Dr Massimo Mangialavori’s books

Arnica montana is most likely the most widely used homeopathic remedy in the world, even without a prescription: a name well known as symptomatic by common users, therapists and doctors with varying degrees of training in so-called classical homeopathic therapy. Arnica, like Apis, Belladonna, Colocynthis, Hepar sulphur, Mezereum and many others, has traditionally been used for acute suffering, forgetting that both before and after the particular way of falling ill described in the provings, there is much, much more. For most remedies, the clinical experience of what precedes and follows the emerging phase of the provings is, all in all, easily observable: homeopathic symptoms, common syndromes and pathologies, particular behaviours, anxieties, fears, phobias … both in the early and late years of life.
Arnica and its similars are an excellent example of a very different organisation; if there are no traumatic experiences, which are extremely difficult to deal with, a good part of these remedies are well known for the first part of their apparently healthy life, an almost enviable condition, an experience of almost no illness or discomfort, often triumphing in their excellent resilience and quick recovery.
Our literature, however, also describes something of the overt imbalance of Arnica and its similars: patients which cannot tolerate themselves as a patient. Someone who, despite his ailments, refuses to see a doctor or take medicine and, if anything, manages his own treatment. A patient who sees doctors and healthcare facilities as the cause of his problems, which began when he is forced to deal with them.
Serious inflammatory diseases with fatal outcomes are not uncommon in soma: after years of well-being and an impeccable, healthy lifestyle, their own bodies betray them.
The alpha and omega of Arnica are not easy to investigate and in most cases it is the patient himself who does not participate, does not want to, cannot. Even when they are forced to, they use every strategy to be elusive. If my interpretation, if my experience with Arnica-like patients, is really worthy of reflection, then it may not be so difficult to understand why such an interesting remedy, so rich in homeopathic symptoms in our repertory, so useful in chronic conditions, can be downgraded to one of the most acute remedies in our literature.
Other remedies, similar to Arnica but botanically different, such as Hamamelis virginiana and Hydrastis canadensis, can easily be confused with the prince of vulneraries: a concept of homeopathic taxonomy already introduced in the text on Oils, a cornerstone of the Method of Complexity centred on the analogies of homeopathic clinical practice, which I clearly prefer to other grouping hypotheses.
This sixth volume proposes a group of remedies whose progenitor is well known but at the same time superficially described in our literature. Yet in the past, the little mountain flower was not only used for the outcome of trauma or abscesses (then potentially fatal) but also for varicose veins, diabetes, deforming arthritis, heart failure, tuberculosis and tumors.
Natural history, materia medica, clinical cases with long follow-up and authorised by the patient, repertory additions, differential diagnosis. Summary of the fundamental themes, characteristics, coherent groups of symptoms, motifs, pathologies and syndromes successfully treated in my personal case history for the following remedies:
1) Arnica montana
2) Achillea millefolium
3) Bellis perennis
4) Calendula officinalis
5) Erigeron canadensis
6) Eupatorium perfoliatum
7) Eupatorium purpureum
8) Gnaphalium polycephalum
9) Helianthus annuum
10) Cina officinalis
11) Chamomilla vulgaris
12) Leontopodium alpinum
13) Hydrastis canadensis
12) Hamamelis virginiana

The main topic covered in this book is extremely relevant. The most of the cases presented are deliberately related to the diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder: a condition that has been increasing significantly in recent years, not only because it seems less difficult to make such clinical observations. Obviously, I am far from believing that it is easy to treat patients of this kind, that it can only be done with good homeopathic therapy, or that only these few remedies are the only effective ones for seriously addressing autistic spectrum disorder. However, I feel it is my duty to inform my colleagues that I have been dealing with this problem for many years and have observed very interesting results, especially with remedies belonging to the homeopathic family of Oils. The following cases demonstrate this: there is clear progress in recurrent or chronic conditions, such as improved communication skills and greater independence, right through to quality of life in the broadest sense.
This volume also gives us the opportunity to address another important element of the Method of Complexity in Homeopathic Medicine: the relationship, the “vertical” connection between certain remedies: substances that are not necessarily relevant to known taxonomies, but whose organisation demonstrates the same interesting and demonstrable analogies as in previous volumes.
“In the volume dedicated to the homeopathic family of oils, the investigation into the characteristic features of this family of remedies is not carried out by compiling sterile catalogues of characteristic symptoms, but by taking us to the heart of a participatory relationship with painful and often dramatic conditions of existence. In this light, the literary reference made by the author in his preface to Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus is striking. In Shelley’s story, the uncertain boundary between life and non-life takes on further connotations through the reference to the theme of monstrosity. As Mangialavori points out, the wrecht, the poor, highly intelligent and sensitive creature, must grow up inside a body that is not his own and develop his resources outside the human community, from which he is excluded because of his strange appearance and his diversity. This is true of the most intense forms of mental suffering: after all, we all tend to label as crazy or monstrous anything that is difficult to understand.
In this sense, the autistic “spectrum” is like Mary Shelley’s “monster”: we should go and look for it where it lives and consider how it lives. If we continue to focus on what it does not do or is not, we will never encounter it”
(Alberto Panza)
Special thanks to Prof. Alberto Panza for his introduction to the text.
Natural history, materia medica, clinical cases with long follow-up and authorised by the patient, repertory additions, differential diagnosis. Summary of the fundamental themes, characteristics, coherent groups of symptoms, motifs, pathologies and syndromes successfully treated in my personal case history for the following remedies.:
1) Oleum animale
2) Oleum jecoris aselli
3) Lecithinum
4) Cholesterinum
5) Paraffinum
6) Pix liquida
7) Eupionum
8) Kreosotum
9) Petroleum
10) Ambra grisea
11) Indolum
12) Ichthyolum

One of the cornerstones of the Complexity Method in Homeopathic Medicine is precisely the study and research of coherence between the different vertices through which we observe the relationship between a certain substance and the Anthropos. I must thank spiders for making this clear to me more than 30 years ago when, together with Hans Zwemke, we published “Bitten in the soul”: the first homeopathic medicine book dedicated to an in-depth study of these cute little creatures in our pharmacopoeia.
There are so many similarities between their way of life, the symbolism that describes them from our anthropocentric perspective, the myth of the phallic spider mother, the medical anthropology of the tarantate so wonderfully described by Ernesto De Martino, and our observations as homeopaths.
The sense of persecution, the transgressive and oppositional behaviour, the periodicity, the relationship with rhythm and the dissonance between the patient’s time and that of the world around them, the need for an audience forced to suffer and adapt to their acting-out, the proverbial restlessness, the uncoordinated, choreiform motor skills, the paroxysmal suffering that is only partially curable through the patient’s own codes and not those of conventional medicine, the capacity for extreme and almost non-stop performances. Not to mention what for years was called “hysteria”: a pathology that does not exist on an objective clinical level, but is subjectively so painful as to be paralysing.
How intriguing it is to recognise these similarities: nothing to do with the toxicology of the real poison, but so much more to do with a symbolic intoxication!
Special thanks to Jeremy Sherr for his introduction to the text.
Natural history, materia medica, clinical cases with long follow-up and authorised by the patient, repertory additions, differential diagnosis. Summary of the fundamental themes, characteristics, coherent groups of symptoms, motifs, pathologies and syndromes successfully treated in my personal case history for the following remedies:
1) Tarentula hispanica
2) Aranea diadema
3) Latrodectus mactans
4) Theridion curassavicum
5) Mygala lasiodora
6) Aranea ixobola
7) Loxosceles reclusa
8) Tela aranearum
9) Buthus australis
10) Androctonos amoreuxii hebraeus

For several years now, I have been paying particular attention to the study of those remedies whose personality profile appears generally more “pleasant” and “positive”. Something similar, in very general terms, to what we have already described in the book on Milks but, in the case of some Rosaceae, much more evident. It seems undeniable to me that we usually tend to consider something clearly dissonant, a defect, a problem, as a “symptom” – or rather a homeopathic symptom. Obviously, when referring to more purely physical symptoms, an ulcer, a fracture or trigeminal pain are clear defects in the system. They hurt. However, if we broaden our observation, even if only to behavioural aspects, it is clear that suspicious, angry, destructive attitudes appear to be “defects” when compared to someone who is open, accommodating, generous … even self-sacrificing. For many years, it was understandably thought that there was nothing to treat in someone who was likeable, not very complaining and with excellent school results. Today, we know that this is not always the case. In fact, even these “good” rosaceae do indeed become ill, even prematurely and seriously, suffering from heart disease, rheumatic disorders, autoimmune diseases and other serious conditions.
Our literature is full of remedies described mainly with “unpleasant” profiles, especially those following the often rather judgemental observations of homeopaths such as Kent: colleagues who contributed to the creation of “homeopathic stereotypes” such as the licentious Platinum, the village idiot Baryta, and the mischievous Mercurius.
Obviously, such little monsters manifest many more defects, many more homeopathic symptoms, than Carcinosinum, Saccharum album, Candida albicans, Cyclamen, Crataegus oxycantha … but are they really less sick? Do they deserve less attention than Hepar sulphur or Medorrhinum?
The Rosaceae offer another very common form of suffering: an inner world of overflowing, overwhelming emotions that are very difficult to contain, a life of sacrifice, a forced self-denial, an extreme difficulty in living in the world without suffering for the pains of those less fortunate than us. These are diseases that strike at the heart, rheumatic, autoimmune …
Natural history, materia medica, clinical cases with long follow-up and authorised by the patient, repertory additions, differential diagnosis. Summary outline of the fundamental themes, characteristics, coherent groups of symptoms, motifs, pathologies and syndromes successfully treated in my personal case history for the following remedies:
1) Prunus spinosa
2) Spiraea ulmaria
3) Sanguisorba officinalis
4) Pyrus americana
5) Rosa damascena
6) Agrimonia eupatoria
7) Crataegus oxycantha
8) Rubus idaeus
9) Rubus fructicosus
10) Fragaria vesca

In the case of fungi, we cannot think in terms of homeopathic families. Fungi are, in fact, an entire kingdom of very special organisms: much of them is still wonderfully undiscovered, even by various branches of science. Fungi are also a kind of challenge to some deep-rooted clichés, to which even a large part of the homeopathic community remains bound.
Many still consider fungi to be plant organisms, when in fact they are in many ways more similar to animals than to plants. In fact, fungi are fungi, and those that “speak through the voices of our homeopathic patients” clearly tell us how proud they are of their absolute original diversity.
Essentially, fungi break down matter through a metabolism that our anthropocentric perspective would define as “destructive”: their purpose is the total mineralisation of organic matter.
Fungi are a “fourth kingdom”, a challenge to those who insist on reading our pharmacopoeia as consisting only of minerals, plants and animals.
Another “homeopathic kingdom”, if we really want to remain stubbornly attached to this triple taxonomic perspective, to which we can add imponderable remedies, nosodes and perhaps even gases and others. I prefer to study substances as they present themselves and not only for their place in the periodic table or in other taxonomies, trying to understand why something is what it is … and not something else.
Fungi live, like us, but mainly hidden. They live, but their existence is fundamentally “catabolic”. They live mainly in environments that are hostile to plants and animals. They live, as we do, but following completely different paths and have done so for much longer, even though we have only been studying them for a short time.
Theoretically, our homeopathic literature recognises about seventy fungi. In fact, it is difficult to come across interesting cases beyond the well-known Agaricus muscarius, Bovista lycoperdon, Secale cornutum and Ustilago maydis.
In recent years, I have conducted some provings that I have never published, as I have simply had other priorities. Some of the fungi I propose for study are not yet present in our literature, but I thought that in the past other colleagues have written on several occasions about remedies that they had the intuition to study and prescribe, feeling then the duty to inform our community. I hope that in the near future I will be able to devote myself to publishing these provings, as it is not out of the question that someone else may do so, confirming, improving or refuting my experiences.
I wanted to offer as complete a picture as possible of this “kingdom”. I would like to reiterate that I do not consider fungi to be a “homeopathic family”, but I would suggest that we can recognise some broad common traits by broadening the scope of the concept of homeopathic similarity. I refer you to the case studies and your own judgement …
Natural history, materia medica, clinical cases with long follow-up and authorised by the patient, repertory additions, differential diagnosis. Summary of the fundamental themes, characteristics, coherent groups of symptoms, motifs, pathologies and syndromes successfully treated in my personal case history for the following remedies.
1) Agaricus muscarius
2) Bovista lycoperdon
3) Ustilago maydis
4) Secale cornutum
5) Boletus laricis
6) Psilocybe caerulescens
7) Boletus satanas
8) Boletus edulis
9) Phallus impudicus
10) Cordyceps sinensis
11) Auricularia polytricha
12) Lentinula edodes
13) Candida albicans
14) Boleus lucidus

This is the first volume of my Clinical Materia Medica. There is a specific reason why I decided to write this book on milks. Homeopathically speaking, these remedies have undeniable similarities, and not only in terms of what we call local symptoms: somatic manifestations that are sometimes superficial and sometimes less so.
The similarities with regard to the most significant vulnerabilities, which I define as the fundamental themes of the remedies, as well as other purely behavioural and clinical traits, are striking. Equally evident are the similarities between remedies that not only all come from the same animal kingdom, all from mammals and all from “substances” that are almost identical in chemical composition and function: the milk. The first and only food of every baby animal, different in each species to ensure its development in the time necessary and specific to each mammal: whether a predator, prey or domestic animal.
However, this substance, together with its biochemistry, also represents the bond between mother and child. It is a vital element symbolising continuity after development in the womb. It is an element that interprets the first detachment, an epoch-making step towards individuality, both in the first days of life and at the beginning of weaning.
How interesting it is that humans are the only ones who continue to feed on it even after that time!
Special thanks to Giovanni Marotta for the introduction to the book.
Natural history, materia medica, clinical cases with long follow-up and authorised by the patient, repertory additions, differential diagnosis. Summary of the fundamental themes, characteristics, coherent groups of symptoms, motifs, pathologies and syndromes successfully treated in my personal case history for the following remedies.:
1) Lac caninum
2) Lac felinum
3) Lac vaccinum defloratum
4) Lac equinum
5) Lac ovinum
6) Lac caprinum
7) La suis
8) Lac asinum
9) Lac lupinum
10) Lac leoninum
11) Lac loxodonta africana
12) Lac delphinum
13) Lac glama
14) Lac humanum

Praxis was published in 2004 and presents the rudiments of my thinking and the foundations of my original model of study, research and work. I am looking forward to writing a new bbok that will clarify what is illustrated in this one, after more than 20 years of applying this model and evolving my thinking through continuous discussion of my clinical practice. Nevertheless, Praxis remains a text of fundamental importance for those interested in better understanding the Method of Complexity in Homeopathic Medicine.
The decision to deal specifically with certain drug remedies was a deliberate one: in fact, one of the foundations of this method is precisely the concept of the homeopathic family, which does not respect the rigidity of botanical taxonomies, nor of others which, in my opinion, are not focused on the clinical aspect and, above all, on the concept of the organisation of the themes that characterise similar remedies.
The clinical cases I present clearly demonstrate the similarities between these remedies, even though they are substances from completely different botanical taxonomies, even different kingdoms, as Bufo is an animal, Agaricus is a fungus, Aether is a gas, and Lithium carbonicum is a mineral. And yet …
The first volume deals with:
The concept of similarity and its application
The definition of themes in homeopathic medicine, their hierarchy and organisation.
The concept of homeopathic families and subfamilies.
The so-called case taking and negative diagnosis.
The analysis of the clinical case.
Clinical material and criteria for the validity of cases.
Repertory additions.

The first tome of the second volume:
Drugs in Homeopathic Medicine
1) Anhalonium lewinii
2) Psilocybe caerulescens
3) Agaricus muscarius
4) Bovista lycoperdon
5) Convolvulus duartinus
6) Nabalus serpentaria
The second tome of the second volume:
7) Bufo rana
8) Coca eritroxylon
9) Lithium carbonicum
10) Piper methysticum
11) Cannabis indica
12) Penthorum sedoides
13) Camphora officinalis

The third volume of the second volume:
14) Aether
15) Hydrogenium
16) Laurocerasus
17) Banisteropsis caapi

Solanaceae is a book written by Betty Wood and taken from a seminar she organised for the NEHA (New England Homeopathic Association), which lasted seven days and was held in Boston. Belladonna is a giant in our literature, certainly one of those remedies in the repertory with an exaggerated number of symptoms which, in my opinion, only correspond to it to a very small extent.
Between around 30,000 symptoms in the repertory and the approximately 300 that are truly significant for each remedy, the disproportion is enormous. We still hear colleagues argue that Belladonna is a remedy limited to acute cases: it is right to respect the opinions of others as much as we respect what is reported in our literature and, above all, the impossibility of closing our eyes and minds to the experience we have had with patients.
Belladonna, and several other similar remedies, is a very useful remedy and, as such, recognisable and usable in any circumstance, with undeniable evidence in many chronic patients.
As in my first book on methodology, Praxis, I wanted to emphasise what I have observed since the beginning of my clinical experience: how much the homeopathic relationship between remedies transcends botanical taxonomies and how, within those classifications, we find remedies that are not at all similar. Belladonna can certainly be confused with Stramonium, Hyosciamus, Mandragora, Solanum nigrum, Datura metel and other botanical solanaceae, but in my experience it has almost nothing to do with Tabacum, Capsicum, Dulcamara, Lycopersicum, Solanum tuberosum and others. On the other hand, Gallicum acidum, Lyssinum, Tanacetum, and others show extremely interesting similarities in their homeopathic profile, which are illustrated in the text through cases followed up over a long period of time.
Notes on natural history, materia medica, clinical cases with long follow-ups and authorised by the patient, repertorial additions, differential diagnoses, pathologies and syndromes successfully treated in my personal case history for the following remedies:
1) Belladonna
2) Mandragora
3) Gallicum acidum
4) Solanum nigrum
5) Lyssinum
6) Hyosciamus niger
7) Capsicum
8) Dulcamara
9) Tabacum
10) Solanum tuberosum aegrotans
11) Lycopersicum esculentum
12) Solanum tuberosum

InSEcurity is a text written by Betty Wood and taken from a seminar she organised for the NEHA (New England Homeopathic Association), which lasted seven days and was held in Boston. The Italian translation was edited by Rossana Ceriani.
Insecurity, in its many facets, is a problem we face in our daily practice and which our literature reports in a fragmented and rather imprecise manner. In fact, it is not really sufficient to rely on the suggestions of various repertories under the heading “Want of self confidence” without considering the numerous cross-references, which are not exhaustive. If we consider how clearly insecurity is expressed on a somatic level through numerous symptoms: from sweating under the armpits or palms of the hands, frequent urination, diarrhoea, stuttering, insomnia, erectile dysfunction and vaginismus, asthma, dizziness and nausea … to name but a few. Although a week-long seminar on this topic may seem long, and although the many remedies presented are not limited to the usual Lycopodium, Gelsemium and a few others, the subject is so vast that the aim of the seminar, as in the text, is to encourage a more complex reading of insecurity, both in its most obvious manifestations on the soma and in relation to other aspects of the patient’s suffering.
Notes on natural history, materia medica, clinical cases with long follow-up and authorised by the patient, repertory additions, differential diagnosis, pathologies and syndromes successfully treated in my personal case history for the following remedies.
1) Aluminium compounds
2) Barium compounds
3) Gossypium
4) Saccharum album
5) Epiphegus virginiana
6) Tabacum
7) Daphne indica
8) Aconitum napellus
9) Magnetis polus australis
10) Thallium metallicum
11) … and others

This small book, or rather pamphlet, was written by Betty Wood based on notes taken during a five-day seminar dedicated to some remedies from this homeopathic family.
The experience gained from prescribing these remedies in cases with long follow-ups shows how important the relationship with “mortality” and the unique resilience of these patients are. Obviously, I am not suggesting that this group of remedies is the only one to deal with this issue in such a dramatic way, but I would like to emphasise the peculiarity of a life marked by hypondria, which seems to leave room for an acceptance that is yet to be discovered.
Notes on natural history, materia medica, clinical cases with long follow-up and authorised by the patient, repertory additions, differential diagnosis, pathologies and syndromes successfully treated in my personal case history for the following remedies.
1) Cactus grandiflorus
2) Cereus bonplandii
3) Cereus serpentinus
4) Opuntia alba spina
5) Opuntia vulgaris
6) Agave americana

In our literature, there is often a tendency to confuse the experience of generic anger with that of humiliation, particularly when anger is suffered and, for many reasons, seems particularly difficult to express and communicate.
This text is the result of notes taken by Peter Federer during a seminar held in Switzerland, where I presented some clinical cases related to remedies that are well known in our literature, with the aim of differentiating them and specifying their specific personality organisations and most common pathologies.
Alongside the classics Staphysagria, Ignatia and Chamomilla, remedies such as Ipecacuanha, Magnetis polus australis, Ferrum magneticum, Chelidonium and others appear …

The first and second volumes are forthcoming, currently only in English.
Due to space and printing constraints, we have chosen to devote a large and detailed section to differential diagnoses, discussing remedies which, in my clinical experience, can be confused with the polychrest in question. It is undeniable that the 50 remedies in our repertory for the highest number of symptoms, the so-called polychrests, have made the history of Homeopathic Medicine. Many patients around the world have been treated and cured with these remedies and continue to demonstrate their effectiveness after more than 200 years. Every homeopath should remember them every morning and sacrifice their cockerels to Aesculapius.
Nevertheless, I consider it highly questionable to assert that Homeopathic Medicine is based on respect for the individuality of the patient, their specific way of suffering and falling ill, limiting the range of possible manifestations to less than fifty remedies. Beyond the obvious contradiction in terms, since the beginning of my profession, the facts have shown me the opposite. Many highly respected teachers of the past have dedicated their lives to compiling clinical medical books, the fruit of their real and very personal experience, reporting well over fifty so-called polycrests.
The concept of similarity is certainly relative: it can be applied with broad and superficial perspectives or, when the homeopath’s time and knowledge allow, it can be very accurate and specific.
My reference model of homeopathic medicine, like that of many classical homeopaths who preceded me and others of my generation, seeks a so-called “constitutional remedy”: the one that most closely approximates the way the patient functions as a whole, over a broad time frame. This concept of “simillimum” is very different from the so-called onion model or those concerned with the patient’s current state at that moment.
In most cases, what is described, imagined, recounted or taught about polycrests does not go beyond a kind of large container, or umbrella, which paints a very general picture of how we function, not only typical of homo sapiens. It is a sort of caricature, a homeopathic stereotype, which certainly stimulates the resilience of a system. When that system needs more precise information, problems begin, hence the need for a good differential diagnosis.
In these five volumes, we have chosen not to publish a clinical case for each remedy in order to focus more on those that, in my experience, can easily be confused with that polycrest.

From Winnicot’s concept of the False Self to what is now technically known as Fantastic Pseudology, or simply the need to construct and/or wear armour that can make us appear better or more or less the consciously mask that protect our most fragile parts …
A defensive strategy that can be expressed in many different ways. Some of these are described through various clinical cases and clinical materia medica, which has emerged and been collected from the stories of many patients.
Notes on natural history, materia medica, clinical cases with long follow-ups and authorised by the patient, repertory additions, differential diagnoses, pathologies and syndromes successfully treated in my personal case history for the following remedies.
Carcinosinum, Staphysagria, some little-known homeopathic milks, some Rosaceae, some Primulaceae, some acids, some drugs, Saccharum album, Tilia europea, Folliculinum, Sulphur, Chromium, Niccolum, Zincum, Coccus cacti, some parasites, Palladium, Thuja and some Brassicaceae …

This series of notes consists of six small volumes compiled by Vicky Burley and taken from the second three-year international advanced course in Homeopathic Medicine held in Bologna from 2002 to 2004. Although this material was collected for internal use at the school, it has aroused great interest and has been in high demand from many colleagues around the world who did not participate in the course. Such feedback should be pleasing, but I must admit that I find it difficult to understand the reason for this, as without having attended the lectures, the information is extremely concise, taken out of context and written as notes rather than a book. Clearly, “shortcuts” always find a fairly large audience, compared to texts that require more study and reading.
The notes are in English, but they are also published individually in German on the Narayana website.
These are the topics covered each week of the course:
1) Remaining in a safe environment: some sea remedies
2) Unreliable basic support: Silica-like and Magnesium-like remedies
3) Knowledge, seduction and forsakennes: some reptiles
4) Identifying with society: some Kali and Ammonium remedies
5) Identity and Individualism: some insects and parasites remedies
6) Precious and base metals, an alchemical view
Notes number 7 refer to a continuing education seminar in addition to the advanced course
7) Self destructiveness: the acids and similars in Homeopathic Medicine

(Italiano) The sea remedies