Spectrum of Homeopathy 2016-2, Iron Series

The 4th row of the periodic table

Information technology has completely transformed our performance-driven society; it penetrates ever more deeply into our consciousness and into our private and professional lives. Work is everywhere and around the clock. The work–life balance has fallen apart. Complete identification with efficiency and duty catapults us into the harsh reality of the iron series.

"The Completely Normal Madness of Everyday Life" is the title of Ulrich Welte’s overview; the author presents all the elements of the iron series from potassium to krypton in various compounds: with concise case vignettes and apt placement within the stages of the periodic table according to Scholten.

A number of contributions illuminate different focal points that Jan Scholten and Rajan Sankaran emphasise in the homeopathic application of the periodic table. This becomes clear, for example, in Anne Schadde’s case on Germanium and its loss of security, and in Willi Neuhold’s piece on Scandium and its wavering search for the right decision.

Franz Swoboda attempts the balancing act between classical materia medica and the modern systematics of the elements in the case of Manganum. Two contributions on erectile dysfunction by Jürgen Hansel and Karim Adal show how, in the iron series as laid out by the periodic table and on the level of sensation, the loss of virility is experienced: with Vanadium, "sex as work", and with Chromium metallicum appearance prevails over substance.

Wyka Feige explains the sensation of Cobaltum, which is vividly expressed in the drawings of a six‑year‑old boy. Angelika Bolte and Jörg Wichmann open up previously unknown dimensions of understanding for Zincum metallicum with Andreas Holling’s new mineral model.

Jeremy Sherr, together with his wife Camilla, follow the traditional route of drug proving. They have collected symptoms and themes for rare remedies of the iron series such as Scandium, Gallium, Germanium and the enigmatic Krypton. The ordinary madness of the performance society with the typical themes of the iron series also finds correspondences in the plant and animal kingdoms. Bhawisha Joshi draws the comparisons. Naturally, the decoding of the iron theme in Jan Scholten’s plant theory is not missing. The class Fabanae with its subclass Fabidae with the initial code 644 are presented by Martin Jakob and lead to rare medicinal plants from the order Malpighiales (644.2XX). For those who find that too cryptic, Mike Keszler’s contribution on the well‑known Ferrum and its salts is a safe bet.