Why??? Because they were given mechanically in the daily dose when
it was NOT NEEDED to speed the cure. I constantly receive letters from
people aggravated by homoeopathy. Some are because to large of dose of
pills of the dry C potencies. Others were caused by repeating the LM
potencies mechanically. None of this has to happen if one individualized
the posology and is careful. That is what Hahnemann did. Some patients were
on placebos for weeks!
I have had the advantage or reading Hahnemann's Paris Casebooks and
studying how he really gave his medicines as well as reading eyewitness
accounts and personal letters. These source helps one understand the fine
print in the Organon. Some of the smallest statement are the most
important. The most important statement about giving the dose is the two
words" WHEN NECESSARY! If one gives a series of rapid doses or continues
them when they are not necessary they cause aggravations and slow down the
cure. Hahnemann often interpolated a series of placebo between a series of
doses so he could observe the actions of his remedy. He did not give the
daily or alternative day dose mechanically for days, weeks, months and
years. That is a complete myth.
When I first read the Organon I also did not see the fine print in
aphorism 246 and the footnote to 247, etc.. For this reason, I also
aggravated too many cases in the beginning but I used this experience to
slow down my repetitions and use my *experience (246)* to guide me in
individualizing the remedy schedules. When I got the microfiches of the
Hahnemann Paris Casebooks the first thing I noticed how much placebo
Hahnemann used to control the deep actions of the LM potency. If the case
was moving fast he would give placebo, if there was a confusion about the
symptoms he gave placebo, if there was an aggravation he gave placebo. He
never let the patient repeat a remedy for more than 7 to 14 days (sometimes
less) without seeing them. He never let them take a daily dose for weeks
and months without checking. He often stopped the remedy, gave placebo, and
then waited and watched. The is not mechanical repetition of the LM
potency. Every case was individualized.
This is the outcome of 18 years of research in the LM potency. It did
not come easy and I made mistakes. I am trying to use my own mistakes and
how I over came them to benefit others. In the early years I had little to
go on. Studying the Hahnemann's casebooks, personal, letters and eyewitness
account of his colleagues has help me to understand the fine print in the
Organon. These subtle points are often missed when reading the text.
Sincerely, David Little
Samuel Hahnemann
Visit our website on Hahnemannian Homoeopathy and Cyberspace Homoeopathic
Academy at
http://www.simillimum.com
David Little © 2000