The Complete Repertory of the Mind

Review

This book review is reprinted with the permission of the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians
P.O. Box 21488, Portland, OR 97212

Reviewed by Durr Elmore, Editor

The Complete Repertory was created by Roger Van Zandvoort and has been used for several years with the homeopathic software program MacRepertory. As a MacRepertory user, I am familiar with The Complete in software form. Most MacRepertory users much prefer The Complete over the Standard Kent's Repertory.

The Complete Repertory contains thousands of additions, yet closely following the schema and hierarchical structure of Kent's Repertory. All additions have been carefully documented.

Roger decided to release The Complete Repertory as each section was finished, thus we have The Complete Repertory, Mind. Over the next several months there will be two additional volumes.

The Complete Repertory, Mind is well-bound in a dark blue jacket, with cover-print in white. The book measures about 10 inches by 7 inches, by I inch thick. [This is approximately the size of Synthesis with the exception of thickness (I inch vs. 2 1/2 in.)]. The repertory itself contains 377 pages (total pages 449 plus 23 pages of foreword, preface, and 'Guide to the Complete Repertory'. The pages are white, the print very easily readable (slightly larger font than Synthesis). Thumb indexes are included. The formating is excellent it is very easy on the eyes, with consistent indentation and spacing.

The Complete has benefited from the collaboration of a group of Swiss homeopaths, including the late Jost Kunzli, and eight others, adding many corrections and additions from Boger's Boenninghausen's Repertory. There have been many suggestions made by MacRepertory users of The Complete, as well as from the larger homeopathic community.

In the Preface, Roger writes, "Am I justified in giving this repertory the title Complete Repertory? Of course I have that freedom. I named it the Complete Repertory because I really tried to include all the valid information which I could find at the time in this repertory. This information covers new additions and new rubrics, cross-references, corrections, references and page and column references to existing repertories.

"Another good, but less obvious reason for calling it the Complete Repertory, is that it became my ambition, after my early work, to create and edit a completely new repertory with information from all comers of the homeopathic world. I wanted it to contain all the suggestions and criticism from colleagues, to make this the most 'Complete' because of all the positive meeting of minds involved in this project." He ends with a request for feedback and suggestions from repertory users. "The purpose of offering this book to the homeopathic community is to give every homeopath a basic repertory, not a final repertory. This should be the basis for more work in the future. In conjunction with materia medica this should be the most useful instrument to help people to healing."

In the Introduction, Roger writes, "We need a repertory that covers as much relevant information as possible and has as many of the rubrics verified in the original sources as possible. To be reliable it should refer to the oldest source of an addition rather than a later copy. To maintain continuity it should show the related page number for each rubric in the other major repertories. To help new and experienced practitioners to find exactly what they are looking for it should have extensive cross references. And to enable us to zero in on the simillimum it should have all of the additions from every available reliable source. We believe the Complete Repertory, starting with the first volume, 'the Mind', fulfills these needs."

The Complete has made logical textual changes and corrected many inconsistencies regarding wording, alphabetization, and rubric hierarchy, following the standard format (General, sides, times, agg. and amel., modalities and concordances, extending to, localizations, and sensations (pain). Older terminology has been updated.

Some new remedy abbreviations are used, with an explanation of the system. Rubrics have been reorganized. For example, bodily sensations related to feelings have been put in the mind chapter (e.g., anxiety felt in the stomach is found under Mind; Anxiety; Stomach, in. "Of course we also preserved the rubrics in the specific body part section."

Thousands of additions have been included, all documented by author, with a code number found in the appendix.

Four grades are given. Plain type indicates grade 1. Bold text (not capitalized) represents grade 2. BOLD CAPITALIZED represents grade 3, and BOLD, CAPITALIZED AND UNDERLINED represents grade 4.

An easy to read guide precedes the repertory, indicated the translation of degrees from the various materia medicas and repertories (E.g., italics in Boericke are in second degree, bold in the Complete.

The appendix includes a thorough Bibliography of all books and sources consulted in the compilation of the complete, followed by a list of authors and coded numbers.

Conclusion
The Complete Repertory, Mind has aimed for what it's name implies. It is generous in cross-references, rich in additions, corrections, and new rubrics, and is well documented throughout. This volume is without doubt the largest and most complete repertory of the mind, and incorporates countless changes to enhance clarity, improve accuracy, and make the task of finding the simillimum easier. Roger Van Zandvoort and his team have made a real contribution to homeopathy-they have created a great repertory.

SILIMLLIMUM / Fall 1994 Volume VII No. 3