Survival - The Reptile, Vol-1 and 2

Review

This book review is reprinted from Volume 24, Autumn 2011 edition of Homoeopathic Links with permission from Homeopathic Links.

Reviewed by Joesph Rozencwajg, New Zealand

Having learned a lot from "An Insight into Plants" I was looking forward to this book.
After the usual introduction and reminder of the Sensation System, and the very welcome reminder that this method should be used only after a full training and understanding of basic homeopathy, Sankaran guides us through general information about the reptiles, then through every category: turtles, crocodiles, snakes, lizards, tuataras and even dinosaurs, reviewing most of the members of each family, with the exception of the dinosaurs.

There is a lot of zoological information, insights into the lives and behaviours of those animals and as a "biology enthusiast" I really enjoyed those details... but where is the homeopathy?

Instead of looking up and grouping the findings in provings, cured cases and repertories most of the space is spent telling us about the "possible expressions in humans" (sic). There are some rubrics, materia medica, and provings when available but only in very small, restricted amounts (I was going to write in homeopathic dilutions...). Apparently Sankaran has transposed the reptilian world unchanged into the human world... that is called anthropomorphism or for homeopaths it is the old Doctrine of Signatures reborn in the 21st century.

Provings do show the human expression of pathology; that is what we are after. For example, on page 779 we find the food cravings of Elaps corallinus, as Sankaran himself discovered during an earlier proving of the remedy: this snake does not eat any of those foods! On page 900, we read in the mentals of the Crotalinae "a snake scared of its own violence". That is a human expression; for the snake "violence" is normal, healthy behaviour. Certainly the opposite is true: we find symptoms in a proving and can then relate them to the specific lifestyle of the particular reptile, allowing us to differentiate from others and to memorise the facts. But to claim that a patient who retracts himself and closes up needs a tortoise remedy because that is what a tortoise does naturally seems to be a bit of a stretch. Relating the clairvoyance found in snake patients to the snake's ability to find its prey and "see" through infrared sensors and vibration sensors is a far-fetched interpretation even though the facts are correct.

As usual, there are plenty of cases that reacted very well, some of them still needing repeated doses (then they are not cured, isn't it?), others having returned to normality. This is proof enough that the system works, no doubt about it. And certainly the parallelism between the way of life of certain animals (normal) and the behaviour and pathologies in patients (abnormal) is present and clear, but the way it is presented in this book makes it a direct projection from one realm to the other without its pathological transformation that we can find when doing a proving.

The Reptile appears to be more a detailed exploration and explanation of Sankaran's Sensation system rather than an informative materia medica like the Insight into Plants. It will certainly appeal to his students and followers, and rightly so. For those of us who only want to understand the remedies better, it is a good addition to the regular textbooks, a very detailed illustration with fabulous pictures and detailed

This book review is reprinted with the permission from the Summer 2011 Edition of The Homeopath.

Reviewed by Francis Treuherz

Here are two huge volumes, intimidating to look at; the flexible cover and shiny pages make a cold slithery sensation. There are 40 contributors and 94 remedies from families of snakes, tortoises and turtles, crocodiles and alligators, lizards, amphisbaenians (just 2 worm lizards in case you ask) and even dinosaurs. So this is not only an original book, but in its encyclopaedic scope it is a huge original work of reference. Some of the material comes from Reference Works™, some from journals, published provings, 2 centuries of homeopathic publications and inevitably the Internet. Meghna Shah spent much time in a reptile zoo doing what a sociologist might call participant observation. If I waited until I had read it all I should never complete the review.
I must emphasise a factor, which is often lost through prejudice. Rajan Sankaran is extending our prescribing powers by creating new techniques for how we interview our patients, how they speak to us, and how we regard materia medica knowledge. As he says in the introduction:
"I continue to hold my strong background and training in classical homeopathy as the foundation of my practice, research and writings. The repertory and materia medica continue to be the cornerstone of my practice and my work."

All the information is there, classification, habitat and habits of the animals are well-described and then materia medica and cases from all our history to the present day. Pharmacies from around the world have helped to compile the list of available remedies including Freemans of Glasgow and Helios of Tunbridge Wells. Of course the quality of some older information is variable but the authors have welded this disparate knowledge into a manageable whole with the combined experience of so many colleagues. I had a vision of an apparently indigestible lump of food going down the throat of a snake, the book is too sophisticated for that, and there is a schema and copious indexing. Reptile remedies which have been impossible to prescribe because they were completely unknown, or with minimal information, suddenly come alive in this book.

There are no arrogant pronouncements ex-cathedra, there are suggestions: an example is on page 316, where there are 4 possible specific expressions in patients who may need a crocodile remedy: faster growth rate, connection to fishes (possibility), builds nesting holes, makes a house, and less vocal. After several pages of description and information about these creatures there is a recent case (2008) from Starios Manos RSHom(NA) of a middle-aged woman with migraines who recovered with a remedy from Nile crocodile - Crocodilus niloticus. There follows more information, charts, and pictures. In the second volume there are cobras, 4 Naja naja cases from Rajan Sankaran and Anne Schadde with fascinating insights.

I once asked for Naja beer in a local Indian restaurant and was brought a bottle of Cobra. Our homeopathic wisdom has gone deeply into Indian culture and it has taken an international team based in India to put together this masterpiece and present it back to the homeopathic world.