The California Homeopath
Journal of the California Homeopathic Medical Society

Part One: The Beginning

One of Hahnemann’s last contributions to homeopathy was his theory of the origins of Chronic Disease, documented in his book The Chronic Diseases.  A summation of many years of work, it was his attempt to understand the roots of disease and to find homeopathic solutions to this situation.  After many years of revelation after formulating the Law of Similars and the development of provings as a key part of the methodology of homeopathic science, Hahnemann still struggled with many cases that seemingly would not respond to “well-indicated” remedies.  This led him to seek a deeper understanding of why more lasting cures were not being obtained.  The conclusions he drew from this study led him to consider that there were three chronic disease states that were the cause of the underlying disease manifestations.  These are Psora, Sycosis and Syphilis.  Hahnemann’s attention however was much more focused on Psora, which he attributed 7/8ths of all diseases to.  This focus tended to obscure the relevance of the venereal disease miasms, further compounded by the fact that Hahnemann never used the nosodes Medorrhinum or Syphilinum, a key factor in really understanding the full spectrum of the miasms.  For the latter two miasms, his concerns were much more focused on the immediate disease implications of these diseases, more than the inherited vulnerabilities that resulted.

By Richard Pitt

Richard Pitt | Homeopath and Educator

Richard has been practicing and teaching homeopathy in San Francisco since 1995.  He orginally trained in England and has been practicing homeopathy since 1984.  He is former Director of the Pacific Academy of Homeopathy in San Francisco and also teaches at many other schools in the United States and Canada.  He is a founding board member and past president of the Council for Homeopathic Certification, which has established professional certification for the homeopathic profession in North America.  He is in private practice in San Francisco.

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