The Rootstock of Synchronosophy (Part I, Chapter 2/6)

the Sub-Soil of Synchronosophy

In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans; in one aspect of You are found all the aspects of existence.

〰 Khalil Gibran 〰

photo © Perikklis Iolis on Unsplash

Knowledge of the Ancestors

»Our ancestors are totally essential to our every waking moment, although most of us don't even have the faintest idea about their lives, their trials, their hardships or challenges.«

〰 Annie Lennox 〰

Julius Löwen, the author’s great-great-grandfather

Julius Löwen (1822-1907), owner of a silk factory, gifted poet and composer of songs in praise of the Lord, and my mother’s great-grandfather, was one of the co-founders of the German branch of the Brethren, a nonconformist church movement established in the 19th century by John Nelson Darby, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, lawyer, and clergyman.

The Brethren dismiss the usual hierarchy in the church. Their congregations don’t need a vicar, anyone who feels called to preach and interpret the bible can do so. Similar to the Amish, they regard modern technology, lifestyle and consumerism as a threat. Radio, TV, theatre and other secular entertainment are rejected as ‘work of the Devil’.

One advantage of being a young Brethren in Nazi Germany was that they were exempt from joining the Hitler Youth (a paramilitary Nazi organisation). As young adults, my parents, both born and raised in the Brethren church, were ready to break with the religious tradition of their families. They emerged from WW II as rebellious pacifists, and conscientious objectors.

Upon starting their own family in the 1950s my mum and dad decided they didn’t want to squeeze their children into the straitjacket of Brethren beliefs and life-style. To escape the austere grip of their elders, they decided to emigrate, and so we ended up living in Bethlehem.

Abraham’s Herberge, the author’s main childhood home

New Age spirituality in the late 20th century was, admittedly, a far cry from the 19th century beliefs of the Brethren. Likewise, my own childhood in a Lutheran missionary environment in the Holy Land (late 1950s – 1967) was far more restrictive and structured than the lives of Totnesian children and their elders.

I loved Totnes. Mingled with overwhelming expressions of affection, empathy, kindness and the comfort of community, however, there was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on at the time.

In hindsight that musty smell is not hard to identify. It’s that iffy tang of missionary zeal, which accompanies many ‘spiritual followers’ of all New Age sister- and brotherhoods. I have a healthy immune reaction to missionary zeal. It triggers an off-switch inside my solar plexus.

My Lutheran upbringing with Brethren roots and New Age influences have nurtured my ‘spiritual growth’. The linens, in which I was swaddled from infancy onward, were woven of three types of thread:

: the first strand was spun of the quest for understanding the mysteries of life and living in harmony with higher consciousness.

:: the second twine was drawn from the paradox of striving for perfection, which is forever out of reach, twisted with counting one’s blessings, dyed in the yarn with Christian guilt and shame.

::: the third ~ a resilient fibre made for breaking traditions ~ plucked from the floss of free and creative spirit, destined to nurture a critically hungry mind, was plied with the courage to question the ways of my elders.

Synchronosophy explores the perennial questions of life and everyday experience with an open mind and free spirit ~ while nurturing both.

The Transformative Language of Psychosynthesis

»There is no certainty, there is only adventure.«

〰 Roberto Assagioli 〰

HIGHER SELF, photo © Engin Akyurt on Unsplash

While living in Totnes, surrounded by a supportive circle of loyal New-Agey-friends, I completed my training in classical homœopathy. Alongside attending lectures, writing essays about remedies of the Materia Medica, analysing case studies, and studying Hahnemann’s Organon ~ the homœopathic ‘bible’, I was also introduced to the fascinating and little known ‘science of psychosynthesis’.

Regular classes in psychosynthesis ~ a.k.a. transpersonal psychotherapy ~ were part of our curriculum.

Psychosynthesis, generally referred to as a holistic type of psychotherapy, was developed by Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli (1888 - 1974) as a method for transformational personal development.

In 1940, Assagioli was imprisoned by the Fascist police of Mussolini’s government, accused of “praying for peace and inviting others to join him…”

While being held in solitary confinement, Assagioli received his inspiration for what he later called the Science of Psychosynthesis, and which subsequently became his life’s work and legacy.

Psychosynthesis was, as far as I’m aware, the first form of therapy to introduce the concept of sub-personalities. Psychosynthesis also uses effective visualisation techniques, similar to shamanic journeying. You can call it mental imagery, or inner journeying, or psychoexpansion. This is one of the most powerful languages of psychosynthesis.

During one of my first sessions under the guidance of a practitioner at the Totnes Health Centre I met my ‘Higher Self’ while diving deep down into my ‘inner ocean’. The profound and vivid experience became an indispensable tool for self-knowledge.

Many years later, psychosynthesis inspired and nurtured the discipline and practice of Synchronosophy within a brand-new microcosmic egg of her own. The tools of sub-personalities and psychoexpansion re-emerged, unexpectedly, reincarnating in new formats.

Synchronosophy ~ hatched from its own egg-model of human consciousness ~ has sprouted a range of powerful tools, some reminiscent of Assagioli’s sub-personalities and psychoexpansion.

The True Power of Homœopathy

»The long-term benefit of homeopathy to the patient is that it not only alleviates the presenting symptoms but it reestablishes internal order at the deepest levels and thereby provides a lasting cure.«

〰 George Vithoulkas 〰

HOMŒOPATHIC REMEDIES, photo © Zdenek Machazek on Unsplash

In synchrony with the transformative modalities of psychosynthesis, I had the good fortune to experience the rich and inspired science of classical homœopathy firsthand. Having been deeply immersed in the study and translation of homœopathic literature for decades, it has made a profound impact on my understanding of the processes of healing, regenerating, and life itself.

Most people have a concept of homœopathy as a form of therapy that uses ‘highly diluted medicines’ ~ this is often the butt end of jokes among critics. Homœopathy is also regularly confused with herbalism, or thought of as ‘harmless’, because it is so ‘diluted’ that it can only have a placebo effect.

All such misconceptions have nothing to do with classical homœopathy. Those small sugar pills, or drops are not ‘herbs’. They are often preparations from highly toxic substances, e.g. arsenic, deadly nightshade, snake poison etc. And they are not ‘diluted’. They are potentised. (I don’t need to explain here what that means, because it is only relevant for homœopathic practitioners, and they will know what I mean).

As an aside: Recurring waves of anti-homœopathy propaganda warn against homœopathic medicine as ‘unscientific’ (= lacking knowledge or interest in science). Given the fact that Dr. Samuel Hahnemann was a medical doctor and a chemist, dedicating most of his life to meticulous studies of the materia medica, this is utter nonsense. Such claims reveal the unscientific mindset of ill informed commentators who confuse personal prejudice with ‘expert knowledge’, offering shoddy ‘evidence’.

Ignorance and misunderstanding has accompanied homœopathy since it’s inception. Untrained laypeople, including medical doctors, have used homœopathic remedies in allopathic ways, called it ‘homœopathy’, found ‘it doesn’t work’, and subsequently put the blame on Hahnemann’s ingenious and highly sophisticated system.

Again, this only proves the ignorance and lack of skill of the users. Such is unfortunately the fate of many innovators in human history, but it’s not my topic here either.

What I do want to explain is the true power of homœopathy. This is what uninformed so-called ‘critics’ always miss completely, and which shows them up as slanderers. The true power of homœopathy is its philosophy.

The philosophy of homœopathy focuses on understanding the following six core aspects:

1. – the nature and power of a complete symptom

2. – the human organism as a self-healing system

3. – the crucial importance of the vital force

4. – the oneness of body-mind-spirit and its environment

5. – the significance of personal patterns, and how to recognise them

6. – the principle of the simillimum, a.k.a. ‘like-cures-like’

The philosophy of homœopathy can be distilled into these six quintessential ingredients. Synchronosophy emerged, naturally, impregnated with these essences.

The practice of Synchronosophy is based on the understanding of a complete symptom. A ‘symptom’ in this case is not a physical disorder but a coinciding ~ a synchrony ~ of internal and external events in the subjective experience of the individual.

Any external incident that triggers internal discomfort (or bliss) ~ e.g. emotional turbulence and mental turmoil (or spontaneous euphoria) ~ is a synchrony.

Such a synchronous event ~ in the beginner’s practice often perceived as negative by nature ~ is subsequently resolved through a process of translating the information between various distinct inner languages. This translation process enables the synchronosopher to recognise a dysfunctional pattern within their own organism and heal it.

Moreover, the healing of a negative synchrony does not only alleviate the presenting ‘symptoms’ but reestablishes internal order and harmony at the deepest levels ~ just like any skillful classical homœopathic treatment.

But the healing process can only be stimulated when we have a clear understanding of the ‘complete symptom’ ~ the synchrony.

When we can identify the synchrony, the navigation instruments of Synchronosophy offer various options to give impulses towards healing ~ just like a homœopathic remedy ~ without any medicinal tinctures or globules.

Synchronosophy is a modality which uses homœopathic principles without the remedies.

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Chapter 1