Miasms in Labour

Reviews

From
HOMEOPATHY TODAY
Reviewed by Deborah Collins, RCHom, MD

I am a bit leery of new theories, or "old wine in new bottles," but I must say I have really enjoyed reading this one, especially since I was there during much of the conception and birth process of this book, and saw it take off from being a nearly still-born child to a lively, healthy baby.

In this book Harry van der Zee endeavours to bring new insights to the unwieldy theory of miasms. He takes it beyond the traditional realm of being a classification of remedies and illnesses, into a way of looking at life itself as an unfolding process.

Starting from his work with the Czech pychiatrist Stanislav Grof and Holotropic Therapy, he studied the stages of the birth process and the stages of development in life. The same pattern can be seen "in the phases of crises in life, the development of the level of the personality or of the soul, or the development of society, humanity of the creation as a whole."

He related these stages to the different miasms-not as illnesses, but as stages that we go through (or get stuck in). For every stage, Harry cites the circumstances and the feelings that go with them, including the types of words that might apply to the situation (e.g., "I'm stuck," "I don't see a way out," "I can't see the light"). He presents remedies that would apply in such a situation, and uses vivid examples from his practice.

The time in the womb would be called the "pre-miasmatic state"-the primal union with the mother. Problems arising from this period could cause the person to have problems incarnating into the body, and being grounded here on earth.

Remedies like Hydrogen ("all is one"), or the drug remedies such as Cannabis indica or Anhalonium could relate to this period, and help the person to move beyond the womb stage, no matter what their actual age.

The next stage, Psora, relates to the onset of delivery, the expulsion from paradise." He relates Sycosis with "no exit" or "eternal Hell," and the syphilitic miasm to the death and rebirth struggle." The "acute miasm" has a special place, being "transition itself" It includes remedies from the "heavy end" of the periodic table, the radioactive elements which are "falling apart."

The question with any new theory remains: "Do we need a new theory at all? How practical is it?" I remember watching Roger Morrison's despair as Harry described his work to him at first, only later to respond with "a-ha" as he saw the possiblities open up.

In my opinion, anything that helps us to relate remedies to life situations in such a way as to make them more accessible earns our attention. As we journey with Harry through the process of incarnation and birth, illustrated by case after case, the miasmatic theory itself begins to "live."

The full-colored oil paintings created especially for this book portray the different miasms in a way "not possible to express in words." This book is by no means the last word on miasms, nor a book for beginners in homeopathy. What it successfully does is to bring homeopathic thinking into a broad perspective, that of the developing soul.

From HOMEOPATHY TODAY
Reprinted with permission from the National Center for Homeopathy

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Contents

Introduction -- 17-20
Realms of the human unconscious -- 21-22
What the fetus experiences -- 23-26
Birth Language -- 27-30
Symptoms from pregnancy and birth -- 31-38
Trillium pendulum: the wise owl -- 39-46
Birth, a guided tour along the miasms -- 47
Pre-miasmatic state -- 48-53
Pre-miasmatic remedies - 54
Hydrogenium -- 54
Helium -- 55
Cannabis-indica -- 56
Anhalonium -- 57
Psoric miasm- the 'expulsion from paradise' -- 58-60
Psoric remedies -- 61
Sulphur-- 61
Lycopodium -- 62
Calcarea Carbonica -- 62
Silica -- 63
Psorinum -- 64-65
Transition from psora to sycosis -- 66
Tuberculinum -- 66-67
Calcarea phosphorica -- 68-69
Sycotic miasm- 'no exit' or 'eternal hell' -- 70-75
Sycotic remedies -- 76
Thuja occidentalis -- 76-77
Sabina -- 78
Anacardium -- 79
Lac caninum -- 80
Staphusagria -- 81
Nitricum acidum -- 81
Mancinella -- 82
Medorrhinum -- 82-84
Transition from sycosis to syphilis -- 85
Gelsemium -- 85-86
Cimicifuga -- 87
Chamomilla -- 88
Coffea cruda -- 89
Argentum Nitricum -- 90
Lyssinum -- 90
Mezereum -- 91-92
Carcinosinum -- 93
Syphilitic miasm and the 'death-rebirth struggle' -- 94-97
Syphilitic remedies -- 98
Lachesis muta -- 98
Tarentula hispania -- 99
Platinum -- 100
Aurum -- 101-102
Mercurius -- 103
Thallium -- 103
Plumbum -- 104
Bismuth -- 104
Arsenicum album -- 105
Nitricum acidum -- 105
Fluoricum acidum -- 105
Cuprum -- 105-106
Syphilinum -- 107-108
Transition from syphilis to acute -- 109
Radium bromatum -- 109
Plutonium Nitricum -- 109-110
Acute miasm and the 'death-rebirth experience' -- 111-113
Acute remedies -- 114
Stramonium -- 114-115
Belladonna -- 116
Aconite -- 117
Opium -- 118-119
Hyoscyamus -- 120
Veratrum album -- 121-122
The Uranium series -- 123
Miasms and the individuation process -- 124-126
Pre-individuation -- 127
Jungian psychology -- 127-128
Mythology -- 129
The kingdoms -- 130
Qualities -- 131
Departure -- 132
Persona -- 133
Psoric miasm -- 133
Psoric miasm and mythology -- 134
Psoric miasm and the mineral kingdom -- 134
Psoric qualities -- 134-135
Descent -- 136
Shadow -- 136
Sycotic miasm -- 137-138
Sycotic miasm and mythology -- 139
Sycotic miasm and the plant kingdom -- 140
Sycotic qualities -- 140-141
Ascent -- 142
The Soul image: anima and animus -- 142-143
The spiritual principal: spirit and matter -- 144
Syphilitic miasm -- 144
Syphilitic miasm and mythology -- 145
Syphilitic miasm and the animal kingdom -- 146
Syphilitic qualities -- 146-147
Atonement -- 148
The Self -- 148
Acute miasm -- 149
Acute miasm and mythology -- 149
Acute miasm and the human kingdom -- 150
Acute qualities -- 151-153
A cosmological survey -- 154-158
An artistic expression of the miasms -- 159-169
Miasms in perspective -- 170-172
Bibliography -- 173-174
Index of remedies -- 175-176

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