Up The Swanee To Atlantis: Part 4 by Mike Bridger CCH Principal
23 March 2026 | by Mike Bridger
Continuing directly on from Part 3 of “Up the Swanee to Atlantis”, Mike Bridger concludes that, in order to avoid the many already outlined potential pitfalls, the return to a more simplistic approach of observation and diagnosis could be the key to empowering ourselves as Homeopaths while maximising the benefits to our patients.
Up The Swanee To Atlantis: Part 4
It would be easy to interpret what I say as an argument for ignoring mentals and emotionals and prescribing only on either physical or clinical symptoms. This would be to miss the point. I prescribe a remedy which matches where the patient's vitality shows itself to be disturbed, not where I think it should be disturbed. It is not for us to choose which level we prescribe on; the patient shows us. I will prescribe on the mental/emotional state where I find characteristic symptoms which indicate disturbances in that sphere, but I do not feel compelled to invent them. I have often prescribed on the rubric 'suppressed anger'1, but not based on some formless 'intuition' but justifiably from the patient's own words and images. I will clarify my interpretation of an event with the patient to make absolutely sure that this isn't me just prescribing for me, but prescribing from the patient's own sense of their reality, as expressed through their symptoms. If I suspect such a mental or emotional conflict I will ask them, "Do you think that it might be...?"
Many homoeopaths I have spoken to agree that most prescriptions are based on physical symptoms, particularly physical generals. Is there then an imbalance in what gets taught? If so, it makes it very difficult for those studying and practising in their early years if we somehow imply that our prescriptions are only worthy when we have uncovered some inner mental delusion. Such a notion stems from misinterpretation of some of the concepts central to homoeopathy. The terms 'essence' and 'centre' are wrongly used to imply that which is internal, deep inside and from which all else springs. This confusion leads to divorce between symptoms and their meaning. The tendency to aim prescriptions at such inner causations whilst dismissing the symptoms, reduces symptoms to something symbolic, external and shallow.
However, the homoeopathic meaning of essence or centre is not a hidden or inner causation, but the thread that runs through the symptoms of the case. It is the story or theme of those symptoms. The essence of Sepia is its stasis. 'Stasis' is an umbrella word for many of the specific symptoms of the remedy. It isn't some secretive inner seed, which nature hides inside our Sepia patients, so that only clairvoyants may prescribe for them. It is flesh and blood and positively manifests in front of our eyes.
It could be argued that the remedies act only where the image perceived by the practitioner matches/mirrors the reality of the patient. If the practitioner's interpretation of events and symptoms is incorrect, the worst that happens is nothing. However there is another element to consider apart from our remedies, and that is the explicit or implicit stance of the practitioner.
Let me illustrate this point by a case of a very destructive child of five who had been referred to a child psychologist. Imagine the feelings of a mother who felt increasingly that she had done something wrong in the bringing up of the child. The poor woman then sees a homoeopath who, apart from remedies, implies that the woman holds back on her emotions and needs to express more love for the child. The mother follows out the homoeopath's instructions, which involves affirmations etc., but without success. I cannot differentiate between the tyranny of the psychologist and the tyranny of the homoeopath who with the best of intentions made judgements and prescriptions based only on speculation. Imagine the mother's joy when I explained that the child was simply in need of a remedy called Calc Carb, which I prescribed. One month later the child was transformed. More importantly, the mother was freed from her miasma of guilt which had been laid on her by the so-called helpers.
It is time we clarify and define the boundaries of homoeopathy. There is too much emphasis on psycho-prescribing at the expense of the physical body. It needs to be redressed. I am tired of holding up the repertory in front of classes and pointing out the size of the mind section in relation to the rest of Kent's Repertory. Was Kent just a bored old man, with nothing better to do on a Saturday night than scrawl out physical symptoms when he knew they were of no earthly use whatsoever when it comes to finding the curative remedy? I think not.
Perhaps I am somewhat alone with these impressions. On the other hand, while I suspect a lot of folk will disagree, I suspect that a few will breathe a sigh of relief at my call for a return to simple homoeopathy. Simplicity is, I would contend, the heart of spirituality and profundity. If we lose that heart, we lose the fun and sheer joy of the profession we embrace. I do not think we have lost that spirit yet, but I do think we need to be careful of the 'holier than thou' attitude where, because we practise such a subtle form of healing, we assume we are immune to the same temptations that we happily attribute solely to the medical profession. Our business is the observation of energy and therein lies a great deal of power. We can utilise that power to empower our patients, or we can retain it for the benefit of our own egos. If we do the latter, in direct conflict with Hahnemann's warning in paragraph 1, we will become removed from the reality of what sickness and disease means to most people, and we will be at one with the dinosaurs and much of the medical profession.
Acknowledgement
Mike Bridger is the Principal of CCH Bristol, and a lecturer at The College of Homoeopathy in Regents College, London. He has taught at many colleges around the world, holding seminars in New York, California, Dublin, Cork, Belgrade, Istanbul, Malaga, Reykjavik and Helsinki. He has worked as a homeopath at two medical centers in Somerset, and was also involved in an asthma research trial centred at Exeter University, and works as a clinician at Ainsworth’s pharmacy, London.
If you have enjoyed this final instalment of Mike Bridger’s four-part article “Up the Swanee to Atlantis”, do contact us with any further queries. Perhaps you would be interested in learning directly and in person from Mike Bridger (The Contemporary College of Homeopathy’s founder and Principal), together with the expert team of lecturers he has assembled over the years? If so, be sure to check out the range of courses the College runs, as well as information on the coming Open Days.
References:
1Kulkarni, A. (2026). Mental Rubrics in Homeopathy: Interpretation, Analysis & Clinical Application. Hpathy.com. https://hpathy.com/homeopathy-papers/perspectives-on-mental-rubrics-a-multifaceted-analysis/ [cited 2026 March]
2Book 1, Volume I, Chapter 10: The Red Thread of a Case (The Dynamic Legacy: Hahnemann From Homeopathy to Heilkunst). https://homeopathiceducation.com/red.php [cited 2026 March]
3SEPIA - LECTURES ON HOMOEOPATHIC MATERIA MEDICA by JAMES TYLER KENT, A.M., M.D. http://www.homeoint.org/books3/kentmm/sep.htm [cited 2026 March]
4Calcarea carbonica from Materia Medica by Cyrus Maxwell Boger. Homeopathy. (n.d.). https://www.materiamedica.info/en/materia-medica/cyrus-maxwell-boger/calcarea-carbonica [cited 2026 March]
5Kent Repertory | Home page. https://kentrepertory.com/ [cited 2026 March]
6Aphorism 1-10 - The Organon. https://www.homeopathyschool.com/the-school/editorial/the-organon/aphorism-1-10/