Tribute to von Boenninghausen

 

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Where would you be as a homeopath in an ever-expanding universe of Materia Medica without a Repertory? By being the creator of the first Repertory alone Maria Clemens von Boenninghausen already deserves a place in the homeopathic hall of fame. This is underlined by the very fact that his method of case analysis, the Boenninghausen method, which is based on his Therapeutic manual for homeopathic physicians (Repertory) and his Therapeutic pocketbook (Materia Media), is still being used and is currently even undergoing a revival. Boenninghausen was already highly regarded in his time, illustrated by the fact that Hahnemann himself allotted him the task of preparing a Repertory of which he was one of the first users.

As several articles in this issue will show, Boenninghausen's method deserves serious attention and should be integrated in any basic homeopathic training. Not because it will help solve every case. No single method of case taking or case analysis does, and it is high time we leave that kind of exclusive thinking behind us. It doesn't serve us nor is it in line with the love-based law of similars to divide instead of unite.

A skilled homeopath is able to use different methods, and depending on the case at hand will select the one that is most suited. On this pallet of options the Boenninghausen method clearly deserves a place, and I hope putting him in the limelight in this issue will contribute to that. I therefore wish to extend my gratitude to the authors for so skilfully passing Boenninghausen's legacy on to us.

For Homœopathic Links there is another reason to feel very connected to the historical figure Boenninghausen. LINKS started as a newsletter of George Vithoulkas' students, who, after his London seminars had come to an end, wished to stay in touch and share experiences and ideas. Certainly for Europe and North America Vithoulkas has played an immensely important role for the revival of classical homeopathy. What Vithoulkas and Boenninghausen have in common is that they have no medical degree. Despite that Vithoulkas won the Alternative Nobel Price where Boenninghausen was bestowed all the rights and immunities of a practicing physician by King Wilhelm IV.

To me, these two master homeopaths make clear that a medical degree is not the main attribute of a good homeopath. Yes, I do see the many benefits of going through the filter of a medical training, and I do understand that degrees and the knowledge and experience that come with them can be helpful in practice, the scientific arena and public debate; just as I can see the benefits of becoming a homeopath following a different route. But all this becomes irrelevant when I read an article or book on homeopathy or listen to a colleague's presentation. We all benefit from the excellent work of our colleagues, whether or not they have a medical degree. Taking out the contribution of homeopaths without a medical degree would seriously devaluate our main sources – Materia Medica and Repertory.

Links deliberately aims to be a link between all those who seriously want to practice homeopathy. You may or may not have noticed, but this is the reason why at the beginning of each article the author's name is put without any qualifying medical or homeopathic degrees. We do mention them at the end as people have worked hard for them but we want to avoid any form of division when you as a reader are introduced to an article, a subject.

In the first two decades of being a homeopath I was blessed by being a member of a working group that consisted of excellent homeopaths. Many of them you will have encountered as teachers or authors – several of them are practitioners. This mix was an important ingredient to our success and reason for us to call our group Clemens von Boenninghausen.

The other reason was that we worked and lived in or around Groningen, the very place where Boenninghausen got his university degree – be it in law, not medicine. After law Boenninghausen also studied agriculture and botany. To then turn to the study and practice of natural law – the law of similars – sounds like a perfect walk of life.

I hope you'll fully enjoy this issue of LINKS.

Harry van der Zee