Materia Medica understanding : Stage 4
What is Stage 4 information ? Then we come to Stage 4 , which takes it to another level . The connections go much deeper than in Stage 3 .
In Stage 3 , we were trying to connect different parts of a remedy together into one whole . But in Stage 4 , you go beyond mind and body . You even go beyond the different parts of a remedy and particulars . You go right to the energetic and the source level . There is no separation between mind and body .
Stage 4 remedy examples China At Stage 3 , we found ‘ not been well since Malaria ’ – that is , a syndrome of malaria causing different problems mentally and physically in the person . But if we go further at Stage 4 , in China we see a common link right at a sensory level of overstimulation . This is followed by weakness and exhaustion and occurs periodically . This is beyond mind and body . This is the common general energetic disturbance of China . However , there is something interesting in that this disturbance is common to the entire family of plants that China belongs to , which is the Rubiaceae ( Coffee ) family . All remedies in the Rubiaceae family have overstimulation followed by complete collapse and exhaustion .
But what is the difference ? This is the key to using this information at Stage 4 accurately . China has periodic or intermittent attacks of overstimulation followed by collapse and exhaustion . No other remedy in the Rubiaceae family has this . So , this “ periodicity ” is what really sets China apart . How do I know ? I especially love Boger ’ s Synoptic Key 4 here . Boger can define the mentals , the physicals and the pathology generals in one or two key words for each remedy .
When you look at China , ‘ intermittency ’ is the keynote word for this remedy in Boger ’ s synoptic key .
Merc Sol Merc Sol shows a strong sense of power and control over others and oneself . This is Stage 4 information and is the common connecting link . This power is not just mind , but also body . This control is not just mind , but also body . This is common to all Row 6 elements . This is the group analysis of the Gold series . But what differentiates Merc from other Row 6 elements ?
Your materia medica ’ s Stage 4 information is incomplete if you do not differentiate a specific remedy within the group ; and what differentiates Merc is this tendency to completely destroy and abuse the power . Merc has complete loss of control , complete paralysis and complete insanity of the mind , body and soul . This is unique to Merc . No other remedy in the Gold series has this destruction at every level .
Where do you find stage 4 information ? You will find this information in almost all Stage 3 books .
Drug Provings Remember that all the group analysis information , and all the analogical information , at Stage 4 has been derived from drug provings . That is the first place practitioners at Stage 4 go to derive that information . But there is also creativity and intuition , as well as grounded clinical experience , involved in order to derive this information accurately . That ’ s what you will need to learn and master .
Source Then you need to understand the source of that remedy . Sometimes it comes in a circle where the source fills in the gaps about a remedy . You cannot disconnect the source and the natural habitat from the remedy . The remedy takes its essence and its energy into the provings and you cannot just delete out that information . It ’ s a part of the whole remedy picture .
Stage 4 books and materia medica Similar to Stage 3 , I cannot over-emphasise the importance of understanding good group analysis . It is crucial for deriving and mastering information at Stage 4 . As you know , many authors in the materia medica world have given us their derivations on Stage 4 group analysis . You have Sankaran , Jan Scholten , Mahesh Gandhi and Michael Yakir in the contemporary world , and they have done phenomenal original work on remedies in Minerals , Animals , Plants , Sarcodes , Nosodes and Imponderables kingdoms and subkingdoms . Dr Ghanshyam and his team have done a lot of work on collecting this information and confirming it with the original provings . Many of my materia medica teachers , while teaching us at medical school , provided invaluable keynotes based on their clinical hospital work even before the contemporary authors published these books . There is a lot of information out there .
Group analysis Now I will show you a very simple way of deriving group analysis yourself , using technology through group analysis of the Rubiaceae family . I am using the remedy analysis function of HomeoQuest software to do this , but you can do the same using any software of your choice .
Filtering Start by selecting the remedies in the Rubiaceae family . [ Image21.1 ]. I ’ ll use some advanced filtration because we want precise , peculiar rubrics at Stage 4 . [ Image22.1 ]
First , I select the remedy count to be at least three , which means we want at least three remedies from the Rubiaceae family in our rubrics . Then we choose the rubric size to be less than fifty . This will give us small-tomoderate size rubrics .
What do you get after analysis ? You get a variety of rubrics from different repertories , across all sections , that have three or more remedies from the China family .
Look at these interesting ones : ‘ desires , full of ’; ‘ desires , full of , insane ’; and ‘ ideas , abundant ’.[ Image23.1 ]
There is also ‘ joy , ailments from ’; ‘ excessive joy ’; ‘ plans , makes many ’; and ‘ restlessness , nervousness ’. So , these are all the mental symptoms .
154 | vol30 | no3 | JATMS