How are Miasm Layers Different?
In this excerpt from the Miasm Prescribing lecture by Dr. Robin Murphy, ND, we explore how modern terminology like "diathesis" can clarify the concept of miasmatic layers. Dr. Murphy discusses how general layers and miasm-specific layers influence predisposition to disease, sensitivity, and the functioning of the vital force.
This podcast is an excerpt from Dr. Robin Murphy ND’s full Miasm Prescribing lecture that discusses the art and theory of miasmatic prescribing.
Miasm Prescribing teaches the art and theory of miasmatic prescribing, exploring miasms as underlying weaknesses that contribute to both acute and chronic disease. It explores miasmic theories (both classical and modern), diagnosing the five different types of miasms: active, dormant, exposed, acquired and inherited, explains the use of nosodes as intercurrent medicines and provides the Materia Medica of Tuberculinum, Syphillinum, Aurum Met, Mercury, Carcinosin, Medorrinum, Thuja, Psorinum, and Sulphur.
Whether you're new to miasmatic prescribing or looking to refine your skills, this lecture offers both foundational theory and practical tools for understanding miasms in clinical homeopathy.
The full Miasm Prescribing lecture is available for streaming access.
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Transcript:
Let’s talk about some layers. Miasmatic layers. First thing, the word miasm means diathesis. Diathesis is a better word to use because this is the word that modern medicine uses. They don't say miasm, they say diathesis. Diathesis means a predisposition to get a certain symptom or disease or a line of diseases. They have a respiratory diathesis. They have a diathesis to get respiratory problems, which means they have a respiratory miasm. It's all just words. If you use the word diathesis, you’ll hear doctors say, oh, yeah, now I know what you mean. If you say miasm, it sounds weird, archaic, old fashioned, something evil almost. But diathesis is generally accepted. The child has a diathesis to sore throats or bronchitis. This person has a rheumatic diathesis. It’s the same term. So, a lot of times you have to switch your terminology.
These diatheses are expressed in layers and all the layers that would accumulate – even a layer from grief or these other things produce their own diathesis. Theoretically, all layers are miasms, but miasm has a more particular definition and insinuates some type of infectious type of thing. A lot of times people say layers or miasmatic layers as opposed to just a layer. A layer can be caused by any shock or trauma. A miasmatic layer is usually caused by an infection, all of them but cancer. Some people believe that's due to some infection also, there's many causes.
What are some of the components of layers? Quickly, we’ll talk about it in relation to miasms. Layers, I think we referred to some of this already. Layers are typified by their own time, energy and attention. It means a person, when they're in a certain layer, their time, their energy and their attention is going to certain places that limit them. So, when you treat someone and remove this layer, you'll see their time, energy and attention will shift somewhere else and their limitations should be removed with it.
Also, each layer is typified by stress and sensitivity. A person is weak in a certain area and stress is coming in and they're sensitive in a certain area. So when you remove a miasmatic layer, you should see their sensitivities change from one level to another level, whatever the order is. It used to be sensitive to eating sweets and these types of things and you treated them, and now they're not. That's a sign that they have went to a new layer, which is a whole layer. Okay? And they also, all of them usually have the personality symptoms, personalities are being expressed. That's layers in general. Okay? Now let's take this idea and talk about my miasms specifically.
Miasms affect the vital force and they affect how the vital force functions. Quickly, we’ll go over [it], the functions of the vital force are survival, reproduction, the natural instincts of the person. And it's also, the vital force is concerned with maintenance. Maintenance, especially the physical body, but also the mental and emotion. Vithoulkas talks about how the vital force can be very weak due to the state of the parents health at the time of conception. So, you can have another factor in there or weaknesses can be acquired during pregnancy or onwards but those are more – not necessarily miasmatic, that’s just a weakness.
The vital force also has to do with the implementing of genetic type of things. It seems like it's preprogrammed. And we have to have this idea of the vital force as blind animal-like, it's our lower self, it's preprogrammed to do certain things. It will cause us to get sick or cause us to get very tired, it will offer to heal itself or whatever. It is not always this benign benevolent thing. It's more animal like our animal-like instinctual nature is the vital force. And it goes through life creating a lot of our passions, impulses, and these types of things. We're driven by the vital force to eat, to sleep, to keep warm, to reproduce. These are drives of the vital force and you'll see a lot of our miasms overactivate or under activate some these normal functions. They can make a person more passionate or even shut it down. The vital force can make the person self-destructive even if it's not programmed properly. So, a lot of these miasmatic phenomena that we see are just bad programming. And the homeopathic remedies, especially the nosodes, go in to try to fix the programming based on their scope of action.
