The Spirit of Homeopathy

by Rajan Sankaran

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3rd ed. Mumbai: Homeopathic Medical Publishers 2000, 2006. www.thespiritofhomeopathy.com  spirit@vsnl.com  HB 357 pp plus index

Rajan Sankaran focuses on psychological states as the primary issue to address with homeopathy.  He emphasizes that a person's total being is to be understood from their understanding of and beliefs about the situation in which they find themselves, and that this situation will be multi-faceted, relating in complex ways to the present and to the past history.

…What is important to note is that every single aspect of the patient fits into one state, because the whole posture represents a survival mechanism in a specific situation. So, we must understand that every symptom which exists must fit the pattern. If some symptom does not fit, the selection may be wrong. The ideas of situational Materia Medica is [sic] to study a pattern behind the conglomeration. It compels us to perceive the whole state of the patient as a survival mechanism in a particular situation. It is a question of what situation needs such state and then of identifying a remedy whose state originates from a similar situation.

In essence, situational Materia Medica is nothing but the basic delusion of that remedy state. It is the viewpoint from which all the expressions of the state arise, with their obsessions and compulsions.

…what is important to trace is not what situation the person is in but to what situation he is reacting. If you find that out, the situational Materia Medica will be useful. The situation to which he is reacting might have occurred earlier in his life, or in his mother during pregnancy or in his parents. That will merely confirm your prescription but will not be the indication for it. The indication will always be the totality of his expressions including his dreams and his delusions from which we get an idea of his perception of the situation. For this you have to ask in which situation should he behave like this. Of course, we have already mentioned that a state will try to create a situation similar to the original situation; so we can also ask which situation he has created…

The person who understands the situational Materia Medica is one who has thoroughly grasped the concept of disease as a posture, as a state of being, and not as a conglomeration of symptoms or pathology. (p. 285-286)

Sankaran's views differ from Western understandings of psychological mechanisms. His apparent successes in treating on the basis of these understandings invite dialogue – for mutual deepening of understandings of the human condition.

Reviews are by Daniel J. Benor, MD, IJHC Editor, unless otherwise indicated

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