Repertory of the Elements

Summary

The Repertory of the Elements shows the information form the books of Jan Scholten: Homeopathy and Minerals and Homeopathy and the Elements, combined with numerous additions from later discoveries. It is a very valuable source of information to find the information in these books. Furthermore it is a good tool to learn the way of thinking of the Element Theory. It helps you to differentiate between the stages and series by showing the different nuances of them. Theory Included are some articles on the theoretical background of repertories and symptoms. The concept of Basic Symptoms makes makes the structure of symptoms clear and understandable. And the retrieval of symptoms more efficient.

Families

This repertory has some special features. Most of the entries are families instead of remedies. For instance the rubric “Homesick” has “the phosphoricums” as an entry instead of “phos”. It helps you to think in families, which gives you a wider range of applying homeopathy. The second is the arrangement of the rubrics. It is done on the most informative concept, for instance “mother” instead of “delusion”.

Introduction

“A repertory is a list of symptoms connected to remedies”

This repertory has been in preparation for a long time. At first it was not my intention to write a repertory. There are good repertories in use. And the structure of “Homeopathy and Minerals’ and “Homeopathy and the Elements” is such that a repertory was not needed, I thought.

New repertory

So why a new repertory then? The first reason is that many homeopaths are working with repertories as their basic tool. Some homeopaths even think and speak in “repertory language”, for example “Delusion, confusion, others will see”. The presentation of the information in the form of a repertory makes easily it more accessible. The information in “Homeopathy and Minerals” and “Homeopathy and the Elements” is more available and can be used in repertorisations.

New Rubrics

Another reason is that there are many new rubrics in this repertory. They are new in the sense that they are not found in existing repertories. A great amount of rubrics in this repertory is new. The new information is predominantly actions from the stages, family members and professions.

Families

New in this repertory is that most entries are families instead of single remedies. This is the consequence of group analysis, classification of remedies. Many symptoms are common for a group, a series, stage or an element of the periodic table. In those cases is easier to see the family as an entry instead of having the whole list of them. For the computer versions of this repertory the families will be replaced by the single remedies, in order to have a working version.

For most of the known remedies the names and abbreviations are unchanged. For new ones I’ve systematized them. Explanations about names and abbreviations of remedies and families can be found in the chapter Remedies and Nomenclature at page 11.

Considerations

In preparing and constructing this repertory some ideas and concepts have been formed. A crucial concept is that of the “basic symptom”. An explanation of it can be found in the chapter Basic symptoms at page 7. This concept also influenced the arrangement of the symptoms. Other considerations about the arrangement can be found in the chapter Arrangement at page 9. Hints for better use of the repertory cab be found in the in the chapter Use at page 13. The Color preferences are only indicated by codes and descriptions. For the color tables one has to look in “Colors in Homeopathy” by Ulrich Welte.

Conclusion

This repertory is far from finished or complete. All knowledge is in progress. But I have the impression that this repertory can have its place in the homeopathic literature. I foresee that it will help many homeopaths to become more familiar with the way of thinking in my books. The repertory can even be used as a study of Materia Medica, especially in the form of differential diagnosis. I hope you, as a reader will enjoy it.