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This book review is reprinted from the January/February 2006 edition of Homeopathy Today
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The Companion to Homeopathy
By Colin Griffith

Watkings Publishing, London: 2005
hardcover, pp820 ISBN 1-842931-17-2.

Reviewed by Amy Lansky

When I was first asked to review this book and was told that it was 800 pages long, I thought, "Oh, it must be a Materia Medica:' I decided to bring it to my family cottage and review it there, so that I could leave it behind as a useful reference book. I was surprised to find, however, that The Companion to Homeopathy is more like an encyclopedia or compendium of essays. It is Colin Griffith's labor of love-telling us what he has learned about homeopathy during his many years of practice. And he does so in a very charming and readable way.

Griffith, a British homeopath and founder of the Guild of Homoeopaths in the UK, is obviously a can-do person-in his biographical sketch we are told that rather than writing a thesis during his studies, he supervised a "drop-in" clinic, which he continued for eleven years and which later became a teaching clinic. Perhaps this book represents Griffith's thesis finally coming into being-and a very long thesis at that! It is the result of his extensive experience in practicing homeopathy, as well as his familiarization with several other fields of alternative practice such as osteopathy, acupuncture, Ayurveda, and reflexology.

The book is divided into three distinct parts and could easily be published as three books. The first sub-book (approximately 130 pages) is a general introduction to homeopathy. It covers the usual territory: homeopathy's view of health and disease, the relationship of this view to that of conventional medicine, an explanation of the vital force and how it operates, the dangers of suppression, the law of cure, the hierarchy of disease, and so on. The strength of this first sub-book is its readability and engaging style. As in the rest of the book, Griffith's exposition is conversational, informal, and charming. Rather than developing ideas in a logical or programmed way, it meanders a bit, like a discussion.

Griffith also holds a view that I heartily agree with and have incorporated into my own book about homeopathy: a story or anecdote is the most engaging, memorable, and effective way to get a point across. Griffith scatters many engaging stories throughout the book's 800 pages, and they contribute immensely to its impact. I assume that these stories come from his own practice.

The first sub-book sets a tone that continues throughout The Companion; it is clear that this is not a scholarly tome in the traditional sense. There are no citations, and there are no references at the back (although there are "notes" for each chapter as well as an index). Instead, this is a book that provides us with Griffith's viewpoint. He does not discuss or mention other homeopaths except for occasional passing references to Hahnemann or other historical practitioners. For example, in the third sub-book (on miasms), he simply states that there are six miasms-without any mention that Hahnemann believed there to be three, without explanation as to why, he, Griffith has chosen six, and without mention of modern ideas about miasms by homeopaths such as Sankaran.

This stylistic choice is not particularly to my liking. Griffith's opinions are often stated as facts, without reference to the opinions of others on the subject or to the historical development of ideas. So before reading this book, you should know that what you'll get is Griffith's viewpoint rather than a broader, scholarly view of the field. The negative side to this is that things occasionally slip in that may be dubious or incorrect. For example, Griffith states that American homeopaths do not use nosodes (false).

The positive aspect of this form of exposition, however, is that it allows the book to be extremely free-flowing. While it may have some flaws, in the end, it is an often profound and useful compendium of information about homeopathy. Reading it is somewhat like having a very long philosophical conversation, with all the usual sidetracks and stories. Griffith dips into Plato and makes historical and literary references (especially British ones), all in a very natural way.

I must admit that the first sub-book is my least favorite of the three and will probably be the least useful for homeopaths, except perhaps, as a source of anecdotes and examples that can be offered to patients. It's not clear who the audience is for this introductory essay; while it is written in an informal style presumably for the lay person, there are passing references to remedies, symptoms, and other information that seem to require a fair amount of homeopathic knowledge to understand-certainly more than a complete newcomer would have. Perhaps its audience is highly knowledgeable patients or students.

It is in this sub-book that I found some of the more confusing or speculative pieces of information. Griffith states unequivocally that the action of homeopathic remedies is electromagnetic and that it affects the body through the nervous system (speculation). He repeatedly complains that the Law of Similars is not the most effective way to describe homeopathy to others and that it is not really indicative of homeopathic practice. Readers, especially newcomers to homeopathy, might find these statements very odd and confusing. But upon further reading, what emerges is that Griffith merely feels that stories and illustrations of the Law of Similars are a more effective way to describe homeopathy than explaining the Law of Similars itself-and that homeopathic practice isn't always a cut and dry implementation of Hahnemann's legacy.

Where Griffith truly shines, however, is in the remaining 700 pages of this book, which any homeopath would find quite useful. The second 240- page section of the book entitled "Maintaining Causes" is a series of fascinating essays about things that could potentially interfere with homeopathic treatment. Topics include the homeopath's own inability to understand the case and prescribe effectively; antidotal substances and activities; physical trauma to the body including musculoskeletal problems that could benefit from osteopathy; allopathic practices such as surgery and anesthesia; vaccination and allopathic drugs; dental issues such as the use of amalgams and root canals; nutritional deficiencies; allergens; and family or emotional upsets. Each chapter is approximately 10-20 pages long and could make excellent "bedtime reading" for a homeopath; each essay is self-contained and provides a wealth of useful tidbits and engaging stories.

The third and longest sub-book (more than 400 pages) focuses on miasms. Here, Griffith describes psora, syphilis, sycosis, tuberculosis, leprosy, and cancer in beautiful, complete, evocative, and educational essays of 40-80 pages each. For example, Griffith describes psora as the first chronic disease state that plagued primitive man. Unlike wounds from injuries that either healed or resulted in death, the scabies mite left the caveman feeling despondent or hopeless; he had become a chronic host to the parasite, he did not have the means to eradicate the mite, and therefore he just had to live with it.

Today the scabies mite can be eradicated superficially, but the legacy of the psoric miasm is still with us. Griffith asks, what came first_the disease affiliated with the miasm or the energy of the miasm itself? Perhaps, he points out, psora is simply the spiritual "itch" to return to the state of one-ness before we were expelled from Eden-before man became self-aware. Perhaps the scabies mite is simply an outer manifestation of this inner itch-and so, the part of us that yearns spiritually is a symptom of psora. Each miasm also comes with benefits, says Griffith; with psora come the qualities of dignity, steadfastness, stoicism, honor, patience, and generosity.

As a finale, Griffith ties everything up beautifully with a chapter on "karma"by this, he essentially means the accumulation of events in one's life or inherited from one's ancestors that have left an imprint on the vital force. This includes physical or emotional events, "unskillful" actions we have taken, misinterpretations and judgments we have clung to, past family traumas, etc. In homeopathy we find a means of addressing this karma-but only with the patient's cooperation and willingness to engage in the process. In the miasms, we find a way of making sense of the layers of karmic residue within us, Griffith says.

By investing over half of his book on the subject of miasms, Griffith illustrates his belief that understanding and treating the miasmatic soil of each patient is fundamental to the practice of homeopathy. And I believe every homeopath will be able to expand his or her use of miasmatic thinking after reading The Companion to Homeopathy.