3 / 13
EDITORIAL
Christa Gebhardt & Dr Jürgen Hansel
Chief editors
GOLD SERIES
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL
SPECTRUM OF HOMEOPATHY
1
Dear readers,
Gold is both our current theme and a measure of the pride
with which we now present our 25th issue of SPECTRUM OF
HOMEOPATHY. Six of our issues have covered the mineral reme-
dies from the “Elements of Life” at the very beginning of the
periodic table through to the death and transformation of the
final row. We have left a gap in the fifth row which is, howe-
ver, plugged by Ulrich Welte’s tremendous book on the Silver
series. Welte is working on further volumes covering the other
rows of the periodic table. We offer you a taste of his work in
progress with his contributions here on Hafnium, Thallium and
the rarer Bismuth salts.
As in the entire periodic table, in the Gold series we find a
mixture of familiar remedies such as Barium, Aurum and Mer-
cury plus thoroughly new ones such as Hafnium, Tantalum and
Tungsten. There is also progress with the well-known polych-
rests when, as Markus Kuntosch demonstrates, we go the extra
mile to unfamiliar salts such as Barium fluoricum or Barium
phosphoricum. His contribution on the Caesium and Barium
compounds throws open the rondel of remedies covering the
themes of responsibility and power. Pratik Desai offers us an
overview of the development of this topic and describes how –
as the elements progressively develop from left to right across
the row – the pressure increases to take on responsibility and a
leadership role as well as the ability to do this. On the left there
is a complete lack of readiness for this whereas in the middle
there is success and on the right side a gradual loss.
With the differential diagnosis of Barium and Tantalum, Desai
ventures off the beaten path into uncharted territory, only so
far defined by its place in the periodic table. Many homeopaths
hesitate to take this path and use unproved remedies. Remedy
selection is facilitated, as in the Franz Swoboda’s case, by an
unusual symptom from the Tungsten proving. It can also be
helpful to use the clinical indications and typical personality
characteristics that Sunil Anand lists for every single element
of the Gold series. He demonstrates the practical value of such
classifications with severe pathology and the heavy metals Iri-
dium and Plumbum.
No SPECTRUM issue on the Gold series would be complete wit-
hout Aurum. Our authors elaborate some of the special aspects
of this well-known remedy. Wyka Feige sees the connection of
Aurum and Natrium muriaticum in a lost soul from Africa. And
Resie Moonen differentiates Aurum muriaticum natronatum
from Aurum muriaticum. With Mercury we also go beyond
the usual remedy picture to examine its Sulphur salts. Dinesh
Chauhan combines Mercury and Sulphur for a pretty poisonous
mixture, Mercurius sulphuricus. This sulphate should not be
confused with the sulphide, which is the Cinnabaris from the
case by Deborah Collins.
According to the conventional understanding of the Gold series
and its stages, Platinum is at the zenith of power and radia-
tes self-confidence. Yet in practice we tend to encounter the
decompensated state. Jürgen Hansel presents a lonely old Pla-
tinum patient who feels excluded from the hurly-burly of life.
In Willi Neuhold’s case of Osmium we also see an emphasis on
the shadow side of the remedy. A one-time assertive director
has lost his willpower and decisiveness, withdrawing from life.
Withdrawal from power is in fact a characteristic of the right
side, such as Thallium, Plumbum or Bismuth. Ulrich Welte likes
to use Thallium when there are problems with the transfer of
authority, power, and responsibility. Still further to the right in
the periodic table, Bismuth has already lost everything – Ulrich
Welte’s contribution therefore concerns the last resort of suicide.
Beyond Bismuth the radioactive elements start as of atomic
number 84, which we have already covered in the Actinides
issue of SPECTRUM. The Gold series is of course supplemented
by the subgroup of the Lanthanides, which we have also covered
in a separate issue of our journal. Our six issues on the rows
of the periodic table offer you a modern, up-to-date materia
medica of the elements and we are particularly proud that Jan
Scholten considers SPECTRUM OF HOMEOPATHY to be the best
homeopathy journal in the world.
During our last 25 issues we have been delighted to receive
feedback from both novice and experienced homeopaths from
around the world. So we would like to say a big thank you
to every one of our tremendous authors, Narayana Publishers,
and last but not least you all, our dear readers, for your faithful
support on our 25th anniversary.