The Soul of Remedies

From the Book

Clear, concise, confirmed descriptions of the inner view of a hundred remedies, and how they express this in the clinical situation.

This is a companion volume to Rajan Sankaran's earlier works: The Spirit of Homeopathy and The Substance of Homeopathy.

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Details

The Soul of Remedies, by Rajan Sankaran, was published in 1997.

The 100 remedies presented here have been previously published in The Spirit of Homeopathy and The Substance of Homeopathy. With this work Sankaran has revised and corrected his original material.

Sankaran's introduction discusses the danger of writing and teaching remedy pictures, "a beginner in the field might become fixed on these remedy pictures and forget that every remedy has a wider range and greater scope than any one individual can see or describe."

These remedy 'essences' are based on Sankaran's experience and his theories regarding miasms and kingdoms.

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Heritage

The author speaks about the "dangers inherent in the undertaking" of writing a book about remedies, specifically the danger of a "beginner in the field to become fixed on these remedy pictures" and forget the larger pictures of the remedies discussed.

100 remedies are presented in a narrative style, followed by a listing of useful rubrics. Much of the information has been condensed from the author's other books.

From:
The Heritage of Homoeopathic Literature
copyright 2001 by Julian Winston
Reprinted with the permission of the author

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Author

Rajan Sankaran

(1960 -     )

Dr. Rajan Sankaran was born on May 24, 1960, in Mumbai, India. Inspired and nurtured by his father, Dr. P. Sankaran, Rajan graduated Gold Medallist from the Bombay Homeopathic Medical College in 1981. He is the Assistant Professor in the department of Repertory in Smt. C.M.P. Homoeopathic Medical College, Mumbai and is attached to its hospital as the Honorary Physician.

He is the Editor of the Asian Edition of the Homoeopathic Links and is also the Vice-Chairman of the International Council for Classical Homoeopathy (Asian Region).

Throughout his twenty years of practice Dr. Rajan has worked to unearth a system for homeopathy that gives consistent results. He has given us the classification of remedy states into kingdoms and has added miasms to the already known ones.

His concept of disease as a Delusion changed the process of case taking from mere data collection to understanding the patient beyond the physical level.

In the year 2000 Dr. Rajan began work on classification of the Plant Kingdom remedies, and also introduced the concept of Vital Sensation. His findings further extended his ground breaking approach to classical homeopathy.

Dr. Rajan has taught since 1986, in UK, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Austria, Australia, Russia, Greece, USA, Germany, New Zealand, The Netherlands and Spain. He is affiliated with the CMP Homoeopathic Medical College.

Dr. Sankaran has written the following books:

• The Spirit of Homoeopathy
  which explains his concept of disease as a state.
   
• The Substance of Homoeopathy
  which explains his idea of miasms, classification of states, as well as his idea of classifying remedies and states into kingdoms.
   
• The Soul of Remedies
  in which he has given his understanding and essence of a hundred remedies.
   
• Provings
  a compilation of the provings of eleven remedies.
   
• The System of Homoeopathy
  which gives a detailed report for over 40 successful cases and explains, step by step, his system of working with cases using the concepts of delusions, miasms, and kingdoms.
   
• The Sensation
  Sankaran's homeopathic understanding of kingdoms, potency, miasms and case analysis.
   
• Sensation Refined
  continues with the work started in The Sensation and clarifies issues faced by practitioners of his method.
   

In addition to publishing his own books, Dr. Rajan also edited the works of his father, Dr. P. Sankaran, creating two volumes called Elements of Homoeopathy.

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Reviews

Two Reviews:
1. SIMILLIMUM
2. RESONANCE



SIMILLIMUM
Reviewed by Durr Elmore

Rajan Sankaran, one of the leading homeopathic thinkers and teachers today, recently published a book of materia medica.

In the introduction, he begins with a warning of the dangers of writing and teaching remedy pictures (essences), because

"a beginner in the field might become fixed on these remedy pictures and forget that every remedy has a wider range and greater scope than any one individual can see or describe. Not realizing that these pictures represent only one version, only one view of the remedy, he might wrongly imagine that he had seen the whole!"

Most of the remedies presented have been previously published in The Spirit of Homeopathy and The Science of Homeopathy. Here Dr. Sankaran has revised and corrected the original writings.

This book begins with a lucid introduction that clearly defines the background and use of the information contained.

He writes:

"The material presented here has been observed and confirmed in my own practice; it is material I am sure of. I have not included remedies of which I have little experience or knowledge. I have attempted to convey the innermost feeling or the basic delusion of the remedy while connecting the situation, source, miasm and kingdom."

"The rubrics and physical symptoms cited are ones which I have observed repeatedly and often used to confirm the remedy prescribed. These ideas have helped me in my clinical practice and I wish to share them with the profession."

Regarding his understanding of each remedy (essences of remedies), Rajan writes,

"There is a common misconception to the effect that I stress mental and emotional symptoms to the exclusion of physical symptoms. This, I repeat, is a misconception. If I often seem to speak exclusively of the mental/emotional state, it is because understanding this requires some degree of insight into the patient as well as into the remedy and it is more difficult than noting physical symptoms."

"Nonetheless, in practice I give a lot of importance to the physical symptoms, to the meaning of the pathology, and to the modalities which have to be matched with those of the remedy. Giving a remedy solely on a vague idea of the mental picture is a prescription for failure. Such an approach is risky and certainly not one that I follow or recommend."

"...I have tired to bring out the innermost feelings of the remedy and it is not easy to discover these in patients other than by artistic case-taking which delves deeply into such things as the patients delusions, dreams, hobbies, etc. What appears on the surface might be quite different from what is actually inside..."

"My idea of understanding a remedy is to grasp the connection that ties together its myriad symptoms: the basic delusion, its source (kingdom), the miasm to which it belongs, its symptoms all must be understood as aspects of a single whole if we are to even begin to truly understand a remedy. It is my attempt to tract out these connections that distinguishes this work from other Materia Medicas."

"I believe, for example, that the 'connecting link' in Sepia is the feeling that she is forced to do something against her intention. In the section on Sepia I try to show how this 'link' connects every aspect of the remedy. This has been confirmed by me in practice time and again-I do not believe it is mere theory ... and yet the reader must remember that this is Rajan's experience and not necessarily the final word."

"This book is meant for those who have read The Spirit of Homeopathy and The Substance of Homeopathy because it those earlier works that most fully express my understanding of the Organon and Materia Medica."

"Without an understanding of my ideas on such things as case-taking, classification of remedies according to kingdom, miasms, etc., this book will not be of much benefit. This book may be used as an adjunct to the previous works but not as a substitute for them."

Exactly one hundred remedies are included, both polychrests and "small remedies." Much of this book is original material, reflecting the insight, experience and genius of Dr. Rajan Sankaran.

Keeping these introductory words in mind, I strongly recommend this new book to all homeopaths. Dr. Sankaran is making an important contribution to the existing homeopathic materia medica.

SIMILLIMUM
Winter 1997 Volume X No. 4
Reprinted with permission from the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians


RESONANCE
Reviewed by Melanie Grimes

This is a book that many have been waiting for. In a one- to three- pages synopsis, 100 remedies are described in their situation materia medica. Much of this information has already been presented in Rajan's previous books, but in a way hard to reference. These remedy pictures are the ones we are familiar with; however the collection of all the data in one facilitates the use.

The "innermost" feeling of each of the remedies is pictured here. The single thread that runs through each remedy, as Rajan calls it, is "the connecting link." The book is written for those who have read his previous works, and should be considered a companion volume to his previous works.

Rajan himself explains in the introduction his hesitancy to write this book, fearing that some would become fixed on remedy pictures and forget the wide scope of the remedy. This is always a concern, as human frailty and memory lapses cause us to look for the shortcut.

As in all that is of value, this book will benefit those most who use it deeply.

Resonance
January/February 1998

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Contents

Introduction -- i-iii
Acknowledgement -- iv
Note -- iv
Acon. -- 1
Alum. -- 2-4
Ambr. -- 5-6
Anac. -- 7-8
Anhalonium -- 9-10
Ant-c. -- 11-12
Arg-m. -- 13-15
Arg-n. -- 16-18
Ars.19-20
Aur. -- 21-23
Baryta arsenicosa -- 24
Bar-c. -- 25-26
Baryta phosphorica -- 27
Baryta sulphurica -- 28
Bell. -- 29-30
Bry. -- 31-32
Bufo -- 33-34
Calc-ar. -- 35
Calcarea bromata -- 36
Calc. -- 37-40
Calc-f. -- 41-43
Calc-i. -- 44
Calc-p. -- 45-46
Calc-sil. -- 47-48
Calc-s. -- 49-50
Cannabis -- 51-52
Canth. -- 53-54
Carc. -- 55-56
Caust. -- 57-58
Chin. -- 59-61
Chocolate -- 62
Cic. -- 63-64
Cina -- 65
Coca -- 66
Cocc. -- 67-68
Coff. -- 69-70
Croc. -- 71-72
Cupr. -- 73-74
Cyclamen -- 75-76
Dros. -- 77-78
Elaps -- 79-80
Ferr. -- 81-82
Fl-ac. -- 83-84
Gels. -- 85-86
Graph. -- 87-88
Hell. -- 89
Hep. -- 90-91
Hipp. -- 92-93
Hura -- 94-95
Hyos. -- 96-98
Kali-ar. -- 99-100
Kali-c. -- 101-103
Kali-i. -- 104-105
Kali-p. -- 106-107
Kali-s. -- 108
Lac-c. -- 109-110
Lac-d. -- 111-112
Lach. -- 113-114
Lil-t. -- 115-116
Lyc. -- 117-120
Lyss. -- 121-123
Mag-c. -- 124-126
Mag-m. -- 127-128
Mag-s. -- 129-130
Mang. --131-132
Med. -- 133-135
Merc. -- 136-138
Naja -- 139-140
Nat-c. -- 141-143
Nat-m. -- 144-146
Nat-s. -- 147-148
Nicc. -- 149-150
Nit-ac. -- 151-152
Nux-v. -- 153-155
Pall. -- 156
Par. -- 157-158
Ph-ac. -- 159-160
Phos. -- 161-163
Pic-ac. -- 164
Plat. -- 165-167
Plb. -- 168-169
Puls. -- 170-171
Rheum -- 172
Rhus-t. -- 173-175
Ringworm -- 176
Sel. -- 177-178
Sep. -- 179-181
Sil. -- 182-185
Staph. -- 186-190
Stram. -- 191-193
Strontium carbonicum -- 194-195
Sulph. -- 196-197
Sul-ac. -- 198
Tarent. -- 199-200
Ther. -- 201-202
Thuj. -- 203-205
Tub. -- 206-208
Verat. -- 209-210
Viol-o. -- 211
Zinc. -- 212-213
Appendix 1 - Miasms -- 217-228
Appendix 2 - The natural classification of drugs -- 229-236
Index -- 237-241

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