0.1.4 Foreword Lou KleinHahnemann, trained as a medical translator, researcher and chemist, was at the forefront of science as it was known in his time. In the beginning of homeopathy’s introduction, he led a fervor of pioneering activity and introduced many substances as homeopathic remedies. These were carefully identified and classified as best they could be by the standards of the time, as Hahnemann was a stickler for careful methodologies. Many of his students and followers, such as Hering and Kent, went on to prolifically introduce remedies and clinical concepts in order to advance homeopathy.
But as an allopathic “scientific method” took over medicine at the beginning of the 20th century, homeopathy’s growth and momentum lagged. Relative to the time that passed and the developments in science and medicine, minimal evolution and progress in the homeopathic profession was made. There were many reasons for this, notwithstanding the attack on homeopathy from without by allopaths claiming their territory and from within homeopathy where a anachronistic conservative even dogmatically religious ethic took over. Few new homeopathic remedies or techniques were introduced into homeopathy and old systems of classification were relied upon to define and relate what small number of remedies had already been introduced and used.
In the 1970s, there was a renaissance of homeopathy and somewhat of an incremental advancement. Still, no one took on the arduous task of attempting to define homeopathy in the context of the advancement that had been made in science particularly when it came to systematic classification in the periodical table of elements and biological taxonomy.
Then along came Jan Scholten. Trained as a chemist, scientist and medical doctor (with also a fine appreciation of art and a keen understanding of patients) Jan Scholten has, in a few short years, done a remarkable job of bringing homeopathy in line with the advances of taxonomy and modern understanding. This new book, Wonderful
Plants, is a testimony to his zealous efforts to bring homeopathy into the 21st century.
In this astounding book, there is a corrected and comprehensive scientific classification of homeopathic plant remedies into modern Apg botanical classifications. As well, Jan Scholten has introduced over 100 new plant remedies himself and also has expounded on new provings from other homeopaths and groups. These remedies fill the gaping holes in our homeopathic
Materia medica considering that certain plentiful and important plant families are not represented by even one homeopathic remedy from that particular family.
But more importantly, I know that Jan Scholten has a fervent desire to cure and help sick people by applying these new remedies. This is really what motivates this book. As a result, there is a system in this book that is richly complex and dense, which will help us to apply both these newly discovered, as well as our long-standing, plant homeopathic remedies accurately.
I know that Jan’s previous books with its methodology of selecting mineral elemental homeopathic remedies have served my patients very well. In this new book because of the complexity of a biological living plant and the patient needing a plant remedy, the matrix that was utilized in the original books on elements has some new twists and turns. The systematic approach for selecting plant remedies found in this book builds on the foundational Scholten periodic table schema and adds new components.
And like the learning curve of utilizing all his newly introduced periodic table elements, this book presents a similar challenge to the homeopath. But can you imagine the joy of clearing many cases that did not respond to our limited number of plant remedies as well as having a more precise and systematic way of finding those and new plant remedies? This makes the journey through this book worth it. It represents another evolutionary leap forward for the homeopathic profession.
Lou Klein, Bowen Island