A Synthesis of Homeopathic Themes, Mappa Mundi, Provings and Clinical Cases
Animalia aims to simplify the process of researching animal remedies for both students and seasoned professionals alike. This practical book illuminates the Homeopathic themes of six animal families through the prism of mythology, mappa mundi, provings, cases and repertory. There is also a useful appendix on the miasms and their mythological correspondences. Beginning with a broad outline and differentiation of the three main kingdoms (animal, plant and mineral), and a comprehensive introduction to the circle of elements, Luke goes on to outline themes of the Spiders, Birds, Insects, Mammals, Snakes and Sea animals. He synthesises provers’ expressions from a diverse selection of classical and modern texts to give an insight into the raw human experience of the different remedy states belonging to each group. Then he gives portraits of a wide selection of individual remedies from within each group, where you will find source information, characteristic rubrics, extracts from the provers and case examples. These portraits are designed to sit alongside existing materia medica, focusing on the singular expressions that may with time and further clinical use become guiding symptoms.
Luke has a talent for organising a broad spectrum of reference material - adding nuance and giving shape to the symptoms so that the Homeopath can be guided to the mode of action of each remedy, whilst keeping in mind the broad themes of the family.
- Author: Luke Norland
- ISBN: 9781908127426
- 546 pages
- Hardback
- Published in 2021
- Printed in United Kingdom
Reprinted with the permission of The Society of Homeopaths, from 'New Homeopath' Journal, Spring 2022 edition. Reviewed by Francis Treuherz.
This is a huge, useful and likeable book about many remedies from the animal kingdom, but some much-used specimens are missing, notably amphibians. Badger, Mole, Rat but no Toad! The book is superbly bound on good quality paper.
Luke has an ingenious, subtle and detailed way of presenting the remedies, obviously in families. These verbal pictures expand on the routine existing materia medica textbooks. After the general introduction, there are detailed introductions to each section, outlining mythology, mappa mundi, and themes, for each class of remedies: spiders, birds, insects, milks and mammals, snakes, and sea animals. If, as I found at first, the chapter introductions are confusing, they make more sense after reading each remedy's family chapter and then the introductions.
Enlightening
These introductions include complex coloured diagrams which I found mysterious rather than enlightening (but I am colour-blind). Original modern and historic provings are cited and the remedies become clear from Luke's pen. Best of all are the remedies which have cases which of course bring life to the descriptions.
There is a final chapter on myths and miasms. I found the very thorough remedy pictures and cases easier to grasp than the myths, mappa mundi and astrology. The repertory charts at the end of the case reports are very helpful to explain the prescriptions and include ingenious 'reverse repertorisation' which provides more confirmatory symptoms for the chosen remedies.
Well structured and indexed
Each chapter is well-referenced. There is a detailed index, but it would be helpful to see an alphabetical list of all the included remedies in the contents, I think in a future edition - or as a download from the publisher's website. Many references are to texts in a software application, RadarOpus. Since not all readers have access, such references should also include open sources.
I look forward to having this superb encyclopaedic book close to my desk for easy reference.
Francis Treuherz in practice since 1984. Fellow of the Society, former journal editor, Board member for 20+ years; taught many seminars; wrote two books. Former trustee of the British Homeopathic Association and the Homeopathic Action Trust. An incurable collector of homeopathy books and artefacts.
