The Ultimate Prisma Collection Volume 4 with 222 Remedies - Prisma Reference by Frans Vermeulen
Homeopaths are always eager to have the latest repertory with the most additions to keep the greatest amount of info at their fingertips. The same should be true with materia medica – they should contain information that is both accurate and current. For over 20 years, Vermeulen materia medicas have provided reliability, breadth and depth, cutting edge details supporting the changes in methods of prescribing. That is why they are the best selling and most trusted materia medicae in homeopathic practice.
The Ultimate Prisma Collection contains the most remedies and the most detailed information of any materia medica, including hundreds of remedies not found in any other text. This work also features the most comprehensive list of remedies, all accurately identified, categorised and described, considerably improved, revised and expanded from Vermeulen’s previous works. To reflect new prescribing practices 'Sensation' entries have been added.
These are the tools of our profession – a carpenter would not keep a dull saw, a seamstress would not keep an outdated sewing machine, a cook would not use stale ingredients. To achieve the best results homeopaths must constantly update their reference materials and ensure that they are working with information of the highest quality. A small change in the placement of a plant into a different family, new source details about a mineral or the addition of a new animal remedy can make a huge clinical difference.
- Author: Frans Vermeulen
- ISBN: 9781908127143
- 1854 pages
- Hardback
- Published in 2017
- Printed in United Kingdom
Reprinted with the permission of The Society of Homeopaths, (from "The Homeopath" Journal Winter 2018 edition). Reviewed by Francis Treuherz FSHom.
The great 18th Century man of English letters, Samuel Johnson, defined a lexicographer as a "writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge." Frans Vermeulen is so much more than that - his four volumes of materia medica listed above should be an essential inspiration and centrepiece of any homeopath's book collection. Of course I have MacRepertory (tm) and Reference-Works (tm) and over 11,300 volumes on my shelves. But just behind my desk within easy reach are the daily materia medica: Boericke's Pocket Manual, Clarke's Dictionary, Morrison's Desktop Guide, and these four volumes, the Ultimate Prisma Collection. Vermeulen is now usually my first port of call. I have learned to cope with these large books and their fine delicate paper, to read at my desk, in my armchair, and in bed.
Concordant Reference gathers up important classic sources from Hahnemann to Hering's Guiding Symptoms and Allen's Encyclopaedia eliminating the repetition and pointing the reader to the basic texts and the strange, rare and peculiar aspects of 1,284 remedies. It also clarifies the occasional mystery of what the remedies are named in modern science.
The first silver Synoptic Materia Medica was published in 1992 and was an instant success with only 193 remedies. Now there are 505 remedies, from 739 provings and 350 self-experiments. The text is a fascinating combination of source and substance information with materia medica and repertory extracts from Synthesis and the Complete. The second part has another 606 remedies compared with 335 in the original Synoptic 2.
Prisma Reference is the unique fourth volume of the set. 222 remedies are explored with source substance, leading symptoms and therapeutics, as well as over 600 case histories and 48 special reports. Here you can learn how to enhance your knowledge of Materia Medica and start to create your own stores of information about the remedies in the earlier volumes from your own experience.
It occurred to me, once all four volumes were ready, that it was hard to predict which remedy would appear in which volume and I suggested an index. I am glad that this was done: the index is online and ready to be downloaded. You can view it on your computer, or print it and bind it. The table is very simple to follow and you can immediately see which book(s) you need. Each volume is marked with black rectangles (rather than a thumb index) to easily locate the remedies. Each remedy has its own footnotes and full references. There is a ribbon in each book to keep your place.
Here is an example from recent study. Have you ever prescribed Tellurium? I have for nasty discharges from the ear as a therapeutic prescription. Now I know, thanks to a detailed browse of the Concordant and the Synoptic 2, of the artistic nature of the patient, which may have been suppressed, of their sensitivity to sensual impressions, memory problems, their potential for addictions and much more, the sources range from chemistry books to Louis Klein. Never underestimate a remedy, these volumes will tell you the truth.
The fourth volume Prisma is a goldmine. You would think that you know the remedies. But, for example, there are 12 packed pages for Carcinosin, with information about the condition - cancer - and how it relates to the nosode and its subtleties. No more scrabbling about for that pamphlet you are sure you have somewhere, the key paragraphs from Hui Bon Hoa and Foubister are all here. Frans Vermeulen has been a creative drudge, having conscientiously dredged our literature for gold nuggets and diamonds for the benefit of us all.
Francis Treuherz FSHom in practice since 1984. NHS from 1990-2003. Fellow of the Society of Homeopaths, former journal editor, board member for 20+ years, taught many seminars, written two books. Former trustee of the British Homeopathic Association and the Homeopathy Action Trust. An incurable collector of homeopathy books and artefacts.
