Strange Rare Peculiar Homeopathy Podcast

What happens when a system of medicine developed in the 19th century is interpreted through a 21st-century medical lens?

In this episode, Denise and Alastair explore how changes in medicine, language, diagnosis, and clinical thinking may have influenced the way homeopathy is understood today. They introduce the ideas of presentism and hermeneutics and ask what it means to understand homeopathy on its own terms.

Along the way, they look at why starting with a diagnosis can lead to a very different analysis than starting with the totality of symptoms, why the construction of a repertory matters, what can happen when methods and repertories built on different premises are combined, and why understanding the thinking behind a tool may be just as important as knowing how to use it.

Go Back to the Source
Organon of Medicine — Aphorism 3
Robin Murphy — Clinical Repertory
James Tyler Kent — Repertory of the Homeopathic Materia Medica
C. M. F. von Boenninghausen — repertory works and methodology
George Dimitriadis — “Bogus Boenninghausen”

Also Mentioned
The Alchemical History of Homeopathy with Denise Straiges — December 3. RSVP at AHE.online/events.
AHE Postgraduate Study: For homeopaths who already have education and training and want to go deeper into advanced clinical work, research, methodology, and complex cases. Learn more at AHE.online.
Practitioner-Generated Research Network (PGRN): Denise and Alastair also share news of ethics approval for an upcoming cohort study and invite members of the homeopathy community to become involved through the PGRN. Sign up for the PGRN here and come back next week for more details on how you can participate.

Strange Rare Peculiar is a weekly podcast with Denise Straiges and Alastair Gray of the Institute for the Advancement of Homeopathy and the Academy of Homeopathy Education.This season, we’re focusing on truth—what it means to Aude Sapere (“dare to know”) in homeopathy today. 
From Hahnemann’s original insights to modern practice, research, and education, Denise and Alastair bring more than 50 years of experience to conversations designed to help you question assumptions, return to the sources, and deepen your understanding of homeopathy.
🎧 Ready to go deeper?
• Study homeopathy professionally → academyofhomeopathyeducation.com
• Access affordable virtual homeopathy care → homeopathyhelpnow.com
• Support the future of homeopathy → advancehomeopathy.org
• Join the practitioner-generated research network (PGRN) → advancehomeopathy.org/pgrn

What happens when someone has seen several homeopaths, tried multiple remedies, and still isn't getting better?

When a case isn't progressing, it's tempting to look for another remedy or a different approach. But what if some of the most important clues are already there, waiting to be recognized?

In Episode 138, Denise and Alastair explore the many reasons homeopathy cases sometimes stall and the clinical skills that help practitioners recognize what might be missing. From the art of listening to the subtleties of prescribing and case management, they consider how experience, careful observation, and a willingness to keep learning can deepen our practice.

Along the way: the relationship between practitioner, client, and remedy; letting the client lead during case-taking; potency and posology; the role of causation in case analysis; symptom hierarchy; and why sometimes the rubric you love most is the one you need to let go.

They also answer a listener's question about miasmatic checklists, revisit Hahnemann's Paris neighborhood, and offer an important clarification about the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia Convention of the United States.

When a case challenges what you think you know, what can it teach you?

Go Back to the Source
Hahnemann's Organon of Medicine — Aphorism 9, Aphorism 148 (including the footnote), and Aphorism 211.

Hahnemann's The Chronic Diseases — Exploring chronic disease and miasmatic theory.

Explore More
AHE Postgraduate Homeopathy Programs — Continue developing your clinical knowledge through live or on-demand learning.

Institute for the Advancement of Homeopathy — Explore the research and initiatives discussed in the episode.

Strange Rare Peculiar is a weekly podcast with Denise Straiges and Alastair Gray of the Institute for the Advancement of Homeopathy and the Academy of Homeopathy Education.This season, we’re focusing on truth—what it means to Aude Sapere (“dare to know”) in homeopathy today. 
From Hahnemann’s original insights to modern practice, research, and education, Denise and Alastair bring more than 50 years of experience to conversations designed to help you question assumptions, return to the sources, and deepen your understanding of homeopathy.
🎧 Ready to go deeper?
• Study homeopathy professionally → academyofhomeopathyeducation.com
• Access affordable virtual homeopathy care → homeopathyhelpnow.com
• Support the future of homeopathy → advancehomeopathy.org
• Join the practitioner-generated research network (PGRN) → advancehomeopathy.org/pgrn

Why would an experienced homeopath and educator decide to go back to nursing school?
After more than a decade of practicing and teaching homeopathy, Kelly Callahan is taking an unconventional path. She joins Denise and Alastair to share what led her back to school, what she's discovering about nursing and healthcare, and her vision for bringing homeopathy into primary care in her rural Maine community.
Along the way: the surprising similarities between nursing and homeopathy; the importance of medical knowledge and critical thinking; evidence-based practice; informed consent; client safety and professional accountability; and what happens when the way homeopathy is practiced begins to move beyond its established principles.
Kelly also shares her experiences with homeopathic provings, her approach to experiential education, and how studying another healthcare discipline is giving her a new perspective on the work she's been doing for years.
Read It Yourself
Law and Ethics in Complementary Medicine: A Handbook for Practitioners in Australia and New Zealand — Michael Weir
Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica — James Tyler Kent, Hepar Sulphuris Calcareum
Organon of Medicine — Samuel Hahnemann, Aphorism 1 and its footnote

Mentioned in This Episode
New IAH Publication: Case Report Documents Sustained Improvement in Cerebellar Ataxia Following Homeopathic Treatment
Academy of Homeopathy Education — Postgraduate Homeopathy Programs
Homeopathy Help Network (HHN) — Virtual homeopathy clinic

About Kelly Callahan
Kelly Callahan is a registered homeopath who has been in private practice since 2011. She began teaching homeopathy at her alma mater, Baylight Center for Homeopathy, in 2016, bringing her background in experiential and individualized education into the classroom.
A 2013 graduate of Jeremy Sherr's Dynamis School of Advanced Homeopathy, Kelly also contributed to the team behind the Repertory of Mental Qualities. In 2016, she launched 1M: A Homeopath's Podcast, producing episodes for five years and connecting with homeopaths around the world, including Denise Straiges and Alastair Gray.
That connection led to her joining the Academy of Homeopathy Education faculty in 2019, where she continues to teach and work with students in the classroom and clinic. Now pursuing nursing education, Kelly hopes to combine her experience in homeopathy with a broader role in primary care.
Visit Kelly's website — Concentric Healing

Strange Rare Peculiar is a weekly podcast with Denise Straiges and Alastair Gray of the Institute for the Advancement of Homeopathy and the Academy of Homeopathy Education.This season, we’re focusing on truth—what it means to Aude Sapere (“dare to know”) in homeopathy today. 
From Hahnemann’s original insights to modern practice, research, and education, Denise and Alastair bring more than 50 years of experience to conversations designed to help you question assumptions, return to the sources, and deepen your understanding of homeopathy.
🎧 Ready to go deeper?
• Study homeopathy professionally → academyofhomeopathyeducation.com
• Access affordable virtual homeopathy care → homeopathyhelpnow.com
• Support the future of homeopathy → advancehomeopathy.org
• Join the practitioner-generated research network (PGRN) → advancehomeopathy.org/pgrn

Recording from Paris, Denise and Alastair explore the remarkable final chapter of Hahnemann's life, from his unexpected relationship with Mélanie d'Hervilly to their busy homeopathic practice and the controversies that followed his death.

Along the way: a visit to Hahnemann's grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery; the exhumation and identification of his remains; Mélanie's reputation and her contributions to homeopathy; the fate of the sixth edition of the Organon; and historical accounts that offer a fascinating glimpse into the Hahnemanns' daily lives.

Drawing on contemporary letters, biographical records, and an eyewitness account of a visit to the Hahnemanns' Paris practice, Denise and Alastair revisit a story that may be more complicated—and more human—than the version we've inherited.

Go Back to the Source
Official Account of the Exhumation of the Body of Hahnemann at the Cemetery Montmartre, and of Its Removal to Père Lachaise — The Homoeopathic Physician, August 1898, Vol. XVIII, No. 8.
Samuel Hahnemann: His Life and Work, Volume II — Richard Haehl.
In Search of the Later Hahnemann — Rima Handley.
The Life and Letters of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, Chapter 71 — Thomas Lindsley Bradford. Includes Anna Cora Mowatt's account of visiting Hahnemann and Mélanie in Paris.
Organon of Medicine, Sixth Edition — Samuel Hahnemann. Online text includes the fifth edition translated by Robert Ellis Dudgeon and the sixth edition translated by William Boericke.

Strange Rare Peculiar is a weekly podcast with Denise Straiges and Alastair Gray of the Institute for the Advancement of Homeopathy and the Academy of Homeopathy Education.This season, we’re focusing on truth—what it means to Aude Sapere (“dare to know”) in homeopathy today.
From Hahnemann’s original insights to modern practice, research, and education, Denise and Alastair bring more than 50 years of experience to conversations designed to help you question assumptions, return to the sources, and deepen your understanding of homeopathy.🎧 Ready to go deeper?• Study homeopathy professionally → academyofhomeopathyeducation.com• Access affordable virtual homeopathy care → homeopathyhelpnow.com• Support the future of homeopathy → advancehomeopathy.org• Join the practitioner-generated research network (PGRN) → advancehomeopathy.org/pgrn

Can Hahnemann's Organon be brought into the 21st century without changing the principles of homeopathy?

Jeremy Sherr joins Denise and Alastair to discuss his new Adaptive Organon, a four-year project to make Hahnemann's teachings more accessible through contemporary language, examples, and explanations while remaining faithful to the original philosophy.

Along the way: the four fundamental principles of homeopathy; why the search for the simillimum can keep practitioners stuck on the first prescription; the meaning of cure in Aphorisms 1 and 9; the challenge of interpreting dose, potency, and quantity; and what happens when Hahnemann's roasted pigeons become drive-through burgers.

Jeremy also shares his fascinating project of assigning a homeopathic remedy to every aphorism, the addition of cross-references and a thematic index, and why he hopes the Adaptive Organon will help practitioners rediscover the depth of homeopathic philosophy.

About Jeremy Sherr, PCH, FSHom.
Jeremy Sherr is an internationally recognized homeopath, author, lecturer, and founder of the Dynamis School of Homoeopathy, established in 1986. He has conducted more than 40 Hahnemannian provings and is the author of The Dynamics and Methodology of Homoeopathic Provings, among other works.

Jeremy lives in Tanzania with his wife, Camilla, where they founded Homoeopathy for Health in Africa, an organization providing free and low-cost homeopathic care.

Go Back to the Source
Organon of Medicine, Sixth Edition — Samuel Hahnemann
The Chronic Diseases — Samuel Hahnemann
The Issue of Dose in Samuel Hahnemann's Writings: Quantity, Potency or Entity? — Jeremy Sherr

Explore More
Dynamis School of Homoeopathy
Jeremy Sherr's Books

Strange Rare Peculiar is a weekly podcast with Denise Straiges and Alastair Gray of the Institute for the Advancement of Homeopathy and the Academy of Homeopathy Education.

This season, we’re focusing on truth—what it means to Aude Sapere (“dare to know”) in homeopathy today. From Hahnemann’s original insights to modern practice, research, and education, Denise and Alastair bring more than 50 years of experience to conversations designed to help you question assumptions, return to the sources, and deepen your understanding of homeopathy.

🎧 Ready to go deeper?
• Study homeopathy professionally → academyofhomeopathyeducation.com
• Access affordable virtual homeopathy care → homeopathyhelpnow.com
• Support the future of homeopathy → advancehomeopathy.org
• Join the practitioner-generated research network (PGRN) → advancehomeopathy.org/pgrn