Page 5 - Summer 13

Why won’t the Doctrine od Signatures go away? by Chris Day, UK
For an unscientific approach to medicine, using the doctrine of signatures must surely take the biscuit. Yet, it won’t go away.
I find it intruding into my daily work, whether I like it or not. I have always enjoyed quirkiness and that was the first draw that pulled me into the orbit of homeopathy at the age of 10. Homeopathy was too ‘naughty’ to be ignored!
Here’s an example of how subtly but simply the Doctrine of Signatures can slot into practice life.
There was the Golden Retriever with a squa- mous cell carcinoma of the nose. I had tried one or two remedies based on strict logic (Nitric acid, Ipecacuanha, Carcinosin), which had suc- cessfully palliated (?) the worst signs (epistaxis, sternutation) until the lesion (having been sur- gically removed) started to reappear. 10th October – noticed small lumps emerging from nostril – panting/snorting a lot. Seen again
16th October – no nasal bone changes detect- ed – growth quite large – dog apparently happy and well -only occasional slight nose bleed. Here was a starfish clinging to the (right) nares! I gave Asterias and this was the sequel: 13th November – reported tumour appears to be shrinking – nostril wider open. 21st November – reported tumour almost disappeared – swelling gone down.
Why would it be that Hecla Lava can treat lesions that look like volcanic lava or that erupt and grow from a bony surface like a volcano? Why would it be that Chelidonium can treat jaundice and has yellow sap that can stain the skin, as if jaundice were present? Why would it be that the cobra carries a mark on its hood that could represent a heart? Why would the windflower be suitable for those with a tem- perament and medical conditions that have been described as an April day? Why would the horse chestnut be able to help piles? How come that Phosphorus can treat an explosive nature in a patient? Why would Thuja, that great anti-sycotic medicine, bear cones that look like a cluster of warts?
Is it the result of plain coincidence? There are thousands of homeopathic medicines and more waiting to be discovered. There are myri- ad different presentations of disease. Sometimes, chance would allow these to marry up in a seeming caricature of each other. We have all seen cloud shapes (surely a random event?) making clear recognisable images.
Is it the result of flights of fancy and a very fer- tile imagination?
Might some claim that here is the hand of God, our Creator, signaling to us how to use the medicines he has provided? One can imagine, what Richard Dawkins might make of that (not to mention his pronouncements on homeopa-
thy!). Personally, I’d have no problem with that, as I don’t believe science has gone even half way to proving the non-existence of God, how- ever each one of us perceives the universe.
What about a secular and practical explana- tion? Might it be at a vibrational level? When vibrations are similar, might not the physical manifestation bear similarities? This makes me consider how fundamental is Hahnemann’s discovery of the principle of cure by similars. It may be that the Doctrine of Signatures, long pre-dating Hahnemann’s insight, was an early attempt to explain the homeopathic phenome- non. Perhaps we shouldn’t after all be so shy to mention the doctrine of signatures? Perhaps we should even revel in it?
I am not sure of the relevance of this story but it has come to mind, just as I am finishing writ- ing. My family and I were enjoying the view from a car park above a Cathar Fortress in South West France. Among the stones that were littered about, I happened to see a piece of Dolomite. As I picked it up, the only other per- son there came up to me and said, in a French accent: do you know what that is? I said ‘Dolomite’. He said ‘How do you know?’ I said ‘Because it looks like it’. He looked stunned and stuck for words, then burst out laughing and said ‘I am a professor of geology and cannot teach students how to recognise dolomite. Perhaps we make it too complicated!’
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