Dr. Louisa Williams, author of the book Radical Medicine, writes today of a very important partner in the journey of holistic healing. Her work with helping people find a constitutional homeopathic remedy through the new Sankaran System of homeopathy is extremely beneficial in strengthening a person’s ability to overcome serious compromises to health in today’s toxic environment. We commend Louisa’s dedicated work in this area. Removing the “Ghost” Inside Us The Revolutionary New Sankaran System of Homeopathy
By Louisa Williams, MS, DC, ND
The Success of Acute Homeopathy
Many holistic health advocates are familiar with homeopathy. Originating through the brilliant mind of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in Europe in 1789 (7 years before the first vaccine was given by Jenner), this energetic system of healing has been exceptionally curative for over 2 centuries. This has especially been the case with acute homeopathy. (Acute refers to the use of a remedy that is prescribed based on the outstanding pathological symptoms of a patient, for a recent illness or injury and for a short period of time.) For example, the use of Arnica Montana for the treatment of acute injuries, sprains and strains, and even head trauma is well known in the holistic community, and has proven to be remarkably effective. Historically the use of acute homeopathic remedies has also been dramatic. During the great flu of 1918, 80% of those who were treated with allopathic medicine (drugs) died, whereas 80% of those treated with homeopathic remedies lived (Naumann, E., Homeopathy for Epidemics). More recently, homeopathic medicine has been proven to be as effective and safer than Prozac at treating moderate to severe depression (Oxford University Press, July 09).
Past Frustration with Constitutional Homeopathy
However, although acute homeopathy has been proven to be remarkably effective, homeopathy prescribed for chronic or constitutional treatment has not enjoyed the same level of success. (Chronic or constitutional homeopathy refers to a single remedy prescribed to treat a patient’s unique physical, mental, and emotional symptoms for his/her lifetime.) In fact, a not insignificant number of homeopathic patients have experienced quite a bit of frustration over the years, after receiving one constitutional remedy after another, with no real improvement in their symptoms. This is not due to a lack of trying from many earnest and well-meaning homeopaths, but simply from ineffective systems of analysis.
A Revolutionary New Method
Fortunately this has all changed with the advent of a new system developed by Rajan Sankaran, MD. Due to the efforts and knowledge from this Indian homeopath and his Mumbai colleagues, the Sankaran System has recently become a teachable and highly successful method to ascertain an individuals’ lifetime constitutional homeopathic remedy. There are many principles that make this new system – well, more systematic, and have transformed homeopathic case-taking (the interview) from an often frustrating and confusing process to a very clear roadmap of exactly which specific remedy the patient is expressing.
One of the major paradigms constituting the Sankaran System is that patients typically fall into one of 3 major categories: a plant remedy, an animal remedy, or a mineral remedy. Plant remedy patients will express the fact that they are highly sensitive and reactive, and deeply affected by their environment. An animal remedy will describe issues of survival as well as attack and defense, either as a predator (aggressor) or a prey (victim) – or both. Mineral remedy patients express themes of lack of support, a feeling of being incomplete, and not having enough stability and strength. Sankaran-trained homeopaths first endeavor to determine which of these 3 kingdoms the patient is in, and then assess the subkingdom (for example, the rose family in the plant kingdom, or the cat family in the animal kingdom, or the second row of the periodic table in the mineral kingdom). Finally, the homeopath must determine the specific remedy within this subkingdom family.
The Non-Human Song, or “Ghost” Inside Us
How do these plant, animal or mineral patterns affect us? Literally these patterns are like living with a ghost – hence the title of this article. This inner ghost, also referred to as a non-human distortion pattern, adversely affects us in every aspect of our lives – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Dr. Sankaran describes this distortion pattern as “the other song” that is playing within us, causing discord with our natural human song:
“There exists a duality. On one hand, each individual has his life as a human being, singing his own human song. On the other hand…there is a non-human world inside him that seems to sing another song altogether…The other spirit inside us is in itself melodious and complete. Yet it is out of place because it is not innately human, but is a reflection of a pattern we have borrowed from nature from the plant, animal, or mineral kingdoms. This different song in a human being creates disharmony and conflict. Further, the suppression of this non-human song crystallizes in physical and mental pathology.”
Rajan Sankaran, MD
The Other Song: Discovering Your Parallel Self
The correctly prescribed constitutional remedy resonates with this plant, animal or mineral distortion pattern, and slowly (or quickly in some cases) but surely dissolves this non-human energy that is inappropriately residing within us. Over time the volume of this non-human song reduces, and eventually is completely muted, thus allowing our human song –that is our truly human self – to more fully emerge, grow and develop.
A Great Fit with Psychospiritual Work
Many of us have learned in our psychological work that we are adversely imprinted and shaped by our unresolved past experiences (negative self-images, feelings of deficiency, suppression of painful memories, etc.), resulting in a habitual personality pattern that obscures our true self, or soul. What is little known, however, is that our soul is also greatly affected by another pattern – one that is non-human.
Similar to the most effective psychospiritual schools of healing (Somatic Experiencing by Levine, the Diamond Approach by Hameed Ali, John Welwood and other transpersonal psychologists, rebirthing and other forms of breath work, etc), a key principle of the Sankaran System is that the most effective cures – and the prescription of the correct remedy – occur at the sensation level. This level – which is significantly deeper than the physical, emotional or even mental planes of experience – can be reached through both psychotherapy and homeopathy. (The sensation level is where one directly experiences the felt sense of their body such as feeling stiff, heavy, squeezed, light, pressure, brittle, dazed, paralyzed, burning, trapped, floating, and so forth.) Thus, both these cutting edge schools of holistic healing have independently arrived at the same conclusion – whether it’s psychospiritual work or constitutional homeopathy – real change, and thus real cure, can only be achieved through reaching this deepest sensation level.
Further, homeopathy and psychotherapy are exceptionally synergistic. That is, while the correct constitutional homeopathic remedy is working to dissolve the non-human distortion pattern within us, psychospiritual work is invaluable to help the emerging being more fully develop. In fact, even those of us who have done decades of psychological work have noted a mild to moderate feeling of being rather unsettled and even estranged from ourselves at times on the correct homeopathic remedy. Thus, even though the constitutional remedy can be truly miraculous in removing our non-human patterns, it can be a bit disorienting to lose these self-sabotaging yet very familiar defensive patterns our egoic personality has structured itself around. (Of course, dysfunctional family dynamics also engender these egoic patterns, and quality psychological work is essential in helping to clear and dismantle these resulting egoic patterns as well.) Therefore, in perfect conjunction with the ongoing dismantling of our non-human patterns through taking the homeopathic remedy, effective psychotherapy helps us simultaneously become more familiar with our humanness. Thus, as the homeopathic remedy catabolizes (breaks down) our false personality shell, effective psychospiritual works in an anabolic (building up) manner, encouraging the individual to fully develop by experiencing more and more his/her soul, or true self.
Conclusion
Homeopathy has been a proven and effective form of natural healing for over 2 centuries. However, acute homeopathy has enjoyed more success than chronic, or constitutional, homeopathy. Recently this has changed with the advent of the revolutionary new Sankaran System. This amazing system of analysis has proven so successful that it is now being taught to dedicated homeopaths all over the world. In the author’s experience of over 25 years as a holistic physician, the Sankaran System of constitutional homeopathy is the single most curative form of healing presently known.
Dr. Louisa Williams is director of Marin Naturopathic Medicine in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the author of Radical Medicine. More information on the new Sankaran System is available on her website, www.marinnaturopathicmedicine.com, or call her office at (415) 460-1968. Constitutional homeopathic interviews can be done in the office in person, or by phone or SKYPE.