David Lilley: “Healing the Soul. The Lives of Samuel Hahnemann and William Lilley”

This is a fascinating book, describing as if it is two books in one, the lives of Samuel Hahnemann and William Lilley. In fact it is three books as it also exposes the exciting life of the author, David Lilley. I was enthralled by the style and the focus. I hope that no one is scared off by the emphasis on the soul; whether the gentle reader clings to any religious faith or none, this book is deeply satisfying and hard to put down.

I thought I had read most of what there is to read about Hahnemann in English, but David Lilley has not just studied the standard biographies of Hahnemann, by Bradford, Haehl and Handley, he has created fresh interpretations of them. He displays wide erudition in his exposés of Hahnemannʼs own writings in the “Chronic Diseases” and more, and contemporary critics like Dawkins and Ernst. Lilleyʼs style epitomises the title of one the chapters, Of passion and potency, wherein he describes Hahnemannʼs happy and fruitful last years in Paris with Melanie, and the creation of his new LM scale. Hahnemann perforce has been described as wielding a “warriorʼs pen”, here emulated by David Lilley.

The second life is more difficult for me to appreciate. I have no understanding of the concept of communing with the souls and hearing the voices of the dead. I pass by this concept regularly in the Delusions section of the Mind chapter of the repertory. William Lilley grew up in industrial Yorkshire and escaped from a humdrum life with spectacular successes as a spiritual healer and then a homeopath. He communed with souls of the deceased and healed the souls of the living. He was guided by the voice of a former Indian physician as a benign and positive influence, which took him to London and South Africa.

David Lilley was not just a bystander but also a participant. He studied medicine in South Africa, homeopathy and osteopathy in London and returned to a successful career in South Africa. He really does demonstrate a zest for healing his patients, teaching his colleagues and now sharing his experiences as a benign healer of souls. I have read no other book like this one about homeopathy. It is so revealing I even think that I could name a suitable remedy for the author, but he is not sick; this is a health-giving tonic of a book.