Tags

, , , , ,

 

I am crazy about books! In particular old books!

I love that moldily smell that their pages disperse upon parting them, the weight in the hand, and that solid feel of the hard cover. I always ask myself, who held these books, turned their pages; with what motivation? Just for the sake of reading, to search for information, with just as much curiosity as I, or without any thought on who wrote it? What world can I immerse myself in by absorbing the words these pages hold? Where will I travel, what will I see?

Yes, I am definitely crazy about books, yet, even more so if they are homeopathic books!

The old books by Hahnemann, his contemporaries, and his followers. Just imagine holding that book that Hahnemann held while his thoughts mused over what the words from it told. Just imagine what Hering had experienced that made him want to read that particular book. What motivation was there for Kent to make the notes that formed a book?. Just imagine learning from the wisdom that the great homeopaths collected in their books, to be preserved for the afterworld, for us.

A true treasure lies within many of theses scriptures! Besides the intended informative topic, they give insights into the time in which they were written to a more or lesser extent, or in the least reflect the mindset of the author. Yet there is more in many of the old homeopathic books, they tell us much more.

They give us a subtle insight into the life, beliefs, customs and traditions of an era, and that in exquisite detail. Many are documents of patient cases or contain references to these. In the meticulously taken notes of case-histories there is a wealth of information descriptive of the lifestyle, attitudes and behaviours of people in treatment. It is within those that are contained the true treasures troves for the practitioners of our time.

Ever since its creation has homeopathy emphasised on the influences on health and well-being, of the diverse factors related to a patients life-style, customs and habits; and ever since have such aspects been retained in patient records, reports and files and have flown into the fundamental literary works on homeopathy. Never has such detailed documentation been retained in conventional medicine. Such detail has and is simply not part of allopathic patient care.

We, the contemporary homeopaths, should take advantage of such treasures. Whether patient cases, descriptions of diseases, or materias medica, we ought to learn from the information contained. The untarnished ability of the forefathers to observe, should stimulate our ability to perceive such that we may achieve and master our abilities. In the times of internet, television, radio it many be that we have lost the unrestricted ability to note and apprehend the subtler expressions in our counterparts. Reading in the older works, I have noticed that I am becoming more sensitized to the almost imperceptible in my patients. Not always is this of much importance, but frequently it helps if even the slightest hint of an emotion flies by and is so not congruent to the spoken word.

I much value the ancient records, love the old antique books, and although it is no where close to the real thing, I have collected here websites that have digitalized homeopathic books to view or download. Do enjoy! I hope you too find in these pages the odd jewel of homeopathic wisdom!

Collations of articles, papers and dissertations: