Rudi Verspoor, FHCH, HD(RHom.), DMH
Email interview by Greg
Cooper,
June, 2005
© 2005 Minimum Price
Books
Rudi Verspoor and Patty Smith-Verspoor
|
Rudi Verspoor, FHCH, HD(RHom.), DMH
Rudi Verspoor and Patty Smith-Verspoor |
Rudi Verspoor , in close collaboration with Organon translator Steven Decker , has spent the last 20+ years tirelessly researching the original source documents of Hahnemann's writings. From his studies, he has found that Hahnemann had much more in mind than just homeopathy, which he terms remediation or Heilkunst. Verspoor and Decker have formulated their findings in their recent work The Dynamic Legacy . An earlier version of Dynamic Legacy (entitled Homeopathy Re-examined ) has been called "A must read for anyone interested in the practice of homeopathy beyond simple 'first-aid' depth " by Julian Winston . Verspoor teaches through his school in Ottawa, Canada, the Hahnemann College for Heilkunst. He has included a comprehensive glossary which is hyperlinked from important words. Full bio . |
|
GC: With the inclusion of teaching on regimen (diet, exercise, energy work, etc.), your teaching of Heilkunst seems to be saying that Hahnemann taught that there is a lot more to remediation (to use your word) than just homeopathy. If this is true, why are there only a few aphorisms in the Organon on other modalities, while almost all of the Organon deals with homeopathy? How do you justify teaching so much other knowledge as coming from Hahnemann? As well, Hahnemann started his journey from therapeutic regimen into medicine proper with the conscious re-discovery of the law of similars (1790), and then with the understanding that there were two types of diseases - those with a constant nature, and those of a variable nature. Since the constant nature diseases (which we have termed "tonic" ) have a constant, specific remedy associated with them, and can more easily be identified through various causal indications (such as contusion disease, which always takes Arnica, or a bee sting, which always takes Apis, or measles, which always takes Morbillinum), Hahnemann started there, relying on folk medicine which had generally and empirically identified the specific remedies for the constant nature diseases (in contrast to the useless and abstract speculations of academic medicine, with their false disease names). However, Hahnemann quickly realised that these few
constant nature diseases did not cover all of the known diseases, and another
approach was needed to discern the remedy for the variable nature diseases.
Since they could not be known by their cause, but only by their
symptoms, he focused on finding a way to analyze and interpret the
symptoms that was grounded in reality and not a mirage. He took the idea of
provings and the idea of the supersensible phenomenon of disease (akin to Goethe
and the Dynamic School) to come up with his totality of characteristic symptoms
to get the disease image to then match to the provings, for which approach he
coined the term "homeopathy" (from the Greek, "homois" - similar, and "pathos" -
suffering or symptoms). Since this was a completely new realm, and one of
great promise, as well as a very labor intensive one in terms of the provings
needed to make it work, Hahnemann understandably became pre-occupied in terms of
time and effort with homeopathy, and the bulk of his formal writings (Organon
der Heilkunst) became dedicated to this new approach to
curing disease. This did not mean that the other aspects were left out, but were
for a time overshadowed.
What is also not really understood is that Hahnemann, in the nature of all genius, deposited many seeds of knowledge in his works, but was only able to plant and fully grow and mature a number of them, leaving for posterity the task to plant and unfold the many other aspects of his radical new approach to remediation ( cure and healing), which he termed Heilkunst. It is also important to realize that the importance of something is not measured in terms of quantity, but quality. The meaning of a book can be grasped 50% in the first chapter, or last, but it would be absurd to say we have 50% of the meaning because we have read 50% of a book. In addition, while most people have read the
Organon,
or at least certain parts of it, very few have read The
Chronic Diseases, which is referenced directly in, and thus forms an
integral part of, the Organon, which deals directly with this dual nature
of disease (constant and variable). In addition, there are various writings that
form the foundation of the Organon, and are collected in the rather
misnamed, Lesser
Writings , some of which are also directly referenced in
the Organon. Almost no one has read these pre-Organon writings, which form a counterpart to the
more formal aphoristic writings. In essence, we have what Steven Decker
calls the Extended Organon, with a scope far
greater than the truncated Organon often presented. We even have the
Preface and Introduction left off in some translations, both of which contain
critical ideas
and principles.
Thus, if we have brought
in many aspects outside of homeopathy, it is on the basis of Hahnemann's
own indications and only seems to be so out of proportion due to the
one-sided understanding and presentation of those works in the secondary
literature, due both to a lack of understanding of genius and poor
translations. For example, while Hahnemann made several references to
different aspects of the Life Force, critical to understanding his concept
of disease and
remediation,
these were not understood and invariably these different terms were translated
by the vague and dubious term "vital force," placing Hahnemann in the
discredited vitalist tradition, rather than that of the Dynamic
System
.
GC: Have you been criticized for your prescriptions of
repeated doses of nosodes on successive days, or for prescribing more than one
remedy at a time? If so, how do you respond to this?
RV: Indeed, we have been criticized, but as yet no one has
come forward to refute the evidence set out in great detail in The Dynamic
Legacy
explaining the basis and justification for everything
we do in terms of Hahnemann's own writings and works. Julian
Winston
, in his The
Heritage of Homeopathic Literature
, calls the earlier work, Homeopathy
Re-examined
, of which The Dynamic Legacy is a much expanded
edition, "The first new look at the meaning of Hahnemann's seminal work without
the filters of the past," and "A must read for anyone interested in the practice
of homeopathy beyond simple 'first-aid' depth."
Our response to the emotional attacks is in The Dynamic Legacy : From Homeopathy to Heilkunst, written with Hahnemannian scholar, translator of the Organon and Dynamic theorist Steven Decker , to answer all of the various criticisms levelled at us over the years. In this comprehensive work is the rational response to the issue of the single remedy, fully documented. Again, no one has stepped forward and shown that the evidence presented, in a manner unprecedented in homeopathic history, is in any way faulty. We would be very much interested in any evidence showing where our analysis might be wrong and if so, would be happy to amend our approach.
GC: Many
people have asked about Homeopathy Renewed. Why not republish
it?
RV: The material in this book has been much better
explained and grounded in A Time for
Healing and The Dynamic
Legacy
. We have also replaced this work to some extent by the
Heilkunst
series of books (see below)
GC: Our
website has listed several of your books - could you give a one-line explanation
of each, to indicate how/when it might best be used:
RV:
Homeopathy Renewed - The initial, tentative foray, from
the foundational research and the clinical experience of Rudi Verspoor and Patty
Smith, based on Dr. Elmiger's sequential treatment, into Hahnemann's
medical system,
Heilkunst
prior to our close collaboration with Steven Decker.
A Time for
Healing - The transcripts from a 3-day
seminar in Princeton, NJ in 1995 giving the basic outlines of the sequential approach to the removal of traumas and
the chronic miasms, which forms a core part of the medicine side of
Heilkunst.
The Dynamic
Legacy - The definitive work on
Hahnemann's writings providing in-depth research and analysis showing the
fullest extent to date of Hahnemann's radical medical system,
Heilkunst -
in electronic, searchable form and continually being updated and expanded in the
light of research and clinical experience. It was written in resonant
collaboration with Steven Decker.
Heilkunst Series: Selected
Topics in Homeopathy -
A mini-book drawing from The Dynamic Legacy,
on various issues current in homeopathy in somewhat more condensed and
accessible form.
Heilkunst Series: Precursor
to the Organon - A mini-book drawing from The Dynamic Legacy, on
the various writings that pre-dated the Organon, in
somewhat more condensed and accessible form.
Heilkunst Series: An Affair
to Remember - A mini-book drawing from The Dynamic Legacy, on the
often confused, suppressed and hidden history of the use of dual remedies by
Hahnemann and others, putting it into its full context, in somewhat more
condensed and accessible form.
Autism: The Journey
Back - The application of Hahnemann's complete medical system
in terms of the realm of medicine to the current plague of autistic
behavior, for parents and practitioners. This was written with Patty Smith
.
GC: Other
than your own, is there a particular book or translation of a book that
you consider invaluable to success in homeopathy?
RV: The definitive translation of the Organon by
Steven
Decker, both in interlinear
and English
rendition form, available only from www.amazon.com
because of its vastness and because it requires a special platform to
retain its integrity in electronic form.
The O'Reilly
Edition
is based on Decker's translation, but is less revealing than
Decker's final, unexpurgated work. Also, being in electronic form Decker's
version is fully searchable and the various parts are interlinked so that
from the English rendition one can quickly jump to the interlinear to see
why the translator has used a certain word and what the corresponding word
is in (200-year-old) German. This allows the average reader for the first
time in history to look behind the translation into the mindset of the
translator, rendering the process more transparent and honest. Steven's
work provides the foundation for bringing Hahnemann's principles into the
new century. The University of Leipzig examined the translation and found
it "flawless."
GC: Any
other publications that you consider indispensable for a true remedial artist,
(or Heilkünstler to use Hahnemann's term)? journals? magazines?
RV:
Hahnemann's genius can only properly be understood in
the context of the Dynamic System of Thought. Hahnemann is not an isolated
individual, but part of a rich and definite stream of understanding in Western
thinking that involves such other geniuses as Goethe, Steiner, Coleridge,
Saumarez, and Reich. Two works help to provide an introduction to the
Dynamic System, namely Foundations of Anthroposophical Medicine by Guus
van der Bie and Machteld Huber, and Man in the Trap, by Elsworth Baker.
As for journals, the only one treating of these issues is the Heilkunst
Journal
.
GC: Can you
inspire us with a story of a formidable challenge you have overcome since you
started studying homeopathy?
RV: The most
formidable challenge has not been the "lenses of the past" which have
obscured Hahnemann's genius and the full extent of his medical system, but
rather what Reich calls the "emotional plague reaction" to the carefully
researched and documented evidence provided by myself and Steven Decker
that shows that much of what is in the secondary literature, including
that of Kent, is obscure and misleading, and in many cases, completely
wrong. If this were merely an academic matter it would be simply a tempest
in a teapot, but when one realizes that people's lives are at stake, this
is has serious implications and ramifications. While I have been able to
overcome my initial disappointment regarding the ad hominem attacks from
the "classical" community, and the lack of any reasoned reply to our work,
and have continued research and clinical applications of Hahnemann's full
medical system with consistently gratifying results, I cannot say that the
adherence to the "lenses of the past," as Julian Winston so concisely put
it, has been overcome. All too many students of Hahnemann follow the many
"princiPALS" speaking in his name, rather than the very princiPLES he laid
down for us to see, if we have but the eyes to do so.
GC: How does it feel to be a target of "ad hominem attacks from the "classical" community" and to see the "emotional plague reaction" to your research? Is this a plus or a minus to your career overall? Would you have had it any other way? RV: I am not much concerned by the attacks, but it is extremely disappointing when homeopaths choose to attack a person's character, name or intentions rather than to deal rationally and scientifically with the ideas of that person. If Hahnemann's works are to achieve the scientific recognition that they deserve, they need to be discussed and researched on a rational basis, and not because of dogma or prejudice. If anything we have stated in our research on Hahnemann is incorrect, then we are open to hearing the evidence to this end, but so far, none has been brought forward. As one Indian homeopath wrote in his review, he had heard many criticisms of the research and findings, because they went against received wisdom, but no one had provided even a scintilla of evidence to refute what has been written. I am not particularly interested in my career within the homeopathic community, but in the expansion of the genius of Dr. Hahnemann and other contributors of the Dynamic System so that more sick people will benefit from his genius and life's work. The commitment of every person should be to the truth, not to vested interests. If homeopaths will not go beyond their narrow confines, they will be left behind by history.
GC: Do you
have any personal success stories or memorable cures with homeopathy that really
stand out in your memory?
RV: Hahnemann
published only two cases in his long career, preferring that his students
focus on the principles, which diligent application will provide
consistent success, even of miraculous nature, so that no one case can
really stand out, which is the way it should be. Almost any modality or
therapy can point to dramatic "cures" on an anecdotal basis, for this or
that condition, such as arthritis or cancer, simply adding to the
confusion against which Hahnemann fought in medicine, reinforcing the
reign of "principals" rather than principles.
GC: Who have
been your primary mentors over the years and what is it about these people that
has earned your respect?
RV:
Dr. Hahnemann, Dr.
Reich, Dr. Elmiger, Dr. Husemann, Goethe, Rudolf Steiner, Coleridge, and
most of all Steven Decker
, all of whom are rare geniuses with an
abiding commitment to knowledge and truth in the service of the increase
in human consciousness and freedom from disease, so that our in-dwelling
rational spirit can unfold the higher purposes for which it is on
earth.
GC: For the
patient confronted with life-threatening disease, to what extent should they
rely on homeopathy in comparison to researching other natural health
modalities?
RV: Homeopathy in its true meaning is simply the
application of a remedial agent (medicine) to a given disease on the basis of
the symptoms of the disease in the patient. However, Hahnemann made clear that
there are many things that produce symptoms that have nothing to do with disease,
but can provide obstacles to
cure
if not removed (which involves therapeutic regimen and the
law of
opposites ).
RV: Thus, the application of homeopathy alone is not very successful or to be recommended in this day and age of multiple disease states where the symptoms of the patient come from many directions and there is no clear disease image to be prescribed on. Only the full application of Hahnemann's medical system, Heilkunst, which encompasses all that one can find in the natural health field today but which places it on a principled, as opposed to empirical or "principaled," basis will provide the possibility of a consistent successful remeditation. What Heilkunst offers is a map through the maze of natural health therapies confronting the sick individual as well as a means of annihilating disease that is nowhere else to be found except in Hahnemann's therapeutics and nosology.
The school:
GC: Looking back
over the years, have you been pleased overall with the way the Hahnemann College
for
Heilkunst has
evolved and developed?
Describe your initial vision of the Hahnemann Center for
Heilkunst,
when and how it happened? What do you consider are the school's unique
attributes that set it apart from other schools? In what ways do you feel course
content is still evolving, and in what ways has it reached a steady state?
RV: The general failure of
the conventional homeopathic community to acknowledge and accept the
evidence for the full extent of Hahnemann's medical system (
Heilkunst)
forced us to cease working with existing schools and institutions, who wished
only to relegate the deeper insights to an add-on, much as allopathic medicine
tries to make homeopathy an add-on to an allopathic base, and to establish our
own school dedicated to
Heilkunst.
Our vision was to have a center for dynamic learning, one that grows as our insights and experience grows, that is open to the full expansion and unfolding of Hahnemann's genius, as illuminated by others of the Dynamic System of Thought, such as Reich and Steiner, in the latest forms available to us in the 21st century. The beauty of phenomenological understanding is that the form of each phenomenon can change as our ability to implement it changes (such as using the orgone blanket to replace Dr. Gerson's juicing). We have seen tremendous growth in our understanding and application on a principled basis of the gamut of therapies using the law of opposites (most of the natural health field) and in the understanding of Hahnemann's two unique principles of disease - the state of mind and the thermotic principle. As far as the basic understanding of medicine is concerned, that is, the application of the law of similars, this has been well established as set out in The Dynamic Legacy . What is unique about the Hahnemann College for Heilkunst is that it applies Hahnemann's entire medical system, which includes on a principled basis the natural health field, including nutrition, energy work, essences, tissue salts, etc., plus the full and sequential removal of disease, as well as an understanding on a dynamic basis of human physiology, which is nowhere else taught.
GC:
What is
the educational background of most of your students?
RV: They come from all walks
of life, and all ages, brought by a strong inner resonance with the
material and approach offered by the Hahnemann College
. We have students from the various allopathic
medical disciplines, as well as younger students disillusioned with the
standard education, medical or otherwise.
GC: What clinical experience does the school provide? RV: We provide various case studies at all levels of the program, and attendance at a the Hahnemann Center Trust's Community Clinic throughout the second two years of study, as well as an intense clinical internship involving at least ten cases followed for a minimum of six months, followed by a six-month clinical externship.
GC: Do you teach the anatomy/physiology at Hahnemann Center
for
Heilkunst, or
do you recommend they get that elsewhere?
RV: We
teach a dynamic anatomy and physiology that is fully integrated into the rest of
the curriculum and is drawn mainly from the insights of anthroposophical
medicine and orgonomic medicine, yet fully adapted to the
underlying principles of
Heilkunst.
Students find this part of the program the most stimulating and exciting, in
contrast to the usual experience of
A&P
!
GC: Does dynamic anatomy and physiology include the
facts of conventional anatomy and
physiology?
RV:
Yes, it uses the facts, but renders the understanding much more dynamic
and in keeping with a deeper understanding of the disease and remedial
processes. GC: Does the school
cover conventional pathology, as in when to refer to the emergency
ward?
RV: The
school does not teach the capacity to diagnose based on allopathic
concepts, as this would effectively require the training of an MD in this
case, but does teach that patients need to have seen a physican trained to
determine whether there is an immediate threat to life that requires
surgery or antipathic medicines, for which Hahnemann provided a place in
his system of medicine.
GC: Do you have any
plans for a homeopathic hospital?
RV: Yes, we are working to provide
the capacity for patients to choose to come to a Heilkunst hospital rather
than a conventional one, mainly for those conditions that are amenable to
energetic medicine and therapeutic regimen, and do not require surgery or
antipathic medicines. One day, perhaps, training will be provided to
enable what Hahnemann called "true physicians." that is, Heilkunstlers, to
have sufficient training to be able to apply antipathic measures where
needed, and that we would have surgeons willing to work within a Heilkunst
context. We have established the first charitable trust for alternative
medicine in Canada (the HCH Trust) to work to this
goal.
GC: What is the
most important quality a student should have, to facilitate his success as
a homeopath?
RV: Reverence for the underlying spiritual nature of man and
matter, a love for learning and a commitment to learning the truth, regardless
of prior belief, so that the participative knowledge (kennen and erkennen) noted by Hahnemann can be activated to
discern the curative remedies for each patient.
GC: What
would your say to prospective students who are considering trying to learn
homeopathy by reading books, rather than taking a course of study?
RV: If you have the above qualities, you can
achieve success, but it is always best to have a mentor and a means of
helping guide you through your studies. Just as the body can heal on its
own, but can do so faster and more economically with help from natural
medicines and therapies, so can your education be enhanced by a proper
framework provided from the work of others.
GC: Where do
you hold classes, and how do people get more information? Is there a
distance learning program?
RV: Hahnemann College classes are held in Ottawa, but are accessible
to distance learning students through the course material in hard copy, and CD
recordings of the live classes, periodic teleconferences throughout the year, an
online study group, as well as live audio-video teleconferencing. Our distance
learning students also are assigned a personal tutor for the duration of their
studies and they attend a week-long Summer School in Ottawa each year to meet
staff and students and to network with friends and peers. Many memorable
memories are obtained from this annual event, for everyone. More information is
available at homeopathy.com or from Venetia Diamond, our Registrar, at
613-830-2556 or
registrar@homeopathy.com.
Vaccinations
GC: Many of
our customers are apparently unsatisfied with conventional vaccinations, and as
we sell quite a few books on protocols for alternative procedures, which suggest
that other forms of protection are possible.
For example, in Vaccinations - A Review of Risks and
Alternatives, homeopath Isaac Golden PhD(MA), D.Hom, ND,
B.Ec(Hon) says "Alternatives to routine vaccination do exist. They have not been
tested in a laboratory, but have been tested and proven in practice for
literally hundreds of years." And more recently, Dr. Sherry Tenpenny, D.O., from
Cleveland in Vaccines - the Risks, the Benefits,
the Choicesoffers proof from CDC documents and respected peer-reviewed journals
that vaccines compromise the immune system.
At the
same time, we have Todd Hoover MD saying that ". . . presenting homeoprophylaxis
as a safe and effective solution with the current paucity of evidence is
reckless and misleading." And the best constructed study on homeoprophylaxis, by
Wayne Jonas MD shows that a nosode gives 22% protection compared to allopathic
vaccination which produces 100% protection from death. (see the Journal of the
American Institute of Homeopathy, Vol. 94, Autumn 2001)
Can you give us an overview of where
you stand in this debate? For example, in your opinion, would most children
benefit from most conventional vaccinations, or, might you suggest that people
research other methods of protection, such as homeoprophylaxis?
RV: The only ground on which I
can stand is one of principle. Hahnemann's system of
cure is based
on a known principle of nature, the law of similars, which works regardless of
formal mass studies using randomized clinical trials. On the one hand, we know
that conventional vaccinations are not based on any true science but rather
belief, real control groups and long-term studies not being used, and they cause
serious and widespread damage in terms of iatrogenic disease.
The use of an energized
substance to provoke an immune response without any disease effects is well-known in homeopathic circles
- it is called a proving, which Hahnemann stated, and experience has shown to be
beneficial, not harmful to one's health, while also providing a specific
immunity. The term "homeoprophylaxis" is somewhat misleading as homeopathy is
specifically the use of a remedy to
cure/remove a disease based on the law of similars. What is being given in an
immunization is not similar to anything, but is at that point antipathic. The
difference between Hahnemann's approach and that of allopathy is really in the
dose, following the Arndt-Schultz Law that small doses stimulate, moderate doses
suppress or harm, and large doses kill.
We have carried out a free influenza clinic each year for the last six years and have had close to a 100% success rate. If Dr. Hoover states what he has said above, he is both ignorant of the iatrogenic debacle caused by conventional vaccinations and the paucity of real science behind it, as well as of the principles of Hahnemann's system, the bedrock on which it has stood for 200 years and will continue to stand for another 200 at least, in comparison to the shifting sands of allopathic medicine. The best protection is a
strong general immune system, which will counter not only those microbes known
to cause disease, but all those yet undetected and for which no vaccination
exists or often can't be developed in time, if at all. This strong ability to
counter any disease influence is obtained by all those who go through
Hahnemann's complete medical system.
However, where a more specific immunity is also wanted, this can be done on the basis of a law of nature and dynamic physiology known through the mechanism of provings, and not dependent on questionable randomized studies. These studies are the same that are used and manipulated by drug companies to get approval for drugs and vaccinations (and are then subsequently withdrawn because of eventual serious disease effects), the same that are so effective at proving the efficacy and safety of vaccinations, yet the same companies will not manufacture them without immunity granted them by governments from civil suits from its victims.
|