Praxis - Supervision - Seminare
Zentrum für Homöopathie & Geburtshilfe
Dynamis
& Libido
(this article was first published in “Homoeopathic Links” 3/02 Volume 15, Autumn 2002)
S. Hahnemann and C.G. Jung , or what morbidly affects the vital force
Spiritual vital force
As a central energy, the vital force animates the whole organism. Due to its ability to flow in a harmonious manner, we can measure the quality of health. What we call disease is the vital force getting
stuck. But where does this stuckness come from ?
Let ́s hear what Hahnemann has written about the vital force: In aphor. 9-18 he describes the vital force in a really abstract manner, which is difficult to understand.
In par. 9 the vital force appears in a nearly paradisical way:
“In the healthy condition of man, the spiritual vital force (autocracy), the dynamis that animates the material body (organism), rules with unbounded sway, and retains all the parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation, as regards both sensations and functions, so that our indwelling, reason - gifted mind can freely employ this living, healthy instrument for the higher purposes of our existence.”
Not living in paradise we are confronted daily with suffering and searching for our „lost happiness“. During disease, the natural flow of the vital force gets stucked. Hahnemann calls it the morbidly affected vital force. „It is the morbidly affected vital force alone that produces disease“ (§12).
Exactly here, struck by Hahnemann ́s abstract paragraphs about the vital force, and especially on the morbid affects on it, a lot of questions come up.
Also the footnote of par.12 doesn ́t satisfy me: „How the vital force causes the organism to display morbid phenomena, that is, how it produces disease, it would be of no practical utility to the physician to know, and will forever remain concealed from him; only what it is necessary for him to know of the disease and what is fully sufficient for enabling him to cure it, has the Lord of life revealed to his senses“.
I wanted to know more about the how & why !
In the beginnings of my work I was influenced by the philosophy of J.T. Kent. One of his leading statements was „The mind is the Key to Man“ (Swedenborg). In his work the human mind received special importance. After stuyding homoeopathy I became inquisitive and wanted to learn more about the human mind and its innerpsychic functions. So I started a training in analytical psychology (C.G.Jung).
During that course I found a concept that connected things, which I was looking for. The lessons about libido as a „general vitalising energy“ and Jung ́s model of complex & archetyp gave me a deeper insight and understanding about health & disease.
Libido (in C.G. Jung ́s concept)
The literal meaning of the word libido is „passionate desire“. Jung included Freud ́s definition of libido as (only) pure sexual desire. Jung ́s definition of libido encompasses:
- The desires (animal, eating & drinking, sexual)
- The mental power (affects & emotions)
- The insticts (archetypal material like i.e., the hero or the great mother - Magne Mater)
For Jung, ”libido” was a „general pyschic energy“.From that point of view, I saw a great similarity between libido and Hahnemann ́s defintion of the spiritual vital force.
During provings and in daily work with patients our main duty is looking for dynamic symptoms. Only these symptoms, charged with libidio show us the way to the simillimum.
Libido is that force which energises a symptom (puts life in it). When libidinous symptoms come up, we observe (e)motions. The patient and the one sitting with him get struck by this powerful energy. We can observe for instance, a sudden change in the eyes, or the voice of the patient sounds very different. To describe and intensify these symptoms, the patient often use allegories (sensations as if). With a libidinous symptom the interview often takes an unexpected turn.
They are mostly „complete“ symptoms; we don ́t have to ask questions to get the modalities.
Libidinous symptoms are really what Hahnemann mentions in § 153: strange, rare and peculiar.
Complex and Archetype:
Jung subdivided the Unconscious into a personal and collective part.
The Complexes of the personal Unconscious are i.e. the father, mother or the inferiority complex.
All personal experiences are stored in a specific complex.
A complex can be positivly or negativly charged - dependent on what kind of individual experience was made.
A complex can have an influance on the general constitution, more or less Jung put the collective unconscious below the personal.
Complexes of this field are the primary ones, i.e. the primary guilt-complex or the primary anxiety-complex.
Going deeper into the ground of Jung ́s model of innerpsychic functions, we reach to the archetypes.
They build the very basis and when they are active we are often impressed by a deep energy, full of signs and symbols. Like a beehive every complex is part of the whole and naturally connected to the other part.
Each complex has a nucleus which gets impulses from the ground (especially from the archetypes). For example the personal mother complex gets impulses (energy) from the archetyp of the „great
mother“. It often helps a lot to be aware of these deeper collective forces, especially when personal experiences have been very bad. The function of a complex and its impact on the libido: A complex can behave like a „black hole“, absorbing and binding a lot of energy. When a very negativly charged complex gets struck, the libido always reacts with dynamic signs and symptoms.
The unconscious always discharges dynamic symptoms when a person gets into a situation reminding them of their „wounded“ (fully charged with libido) complex.
A specific complex can absorb so much libido, that the whole of the organism gets absolutly unbalanced. If one specific complex is active, the unconscious shows dynamic symptoms. All these is
connected to what Hahnemann talks about in aphorism 153. The strange, rare & peculiar symptoms coming directly from the complex (and they speak of libido).
Let me clarify this with the help of a small case:
A young women, age eighteen. Her physical suffering is a chronic headache, arising from a mechanical instability of the first cervical vertebra. The headaches always start in the cervical region and extend up the vertex to the eyes. „ During the paroxysm my eyes feel like paralysed and it is difficult to keep them open. In the cervical region I like to have a hand for support for my cervical region“. Her typical sentences from her mind: „I can ́t be alone. I tend to cling, i.e. when I am alone I cling to my TV until I fall asleep. I was fourteen when I stopped sleeping in mom ́s bed. My relationship was broken because I ́ve restricted my friend to much. All new situations are a problem for me, i.e. surprises, examinations or meeting strange people, eating strange food“.
Completing informations from her mother: „ When pregnant with her, I felt very unsure about having the child, most of the time. My relationship was very unstable and I felt very distanced to my husband. Most of the time I didn ́t pay attention to the pregnancy. I thought, if I had a misscariage, it would be okay“.
Gelsemium sempervirens & the „complex of separation“:
What did„morbidly affect“ the dynamis in this case ? The physical and mental problems are connected to separation. Her first unstable experience of binding (pregnancy) always leads to the same function: „I have to cling (mother, friend, TV) otherwise I get lost“. These themes correspond to the complex of separation. When this complex gets struck, the libido reacts with dynamic „clinging material“.
As a tendril and creeper plant Gelsemium needs a save relationship. Otherwise they lose a lot of energy and get weaker and weaker and at last they get paralysed. In my clinic I work together with midwives. I often hear of this tendency during childbirth. The woman needing Gelsemium during labour likes to cling to the „rope“. In the rubric fear of delivery we see Gelsemium as a main remedy. The german word for delivery is „Entbindung“, meaning the end of a relation, the end of binding - a terrible image for Gelsemium and his connection to the separatingcomplex.
How can the birth process proceed when there is so much fear of falling down (rubric: fear of downward motion)? So the function during birth is also clinging ( the mother to the rope or to the partner and the child sits inside and clings to the umbilical cord). And the cervix is absoluty rigid and will not open (out of fear of bad news - will everything be alright with the baby?). In Geselmium states mother and child suffer from increasing weakness (i.e. ptosis of eyelid) out of there fear of what might happen if they do let go.
Complex & archetyp in materia medica
As in the case of Gelsemium I ́ve started to correlate the central themes of remedies to there
specific complexes or archetypes. From that point of view a lot of remedies appear in a different light and I can better understand what there curative aspect is and what is to be cured in diseases (§3).
With our materia medica we can give a specific answer to the libidinous language of the complex and archetyp. Due to the law of similarity we can go into resonance with what the spiritual vital force is asking for. On our journey of individuation, on the way from the ego to the self, we touch a lot of complexes and archetypes. During that journey homoeopathy can be a helpful companion. The simillimum can release a lot of the energy that has been stuck. Today most of the material of the personal and collective unconscious is represented in our materia medica. Old and new proving material reflects a lot of the suffering oh humanity. I very much appreciate Jung ́s „model of innerpsychic functions“. It has given me a better overview of what happens inside of us. Being more aware of what also can „morbidly affect“ the harmonius flow of the dynamis, it can bring us a bit more happiness and self-contendeness.
return to the start page
publications
(this article was first published in “Homoeopathic Links” 3/02 Volume 15, Autumn 2002)
S. Hahnemann and C.G. Jung , or what morbidly affects the vital force
Spiritual vital force
As a central energy, the vital force animates the whole organism. Due to its ability to flow in a harmonious manner, we can measure the quality of health. What we call disease is the vital force getting
stuck. But where does this stuckness come from ?
Let ́s hear what Hahnemann has written about the vital force: In aphor. 9-18 he describes the vital force in a really abstract manner, which is difficult to understand.
In par. 9 the vital force appears in a nearly paradisical way:
“In the healthy condition of man, the spiritual vital force (autocracy), the dynamis that animates the material body (organism), rules with unbounded sway, and retains all the parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation, as regards both sensations and functions, so that our indwelling, reason - gifted mind can freely employ this living, healthy instrument for the higher purposes of our existence.”
Not living in paradise we are confronted daily with suffering and searching for our „lost happiness“. During disease, the natural flow of the vital force gets stucked. Hahnemann calls it the morbidly affected vital force. „It is the morbidly affected vital force alone that produces disease“ (§12).
Exactly here, struck by Hahnemann ́s abstract paragraphs about the vital force, and especially on the morbid affects on it, a lot of questions come up.
Also the footnote of par.12 doesn ́t satisfy me: „How the vital force causes the organism to display morbid phenomena, that is, how it produces disease, it would be of no practical utility to the physician to know, and will forever remain concealed from him; only what it is necessary for him to know of the disease and what is fully sufficient for enabling him to cure it, has the Lord of life revealed to his senses“.
I wanted to know more about the how & why !
In the beginnings of my work I was influenced by the philosophy of J.T. Kent. One of his leading statements was „The mind is the Key to Man“ (Swedenborg). In his work the human mind received special importance. After stuyding homoeopathy I became inquisitive and wanted to learn more about the human mind and its innerpsychic functions. So I started a training in analytical psychology (C.G.Jung).
During that course I found a concept that connected things, which I was looking for. The lessons about libido as a „general vitalising energy“ and Jung ́s model of complex & archetyp gave me a deeper insight and understanding about health & disease.
Libido (in C.G. Jung ́s concept)
The literal meaning of the word libido is „passionate desire“. Jung included Freud ́s definition of libido as (only) pure sexual desire. Jung ́s definition of libido encompasses:
- The desires (animal, eating & drinking, sexual)
- The mental power (affects & emotions)
- The insticts (archetypal material like i.e., the hero or the great mother - Magne Mater)
For Jung, ”libido” was a „general pyschic energy“.From that point of view, I saw a great similarity between libido and Hahnemann ́s defintion of the spiritual vital force.
During provings and in daily work with patients our main duty is looking for dynamic symptoms. Only these symptoms, charged with libidio show us the way to the simillimum.
Libido is that force which energises a symptom (puts life in it). When libidinous symptoms come up, we observe (e)motions. The patient and the one sitting with him get struck by this powerful energy. We can observe for instance, a sudden change in the eyes, or the voice of the patient sounds very different. To describe and intensify these symptoms, the patient often use allegories (sensations as if). With a libidinous symptom the interview often takes an unexpected turn.
They are mostly „complete“ symptoms; we don ́t have to ask questions to get the modalities.
Libidinous symptoms are really what Hahnemann mentions in § 153: strange, rare and peculiar.
Complex and Archetype:
Jung subdivided the Unconscious into a personal and collective part.
The Complexes of the personal Unconscious are i.e. the father, mother or the inferiority complex.
All personal experiences are stored in a specific complex.
A complex can be positivly or negativly charged - dependent on what kind of individual experience was made.
A complex can have an influance on the general constitution, more or less Jung put the collective unconscious below the personal.
Complexes of this field are the primary ones, i.e. the primary guilt-complex or the primary anxiety-complex.
Going deeper into the ground of Jung ́s model of innerpsychic functions, we reach to the archetypes.
They build the very basis and when they are active we are often impressed by a deep energy, full of signs and symbols. Like a beehive every complex is part of the whole and naturally connected to the other part.
Each complex has a nucleus which gets impulses from the ground (especially from the archetypes). For example the personal mother complex gets impulses (energy) from the archetyp of the „great
mother“. It often helps a lot to be aware of these deeper collective forces, especially when personal experiences have been very bad. The function of a complex and its impact on the libido: A complex can behave like a „black hole“, absorbing and binding a lot of energy. When a very negativly charged complex gets struck, the libido always reacts with dynamic signs and symptoms.
The unconscious always discharges dynamic symptoms when a person gets into a situation reminding them of their „wounded“ (fully charged with libido) complex.
A specific complex can absorb so much libido, that the whole of the organism gets absolutly unbalanced. If one specific complex is active, the unconscious shows dynamic symptoms. All these is
connected to what Hahnemann talks about in aphorism 153. The strange, rare & peculiar symptoms coming directly from the complex (and they speak of libido).
Let me clarify this with the help of a small case:
A young women, age eighteen. Her physical suffering is a chronic headache, arising from a mechanical instability of the first cervical vertebra. The headaches always start in the cervical region and extend up the vertex to the eyes. „ During the paroxysm my eyes feel like paralysed and it is difficult to keep them open. In the cervical region I like to have a hand for support for my cervical region“. Her typical sentences from her mind: „I can ́t be alone. I tend to cling, i.e. when I am alone I cling to my TV until I fall asleep. I was fourteen when I stopped sleeping in mom ́s bed. My relationship was broken because I ́ve restricted my friend to much. All new situations are a problem for me, i.e. surprises, examinations or meeting strange people, eating strange food“.
Completing informations from her mother: „ When pregnant with her, I felt very unsure about having the child, most of the time. My relationship was very unstable and I felt very distanced to my husband. Most of the time I didn ́t pay attention to the pregnancy. I thought, if I had a misscariage, it would be okay“.
Gelsemium sempervirens & the „complex of separation“:
What did„morbidly affect“ the dynamis in this case ? The physical and mental problems are connected to separation. Her first unstable experience of binding (pregnancy) always leads to the same function: „I have to cling (mother, friend, TV) otherwise I get lost“. These themes correspond to the complex of separation. When this complex gets struck, the libido reacts with dynamic „clinging material“.
As a tendril and creeper plant Gelsemium needs a save relationship. Otherwise they lose a lot of energy and get weaker and weaker and at last they get paralysed. In my clinic I work together with midwives. I often hear of this tendency during childbirth. The woman needing Gelsemium during labour likes to cling to the „rope“. In the rubric fear of delivery we see Gelsemium as a main remedy. The german word for delivery is „Entbindung“, meaning the end of a relation, the end of binding - a terrible image for Gelsemium and his connection to the separatingcomplex.
How can the birth process proceed when there is so much fear of falling down (rubric: fear of downward motion)? So the function during birth is also clinging ( the mother to the rope or to the partner and the child sits inside and clings to the umbilical cord). And the cervix is absoluty rigid and will not open (out of fear of bad news - will everything be alright with the baby?). In Geselmium states mother and child suffer from increasing weakness (i.e. ptosis of eyelid) out of there fear of what might happen if they do let go.
Complex & archetyp in materia medica
As in the case of Gelsemium I ́ve started to correlate the central themes of remedies to there
specific complexes or archetypes. From that point of view a lot of remedies appear in a different light and I can better understand what there curative aspect is and what is to be cured in diseases (§3).
With our materia medica we can give a specific answer to the libidinous language of the complex and archetyp. Due to the law of similarity we can go into resonance with what the spiritual vital force is asking for. On our journey of individuation, on the way from the ego to the self, we touch a lot of complexes and archetypes. During that journey homoeopathy can be a helpful companion. The simillimum can release a lot of the energy that has been stuck. Today most of the material of the personal and collective unconscious is represented in our materia medica. Old and new proving material reflects a lot of the suffering oh humanity. I very much appreciate Jung ́s „model of innerpsychic functions“. It has given me a better overview of what happens inside of us. Being more aware of what also can „morbidly affect“ the harmonius flow of the dynamis, it can bring us a bit more happiness and self-contendeness.
return to the start page
publications