Peter Gregory: “Insights Into Veterinary Homeopathy”

As a practicing homeopath that also happens to be a veterinarian, the experience of reading Peter Gregory's book was akin to a satisfyingly deep discussion with a good friend. I found myself smiling and nodding frequently, in between bursts of, “I really hadnʼt thought of it that way before,” (all is not grief) and “Oh, so thatʼs what that means!” (Coherence, a measure of the interference between wavelengths.) Gregory creates a personal connection right from the outset, building comfortably on his rapport with the reader and maintaining it throughout the book.

Fearlessly discussing the theory behind how remedies work, Gregory leads us out of our grounding in Newtonian physics and into the fascinating world of resonance phenomena, chaos theory, and biodynamics; relating these to the action of remedies and the maintenance or recovery of health by the vital force. For those who want to explore the mysteries of homeopathy within the framework of quantum physics, the author provides ample references.

I found many gems within this book, such as how particular modalities can be generalized, and how the homeopathʼs goal, health, is a state of inner peace. The chapter on Health and Disease has a very helpful summary that is worth reading, even for experienced practitioners. Gregory has truly “walked the walk,” struggling to help patients whose vital forces are depleted from extensive chemical medications and chronic physical pathology. His tone of gentle encouragement combined with a deep understanding brings hope and a new sense of purpose to any reader struggling with these issues in daily practice.

The middle section of the book explores the most common remedies seen in animal patients, illustrating each remedy from a few different perspectives. While I have not found it useful in my practice to analyze my cases in terms of remedy families and the position of the remedy in the periodic table, the authorʼs concurrent exploration of miasmatic states did increase my understanding. In addition to discussing the physical aspects of each remedy state, Gregory relies heavily upon the practitionerʼs emotional response to the patient, termed the “responsion” by Wenda B. OʼReilly in her annotated sixth edition of the Organon. [Hahnemann S. Redmond, WA: Birdcage Books; 1996: p. 336] This often-overlooked and usually undeveloped aspect to the patient interview was described by Hahnemann in § 253, “When there is an ever-so-slight beginning of aggravation, the patient will demonstrate … a more self-conscious, more helpless state of emotional mind, of the spirit of the whole behaviour and of all attitudes, positions and performances–a state which draws more pity to itself.” [p. 225] and in § 210's footnote, “One often encounters patients with the most painful, protracted diseases who have a mild, gentle emotional mind such that the medical-art practitioner feels impelled to bestow attention and sympathy upon them.” [p. 196]. As Hahnemann states also in § 253, “This can be easily seen if one observes with exact attentiveness, but it cannot be easily described in words.” Gregory has found the words. This data, together with physical and mental/emotional symptoms from the patient, brings the full picture of the disease closer.

Finally, the last section of the book explores the more personal challenges faced by all veterinary homeopaths, together with excellent suggestions to address them, such as mentoring, and a fascinating role-playing exercise for patient (client), receiver (homeopath), and observer. Gregory also discusses the important subjects of end-of-life decisions, as well as the sources of and reasons for the opposition to veterinary homeopathy. Enjoy the read! Insights into Veterinary Homeopathy offers useful information and a friendly supportive voice to any veterinary homeopath.