EDITORIAL

Guest Editorial

We have been delighted to have this opportunity to be guest editors for LINKS. LINKS is a hub for the communication of ideas and information in our ever-changing profession. Since participating in this issue, we have renewed respect for Dr. van der Zee and the amount of work and attention to detail he gives to this journal. He performs a mighty task – as we have realized by participating in this one issue!

Carbon has been a strong interest of ours for the past decade. The phenomenon of toxic exposure to petrochemicals and their clinical sequelae is a recent development – and thus one not faced by older homeopaths. These substances – growing by over 10,000 chemicals per year – are forming a virtual soup of neurotoxins, cardiotoxins, carcinogens and immunosuppressants that we are all drinking. We believe that as the toxic exposure intensifies, the Carbon remedies will have increasing importance in homeopathic practice. Thus we need to be prepared for diagnosing and differentiating Carbon remedies in our practices.

For example, our 23-year-old god-daughter Laurel is doing a project where she avoids all plastic for one month. She is finding it extremely challenging – it cripples any semblance of a normal youthful lifestyle (Can I eat at a fast-food restaurant? How do I get shampoo?). Of the many forms of plastic polymers in use there are known hormonal dysregulators and teratogens. Only two plastics have been proved in homeopathy so far (Polystyrene by Dr. Sankaran and Polyethylene by Stuart Deeks). We have only scratched the surface of the Carbon universe.

We want to thank all of those who contributed cases to this journal and to the many who have written us about successful carbon prescriptions. The cases show a vast spectrum of homeopathic approaches. The profound sensation level shown in the Carbo vegetabilis case of Dr. Sankaran takes the patient to the most essential level of Carbon and its position in the second row of the periodic table. Malcolm Smith gives us a wonderful Pix liquida case that brings out the source language of this Carbon remedy. The case from Dr. Chauhan transcends books and rubrics into the seventh level itself.

We were especially gratified to see confirmations of the techniques described in Rogerʼs book, ‘Carbon: Organic and Hydrocarbon Remedies in Homeopathy’ in the cases from Jenny Hwozdek and Dr. Robbins. Features of the terpene group were seen in the Camphora case and of the Aromatic group in the Salicylic acid case. Nancy takes us through a case prescribed upon traditional repertorization and then shows how it also fits perfectly into the systems approach. The beauty of any truly cured case is that it teaches us at multiple levels what we may have missed at the time.

As homeopathy develops, we tend to focus on our current interests and concerns when we analyze and report our cases. We would like to make a plea that in case reporting – even when the prescription was arrived at through a deeply taken sensation case, or from dreams or from its position in the periodic table – please do not neglect to provide the other data in the case. For example, food cravings, sleep positions, fears, etc. Though the information may not have been relevant in your prescription, surprising features may be hidden in the case data. Future homeopaths may wonder, “Didnʼt they eat in the early 21st century?” Many of our cases have been solved by the humblest of information so we will be grateful for any help!

Blessings to all our colleagues!

Roger Morrison & Nancy Herrick