How to Learn Homeopathy - Materia Medica

by Dana Ullman, MPH ©2006

Books on Materia Medica

"Materia media" are Latin words that mean "materials of medicine," that is, the various medicines used in homeopathy from the plant, mineral, animal, or chemical kingdoms.  Homeopathic medicines are listed in Latin so that homeopaths (and patients) can be precise with the exact source of the medicinal substance.

There are hundreds of homeopathic materia medica, and there are different styles in which they are written and organized.  Since materia medicas are full of detailed information about a medicine, it is necessary to study each medicine in a systematic way so that you can retain as much information about it as possible.  Each person develops his or her own systematic way to study the materia medica.  One common method is to summarize the key mental and physical general symptoms along with the charac­teristic physical symptoms on an index card or a sheet of paper.  In general, students of homeopathy learn the medicine more effectively when they try to memorize key features of the medicine and when they get a deep feeling about it.  Some people make up mnemonic devices.  Others may meditate on a medicine's characteristics.  Some people even make drawings of the person who would typically need this medicine.  And some people dramatize this medicine in a short play.  It's good to encourage study group members to discuss a medicine without the use of their notes, and ultimately to check with notes only when someone questions the accuracy of a symptom or at the end of the discussion. 

One systematic way to learn about a medicine in a study group is to discuss its most characteristic symptoms first.  Afterwards, there should be discussion of the psychological symptoms, then noteworthy physical general symptoms, then noteworthy physical symptoms, and finally, the less characteristic symptoms.  When discussing the physical symptoms, it is helpful to talk about them in the order of head to toe.

INTRODUCTORY MATERIA MEDICA

The following are the materia medica to consider getting first:

• Pocket Manual of Materia Medica with Repertory, William Boericke, MD ( Indian Edition also available) (This is a classic book that virtually every homeopath has. A good basic materia medica.
• First Materia Medica, Margaret Roy, RSHom (This book provides excellent summary information about the leading medicines.)
• Homeopathic Remedy Pictures: Studying with Cartoons, Alexander Gothe and Julia Drinnenberg (This book provides insightful words along with clever cartoons that are helpful in studying a medicine

KEYNOTE MATERIA MEDICA

• Studies of Homoeopathic Remedies, Dr. D.M. Gibson (Written in the 1960s, this semi-modern book provides an excellent overview of 100 remedies)
• Desktop Guide to Keynotes and Confirmatory Symptoms, by Roger Morrison, MD (This modern textbook is used by almost all of the homeopathic schools as an important way to learn the leading features of 300 or so medicines.)
• The New Synoptic One, Frans Vermeulen (Written in the 1990s, this work synthesizes many homeopathic masters, and as such it is many materia medica in one.)
• Synoptic Materia Medica, volume II, Frans Vermeulen (Written in the late 1990s, this is the best materia medica of the new and little known medicines.)
• Keynotes of the Materia Medica, H.C. Allen, MD
• Materia Medica of Homeopathic Remedies, Dr. S. Phatak
• Nash's Expanded Work (including "Leaders"), E.B. Nash, MD

PROFESSIONAL LEVEL MATERIA MEDICA (see also materia medica on "constitutional types")

• Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica, James Tyler Kent, MD (a classic)
• Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (3 volumes), John Clarke, MD (a classic with lots of details)
• Concordant Materia Medica, Frans Vermeulen (This is one of the leading materia medica textbooks.)
• Prisma: The Arcana of Materia Medica Illuminated, Frans Vermeulen (This book brings our medicines to life by describing the nature, behavior, chemistry, applications in medicine or technology, history, and folklore.)
• Drug Pictures, Margaret Tyler, MD (This book is a classic.  The author synthesizes the thoughts and experiences of the original classical homeopaths.)
• Guiding Symptoms of our Materia Medica (10 volumes), Constantine Hering, MD (This is an enormous body of information and experience.)
• Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica  (12 volumes), Timothy Allen, MD (This is an enormous body of information and experience.)
• Nature's Materia Medica, Robin Murphy, ND (This is an almost 2,000 page reference book that includes many little known medicines.)
• The Sensations in Homeopathy, Rajan Sankaran (a brilliant new materia medica that links families of medicines with miasms, and it gives new insights about KEY  features of many medicines)
• Sensation Refined, Rajan Sankaran (Sankaran refines his thinking to help us get to the deepest acting medicine for the patient.)

MATERIA MEDICA OF NEW MEDICINES

• Synoptic Materia Medica, volume II, Frans Vermeulen (Written in the late 1990s, this is the best materia medica of the new and little known medicines.)
• Carbon: Organic and Hydrocarbon Remedies in Homeopathy byRoger Morrison, MD, DHt (a cutting edge textbook on the carbon medicines, with a refined integration of modern scientific information and homeopathic applications).
• Animal Minds, Human Voices, Nancy Herrick, PA (7 new provings of animal remedies, including horse, wolf, elephant, butterfly, rat, dolphin, and dinosaur bone)
• Sacred Plants, Human Voices, Nancy Herrick, PA (new provings into plants used in ritual, including peyote, ayahuasca, ginseng, lotus, mandragora)
• Materia Medica of Milk: Collected Articles  (a collection of article of various medicines made from the milk of various animals)

The best source of homeopathic books, tapes, home medicine kits, and software is:

Homeopathic Educational Services

2124B Kittredge St.

Berkeley, CA 94704

(510) 649-0294

(510) 649-1955 (fax)

E-mail us

DANA ULLMAN, MPH, is one of America's leading advocates for homeopathy. He has authored 10 books, including The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy, Homeopathy A-Z, Homeopathic Medicines for Children and Infants, Discovering Homeopathy, and (the best-selling) Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines (with Stephen Cummings, MD). He is the founder of Homeopathic Educational Services, America's leading resource center for homeopathic books, tapes, medicines, software, and correspondence courses. Homeopathic Educational Services has co-published over 35 books on homeopathy with North Atlantic Books. Dana writes a regular column for the wildly popular website, www.Huffingtonpost.com (to access these articles, click HERE!).

STATEMENT ABOUT DANA ULLMAN, MPH, by DAVID ANICK, MD, PhD., Harvard School of Medicine: 

"You are the Jon Stewart of homeopathy, the way you combine information ("gee I didn't know that!") with humor.  And you avoid defensiveness, which is terrific."