An interview with misha norland An interview with misha norland (J.

Hunn) December 2000 AH: What is your philosophy o education! "#: Was it $ary %chneider who once said that education should be more about li&htin& lamps than about illin& bottles! 'he beauty o that analo&y is that what you are doin& is acilitatin& other people(s lamps to shine. #ow that aspect o bein& a teacher is really the most wonder ul. )t(s the mantle*wearin&+ standin& on the plat orm+ that can become isolatin&. ,ery dan&erous in respect to e&o+ because you can easily be&in to eel you are bi&&er than you really are. And then there may be an e-ual opposite swin& which can ma.e you eel very small and insi&ni icant. )n the manner o /ycopodium+ you can swell out and eel that you are the best (anythin& not to admit to the possibility o ailure)+ or li.e ,eratrum you can eel that you are divinely connected (anythin& not to admit to the possibility o bein& mere shit)+ or li.e 0latina (anythin& not to admit to the possibility o bein& a dirty bitch). )t(s a very dan&erous position. "any a &uru has allen. AH: Do you pre er to see yoursel as a acilitator rather than somebody who is out there providin& new ideas! "#: ) haven(t provided one new idea in all my li e. AH: 1ut you acilitate other people to throw their li&ht on that which already e2ists! "#: 'here were a ew de inite steps and reali3ations alon& the way that ) note as important. When ) was somewhere around si2+ it became clear to me that i my parents hadn(t had me+ then somebody else would have done. ) had the sense o an inner 4)4 that had to e2press itsel in some orm+ either in this body or e-ually in another orm with another &enetic ma.eup. "y schoolmates and riends o ten came to me or advice. Another reali3ation+ ten years later on+ was that ) was a teacher. 1ecause ) didn(t want to do it in the standard way+ ) conceived o a school that would teach 4truth+ beauty and &oodness4 and would acilitate others to li&ht their lamps. 5 course+ ) had no idea how it was &oin& to be6 it was an inchoate vision. %oon a ter it arose+ ) put it into the bac.&round and said+ 4 or&et that.4 )t elt li.e too vast a responsibility+ and ) was too ine2perienced. %o ) di&ressed into ma.in& movies. AH: About what! "#: 0ersil*the one that washes whiter7 AH: %o the li&ht was there even then! "#: 8es+ we put more li&hts on the 0ersil .id to enhance the whiteness. AH: %o how did the idea come orward rom the bac. burner! "#: 9rom soap powder to homeopathy! 1ecause o my core interest in people+ what orms who we are and &ives us our place in the world+ ) became heavily involved with people who were interested in such thin&s. 'hese included people in the psychotherapeutic community+ or a certain se&ment o them+ and o course all o those who were searchin& in what we now call #ew A&e therapies. $oin& bac. to the :0s+ it was all there+ but a little more under&round. ;ertainly healin& has been there orever and 8o&a and astrolo&y+ while the 'heosophists and the ;olle&e o 0sychic %tudies have been there or almost one hundred years+ radionics or maybe orty years+ and color healin&+ acupuncture+ body*wor.. %o plenty &oin& on in /ondon+ and amon&st the people ) .new. ) moved in these circles*and people o ten sin&led me out+ sayin& you have a responsibility here+ this is what you should do+ this is the path you should ollow. 0eople

li.e you to do what they(re doin&+ they li.e you to be one their herd. ) you are shinin& a li&ht+ people want you to be on their side. 0eople started tellin& me that ) had psychic abilities and should develop them+ that ) had healin& abilities and should develop them. ) was as unready or any o these responsibilities+ as ) saw them+ as ) had been or teachin&. %o ) shut the door. AH: Was that out o ear! "#: 5h yes7 ) would not have admitted to ear at that time. ) <ust developed an amused aversion to them all+ loc.+ stoc. and barrel*to psychotherapy+ to healin&+ to astrolo&y+ to reli&ion. ) <ust shut the door. ) said: =i&ht+ enou&h o that+ let(s &et into the real world. ) <ust wanted to be an ordinary person involved in materialistic pursuits. )(ve always en<oyed watchin& movies+ so ) decided to ma.e them. And ) had a lot o un*it(s a wonder ul thin& to do. )t(s co*operative+ you &et to&ether on a venture. )t has a plannin& phase+ a production phase+ a post*production phase+ an end*and it(s out there. Whether it(s a 0ersil advert or whether it(s a eature ilm+ the di erence is only in scale. )t also &ot me a tic.et to Hollywood where ) edited a low bud&et Joseph >. /evine picture made on the bac. o >asy =ider. ) truth be .nown+ ) hated the movie and elt that /os An&eles was hideous. AH: What turned that li&ht bac. on! "#: ) athered my irst child. "y wi e then+ e2*wi e now+ was unready or the e2perience o parentin&*it was all much too much or her. He was <ust a year and a hal old when she secretly slipped out o our lives. 9or more than our years+ neither ) nor her parents .new where she was. All the trails that we pic.ed up disappeared into dimness+ into a mist. %o+ ) sin&le parented him. Althou&h ) was completely unprepared or it+ ) was instinctively unwillin& to put him in the hands o anyone else. He called me mummy. %o+ the door that ) had shut was opened a&ain. AH: )n terms o ...! "#: 'he door into the interior world. AH: )nto your own psyche! "#: )nto personal space+ yes. ) ) had had mil. in my tits ) would have ed him. AH: %o you moved into another phase! "#: "ore eminine. )t &radually pri3ed open a crac. in the door that ) had nailed shut. And it .ept on pri3in&*not openin& a lood&ate+ but a &radual re*hydration o an old+ dried*out spon&e7 )t too. me to loo. bac. in the ield ) had shut the door on. And it didn(t ta.e lon& or me to discover homeopathy. )t was an immediate ta.e+ as i ) had .nown about it or all my li e. AH:Was that in terms o havin& had homeopathic treatment+ or an attraction to the philosophy! "#: ) did not come as a patient. "y attraction was not even to the philosophy+ but rather to materia medica. 'he irst boo. ) &ot was ;lar.e(s "ateria "edica. )t was <ust ri&ht or me. ) read it li.e one reads A&atha ;hristie*well+ more avidly. A&atha ;hristie is &reat or the irst novel+ but a ter awhile you &et the plot+ the system+ the plan. Homeopathy is not li.e that+ or every remedy has its own story to tell. )t(s also li.e theatre*what a movie7 AH: How is that movie pannin& out!

"#: 5h+ it(s &reat+ ) love it. Always a new character7 'here are no endin&s*that is the di erence. When a movie is inished+ it(s out there+ while homeopathy and homeopathic practice are continuously re*inventin& themselves. AH: Did you see yoursel at that point as practitioner or teacher! "#: As a practitioner+ almost immediately. AH: How easy was that! "#: A piece o ca.e. )(ve always been a practitioner. All my li e people have come and told me their stories+ rom childhood onwards. )t was a way o ormali3in& that activity+ and &ivin& somethin& which could initiate chan&e. AH:Were you supported! "#: ) was supported durin& my studies by the state. ) was a sin&le parent+ and in the ?0s the &overnment was more avorably disposed to helpin& out than it is today. AH: >motionally+ or by your amily! "#: 8es+ my mum was still alive at that time+ and was very supportive+ in every way. %he(s my mother+ isn(t she! %he would have been supportive o anythin&. As lon& as ) wasn(t &oin& to rob ban.*she mi&ht have drawn the line there+ told me that was a bad idea+ ) mi&ht &et cau&ht and put away in prison. AH: ) .now you have a view that you were born into where you are*there is a certain amount o acceptance+ spiritually+ that this is your path. Do you+ on re lection+ have any re&ret! Would you have li.ed thin&s to have been any di erent! "#: 'here is only one thin& ) would chan&e+ i ) could wind bac. the cloc.. ) would have ta.en up a musical instrument earlier than ) did. ) too. up the piano in my mid*20s which+ or me+ was a little too late. "y parents were a&ainst it when ) lived at home. AH: Why! "#: #oisy. AH: %o what do you do or un! "#: 'he house is always ull o music. 1ri&itte+ my wi e+ is a pro essional musician+ a lute player+ a teacher as well. 'wo o my sons play musical instruments with commitment+ especially /u.e on his 9rench horn. He calls it 4$loria.4 AH: Are they your outlet! "#: Ah+ yes+ that is the hu&e thin& ) do or un: ) have a amily. )t is wonder ul. )t(s a lot o other thin&s as well7 And it(s a vibrant and vital world that lives with you+ in you+ around you+ and is a part o you+ wherein you always have a place. ) en<oy coo.in& or the amily and ) prepare the evenin& meal whenever ) am at home*which is @0 months o the year. ) also ta.e lon& wal.s. A day that ) am not out in the countryside is more o a stru&&le or me. #ow that our do& is dead+ ) ta.e his &host on my rambles. And writin& can be un. AH: How creative or you is the school+ the teachin& element! )s that ul illin& on a creative level! "#: ) it wasn(t ) would cease to do it. ) have not the ener&y to do thin&s which are un ul illin&. ) &et tired+ physically tired. ) don(t have very much time in which ) am not doin& anythin&. $oin& or a wal. and bein& with the amily is -uite active too. AH: %o it was responsibilities that you turned away rom in the irst instance. Were you ri&ht to perceive that as an issue! )s it the responsibility that is tirin&!

"#: ) don(t thin. the issue is about responsibility per se. "a.in& ilms has that element+ too+ and the activity can be very e2treme+ and o ten is. 'he li e ) lead now is or the most part less stressed than it was when ) was in the middle o the movie world+ in the middle o /ondon+ where there were constant pressures to do thin&s by a set date. 0rolon&ed stress does lead to burnout. ) you are in a ield where you are plantin& or harvestin&+ you can also &et tired. )t(s a act. =esponsibility is somethin& that is part o my nature+ and so when ) shut the door on healin& responsibilities as a 20 year old+ ) only ound mysel with others+ li.e movie production and sin&le parentin&. ) <ust 4do4 responsibility+ there is no escape. 'his is why ) cannot view it as an issue+ it is too inte&ral. AH: ;an you tell me a little about your current involvement in ma.in& homeopathic education more available in America! "#: )t(s the correspondence course that has spearheaded our involvement with the teachin& o homeopathy in the Anited %tates and ;anada. ) didn(t develop this or the speci ic purpose o havin& it reach the Anited %tates+ or indeed anywhere else in the world*it was intended or the AB. %omebody once said to me that a man does not have to plan to have a beard6 he merely has to decide not shave that day+ and then a beard &rows. ) planned a course or the home mar.et+ which later &rew lar&er than ) had initially ima&ined it would. AH: Has the school &rown rom its initial conception! How has this occurred! "#: )t happened that students sometimes couldn(t attend lectures+ so ) &ot into the habit o ma.in& tapes speci ically to ul ill that need. A ter a while we developed a considerable tape library. 'he lectures varied+ as would any per ormance. 'here were some days when the teacher and the class were vibrant+ and others when they were not+ althou&h the notes were the same. %o ) reco&ni3ed 4that was a &ood one74 and held onto that tape. ) had been teachin& or many years+ and sensed that my &reatest <oy is reachin& the sprin&*o point at which students have su icient bac.&round in ormation to ma.e a leap into practice+ or <ust a leap into .nowin& where a case is comin& rom. When they have ac-uired su icient s.ill and honed their perceptions enou&h to have reached 4critical mass+4 that is the point at which they can be&in to ma.e homeopathic connections. 'hen a chain reaction starts and it &ets hot and happenin&. 9rom that idea the correspondence course was born. /ecture tapes and class discussions orm the bac.bone o it. )t is li.e a tapestry woven with three main ibers: ori&inal written wor.+ ori&inal tapes+ and te2ts that are available to anybody. We or&ani3ed it into discrete units with dia&rams+ model answers+ and tutor*mar.ed assi&nments. And ) collaborated with %tuart $racie to mana&e this correspondence course. As ) say+ the primary purpose was to brin& students into the school in Devon at the 4critical mass4 sta&e in their development. 5nce the correspondence course had been created+ it then obviously had an application in other countries. When ) irst discussed it with %tuart we thou&ht that this would be a &reat o erin& to developin& countries. A rica and homeopathy7 We were not seein& thin&s as they are+ or A rica is basically a con&lomeration o tribal peoples+ and the way the in ormation is presented is unsuitable. AH: 5ut o cultural conte2t! "#: 8es. 8et it is -uite suitable or the Anited %tates+ where it is in cultural and lin&uistic conte2t. )t(s &one to many places. 'here is a school in Athens that has translated

all the material and is usin& it. /i.ewise+ in =omania. )t(s been translated into Japanese and is bein& used there+ not speci ically as correspondence course material+ but parts o it are bein& used in a classroom conte2t. AH: Does this mean that homeopathy is becomin& a worldwide system o medicine! "#: >2pandin& over the &lobe. )t is. AH: )s that in acute prescribin&+ or are we developin& practitioners! "#: 0ractitioners primarily. AH: What do you eel you are brin&in& in! Are there new concepts! What is your contribution! "#: 'he irst thin& is+ there is nothin& new. Anythin& that ) have put to&ether has been an assembla&e o elements that have already been there. 'he analo&y o the child playin& on the beach is a suitable one. 'he beach contains a vast array o treasures that the ocean has pushed up: <etsam and lotsam+ shells+ bits o crabs+ roc. pools teamin& with li e. 'he child deli&hts in brin&in& whatever it can bac. home. ) have been li.e that child+ collectin& the treasures which appeal and brin&in& them bac. home. ) try to e2plain the conceptual world in terms o the tan&ible realities around us+ in other words by metaphor and analo&y. ) &uess that(s why ) li.e to write poetry. 9or instance+ ) was &iven a conceptual world o the our elements in my primary school+ when we started studyin& science. ) must have been seven or ei&ht. 'he teacher be&an by loo.in& at the roots o science+ and chemistry+ and tal.ed about alchemy. ) was absolutely deli&hted+ althou&h she ridiculed the alchemists and what they did. 1ut it lit my wic.7 'hose are a ew o the seashells on the shore+ that ) have brou&ht home with me+ and that is the contribution that is made by mysel and some o the other teachers at the school. We are not uni-ue in this. Joseph =eves did primary wor. on it+ callin& it 4'he ;ircle+4 rom which the 4"appa "undi+4 as ) call it+ derives. He is the irst to disclaim it as ori&inal. He has said that in this wor. he is reclaimin& old teachin&s+ <ust as ) am sayin&. He started o with the model o >mpedocles. All o this is in my article which accompanies this interview. 'he map is a way o e2aminin& anythin& in nature6 however+ it is particularly use ul or e2aminin& livin& systems+ because it charts a dialo&ue o opposites. 9or e2ample+ the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems wor. reciprocally+ one activatin& dilation+ the other contraction. 'hat reciprocal movement alon& a continuum between two poles is what the "appa "undi is about. )t e2amines ei&ht opposin& orces+ and there ore you have our dialectics which may be applied as a conceptual analo&y or any situation. "y avored application is in case analysis. 0atients come to you with their chronic ailment+ that which is sappin& their ener&y. 'hey are in a position that is analo&ous to &ravitational collapse: a blac. hole. ) the treatment we &ive is wor.in& e ectively+ then an acute will mani est*that(s an entire cosmo&enesis ri&ht there7 And it will do so in a speci ic way that the "appa "undi so beauti ully charts. %o i you have this+ then you .now what to e2pect+ what its e-ual and opposite will be+ what the outcome o treatment will be li.e. 'hus when it arrives+ instead o sayin&+ 45h my $od+ this is somethin& else ) have to treat+4 you can see it and say to your patient+ 4'his is what is happenin&+ this is the process+ this is o.ay.4 AH: %o one o your contributions to homeopathy is to brin& the "appa "undi into education+ as a tool!

"#: ;ertainly loo.in& at the dance o the opposites+ yes+ the polarity mappin& is one that we have brou&ht out. Another thin& that the school is .een on+ is brin&in& the esoteric into the li&ht. )t was called the occult+ wasn(t it! )t means hidden. What we have striven to do is to ma.e this visible. AH: )n what ways do you eel you are doin& this! "#: What have o ten been described as the mystery teachin&s (which have underpinned the &reat cultures o the past) have a place that is as important today as ever. However+ we have lost touch with them+ and that(s li.e losin& soul. >very now and a&ain somethin& pops up be ore me. 9or instance+ a little pamphlet produced in @CD@+ by the #ational ;hildbirth 'rust. A &roup o us did a presentation or them and ) came across a transcription o what was said. )t(s the same me spea.in&+ bein& deli&hted by the seashells that )(d ound on the beach all those years a&o*the same old seashells. AH: 1y brin&in& those teachin&s into the li&ht+ and the "appa "undi bein& one o them+ are we movin& away rom complementary+ towards bein& more alternative! "#: )(ve always elt that the term 4complementary4 was a cop*out. )t seemed politically e2pedient to say it+ by those who said it+ but )(ve never elt com ortable with it. 8ou .now those mystery teachin&s weren(t always alternative7 'hey were mainstream at certain times. )t(s a -uestion now o indin& what(s use ul and reclaimin& those tools which are still valuable. 'hin. o the A&e o >nli&htenment. )t ma.es sense that it happened: the "iddle A&es had &one down paths that had ceased to be use ul+ so the =eaper came and cut down the old. 5bviously much that was valuable was also thrown out. Hahnemann threw much out too+ because he belon&ed to the A&e o >nli&htenment. He threw out thin&s li.e si&natures and astrolo&y+ but still mentions that there are telluric orces that mi&ht a ect us and he invented the "iasm theory. We have &one out rom the earth in our roc.ets+ in our -uest or .nowled&e and science. %cience is a method o en-uiry which wishes to order such phenomena as we observe into comprehensible systems o .nowled&e. ('he ;holeric thrust is also to discover how thin&s wor..) )n the process+ we had to throw away old &arba&e but as is always the way+ more was thrown away than was necessary. ) you &o down a path a very lon& way you reach an e2treme position+ and it has an e-ual opposite which is an e2treme other position+ and o course you loose that which is in the middle. 'his happens in &oin& rom e2treme 8in to e2treme 8an&+ rom e2treme ire to e2treme ice. We are <ust reclaimin& the middle &round. AH: And de*mysti yin&! "#: %ome o it was deliberately mysti ied. Alchemy is a per ect e2ample o deliberate mysti ication+ and encodin& or survival. AH: 1ecause o the ear o bein& discovered! "#: 1ecause it was heretical7 AH: 8our wor. is -uite radical. Do you thin. this may put us bac. into the same position as the ori&inal alchemist+ bein& perceived as.... "#: ;ran.y and dan&erous! 8es+ ,ithoul.as ta.es a stand here+ a very stron& stand. He is or a rational+ scienti ic model. He had an en&ineerin& bac.&round+ and represents an en&ineerin& model or homeopathy. ) come rom another place+ and represent another lin. in the &reat chain. $eor&e and all o us who practice classical homeopathy are

pullin& the same rope. We should honor one another+ rather than i&ht about it. )t may loo. as i it(s comin& rom a totally di erent place6 however+ it is the same rope. ...reciprocal movement alon& a continuum between two poles is what the "appa "undi is about. AH: When you are usin& the term classical homeopathy+ are you holdin& the same chain as other disciplines o practice+ such as polypharmacy+ or instance! What is your stance there! "#: ) use the term classical homeopathy to honor $eor&e. He was the irst person to coin this phrase+ as ar as ) .now. What he meant by it was 4homeopathy as described by ...4 He has a list o people whom he considers to be classical+ in order to de ine what he means+ such as 1oennin&hausen+ Bent+ 1oeric.e+ 9arrin&ton+ Herin&. He is not o.ay with other viewpoints+ not happy with the "iasm theory e2pounded by 5rte&a+ or the insi&hts o %an.aran or %cholten or the provin&s o %herr. He has his classical &roup o homeopathic writers that he eels com ortable with. 'hey have stood the test o time and their in ormation is reliable. 0olypharmacists (by which ) ta.e it you re er to those who use mi2tures o many remedies) are comin& rom somewhere else. $enerally spea.in& a polypharmacist is viewin& homeopathy in a more traditional medical li&ht+ throu&h therapeutic application: a pile o remedies or treatin& a pile o bits. )t(s not a syner&istic view. AH: How does revisitin& these teachin&s help to move us orward! "#: )t is interestin& to ponder the uture. Homeopathy must have a place+ whatever the uture may brin&+ simply because it wor.s. )t is revealin& to use the "appa "undi as a hoo. to han& these observations on. %eein& into the uture is a tric.y business. 8et we can plot a &raph based on what we have seen in the past and what we see in the present+ and e2tend it into the antasyland o the uture. 5n a very basic level+ we are seein& certain areas o the planet become hotter and drier+ while other areas are becomin& wetter and windier+ thou&h not necessarily colder. ;ertainly we are seein& the planet heatin& up. )t is close to home+ because in Devon we are e2periencin& the wettest and warmest winter or many years. Whereas i you travel to other countries you see drou&ht. 'he situation polari3es on the hotEdry*windyEwet a2is+ which &ives us a clear "appa "undi orientation. Hot and dry is associated with the ;holeric temperament+ and wet and windy with the 0hle&matic temperament. ;holerics are people who &o out and do thin&s. 'hey are the adventurers+ the e2plorers+ and are noted or their irascible temper. 9or instance+ 1oeric.e describes #u2 vomica as havin& a choleric temperament*and so indeed it has. 'his is an out*there person+ &rapplin& with the material o the world. 'he drive is to &et on with it e iciently+ e ectively+ and now. 5ne mi&ht say this is the temperament o the Hero who probably will be i&htin& battles with many monsters on the way. 'his dynamic to brin& in the new may+ and does+ include homeopathy. ) we loo. at the present thrust o Western civili3ation+ we see that it is about discoverin& how the world wor.s+ not so much what our place in it is+ <ust the -uestion: How does it wor.! )t(s &ettin& out there to ta.e a loo. and see how it is. 'he in ormation is brou&ht bac. as electronic ima&es+ another orm o ire. 9ire is the li&ht producer in our environment+ so ire and li&ht co*e2ist. )t(s ima&es that we see. We also spea. in terms o li&ht years to denote distance.

)t(s interestin& that what we are investi&atin& ri&ht now is the impact on our environment o the blac. hole*no li&ht and everythin& collapses into it. )t(s the very opposite o this iery element. )t(s the hole o death. )n terms o what(s happenin& in our planet+ we are &ettin& very polari3ed between e2treme positions. $enesis above and death below. Hot and dry+ wet and windy. An unstable time. A time durin& which our ma<or e orts are &oin& to be or our survival. An ortunately some species are not &oin& to ma.e it*we are at a time o mass e2tinctions+ a blac. hole. ) have no doubt that human.ind will ma.e it+ because we are more adaptable than many other species+ but we are li.ely to be increasin&ly stressed. At such a time homeopathy is absolutely ma&ni icent*in acute wor. rather than chronic. )t was in the treatment o acutes that homeopathy won its laurels. 9ol. too. it seriously because it was &ood at brin&in& the dyin& bac. rom the brin. in cholera epidemics. Acute wor. is relatively simple or the prescriber+ because it can operate accordin& to the model o therapeutics (loo.in& at the shortterm disease state) and that is close enou&h to the medical model to be acceptable*compatible+ wor.able*by doctors. ;omputers can be employed. Anyone can &rasp it easily+ i they as. the ri&ht -uestions. 1ecause acute wor. re-uires a relatively small system+ it can be tau&ht -uic.ly. We were thin.in& about brin&in& homeopathy to the third world. =escue wor. should not be di icult. ) thin. there is a hu&e place or homeopathy in the uture. AH: Homeopathy in the western world is movin& away+ ) eel+ rom what you are describin&*that is+ hands*on+ acute homeopathy. ) eel as i we have moved towards acilitatin& a place to have middle class neurosis listened to. "#: )t(s li.e any chronic disease6 it(s slow movin&. "iddle class neurosis is a orm o chronic disease. AH: ) wonder i we have become cau&ht up in that as homeopaths+ and are we movin& away rom perceivin& the real chronic in the planet! "#: ) want to say somethin& in de ense o that orm o treatment+ basically because ) a&ree with you that treatin& indistinct chronic complaints+ lac.in& clear de inition+ can be di icult. Also because ) ta.e it that by middle class neurosis you re er to over*much introspection and sel *analysis. ,iewed rom a political perspective this could be seen as a privile&e o the educated and wealthy. A lot o practice &oes down that route because middle class neurotics represent a &roup o ol.s who .now about homeopathy and can pay us. ) have heard that many practitioners &et ed up wor.in& with them+ wantin& to wor. in what they consider to be a more real situation+ and may even drop out o practice. )n the treatment o chronics+ whether it(s middle class neurosis or any other .ind o chronic ailment+ we do little until an acute arises. )n a sense+ what we are aimin& or is trans ormin& the chronic into an acute phase o development. 'his may re-uire patience and s.ill. 'his is why we ind ourselves increasin&ly ocusin& upon psycholo&ical aspects o a case and plumbin& the depth o remedies( mental symptoms. ...the tide has now turned. AH: %o we are brin&in& the chronic problem to a head*is that what you are sayin&! "#: 8es. 'hat is &reat+ i that(s what happens. )t(s easy or us to be ri&htened at this moment+ so as therapists we have to .now about this. )t(s all very well i our waitin& room is ull o itchin& and scratchin& patients+ or then we .now that we are bein& success ul at treatin& latent psora7 However+ it is more comple2 when a patient(s

lan&uishin& depression chan&es into acute pneumonia7 And what ma.es all o this more problematic is that we invariably wor. in isolation. We have no peers to commiserate with or with whom to discuss our problem patients or our problem selves. )t(s very discoura&in& to wor. in isolation7 AH: ) am aware the school has brou&ht supervision to the ore ront o our pro ession. Why has that been so hi&h on the a&enda! "#: )(ll start by describin& the most practical reason+ and it will be a len&thy tale+ so bear with me7 A &raduate o this school+ or any other+ &oes out into the world o sic. people+ carryin& a toolbo2. ) you ima&ine the remedies as bein& individual implements+ well that(s a lot o tools in the bo2. 'hen he has the underpinnin& philosophy which+ accordin& to the analo&y+ is the way in which the bo2 is built+ and how it opens. %o+ the &raduate has &ot what is needed to &o out there and start helpin& people. )nvariably people come*unless the &raduate has a very dim li&ht shinin& *people actually come because o that li&ht+ rather than because o the tools. Anyway+ people come+ and the &raduate starts applyin& the teachin&s and usin& the tools. 'he &raduate -uic.ly discovers that homeopathy wor.s. >nou&h people &et well or others to be impressed by this+ and althou&h it may become scary+ the &raduate does have the bac. up o the doctor. He can say to his patients+ 40lease &o to the doctor+ and ) will also prescribe+ we(ll wor. hand in hand.4 Anless the doctor is o the old school+ they usually accept this arran&ement. )n that manner the &raduate is held. )n the treatment o chronics the outcome can be rather di erent *situations can become acute because your prescribin& has been &ood. 'he dar.+ ro3en state o the chronic turns into the ast movin&+ hot state o the acute. 'hese sorts o chan&es can be very alarmin&+ and alarmin& too i the acutes are mental as well as physical. We wor. in isolation6 that is our culture. 'he homeopath &oes out with the toolbo2 and they are on their own in the world. Althou&h you may be able to ta.e your acutely su erin& patient to a doctor or a cooperative opinion and possible intervention+ what do you do with your chronics! 'hey don(t understand what you are tal.in& about. 'he idea o movin& a case into acute mani estation is un.nown to a doctor+ it is alien territory. 'he only people you can turn to are other homeopaths: homeopaths can help other homeopaths. )n order to do that+ you have to have a culture. 'his ta.es a while to develop. A ter all+ we had no homeopaths when we be&an+ <ust a hand ul o doctors and a ew -uac.s. An un.ind way o describin& lay practitioners+ but that is how doctors viewed us bac. then. A ew cra3y doctors who practised homeopathy+ and a ew -uac.s* and we established homeopathy out o this7 We all wor.ed in isolation6 however we did have each other*and our sense o raternity was stron&. As we have spread out+ the eelin& o raternity has &otten wea.er+ because the inner core &roup was turnin& all their attention outwards into teachin& others. 'he tide has now turned. 'here are enou&h people out there or supervision to be available. We would have had supervision be ore+ i we could have done. )t ta.es a number o years in practice (we believe about ive years) in order to be a supervisor to a neophyte. %upervision means that there is now somebody to whom you can turn. )t(s much more than usin& a toolbo2+ it(s about the whole ield o therapeutics+ and what happens in that ield*where the e2pectations are+ where the boundaries are+ where your competence runs out and you are in need o others to step in and help. )t(s about not

eelin& a ailure+ or that you have let your patients down+ by loo.in& or other therapists to help you come throu&h. AH: How easy has it been to introduce this! "#: )n my e2perience people have ound it hu&ely help ul. 'he school has been very ortunate to have had %heila =yan in the ore ront o the supervision process. Also it is use ul to have some induction in order or practitioners to move into the role o supervisor+ and %heila has set up wor.shops+ which ocus on what the supervision role is and establish its territory+ so that we .now where we are in it. AH: How is this concept bein& developed overseas with less people out in the ield! "#: 'here are ewer people who can act as supervisors. %ettin& up supervision wor.shops has not been easy+ or obvious reasons*the Anited %tates is hu&e. 8ou can it >n&land into the Anited %tates hundreds o times. However+ the psychotherapeutic networ. has a &ood tradition o supervision+ and the issues are not totally di erent. 'he toolbo2 is di erent+ but the human issues o pro<ection+ collusion+ boundary.eepin& are e2actly the same. %o there is a way in which practitioners can &o to psychotherapists or supervision. #ot personal therapy+ rather or the therapy o the practice. AH: 5ne o the ways ) am aware that supervision is tau&ht+ is throu&h supervised provin&s. "#: ) would li.e to e2tol the virtues o provin&s+ and not <ust as a &i t to the pro ession+ or obviously they &ive us an understandin& o new therapeutic a&ents. Also they allow us to appreciate the power o homeopathy+ and its power to produce chan&e over a lon& period o time. ) you are a prover and you are <ust sli&htly susceptible to the substance bein& proved+ you are a ected or maybe wee.s or months. ) you are very susceptible to it+ the chan&es it produces in you are undamental+ and can be very lon& lastin&. ) it(s curative or you+ the chan&e may last the duration o your li e. How can one be a prover and a polypharmacist! %uddenly that whole -uestion disappears o the map. 'here would be no problem provin& the polypharmacist(s mi2ture*that(s ine+ it would be an interestin& provin&. ) su&&est that twenty remedies mi2ed up to&ether may be a bit more than one would li.e to handle. AH: How important is that compared to e2periencin& constitutional treatment! "#: 'here are similar bene its to be had. )t is really important or the prover to have established what their constitutional remedy is. )n so doin& they e2perience the e ect o treatment. We need a de inition o constitutional treatment. 'raditionally 4constitution4 meant whether one was either ;holeric+ %an&uine+ 0hle&matic or "elancholic. 'hese were the our constitutions+ and they did not chan&e no matter what occurred. We can apply "appa "undi analysis to it and loo. at the pairs o opposites+ so that we are loo.in& at a continuum between two poles. 5ne o them could be ;holeric and the other in this case would be 0hle&matic+ because it(s the e-ual and opposite. Accordin& to the map o temperaments there are only two continuum and our poles. )n "appa "undi there are actually our continua and ei&ht poles+ yet theoretically there could be more. %ay we postulated and de ined a hundred continua and two hundred poles6 that would be ar more comple2 and lead to the consideration o many constitutional types. )ndeed this would be a.in to a polychrest topo&raphy+ and would be urther away rom the traditional de inition o constitutional types.

%o what do we mean when we say constitutional treatment! 'he pra&matic approach is probably most strai&ht orward. We clearly don(t mean the our constitutions+ because they are so primary that they remain constant over a li etime. 5ne moves rom one dipole to another. 1asically the orientation that one has is dynamic but remains constant within those parameters. %o+ by constitution+ and treatment accordin& to constitution+ we don(t mean that. When we say constitutional treatment+ we are re errin& to the application o the remedy that has wor.ed or the person a number o times in the past. )t(s use ul to have established this remedy because i a person &ets stuc. in a provin& and can(t &et out o it+ and new symptoms are continuously arisin& and are troublesome+ then this remedy will set them ri&ht a&ain. AH: As an antidote! "#: )t(s a dynamic antidote. )t brin&s a person bac. to their stable position. What is happenin& within the economy o the person who is doin& a provin& and producin& very vivid symptoms and is troubled by them! )t means that their susceptibility to that provin& substance is very inely tuned+ and they have been thrown substantially o balance by it. 'hey are discoverin& aspects o themselves which they would rather not .now about* psycholo&ically+ physically and spiritually. >ven thou&h the constitutional remedy will brin& them bac. into a position o balance+ that e2perience is never lost+ and it(s invaluable as raw e2perience+ as raw data or a new understandin&. 'hese e2periences+ however+ represent an unusual situation. $enerally spea.in&+ people are able to pass throu&h a provin& e2perience in a way which is immediately creative+ even i it mi&ht be distressin&. 'his too allows them to discover aspects o themselves that mi&ht have been obscured. Anythin& that brin&s parts o you (symptoms) out o the dar.ness and into the li&ht is o therapeutic value. ) am sure that is why Hahnemann e2plained that doin& many provin&s is health promotin&. 'he si2th edition o the 5r&anon didn(t &et published in his li etime because he inished it si2 months be ore he died+ a&ed C0 plus. ) have a eelin& that doin& all those provin&s reduced the psora that he had (despite the act that he denied havin& it7) AH: Are you involved in the provin&s at the school! "#: How could ) not be! ) am so involved that ) always ta.e the pill+ but ran.ly whether ) do or ) do not is completely irrelevant. AH: 1ecause o the &roup dynamic! "#: )ndeed. AH: 8ou seem very passionate about this. "#: )(ve &otten a hu&e amount o <oy o discovery out o doin& provin&s. %ometimes ) did not reali3e ) was bein& personally a ected until a year or two later. 'hen ) could see that ) had+ and the de&ree to it. 'his is because ) was actively bein& chan&ed by the provin& and there ore unable to &ain an ob<ective viewpoint o mysel . $lory be to those chan&es. 'he worst thin& is bein& stuc.+ and the best thin& is bein& alive and adaptin& and chan&in&. ) we as a species are &oin& to en<oy the uture+ we have to be very adaptable+ and there ore homeopathy has a place. AH: 0uttin& provin&s into the curriculum puts student homeopaths in a position o havin& to wal. the tal.+ instead o bein& cerebral. "#: De initely. However+ one provin& isn(t li.ely to be enou&h. %ometimes a person is not susceptible. 1ut at least some students &et to wal. the tal. by means o this

e2perience and indeed by becomin& intimately involved throu&h actin& as a prover supervisor. 5ccasionally students have su ered+ and )(ve ooted the bill. AH: )s that out o blame! "#: 5h+ no. 'hat(s <ust what you do. )(ve been cursed+ but never blamed. AH: 'hat(s a di icult position to be in+ to be initiatin& a provin& and then standin& bac.. "#: )t(s o.ay with me+ irst o all because ) don(t stand bac.. )(m ri&ht in there. ) don(t stand bac. with patients either6 )(m ri&ht in there. With the provin&s it <ust seems ri&ht that+ as initiator+ ) have a responsibility to ensure that the outcome is as &ood as it can be. And i that means payin& some money+ that(s the least o the problems. "ostly it ta.es time+ as much time as it ta.es. )t(s li.e you are with a patient. 8ou may char&e FG0+ but is that or hal an hour+ or an hour or three hours! As lon& as it ta.es. 8ou don(t say to your patient: )(ve spent three hours on your case+ now )(d li.e FC0. )t comes down to where your bliss is. ) it(s not in per ectin& your understandin& and s.ill in order to be o better service+ then you probably are in the wron& wor.. Healin& is an end in itsel + a way o li e which provides you with much more than a ortune. )t is not merely the means to a ortune. AH: How do you deal with somebody not wantin& to be involved with the provin&! "#: 9or one thin&+ it(s in the school(s prospectus. 'he only persons ) .now who have ever been able to remove themselves have been pre&nant women. AH: )s it possible to put that psychic boundary around you anyway in a provin& &roup! "#: %ome people have tried to do it. AH: Are they told that they mi&ht li.e to choose to do this! "#: 8es+ but it(s tric.y. 0eople have tried all sorts o thin&s and not succeeded too well. We are not very &ood at puttin& psychic boundaries around ourselves. "ost o us haven(t had much practice at it. ) thin. that the most art ul thin& is to be open to all e2periences. 'his is what %oul craves+ is it not+ to e2perience all aspects o li e: the &ood+ the bad and the u&ly! And rom the perspective o survival+ to inte&rate these e2periences+ not to repress them or to cut them o . When ear steps in the path o e2perience+ as it may do i a person resists a provin&+ then the state o ear itsel opens up the person(s innate susceptibility or the very thin& that provo.ed the an2iety in the irst place. When this occurs it opens up an opportunity or that individual*an opportunity to e2perience+ to learn and eventually to inte&rate the ne&ative+ an2iety producin& state within the totality o consciousness. %ince provin& symptoms span all levels o bein&+ the inte&ration can li.ewise involve all levels o consciousness: physical+ mental+ emotional and spiritual. Julia Hunn is a ormer student o the %chool o HomHopathy+ and now has a practice in %outh Devon+ where she lives with her three children. Apart rom homeopathy her interests are her amily+ sin&in&+ writin& and lau&hin&.