18-20 September 2009: Dinesh Chauhan, "Exploring patterns, energy and sensation in Children’s cases"
10 Januari 2009: Alex Leupen, Plant Families part1
15 & 16 November 2008: Chaim Rosenthal, Homeopathy and the 10 Sefirot
26 April 2008: Jenni Tree, "Fungi"
10 & 11 Februari 2007: Melissa Burch, "Kingdoms and Miasms"
6 & 7 May 2006: Catherine Sharfstein, "How to prescribe an animal remedy"
11 March 2006: Jenni Tree, "Hamamelidae"
21 & 22 January 2006: Melissa Burch, "How to implement the Method"
3 September 2005: Open Day
25 June 2005, Handover CKH: new management.
12 March 2005: guest lecture with Jenni Tree: Insect Families.
8 January 2005: guest lecture with Peter Chappell.
9 & 10 October 2004: guest lecture with Farokh Master.
4 September 2004: Open Day.
27 March 2004: guest lecture with Jenni Tree (Sea Creatures).
24 May 2003: Jenni Tree guest lecture.
10 March 2002: guest lecture with Farokh Master.
Report: reception 10 years CKH.
Review seminar with Dinesh Chauhan, Leuven, September 2009
It was a most captivating seminar, not only because of the new insights and inspiration which I have gained, but especially because of the itch it brought on me to start my next children’s case. I have the feeling that I have got new tools that I am impatient to try. And then I think especially of having the children draw and the way of interacting with them - even if this does not seem to bring much information at first - instead of, as I used to do, quickly revert to the mother for some details that I thought useful. To observe patiently and maintain the interaction with the child even if you can make head nor tail of what is coming, was for me the main message in this seminar.
The insights that came to me in this seminar weren’t completely new, but Dinesh can explain and clarify them in a way that they can find their way into practice. He divides the consultation into a universal part and a human centric part. In the universal part, four steps can be distinguished:
Once these questions are clearly answered, Dinesh will proceed to the ‘human centric ‘ part which contains of three steps:
Once you are sure of being at the center of the case, because the same comes back again and again in different areas and time periods you can proceed to the Active active case taking. Now you cut all the stories regarding why, what, where and so on. If you are on the right track you will notice:
After this theoretical part we were shown some beautiful cases, of which most of all the octopus case remains with me. It was a spectacular experience to witness how the apparent nonsense in the beginning got real meaning at the closure of the case when it was revealed to be the camouflage technique of the octopus (watch the clip). The young boy who cited a palette of colour nuances to the homeopath seemingly considered the homeopath as an enemy and threw up these subtle colours by means of a defense system, showing that he was living the disturbance on sensation/source level. The figures on his paper elucidated his state: a lot of number “8” , an octopus, a cloud of ink, a shark…
What I wonder is, if we western homeopaths in general will have the patience to keep observing this kind of behaviour until it becomes clear.
Another beautiful case was the Na Phos case of a 4 year old boy who did not want to take his own name but used his friend’s name. After long case-taking it became apparent that he did not have an own identity yet but expressed himself through his friends. And than we were shown an Adamas case where information is coming very very slowly, so that the audience at first takes especially notice of the “dullness” of the case. What was repeated through the different areas and in his drawings was the mixture of colours, the shining.. The remedy became “crystal” clear when he drew a diamond on his hand.
On the last day of the seminar, Dinesh treated the history during pregnancy. Starting from a few moving anecdotes, he enumerated (too many) arguments for stating that the child in the womb is expressing its energy and state through the mother. A nice thought is that the mother is proving the remedy of the foetus.
Therefore in the history during pregnancy the symptoms that are not customary to the mother when not pregnant, are the ones that are important.. This was illustrated with a Scorpio case, in which the woman became very suspicious, jealous, aggressively seducing during pregnancy, and developed a craving for oranges. The only special thing about the infant was a hand gesture towards the face of the father.
Finally we were presented a short and interesting demonstration of the malvales family with a number of children’s cases and drawings. One patient that always touched his mothers’ foot got Abelmoschus (typhoid miasm) after the mother’s narrative of the pregnancy: “We were completely attached, he was a part of my body and part of my soul”. Another patient drew nothing but hearts and people connected and this child was constantly holding and hugging the mother was prescribed Tilia Cordata, a tree from the malvales family with heart-shaped leaves. Another patient drawing human figures that were connected, while holding her mothers’ hand got Chocolate. She mentioned that the people in the drawing were eating chocolate.
A wealth of information and tools to proceed in case-taking with children. To conclude this nice citation: While we try to teach children all about life, our children learn us what life is all about.
10 Januari 2009: Alex Leupen, "Plant Families part1"
Although the temperature outside was -15°C, inside the seminar room in Leuven the atmosphere was warm and buzzing with anticipation for the lecture we were about to receive from Alex Leupen. Alex Leupen has given a number of seminars together with some colleagues (among which Jan Scholten) about the use of the plant families and the periodical system in the homeopathic practice. These seminars start from the premise that in the consultation, the homeopath uses both his intellect and his intuition to select a suitable remedy, as homeopathy is a skill as well as an art.
The CKH students are familiar with Sankaran’s method who explores the vital sensation of the plant families, whereas the Utrecht group (so to speak) makes a distinction based on themes connected to the expressions and the daily life and circumstances of the patients, which are considered to be more easily accessible. Moreover, the Utrecht group uses the more modern taxonomy based on genetics whereas Sankaran’s scheme is based on the taxonomy of Linnaeus. On the other hand Sankaran derived the plant sensations from repertory rubrics whereas the themes of Alex Leupen are based on casuistic. The students were eager to compare and connect both systems to a workable format.
This time the program announced Fungi, Scrophulariaceae and Loginaceae. According to the taxonomy followed by the Utrecht group, we can situate the Fungi at the bottom of the tree diagram with low self-esteem and hardly developed ego. The Scrophulariceae and Loganiceae are situated higher up in the tree belonging to the Asterids at the left side, who contrary to the Rosids at the right side, are those who take and are proactive, want to do something and ask themselves only afterwards if their actions are appreciated.
The Scrophulariaceae belong to the Lamiales together with the Lamicaeae. The Loginaceae belong to the Gentianales together with the Rubiaceae who share the theme of idealism and have similarities with the silver row of the periodic table.
Strictly spoken the fungi are not longer considered part of the plant kingdom. This group of organisms does not contain chlorophyll and lives from organic substances. The common themes of this group are: dependence, borderless, ego-weakness. The approaches of the Bombay school and Utrecht seemed to be complimentary here. The Fungi sensations have been described by Sankaran as invading, eroding, excoriating, corrosive, and expanding. Alex explained the major Fungi themes: hallucinations, anger, aggression, war, floating, chaotic, emptiness, tics, grimaces, peculiar gait, convulsions, twitching, cold remedies, longing for water vs. suicidal disposition by drowning, av/des, intolerance for bread, flour and sweets.
We went in some detail into the remedies Agaricus, Bovista, Secale en Ustilago. Also Candida Albicans belong to this group, being the fungi parasitizing on human beings. The mental symptoms of this remedy bear resemblance to Carcinosinum.
These remedies were illustrated by some interesting cases.
The lichen family is a symbiotic co-ops between fungi and algae. Their theme: binning someone else’s litter. The remedy, Sticta, is dependant on the environment because she is so sensitive to pollution of the air. The homeopathic stereotype is the housemaid who suffers from the typical knee-pain and at night dreams of flying.
Next the Scrophulariaceae was treated. TThe theme that Alex attributed to this family is “don’t air your dirty laundry in public”. If a patient needs a remedy from this family, you should look for the family secret. The remedy Verbascum is exemplary for this family, having a picture with enuresis nocturna, ear infections and left-sided neuralgia of the face. Also Digitalis with liver and heart complaints, Euphrasia with eye complaints, Gratiola suffering from digestive problems and Scrophularia with Hodgkin, as well as Mimulus (known as a Bach Flower) and Leptandra (with the black streak on the tongue) belong to this family. We were presented with a number of paper cases for this family.
Finally the family of the Loganiaceae was discussed, the sensations of which are “shocked, shattered and disappointed” according to Sankaran. Alex gave the themes of competition, ambition, alert, purposeful, extraordinary performances. The well known remedy Nux Vomica stood as an example for the family with the cramping pains coming from the strychnine contained by this plant: the orderly perfectionist workaholic with complaints after disappointed ambition, such as coughing with vomiting, gastritis, constipation, IBS. Similarly Ignatia has ailments from disappointed love and wounded honor. Gelsemium shows the other side of the coin with paralysis and stage fright and Spigelia’s competition is verbal: crossing swords.
The material was illustrated with clear-cut cases demonstrating not only the physical keynotes but also the family themes.
15-16 November 2008: Chaim Rosenthal, "Homeopathy and the 10 Sefirot"
Chaim Rosenthal was our guest lecturer in Leuven for the second time. The first day was a quick rehearsal of the material from the previous lecture in April 2007. The basic cabbalistic meaning of the tree of life with the four kingdoms, four elements and 10 Sefiroth were explained and linked to the understanding of the materia medica, f.i. Pulsatilla, Sepia, Nux Vomica, Lycopodium, Lachesis, Lac Caninum, Natrum Muriaticum, Calcarea Carbonica and Silica. In this way a full comprehension of these remedies could be gained and a method was installed to explore other remedies in the same way.
The second day a substantial part was dedicated to the vaccination question, in particular on advise, prevention and treatment of vaccination damage.
An introduction on the hidden meaning of the Hebrew letters and words leading to the deeper insight of health and disease was a fascinating chapter. Consequently an example was given of how to appreciate every particular rubric of even a small remedy from using this system.
Finally the participants exercised on classifying symptoms into elements.
The system based on a yearlong study of Kaballa and Hebrew is too deep and vast to grasp in two days but the foundation is there to weave the basic principles into daily practice, on the level of understanding the patient, the remedies and the repertory.
Chaim is currently working on integrating this system into Radar.
26 April 2008: Jenni Tree, "Fungi"
Jenni Tree started with a comprehensible overview of the vast Kingdom of Fungi, situated between plants and animals. She explored the main themes and sensations of this fascinating underground Kingdom from their biological background and ecological function, illustrating these characteristics with a few well-chosen cases and personal experiences from practice.
Three remedies were especially highlighted: Penicillinum, and the newly proved remedies Psilocybe cubensis and Cryptococcus neoformans. As Jenni Tree had participated herself in these provings, the information that she taught was first-hand and colourful.
At the end of this day participants left filled with insight and new perspectives about this intriguing group of remedies.
10 & 11 Februari2007: Melissa Burch, "Kingdoms and Miasms"
The aim of this seminar was to show how to differentiate between kingdoms and miasms in a case. First of all Melissa made it clear that this cannot be done from a list of words but that the kingdom must be defined at a certain level to be absolutely plain and positive.
To this end Melissa showed 5 source cases, one for each
kingdom. While looking at the video, important (StrangeRarePeculiar) words
were jotted down and arranged in kingdom-miasm-energy/source words.
The first case was a beautiful butterfly case, in which the animal qualities
were very subtle - the only "hint" being that a part of the body
has its own life and imposes itself on the person.
In the afternoon there was a well appreciated exercise, exemplifying Melissa's
unique coaching techniques for casetaking.
A Fucus vesiculosus case was instructive of
what to do when the plant sensation was not represented in Sankaran's chart.
Furthermore Melissa presented a Niobium case (discovering the
new, but how to.. through space and time) and explained about the differentiation
between rows.
Next a fungi (Bovista) case where a long standing and invasive eczema cleared
up in a week served as an example for the energy-quality words of this kingdom.
A very intriguing case of gravity taught us how not to be mislead if a case
does not fit one of the three 'classical' kingdoms.
Finally an 'animated' spider case stood as an example
for the predator-prey kind of animal case.
During the seminar, Melissa extensively explained the techniques and how to
avoid the pitfalls that often lead to unconvincing prescriptions.
At the end, she appealed to all participants to share material, so we can build a solid materia medica for these unproved remedies we tend to prescribe from source level.
6 & 7 May2006: Catherine Sharfstein, "How to prescribe an animal remedy"
Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of May, the first beautiful weekend of this year’s spring, Catherine Sharfstein came flying all the way from New York to demonstrate her approach of animal remedies. Catherine is well known from her articles in Homeopathic Links and from her introduction to Ozon for the proving of Anne Schadde. She studied among others under Luc De Schepper, Jeremy Sherr and Rajan Sankaran, where she is a member of the Bombay group.
Catherine started off with a small piece of theory where she defined the different themes
and especially the vocabulary of the remedy families.
Using the hard to solve cases in her own practice Catherine built up a table
in which she saw combinations of complaints in certain subclasses of remedy
families. Catherine had chosen to highlight one family, more precisely the
one that is hardest to recognize: the snake remedies. Contrary to the familiar
picture given in the Materia Medica she showed a different aspect in a first
case: the shy Crotalus Horridus, where she uses her endless patience and loads
of professional skill to bring the patient to formulate the information about
his remedy, from the vital sensation.
For every question coming from the audience Catherine had a clip with a case from her practice, answering the question in a direct and clear manner, without theorizing. This way the captivated audience was shown a clip from a different Crotalus Horridus case of a 10 year old boy. They learnt to apply the same method to (young) children.
The following day a similar approach was demonstrated with a terminal patient,
who by the way is still doing well a year and a half after his treatment.
To demonstrate the difference with the spider family, there was a different
video case of a girl who got helped with Naja. Each shown case was selected
on source language and Catherine explained step by step how to bring the remedies
into practice, what to do when the anamnesis appears to run aground, how to
respond when the patient subtly stops collaborating etc.
Generally speaking a very informative guest college which left a lasting impression.
11 March2006: Jenni Tree, "Hamamelidae"
To start off, Jenni Tree gave an overview of symptoms and sensations brought about by the group of Hamamelidae. These painted a clear picture of what these remedies were all about: a sense of weight, being locked in, having little space... Then she spent some time explaining the subdivision of this large group - let's call it a tree. To finish we were shown her usual brilliantly elaborate Materia Medica of the most important - sometimes most famous - representatives of this family, illustrated by a number of paper cases.
Again and again we experience how this kind of lectures shines a light on one or another case in practice that got 'stuck' because it involves remedies we don't immediately think of. And this is only because the few symptoms we incorporated in our repertoires get lost in the crowd. The most important thing however, is that the general sense, the red line through these remedies, gets to be shown.
21 & 22 January2006: "How to implement the Method"
In her own spontaneous and enthusiastic style, Melissa Burch gave us an account on how to avoid the pitfalls that can make it difficult to consistently apply Sankaran's new method.
Starting off from the problems suggested by the audience, she unraveled the technique and underlying theory of the application of the method in the first consult step by step. In this exposition she demonstrated a few cases which left no doubt about the efficiency of the method and the obviousness of the remedy.
Every now and then, she made time for a personal exercise, expanding the understanding and attention of the students. There was some time for interaction and comments as well.
If you want to know more about Melissa Burch or if you want to order her lectures on Sankaran's method by correspondence, please visit her website (www.innerhealth.us)
December 3rd was our open day. It was a coming and going of interested people, newcomers, seasoned students and veterans. The book stands got a lot of attention and the lectures had a high attendance. Anne Vervarcke went first with an account of the amazing evolution homoeopathy has gone through the past years. During the scientific chapter of this day, Jean-Luc Vanderlinden brought together quantum physics and homoeopathy in a very interesting exposition. Anne-Dominique Beeckmans set forth the pharmaceutical side of the matter with great experience. In his own balanced way, Jan Devriendt explained the position of homoeopathy among the alternative healing methods and health care in general.
All day long the enthusiastic CHK-team provided information about the training, the professional union and, last but not least, homoeopathy. Finisher of the day was a happy note, the Hahnemann Rock, performed by our musical instructor, Peter Smolders.
12 March2005: Jenni Tree (Insect Families)
We were presented first with an overview of the Sensations and Themes of the Insect Kingdom. Then Jenni Tree differentiated between Insects, Spiders and Parasites. We got detailed Materia Medica of following remedies:
Parasites: Cimix, Culex, Pulex, Trombidium, Hirudo...
Insects: Housefly, Blatta, Formica rufa, Mosquito, Apis ...
8 January2005: guest lecture with Peter Chappell
In the first part of this one-day-lecture, Peter Chappell explained the theory behind his new approach to healing diseases, summarized as 'the second similimum'. These were the principles Peter first applied in searching for an efficient treatment for AIDS in Africa. In 2003 Peter had already brought a detailed report in his guest lecture at the CKH of his results with his new AIDS remedy (PC1) in Ethiopia. By now a project in Malawi has continued treating AIDS patients with PC1 with positive results, as chief editor of Homeolinks, Harry van der Zee, testified in person. Harry also published an article about his experiences in Malawi. Moreover, Harry van der Zee reported on a number of cases treated with PC remedies, among which an amazing cure of Parkinson.
Within a few months, Homeolinks will distribute Peter Chappell's new book "The second similimum". In the mean time all useful information can be found on the website www.vitalremedies.com.
In the afternoon, Anne Vervarcke elaborated on the CFS_project. After one year of treatment of the small pilot group, results so far are more than promising. In a second stage a larger group of homeopaths will treat CFS patients according to a protocol that was edited in accordance with the experiences of the pilot group.
In the afternoon Peter had some more examples of remedies according to his 'second similimum' principle, a.o. Vaccinations, Fat & Famine, MS. All remedies can be ordered through www.helios.co.uk or www.hahnemann.nl.
Part of the profit of these remedies is spent on the treatment of AIDS in Africa.
9 & 10 October2004: guest lecture with Farokh Master
On October 9&10, Dr Farokh Master was our guest lecturer in Leuven. The lecture
started with a review of the repertory's history and its use. We practiced
the translation of patients' frequent sayings into the adequate rubrics.
After lunch a live case was taken of a young man in acute pain from ischias.
The doctor explained the medical disposition and consequences and how to handle
this delicate case. The discussion on the repertorisation of the case was
so animated that in the morning of the second day, Dr Master had to continue
explaining that even the most sophisticated software, how useful it may be,
cannot replace the thorough knowledge of the Materia Medica and years of experience.
The second day was dedicated to children's remedies. Dr Master's treatment of
children was illustrated by a video of a beautiful Crotalus Cascavella case.
In the afternoon we had again a live case of a ten year old sweet girl with
a history of one year suffering of nausea and belly ache. Repertorisation
of this case was not too difficult, after having had all the practice of these
two days.
The follow-up of the two live cases will be mailed to the participants in
the coming days.
4 September2004: report on the CKH open day.
Jean Luc Vanderlinden opened this open day with a lecture in which he accurately retorted the recent comments of SKEPP in the media about classic homoeopathy and more precisely the effect of homoeopathic remedies.
Christel Lombaerts gave a summary of the activities of the Liga Homeopathica Classica, which have led to the recognition of the professional union. All information can be found on their website
In the afternoon future students were welcomed by the panel of instructors. The lecturers introduced themselves to a very interested audience and went deeper into the many questions that were asked.
27 March2004, Jenni Tree: Sea Creatures
As usual we started with a general idea of the themes and sensations of the remedies living in the vast world of this realm. Than we were given full details of the Materia Medica of a number of well- and less-known remedies, f.i. Badiaga, Pecten jacobaeus, Sepia, Ambra Grisea, Lac Delphinum, Asterias rubens, Aqua marina, Gadus morrhua, Galleocerdo, Medusa, Venus mercenaria, Murex purpureus, Astacus fluviatilis, Limulus cyclops, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha.
29 March and 24 May2003: Guest lectures by Jenni Tree.
We'll have Jenni introduce herself :
I have studied homoeopathy for nearly twenty years and have taught for thirteen
of those in colleges in England, Finland, The Netherlands and Sweden. I‘ve studied in depth with the Bombay group – Divya Chhabra and Rajan Sankaran in particular since the 1980’s.
Since 1994 have been proof reader for Frans Vermeulen, and now am working
increasingly in helping authors to edit their text. This form of co-counseling
and reflective practice I hope will lead to clearer understanding of some of
our greatest texts. Supervision and reflective practice is something I have
encouraged in students and practitioners for many years.
I am indebted to people like David Witko who made his first computer program CARA available to me, and also to Rene Otter who now also provides support with the Radar program, Frans Vermeulen for his encyclopaedic books; Louisa Lera, who gave me the best Waterman fountain pen in the world for case taking; Jan Scholten for his leap of faith which has shot homoeopathy into new realms and Shakespeare, for bringing materia medica to life through his archetypal characters. Whitmont, Jung, Carl Rogers have also been really useful to me as well as years of self development work at a special Oasis in Yorkshire. My driving force however, comes from my patients and students – I like to see people living to their full capacity – it is as inspiring as watching a great machine functioning perfectly, or a waterfall just falling with great ease and effortless power. I like to be able to release that power through homoeopathy.
My area of expertise is contiguous with the above – I run case-based workshops where students and practitioners may, in comfort, bring their questions, their difficult cases, and the personal problems that arise during case taking. My aim is to act as mentor, to create a forum for ideas, to build confidence, to nurture and support. My skills are those of insight, perception, personal and materia medica relationships, fearlessness in prescribing and a distrust of the emperor’s new clothes. I am a resource for my students. I love my students to be able to fly out on bright feathers, full of the Joy of Homoeopathy.
Guest lecture by Farokh Master: 10 March2002 in Leuven.
Despite the little time CKH had had to announce Farokh Master's guest lecture, the hall was filled with interested people, both students and professionals, who had come to Leuven. Farokh, an Indian homoeopath and author of many books and CD's is even in Belgium famous enough to draw an enthusiastic crowd. Among the participants were several homoeopaths who had received training from him in India. As promised he started the day with an introduction to Lacs, the remedies made of milk from man or animal. The results of his elaborate study are comprised on a CD in well-organized schemes and an engaging presentation.
In the afternoon he showed several acute cases of children with severe pathologies. Acute cases are the challenge and the best demonstration of classic homoeopathy. Farokh demonstrated how the homoeopath should have his feet on the ground, more precisely: have a profound knowledge of his classics and in the mean time be aware of the more recent developments in his professional field. He proved this with his impressive Lac Leoninum case.
During a conversation after the event, Farokh agreed with the training methods of the CKH where, especially during the first two years, a lot of emphasis is put on a solid theoretical training. He showed a willingness to provide a guest lecture for the students during which he would focus on knowledge of the repertoire. Temporary agreements were made for September 2003. He would lecture the following Sunday for practicing homoeopaths. We'll keep you informed.
Celebration of CKH's 10-year anniversary.
Anne Vervarcke, driving force of the Centre for Classical Homoeopathy, took the opportunity to conclude the first day of the congress with a reception to celebrate CKH's 10-year anniversary.
She opened the ceremony with a speech, looking back upon 10 years of activity. She stressed how homoeopathy has gained momentum in the past 10 to 15 years. Without exaggeration it can be said that all fundamental revolutions in the last decade have sprung from the well that is the group in Bombay around Rajan Sankaran. Jayesh Shah, who was invited by the CKH two years ago has been a part of that group since the very beginning. Divya Chhabra was introduced by Rajan, her husband, as 'my best student, my esteemed colleague and soon my teacher'. The CKH expressed its gratitude to be able to cooperate with such inspiring homoeopaths.
In her opening speech Anne Vervarcke thanked the volunteers who have helped make the organization of the congress go smooth.
She reminded the audience that the training has grown out of its children's shoes and has entered prepuberty...
Liliane Bierinckx, president of the Liga Homeopatica Classica then took the floor and summarized the activities of the profession union of the past years. She made an assessment of possible future obstacles and voiced her expectation that the recognition of the professional union in Belgium would soon be a fact...and with that the recognition of the profession of homoeopath.
As the representative of the CKH's lecturers Jean Luc Vanderlinden then held a short speech, during which he mainly discussed the level and form of the training. He also had the honour to cut the anniversary cake officially opening the reception.