Secret Lanthanides

Review

This book review is reprinted from Volume 12, 2006 Edition of The American Homeopath with permission from The American Homeopath.

Reviewed by Sally Williams, RSHom (NA), CCH

Once again Jan Scholten has made an enormous impact on homeopathy with his new book entitled Secret Lanthanides. In this richly written book, Jan illuminates new remedies from the periodic table through mythology, provings and case studies. It is thrilling to see the evolution of Jan's element theory as well as his writing. The book is not only abundant with information, but exciting to read, something that is not so common in homeopathic literature.

The Lanthanides are a group of remedies from the periodic table running between Barium and Hafnium but are depicted in a separate row because the elements were not discovered until the first half of the 20th century. The name Lanthanide comes from the word Lanthanum which means "hidden" and turns out to be a significant part of the essence of this group of remedies. Their use in autoimmune illnesses are well documented in the book, but also reported by many homeopaths that have begun to use these remedies in their daily practices, including myself. Jan expounds on the lanthanides in great detail by discussing their material use in the world, their themes, provings and case studies. He further clarifies the characteristics of the group through mythology with the labors of Hercules and the story of Odysseus. Each discussion reveals another facet to create a more complete picture.

Jan explains his element theory and places each Lanthanide in a stage of the gold series. With every element discussed, Jan shows us the ideas and words that relate to the remedy and the stage, brilliantly illuminating the remedy picture. Those of us that have been following Jan and successfully using his element theory for the past ten years will be excited by the deeper understanding of the stages and especially the salts. Jan presents case studies for each element and many of them show a comparison of how the salt subtly shifts the remedy picture. He reveals an insightful and clear understanding of how each salt influences the picture of the element. The result is a much more accurate prescription. For those new to Jan's work, the brilliant clarity will allow the reader to feel comfortable with their own ability to prescribe these largely unknown remedies.

Jan rounds out this stimulating book with chapters on symbolic language, case taking, homeopathy and science, and homeopathy and classifications. He includes tables of the periodic system in different formats and detailed charts of his element theory. He also includes the color preference for many of the remedies validating the theory discussed in the book Colors in Homeopathy by Ulrich Welte. On the inside covers of the book are beautiful photographs taken by well known pharmacist Robert Muntz, who prepared the Lanthanides. The photos show the crystallizing salts of many of the lanthanides under a polarization microscope. The cover art is a stunning painting by Jan's wife Maria Davits, which after studying this book you will come to understand is a profound expression of the Lanthanides.

The Secret Lanthanides is a continuation of Jan Scholten's contribution to the evolution of homeopathy. Through his genius many of us have been able to take homeopathy to a higher level, to prescribe more accurately and serve our clients with greater success. Jan remains a pioneer in homeopathy and his books are a source of enlightenment. My hope is that there is more to come.

Sally Williams RSHom (NA), CCH, is in her fourteenth year of private practice and is the director of the Healing Arts Association of Western New York. She works and lives with her husband and two sons in Buffalo New York.

This book review is reprinted with permission from Volume 19, Autumn 2006 Edition of Homeopathic Links.

Reviewed by Olga Fatoula, MD, and Leonid Anikeev, Russia

Let us start by saying right away that we enjoyed reading this book. Then, our patients enjoyed the curative results achieved with the help of Jan Scholten's new discovery of the Lanthanides.

This is not another materia medica book: it is a great scientific work. It combines the theory (the approach), the detailed description of each Lanthanide and its salts, then provings and, finally, a lot of cases altogether four works in one. Jan managed to put into one printed volume a huge amount of information; it is scarcely believable that one man could do it all.

The introductory chapters are worth being published in a separate volume. This is the scientific part of the study spinning from the theory of Elements through peculiarities of case-taking to a unique system of scoring results. Jan Scholten reminds us about the system that he developed; it was initially introduced in his famous "Elements". He offers the same approach to the line of Lanthanides. The subsequent sections present the very essence of understanding cases, including symbolic language that a learned practitioner might be able to properly interpret. Jan Scholten goes into the deep scientific side of studying remedies and cases. In this book he proceeds with his inherent precision and accuracy combined with his deep intuition and experience. Sometimes we have to wonder how much information Jan Scholten must have obtained, memorised and systematised?

The body of "Secret Lanthanides" consists of about 350 pages and comprises a thorough study of the Lanthanides in general and materia medica for each of these remedies in full detail, from psychological portrait to physical symptoms. Jan Scholten has arranged his book so that it includes properly matching mythology and natural history of the elements to illustrate the character of each remedy for a complete understanding of it. The description of all features typical of a Lanthanide picture (autonomy, power, self-control, shadow, reflection, isolation and others) is followed by an elucidation of every theme.

The next fifteen chapters devoted to each element and its salts are laid out in approximately the same format as in his "Elements", so readers of Jan Scholten's earlier books who understood how to use them can easily make their way through the abundance of indispensable information, from Lanthanum metallicum to Lutetium fIuoratum.

The analysis of each remedy is carried out according to the scheme that Jan developed earlier, that is a criss-crossing of the Series with the Stage for each element and then putting on an overlay of the salt component. Then the author comes to unique themes peculiar to each element and its compounds.

Until we learned this approach we could never imagine, say, a prescription of Europium nitricum, by combining "Wiseacre" (Europium) with "Assertiveness, Expansion, Explosion" (nitricum) themes.

The book continues with a series of provings, mainly dream and meditative. Jan prefaces the provings with a wellgrounded theory of conducting them, naming the remedy, as well as any other influence on a human being, a "signal". Though debated by many, meditation provings have confirmed their value in drawing the "picture" of the remedy, which Jan illustrates by his (and not only his) cured cases.

The Addendum provides a quick reference to peep into if one wants to quickly refresh one's memory about the position of elements and keywords typical of each remedy.

Jan Scholten's works are not always understood by the homeopathic community. The review of his "Repertory of the Elements" in a recent issue of Links is evidence of this. Alas, at this point of time not all of us are ready to accept new theories introduced by other practitioners. As a controversy, this can be a good sign. 200 years ago a certain scientist was strongly criticised by his colleagues for each of his consecutive researches, experiments and new inventions. His name was Samuel Hahnemann. Somewhat later another doctor and scientist, Dr Swan, was opposed for his work on Lacs provings. There have been dozens of such pioneers in the history of homeopathy who did not receive appreciation from their colleagues during their lifetime. Presently, all of their books constitute the core of our materia medica.

There is heated debate among contemporary practitioners about the new series of research done by Jan Scholten. However, given the accelerating pace of our life, his works may not require another 100 years to become textbooks for every homeopath.