Strange Rare Peculiar Homeopathy Podcast

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

You can learn the principles of homeopathy. But when do you begin to understand why they fit together?

While preparing a lecture on Psora, Denise revisited notes from 15 or 16 years ago and realized how much her own understanding had deepened. That sparked a bigger question: can we move from simply doing homeopathy to truly thinking homeopathically?

This episode explores what deeper understanding can look like—and the difference between going deeper into homeopathy and simply adding more to it.

Along the way: Hahnemann’s theory of Psora and chronic disease; miasms in homeopathy; infection and inheritance; the Organon and The Chronic Diseases; the law of similars; potentization and Hahnemann’s alchemical influences; metaphor versus mechanism; and how deeper study can shape the way we practice homeopathy.

Go Back to the Source
Organon of Medicine, 6th edition — Samuel Hahnemann, especially Aphorisms 78, 269 & 284
The Chronic Diseases — Samuel Hahnemann

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? Join the conversation.

Explore more:
• 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 are miasms actually supposed to tell us about chronic disease—and how does that information change what we do with a case?
In this episode, Denise and Alastair go back to Hahnemann’s Chronic Diseases to look at what miasms were meant to help us understand, how they can inform a chronic case, and where modern interpretations may have oversimplified the idea.
Along the way: Hahnemann’s theory of chronic disease; psora, sycosis, and syphilis; family patterns and miasmatic themes; larger versus constricted totalities; intercurrent remedies; acquired versus inherited miasms; familial predisposition; and, naturally, a few tangents.
Listener questions take the conversation into what to do when someone can’t remember ever being well, how to use The Chronic Diseases and the Organon as working references, whether Hepar sulph supports the idea that Hahnemann used mixed remedies, how clinical symptoms make their way into the repertory, when multiple remedies may be appropriate in an emergency, and how to think about the Banerji protocols.
Go Back to the Source
The Chronic Diseases: Their Peculiar Nature and Their Homoeopathic Cure — Samuel Hahnemann

Organon of Medicine, 6th Edition — Samuel Hahnemann

Materia Medica Pura — Samuel Hahnemann

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 the realities of modern practice, research, and education, Denise and Alastair bring over 50 years of experience to conversations that challenge assumptions and invite curiosity.

🎧 If you’re ready to look deeper — beyond trends, beyond opinion — join the conversation and rediscover what homeopathy truly is.
Explore more:
• 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

Does the “totality of symptoms” mean every symptom belongs in the prescription?
In this episode, Denise and Alastair dig into one of the more difficult skills in homeopathic case analysis: determining which symptoms are actually relevant to the case in front of you.
Sometimes the picture is broad. Sometimes it is surprisingly small. And getting that wrong can cause you to miss the mark.
Through clinical examples—including PCOS, a recurring joint complaint, and a memorable Berberis case—they explore what Hahnemann meant by the totality of characteristic symptoms, why the biggest possible symptom picture is not always the right one, and why good case analysis takes more than simply collecting symptoms.
The conversation also continues a question raised by the response to the single-remedy episode: if cases are more complex today, does homeopathy need different principles—or do practitioners need greater skill in applying them?
Read for yourself:
•Samuel Hahnemann, Organon of Medicine — Aphorisms 3, 5, 6, 7, 26–29, 148 and its footnote, 151, 153, 171, 211, and 269
•Samuel Hahnemann, The Chronic Diseases
Also mentioned:
•Homeopathy Help Now: https://homeopathyhelpnow.com/•Dynamis: https://dynamis.edu/
•RadarOpus
Related listening:
Episode 131: Is It Still Homeopathy Without the Single Remedy?
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 the realities of modern practice, research, and education, Denise and Alastair bring over 50 years of experience to conversations that challenge assumptions and invite curiosity.
🎧 If you’re ready to look deeper — beyond trends, beyond opinion — join the conversation and rediscover what homeopathy truly is.
Explore more:
• 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