Aphorisms and Precepts

After Samuel Hahnemann himself, James Tyler Kent (1849-1916) was arguably the most important individual in the history of classical homeopathy. His Repertory of the Homeopathic Materia Medica is still used, and is the basis for all of the revised repertories that have appeared in recent times. His Lectures on Homeopathic Philosophy remains a work of profoun and enduring homeopathic thought and practice, and his books on materia medica are still fundamental sources for all students and practitioners of homeopathy.

Less well known is the fact that Kent was a devoted follower of the spiritual teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, the great eighteenth-century scientist, visionary, and theologian. Kent himself wrote: "Through familiarity with Swedenborg, I have found the correspondences wrought out from the Word of God harmonious with all that I have learned...."
Swedenborg's influence on Kent is particularly evident in the Aphorisms and Precepts, which is a remarkable repository of homeopathic wisdom, presented in succinct, epigrammatic style. This new edition has been edited to correct the errors (misprints, word omissions, etc.), as well as the inconsistent punctuation, of the text originally published in New Remedies, Clinical Cases, and Lesser Writings, a volume that has been reprinted many times without emendation. It is hoped that this small book will encourage further study of both Kent's invaluable work and Swedenborg's timeless teachings.