The Founders of Heilkunst, and Romantic Medicine (Dr. Samuel Hahnemann)

I talk a lot about the principles and philosophy of Heilkunst medicine, but do you ever wonder where the ideas originated from? Just like Newton’s incredible lifelong work to develop the system of calculus which can now be learned by a high school student in about a year, the principles of Heilkunst have been condensed into a 4 year program. This is the nature of science — that its methods and results can be clearly communicated and effectively taught from one generation to the next.

At some point, namely the beginning of a science, it is typically the work of one or a small group of individuals who have a high capacity for tapping into their genius, and bringing it out into the light of day for others to see. Hahnemann was one of the most significant individuals to do so at the foundation of Heilkunst. What may seem so relatively easy and obvious to a contemporary student of Heilkunst, took Hahnemann’s entire life force and lifespan to properly extract and explain.

As a boy, he was quite a gifted student, who had mastered several languages, as well as many different courses of study. He had taken to heart the advice his father had given him, which was to always take an active stance relative to whatever he was learning, in order to fully grasp and internalize it. He was also quite sensitive and connected to nature, and to carefully observing its processes.

Later, after graduating from medical school, his sensitivity and highly developed sense of ethics led him to completely abandon the brutal methods of medicine, including blood letting, as well as the use of highly toxic and ineffective mixtures of drugs. To understand the context of this, he had a growing family to support, and no other means of income. He did use his linguistic skills to make a living as a translator of medical textbooks until the time came when he felt he could start returning to medical practice, but in a new way with his emerging understanding of the principles of Heilkunst.

His own highly attuned senses and consciousness gave him the ability to make such deep and fresh observations of nature, in high contrast to the very dull approach of conventional medicine, which relied on following what external authority and tradition dictated, rather than a true engagement in a process of scientific observation and clear thinking.

His initial observations and insights continued to expand and evolve over the course of his life, and never changed in form or principle, but only in unfolding more and more particular details about the practice of Heilkunst. His discovery of his theory of chronic disease, for example, illustrated his never-ending quest to find the clearest and most expansive answers to what were initially mysteries to him in medicine, rather than the easy path most others take of hiding behind doing what everyone else does, with the excuse of following the authority of the day.

Aside from the specific teachings of all his principles and practices of Heilkunst, one of the greatest lessons to take from Hahnemann is the nature of his scientific consciousness itself, as a model for every student and practitioner to aspire to at every stage of their studies and practice.

• ← Learning to Listen to the Voice of Intuition
• The Founders of Heilkunst, and Romantic Medicine (Dr. Wilhelm Reich) →