Colin Griffith - The new materia medica: volume 1

THE NEW MATERIA MEDICA

By the same author

The Companion to Homoeopathy
The Practical Handbook of Homoeopathy

Colin Griffith MCH, RSHom is a highly respected and effective practitioner of homoeopathy. He studied at the College of Homoeopathy and, instead of writing a thesis, he set up a supervised drop-in clinic which continued for 11 years and became a teaching clinic where students under his supervision set up their own tables. He has always preferred to work in multi-disciplinary practice where other complementary therapies are offered: cranial osteopathy, reflexology, counselling, etc. He is a founder member of the Guild of Homoeopaths and lectures regularly at the Centre for Homoeopathic Education, Regents College, London and has lectured in America, Canada, Japan and Greece. He is author of the highly regarded Companion to Homoeopathy and The Practical Handbook of Homoeopathy.

Publishers note: The information in this book is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice and treatment. If you are pregnant or are suffering from any medical conditions or health problems, it is recommended that you consult a medical professional before following any of the advice or practice suggested in this book. Duncan Baird Publishers, or any other persons who have been involved in working on this publication, cannot accept responsibility for any injuries or damage incurred as a result of following the information, exercises or therapeutic techniques contained in this book.

In memory of three great homoeopathic practitioners whose benign influence lives on

JOHN HENRY CLARKE
JAMES COMPTON BURNETT
THOMAS LACKENBY MAUGHAN

This book is for Janice Micallef
and every member of the proving circles
who gave light to the remedies
described within

THE NEW
MATERIA
MEDICA

KEY REMEDIES FOR
THE FUTURE OF HOMOEOPATHY

Colin Griffith, MCH, RSHom

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book would not have been possible without Janice Micallef. Her inspiration to run the meditation groups was what initiated nearly a generations worth of personal discovery and healing for all those involved, as well as an extraordinary period of unofficial empirical research into not just the remedies proved but also the very nature of homoeopathy and its radical prescribing methods. She has been a source of physical survival, emotional support and spiritual guidance to us all. On a personal level, I cannot thank her enough for all that she has been and done for me and my family.

The circles were the crucible for all the work done on the remedies. The following people are those who were involved, some for part of the journey, others for over 14 years: Elaine Heighington, the late Fred Harker, Terry Howard, Martin Miles, Diane Pitman, Jill Priest, Maureen Rose, Sylvia Treacher, Charles Wansborough, Jill Ward, Jill Wright and myself, Colin Griffith, were in one group; Shelley Bott, Katherine Boulderstone, Patricia Bromley, Marion Byham, Madeline Evans, Maggie Gravells, Sarah Hemesley, John Morgan, Marie-Anne Passchier-Sassen were in the other group. The first two-year course of the Guild formed a third group: Jane Ashley, Meryl Hool, Mark Johnson, Joy Love, Katiya Mons-Rushby, Ulrike OCallaghan, Jean Osborne, Susan Palmer, Lee Pollack, Ruth Epps. Helios Pharmacy also has a regular meditation group that has done further work on many remedies. This circle includes Richard Appleby, Marion Byham, Ruth Epps, Judi Faulkener-Pulsford, Sarah Hemesley, Sue Palmer, Vanessa Rusted, Rebecca Sturgeon and Rosemary Waller.

The publication associated with the research of the Guild is Prometheus, produced twice a year between 1994 and 2000. This was started up by Charles Wansborough who edited and oversaw the first five issues. Editorship of the magazine was then taken over by Madeline Evans who produced the remaining seven issues. With the designer David Ellis, Madeline turned the magazine into a very professional journal in which many of the remedies proved and others from other sources were given their first airing. I am indebted to Prometheus for many of the case examples included in this materia medica and to the contributors whose articles brought us these remedies. Contributors included Madeline Evans, Martin Miles, Sue Palmer, Jill Ward and Jill Wright.

To all those kind colleagues who generously gave me their time in looking out and relating their case examples of these 36 remedies I owe special thanks. Michele Betzner, Rita Niehorster, Jean Osborne, Rix Pyke and Lizy Rugman all devoted hours to discuss what they have experienced in prescribing the new remedies. Catherine Baddock, Liz Duffy, Terry Hadoke, Karen Leljevahl, Kathryn Meader, Linda Rogerson-Heath and Jill Wright all wrote me emails with their illustrative cases which have enlivened the remedies and have made the task of writing this book so much more worthwhile. Janice Micallef took the responsibility of producing clinical evidence to a different level when she worked into the small hours of the morning, sifting through literally dozens of cases and writing up those that best illustrated the remedies at a time when peace and quiet were so hard to find and then found time to talk me through them all!

There have been moments during the writing of this materia medica when I have wondered what on earth I was doing. The depth to which most of these remedies are reputed to go in the healing process is simply extraordinary and I have wondered - caught in my Taurean way between scepticism and wishful thinking and despite using the remedies to some effect myself - whether I have become ungrounded, whether I have been writing a book that is taking flight into unreality. It is because of the faith, skill and plain hard work shown by all those I have mentioned that I know that this is not so. All of these practitioners are professional people who make it their lifes work to prescribe according to the combination of their training, their experience and their intuitive perception; they have turned the craft of homoeopathy into an art.

The following people contributed their cases to illustrate the remedies: