A LOOK AT DR. HAHNEMANN’S ORGANON OF MEDICINE and its Modern Counterpart of Homotoxicology by Heel’s Dr. Reckeweg
Dr. Samuel Hahnemann was clearly one of the greatest physicians who ever lived. He is widely considered the Father of Homeopathic Medicine, a word that he coined in 1797 at the same time that he also coined the word Allopathic Medicine, as a way of differentiating his style of practice from the more traditional style he was breaking away from. In a sense, Allopathy is a Homeopathic dirty word, and the Traditionalists have embraced it in almost an ironic footnote to medical history, in naming themselves by Hahnemann’s swearword of the time. It’s kind of like an Alternative Doctor being proud to be calling himself a QUACK (which may in itself sometimes be a proud thing to do?)
Dr. Hahnemann’s seminal work of his Philosophy is called the ORGANON OF MEDICINE, the first edition of which was published in 1810. It contains all the rules of Homeopathic Philosophy and Dogma, and is the result of years of painstaking thought as a result of his many years of practice and experience. He rewrote his book a total of six times with edition two in 1819, edition three in 1824, edition four in 1829, edition five in 1833 and the final edition six reportedly finished in 1842, just before he died the following year in 1843.
It’s interesting to note before explaining the format of this great book, that in 1833 Dr. Hahnemann was a widower after the death of his wife of many years, and at the age of 80 remarried a 29-year-old woman named Melanie, who had traveled from Paris to his home in Kothen Germany for treatment (she traveled 14 days by stagecoach disguised as a man, because it was unsafe for women to travel alone in those days). She took him back to her native Paris where Hahnemann became famous and enjoyed the most successful practice years of his life, until he died 9 years later.
It wasn’t until Melanie died many years later that the last and sixth edition was found among her papers to be shared with the rest of the world, and actually wasn’t accepted for some time after that, until it was verified, that it was actually written by him, but fortunately it was written in his own handwriting and many witnesses existed, even at that late date, who were willing and able to verify it as an original work of the master.
The Organon is written with a long introduction, followed by a series of numbered paragraphs stating the
rules of the philosophy. Each subsequent edition basically left the earlier paragraphs unchanged and simply added more paragraphs. The sixth and final edition actually saw rewrites of earlier paragraphs but also added more paragraphs. There is a total of 291 paragraphs in the final edition, and the thirty or so that were added from edition five to edition six contained some very radical changes on subjects that would even be considered revolutionary today.
Paragraph 286 addresses the powers of mineral magnets, electricity and galvanism. Paragraph 288 addresses Animal Magnetism, also known as Mesmerism (hypnotism). Paragraph 290 addresses the powers of massage. Paragraph 291 addresses baths of water. Paragraph 284 addresses the ability to administer medicines via the nose or respiratory tract. Paragraph 270 explains how to make an LM
potency (a 1/50,000 dilution of medicine---a concept unheard of through that time AND SINCE).
After the discovery of edition six and the acceptance of its revolutionary principles (Imagine a discussion of Electricity and Magnetism in the year 1842???) in the early part of the 1900s, decisions were reached by the main thinkers in the then- Homeopathic profession that edition Six WAS ALL SHE WROTE. If it didn’t exist in Hahnemann’s words, IT COULDN’T BE CALLED Homeopathy.
And thus was born the Profession of CLASSICAL HOMEOPATHY. No one but Hahnemann himself
could add to the book. However, allow yourself to imagine that if Hahnemann himself could have lived another 150 years and lived through all the advances of science that have occurred since his death. Can you not imagine a man that wrote about Electricity, Magnetism and Mesmerism not embracing Quantum Physics, and possibly being the first physician to use a computer as these concepts were introduced into the world? What if he had simply added a paragraph, directing a Board of Directors of Homeopathy
to be formed after his death, requiring a convention every several years directing changes and additions being made to his work according to the Philosophical principles that he would have so enunciated?
Might we not currently be up to Edition 150 of The Organon by this time, embracing the thoughts of
Homotoxicology, Electrodermal Testing, Acupuncture, Orthomolecular Medicine, Oxidative Medicine,
Enderlein theory, Kinesiology, Chiropractic and all the myriad of methodology that we know to be effective and constructive in our Integrative system?
We possibly have said this all before in earlier articles, but this edition of Explore! contains an article written by Dr. Arturo O’Byrne of Columbia, South America. In it he discusses his thesis on why Dr. Hans Heinrich Reckeweg, M.D., also of Germany, chose the remedies of Homotoxicology as is formulated by the Heel Company.
Dr. Reckeweg broke with the rules of the Organon and developed a school of Homeopathy that he called Homotoxicology in that it is based on combining multiple combinations of Homeopathic Medicines in seeming contradiction to Dr. Hahnemann’s Organon-based rules.
Dr. O’Byrne has brilliantly postulated that Dr. Reckeweg might have used the rules of musical notes in formulating these brilliant remedies.
Dr. Reckeweg did something different than Dr. Hahnemann, however, in the furtherance of his philosophy. He also wrote a book containing his Philosophy, called The ORDINATION of Medicine. It is the famous, big orange book published by Heel, that explains how to work with Homotoxicology. This book, however, is a “living” book and serves as the backbone of the Heel Company, which is staffed by researching scientists and physicians in 60 countries throughout the world, and at World headquarters in Baden Baden, Germany. It is rewritten every one-to-two years as knowledge is refined and new knowledge is learned.
One of the best examples of an early change in Homotoxic theory actually took place during Dr. Reckeweg’s lifetime (he died in 1985 after working with his philosophy for close to fifty years of active practice---Traumeel was first formulated in 1936).
There was an America Scientist named Dr. W.F. Koch, M.D., who did his first original work in 1919, in
Detroit, Michigan. He is the father of might be called Catalyst Medicine, wherein dilutions of Co-Factors of Human Metabolism are used to stimulate biochemical reactions, to create energy within the body.
Simple dilutions of the vitamins and co-Factors of the Krebs cycle, for instance, are re-introduced into the system, and the natural energy production of the intracellular Mitochondria are enhanced many-fold.
Dr. Koch was ultimately harassed by the AMA and the FDA, and was ultimately forced to leave the United
States. He spent the last years of his life practicing in Brazil, but not before he spent time in Germany where he was befriended by Dr. Reckeweg (who spent the last years of his life in Albuquerque, New Mexico).
Dr. Reckeweg was fascinated by Dr. Koch’s life’s work, and saw a natural place for Catalyst remedies to fit into Homotoxicology. There are numerous Catalyst Formulas added to the many remedies of Homotoxicology, and their addition has enhanced the Power exhibited by these remarkable remedies.
It is the authors thought that someday the work of Enderlein will someday be included in homotoxicology,
as the Scientists of Homotoxicology continue investigating and explore the Natural Laws of the World that were first explored by Dr. Hahnemann.
The Fallacy of the Status Quo is that nothing stays the same, and that those who expound fixed ideas are giving old news as they are speaking the new, and as time goes along the innovative ideas of those that seemed before their time really knew the truth before others actually understood the questions.
© Copyright 2003 by Bruce H. Shelton, M.D., M.D.(h), DiHOM, Integrative Medicine & HEEL Inc. USA Medical Director, USA
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