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During the large exodus of homeopaths after the beginning of the 20th century to more conventional medicine, many began using low potencies and studying the mechanics of the human body. This led to homeopathic groupings according to the center of action or starting point of the medicines.
Burt taught that the chronic remedies had their center of action in the ganglia of the nervous system (organic) and the acute remedies had their center of action in the head and spinal cord (animal). Classification was further broken down to tissue type e.g. the spleen group included Arsenicum, Ether, Helleborus, Helonias, Iodine., Iris, and Mercury.
Needless to say, when the low potency people left the mental and emotional symptoms behind in favor of the anatomical system more in line with their AMA friends, the more traditionally trained homeopaths that were using potencies above 30x had a strong reaction. This physiological, therapeutic or clinical study of the materia medica resembles the herbal texts that are being produced now as physicians are renewing their interest in natural curative substances.
Jan Scholten MD, a Dutch homeopath, has made quite a stir recently in redefining materia medica along the lines of the periodic table of the elements. In trying to discern the properties of the basic building blocks of the known elements, he has created a grand system that involves quite a few unproven remedies. His system is only concerned with the elements so other traditional remedies are viewed only in the light of their components. He has interpreted the various groups of sulphurs, phosphoruses, calciums, sodiums, etc. in this manner in his book Homeopathy and Minerals.
Scholten’s blend of psychology and theology in defining the mentals and generals of each element is based upon his interpretation of his cases. The explanation using different themes for each row and each column is quite appealing and well written. It can be found in his $120 book Homeopathy and the Elements. According to Scholten, the periodic table is a total picture in the shape of a spiral that “pictures the expanding consciousness: from the consciousness of the Ego in the beginning to that of a neighbourhood, a village, a city, a country and in the end the whole universe.”
Jeremy Scherr has proven several of Scholten’s elements such as Hydrogen (1990), Helium (1994), and Neon. Iridium (1993) and Oxygenium have also been done.
