The fish, the unknown creature? In fact, 32,000 species of fish live worldwide across two thirds of the Earth's surface in 1.4 trillion litres of water. Most of them swim in the salt water of the seas and oceans. Freshwater accounts for only 0.3 percent of the world's water. In homeopathy we have long known sea remedies from invertebrates such as Sepia, Asterias or Spongia. Remedies from the vertebrate class of fishes are still largely unknown. Our authors have therefore cast their nets in seas and rivers in recent years and present their catch in this SPEKTRUM issue.
One of the pioneers of fish remedies, Louis Klein, became aware of this group when he was looking for homeopathic treatment options for dementia. This pathology is typical of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, which became widely known because of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and which is associated with cannibalistic feeding practices. Cattle had been fed meat-and-bone meal; most fish eat their own kind. Klein discovered that certain fish remedies had in fact proved effective in dementing illnesses. Homeopaths around the world followed Klein's research and began, through provings and clinical trials, to learn more about remedies from vertebrates of the water.
An important impetus came from the homeopath Viktória Németh (formerly Bodrogi) and her book "Water World", in which she also attempted to differentiate between the fish groups. Her findings were followed by Jonathan Hardy and Annette Sneevliet in their work. These homeopaths offer in their excellently structured contributions a very instructive overview, supported by well-documented cases that help us to distinguish, among other things, predator and prey fish, solitary and schooling fish, and migratory and bottom-dwelling fish.
It seemed homeopathically sensible to us to structure the fishes in this issue according to clinical themes. Following the overview works of Hardy, Sneevliet and Németh/Petrucci, the focus is on the theme of isolation with the clinical pictures of dementia and autism. Case studies with a psychological focus such as burnout, panic, depression and obsessive–compulsive disorder follow. The catch is completed by homeopaths whose patients suffered from joint, muscle or abdominal pains and from skin problems.
Many readers may perhaps remember the family film "Finding Nemo". This 2003 blockbuster was certainly not conceived by homeopaths. But apparently its makers had already intuitively captured certain fish species in their collective consciousness with their typical character traits. The dangerously reckless barracuda predator can be recognised just as clearly in our corresponding article as the small clownfish Nemo, threatened by it, in his naive bliss. The same goes for Aunt Dory, who suffers from memory problems (!), a surgeonfish who encounters the treacherous, hypocritical and cynical (!) shark named Bruce, who claims to have founded a vegetarian self‑help group with the shark brothers Anchor and Chum. His unbroken appetite for fish flesh, however, exposes Bruce as a deceitful liar.
In any case, the incredible, colourful and fascinating diversity of underwater life guarantees excitement and enjoyment while learning.
