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(Third Edition)
by Robin Murphy, N.D.
The definition of word repertory originates from the Latin word "repertoir,"
which means any store or stock, (e.g. of information), that can be drawn upon.
"Repertorium," in French and Latin, means a catalogue or storehouse. Repertoire
means a collection or an inventory of capabilities (e. g. songs, plays, music. etc.).
In homeopathy the word "repertory" refers to books which are compiled indexes
of the Homeopathic and Herbal Materia Medicas.
Referring to his repertory, J. T. Kent said, It has been built from all sources,
and is a compilation of all the useful symptoms recorded in the fundamental works
of our Materia Medica, as well as from the notes of our ablest practitioners.
There have been more than 110 different repertories published as part of
homeopathic literature during the last 170 years. The first repertory was created
by SamuelHahnemann which he called a "Symptom Dictionary." Later, Jahr and
Boenninghausen compiled their indexes to the homeopathic materia medica.
In modern terms, the repertory represents the clinical and research database for
the practice of homeopathic medicine. The general information contained in these
books are derived from history, provings, clinical practice, research, physiology
and toxicology.
This edition was designed to be a modern, practical and easy to use clinical
guide to the vast homeopathic materia medica. To achieve these goals, a redesigned
and upgraded repertory had to be compiled (including a new schema), focusing
on filling in the clinical deficiencies and correcting the major flaws found in older
repertories.
Historical Repertory Schemas
A schema is defined as a plan, outline or diagram. In homeopathy, a schema
comprises the basic outline of headings and sub-headings used in our materia
medicas and repertories. Many variations have been tried throughout the last 170
years. The most common historical schemas are represented by the hierarchical and
concordance approaches while the schema used in this work is clinically focused
and organized alphabetically.
1. HIERARCHICAL/Anatomical/Theoretical - Boenninghausen, Boericke,
Lippe, Kent, Knerr.
2. CONCORDANCE-Symptomatic - Allen, Clark, Gentry, Phatak.
3. ALPHABETICAL-Clinical - Murphy.
Hahnemann's schema offered an outline for recording the information gathered
from the experimental provings of homeopathic remedies. This eventually became
the schema for his Materia Medica Pura. In it's preface, Hahnemann describes his
schema (the first ever formulated) on pages 4-5. Hahnemann's schema differed
radically from Kent's later hierarchical organization. It begins with Vertigo, goes
through more than fifty sections, finally ending with the Emotions and Mind, where
subsequent schemas would begin.
Kents Repertory is based on the assumption that all cases should be analyzed
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from the general to the particular, from the psychological to the physical. Kent
saw his cases from one perspective only; he was prejudiced even before he took
a case! This perspective helped to establish the modern homeopathic view that
mental symptoms are always more important than physical ones. We should re-
member that particular symptoms (for instance: tumors, diseased organs or wounds)
can literary kill a person, which highlights the importance of local symptoms in
pathogical cases.
Dr. T. F. Allen addressed this issue of whether our repertories should be orga-
nized in a hierarchical order or a simple alphabetical one in his introduction to the
Index of the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica. He states: We venture to hope
that future standard works will present a new schema free from theoretical ideas
concerning the physiological action of remedies, classifying our symptomatology
in a form which will permit ready reference and enabling numerous provings to
be condensed.
A natural hierarchy used for case analysis should be based on several premises:
first, what is most life threating to the patient; second, the causative factors in the
case, and finally, the most severe or important presenting symptoms.
In homeopathic literature, a fixed hierarchy is unnecessary because it goes
against the individualization of each case. The natural hierarchy in a healthy per-
son is physiological, while in a sick person, that natural order becomes deranged
into multiple, unpredictable patterns. We should not have preconceived ideas
about what should be important in a case becuase we should perceive the unique
hierarchy of each case.
The Homeopathic Clinical Repertory
After prolonged research and experimentation with the old schemas, I decided
to create a new one that would facilitate access to rubrics at all levels in order to
provide clearer images of the anatomical, physiological and clinical rubric groups.
For example, all the lungs rubrics are in one place instead of being spread throughout
the chest chapter. This schema allows an easy transition from particular to general
chapters, and vice versa. If a pain rubric cannot be found in its precise chapter
("Lungs," for instance), then go to a more general chapter ( "Chest," in this case,
but be aware that becuase these rubrics are more general they also include heart
pain.).
The Alphabetical Format
This repertory contains 74 chapters arranged in an alphabetical order. They
were rearranged and compiled from the original 36 chapters found in Kents
Repertory.
The Homeopathic Clinical Repertory was created to be more consistent with
Hahnemanns anatomical and physiological categories and has been reorganized
into an alphabetical order. This schema was chosen as the most natural organiza-
tional method for large amounts of information, bringing this repertory into line
with the homeopathic materia medicas.
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