|
This book review is reprinted from the Spring 2006 edition of The Homoeopath with permission from Nick Churchill Of The Society Of Homoeopaths. By Ulrich Welte Narayan Verlag, Hardback, 344 Pages Isbn 3921383722 Reviewed By Francis Treuherz This has been a difficult book to review. It is a fine attempt by dedicated and inspired homeopaths to discern the value of an assessment of a sample of a patient's handwriting, to confirm (and possibly identify) the patient's remedy. Welte and colleagues have built on the work of the late Hugbald Milller and their own work to create an archive of well over 2000 samples of handwriting. From this they have chosen some 750 extracts illustrative of 315 remedies. The main body of the book comprises the reproductions of handwriting. There is a brief 17 -page introduction, and an index related to the recent publications on homeopathy and colours, which I reviewed in 2004. The handwriting itself is accompanied on each page by a summary of the case, and reasons for relating this sample to the remedy. The remedies are not only polychrests but also little-used remedies; this research may help us learn more about small remedies. There is no doubt that handwriting in many ways represents an artistic expression of character, the only question is how can we use it to assess character and remedy. Welte suggests we routinely ask a patient for a sample, and use it alongside the resources from this book. I grew up with graphology, the science of handwriting. It was one of my father's passions. He had studied with many authorities in this field in the late 1920s and 1930s in Germany and London. He especially liked the work of Robert Saudek, one of the leaders in this field and I read much of the literature when I was younger. You can read more about it at www.britishgraphology.org. I even have a book called Paragnose, Erkennung van Krankheiten aus der Handschrift (Understanding Illness from Handwriting) by Adolf Simon, Berlin 1930, which attempts to relate these diagnoses and handwriting to homeopathic remedy typology, especially the tissue salts. Welte claims his book is the first in this field but not so. There is also Les Correspondances Graphologiques en Homeopathie by Jean Rivere, Paris 1973 and 2003. Graphologists are as much or as little accepted in the world as homeopaths, and also have professional associations and training. Just as we are regarded as medical outsiders there are some who consider graphologists as little more than fortune-tellers. Yet they seriously look at many aspects of handwriting to discover character, such as size - relative and zoning, connection, disconnection and continuity, forms of connection; spacing of letters, words and lines; layout, margins, punctuation; slant, gradient and direction of lines; fullness and leanness; simplification; direct and roundabout writing; and, most important, indications of speed and pressure. Some claim that neither gender nor age can be discerned from handwriting. None of this methodology is discussed here. This book introduces us to another specialist way of taking the case from writing but without training us in the techniques for using the information. The reproductions of handwriting are there but we do not have the tools to understand how and why the analysis was made to relate the writing to the remedy. And most if not all the samples are in German with which many will be unfamiliar. Yet there is something appealing in the idea that we can see into our patients' illness through their outward expressions of writing. This book gives ample opportunity for us to start on this, and I wonder if there are people in English-speaking countries who could collaborate with Welte on a systematic collection of samples and relate this to cured cases and remedies [Email:info@homeo.de]. I was surprised that I found this more difficult than the colors book, as the idea seems sound. Go for it, I say, those of you with younger and more adventurous minds. |