Theory of Evolution
This blog is part of a series; its original title was Heilkunst Basics : University, 2nd Year (Theory of Evolution)
Approaching the end of the second year of the Heilkunst university curriculum, I need to prepare you for your big term paper. This subject is ‘Evolution’, and the usual assumptions and dogmas cannot be drawn on in your research. Your first resource will be the book Tornado in a Junkyard by James Perloff. He initially set out in his research to prove the Darwinian theory over creationist theories, but the more evidence he collected, the more he ended up systematically disproving every point of the Darwinian argument. Through his research, in essence, he ended up converting himself.
One of the bigger conceptual differences between the two camps is whether evolution follows a path of ascent or descent. Darwin’s second book, entitled The Descent of man, is built around the central concept of evolution proceeding from a common origin of all life, which evolves into more and more complex biological systems. The human being, in this model, has successfully emerged from the primordial slime, and successfully evolved to be the most complex and intelligent species on the planet.
The opposite view of evolution being an ascent, is that the human being is the original species, and from which all the other living forms have emerged. As the human being develops and ascends on its evolutionary path, it has cast off various forms from itself, creating the three kingdoms of nature and all of its differentiations.
One way to think about it is that we have jettisoned much unnecessary cargo along our journey, in order to free ourselves up to more fully evolve. The three kingdoms of nature (mineral, plant, and animal), then, form the basis for the homeopathic materia medica, as any disease forms which we suffer can be traced back to a point in our individual evolution where we haven’t successfully completed a given developmental step. Likewise, the resonance which we feel for various parts of nature is a function of the fact that in its entirety, nature is an outward, concrete manifestation of the various aspects of human nature. “Dog lovers”, or “bird watchers”, for example, are loving a specific part of outer nature as a function of an aspect of themselves which they are developing.
Rather than an ‘evolution of matter’, then, this understanding illustrates that it is consciousness which is the true subject of evolution. The healthcare goals of Heilkunst are aligned with this understanding, where addressing this fundamental level (consciousness) is what drives healing changes at all other levels, including of physical symptoms. Some specific therapeutics involve a direct intervention at the physical level, but always understood within this broader hierarchy, so that the results can be healative rather than suppressive.