Organon of the Medical Art

In contrast to the approach of conventional Western medicine, which attempts to suppress symptoms, the German doctor Samuel Hahnemann discovered that he could stimulate his patients 'healing by giving them extremely small doses of particular substances. He explained this system of medicine in Organon of Medicine, which is his definitive description of the principles of homeopathy. His discovery is equally valid today and people still benefit from it when they are treated for the diseases afflicting our modern civilization. This is the single most important book ever on homeopathy, and is essential reading for all students of homeopathy.

This new version of Hahnemann's Organon has been acclaimed by homeopaths worldwide. O'Reilly and Decker have accomplished the feat to remain faithful to Hahnemann's thought while producing an edition that is more accessible to contemporary readers. The Organon's structure has changed to a more user friendly format; from paragraphs to chapters and sections. Side notes, footnotes and glossary are invaluable to come closer to understand Hahnemann's taught and its meanings. Finally, the addition of an index offer readers the possibility to use the Organon as a reference work.

"One of the most important books ever written on homeopathy and holistic medicine." - Andrew Weil, M.D., Author of Natural Health, Natural Medicine

"The best translation yet, and the most comprehensive and organized information about the Organon." - George Vithoulkas, Author of The Science of Homeopathy

"The Organon of the Medical Art is a must read for anyone who gives or receives medical care." - Roger Morrison, M.D., Author of Desktop Companion to Physical Pathology

"The Organon is the cornerstone of homeopathy. In it, Hahnemann takes us on a philosophical journey through the age-old questions of health, disease and healing. Along the way he answers most questions any homeopath could have...This is the translation we have all been waiting for." - Homeopathy Today

"This philosophical masterpiece by the founder of homeopathy brilliantly covers all aspects of natural health care." - Miranda Castro, Author of The Complete Homeopathy Handbook

"This superb edition of the Organon enables Hahnemann's genius to spread beyond the confines of the homeopathic community - to all who are interested in discovering a gentle, safe, and effective method of healing." - Catherine Coulter, Author of Portraits of Homeopathic Medicines

"O'Reilly has edited what is likely to become one of the most important books on homeopathy in this century...For the first time, Hahnemann's profound teachings, which are the foundation of homeopathy, can be read and understood with relative ease."
- The American Homeopath

"The Organon of the Medical Art is one of the greatest books published in the history of medicine. It clearly describes how medicines can be used to stimulate natural healing. Hahnemann's revolutionary paradigm of medicine has far-reaching implications for all types of medical practice." - Richard Pitcairn, Author of Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health of Dogs and Cats

"Homeopathic medicine is the most radical and effective system of medicine the world has ever known. Although the Organon was written 200 years ago, it is only now, at the dawn of the 21st century, that its true relevance can be appreciated by all." Jeremy Sherr, Director, Dynamis

• Author: Samuel Hahnemann, Wenda Brewster O'Reilly
• ISBN: 9781889613000
• 406 pages
• Paperback
• Published in 2001
• Printed in United States

• View PDF

Reprinted with the permission of The Society of Homeopaths, from 'The Homeopath' Journal, Autumn 1996 edition. Reviewed by Ursula Somers.

I have often found that reading Hahnemann's Organon is a great cure for my periodic insomnia. After scanning a few aphorisms, the pedantic language and tortuous sentence structure has my mind glazing over, and soon I am snoozing happily.

All that is now to change with the advent of this book. O'Reilly has taken on the mammoth task of acting as editor for Hahnemann to give his book a modern structure  with chapters, a table of contents, an index and a glossary.

Initially, her guide to the Organon started as a class project when she was studying homoeopathy. The task was to analyse its structure in order to gain a greater understanding of the text, but she became intrigued with it and soon realised she would like to edit it completely. Her primary intention has been to make the Organon far more accessible to its readers and in this she has succeeded. We can now use it more readily as a reference book. If you want to know Hahnemann's thoughts on something, just turn to the index.

Hahnemann's words are also in a modern grammatical structure and she makes use of headings, subheadings and editorial notes. Subheadings are to the side of the text so there is no confusion between the editor's comments and the original work.

There is also a glossary of terms which is really useful. As homoeopaths we often have to use old dictionaries to obtain the correct meaning of a word at the time of writing. O'Reilly does this for us. She also shows the origin of words and indicates the language from which they are derived.

One of the interesting features of this edition is that it is based on a new translation of the Organon by Steven Decker. This is claimed to be more accurate than any gone before. It is a more literal translation than previous ones by Boericke and Kunzli which are conceptual and thus lose some of Hahnemann's original meaning. For example, Hahnemann refers to the process of disease and cure in musical terms - in the footnote to aphorism 259 he compares subtle doses of medicine to the softest tones of a distant flute. This musical theme has been omitted in previous translations.

I was very impressed with this book and I am delighted that there are scholars like Wenda O'Reilly who can get excited about indexes and glossaries. By using this book it will be so much easier for new and old students alike to grasp more of Hahnemann's meaning. Wenda Brewster O'Reilly PhD studied homoeopathy in England and America. Her doctorate is in psychological studies and she is a researcher, scholar and writer.