Dr Frederik Schroyens

This document explains the basics of the structure and format of the Synthesis
repertory by Dr Frederik Schroyens.

This document applies to all editions Synthesis version 9.1, 2007, 2009, and
Synthesis Adonis.

René Otter, Netherlands

1
In RadarOpus Gold and Diamond engines it is possible to make repertory additions

Gold Diamond
Add remedies to existing rubrics ● ●
Add author references to remedies. ● ●
Add general symptom notes ● ●
Add veterinary symptom notes ● ●
Imports/Export and share additions ● ●
Add cross-references ●
Add referring symptoms (synonyms) ●
Add new symptoms (main and sub rubrics) ●
Add symptoms in a personal chapter ●
Add additions from a materia medica source with a link. ●

In Synthesis Adonis a personal chapter is provided where you can add additions on the fly.
In this chapter you can make additions which do not fit in one of the existing chapters and/or
you do not need to be so careful to follow the existing repertory structure and format.

Learn about the Repertory structure and symptom format

If you make additions to existing chapters it will be a good idea to spend some time to learn
about the existing repertory structure and symptom* format, especially if you want to share
your additions not only with a small private group, but with the homeopathic community in
general.

In this introduction we only mention the key features to consider when making additions.
For an in-depth overview please read also the “Foreword of the book Synthesis 9.1” and
“Textbook of repertory language”.

When you insert a new rubric keep in mind the following format

(*) in this document we use the word symptom and rubric as having the same meaning.

2
The sentence (symptom) format
- Place the most important word at the beginning of the line
- If needed, then indicate where you need to start to read after a ; (semicolon)

For example:

MIND
FEAR
child fears to go to bed alone (no semicolon needed)
business failure; of (start to read after the ; )
corners; fear to walk past certain (start to read after the ; )

Here an example where the , (comma) will still need to be replaced by a ; (semicolon). This is still an
ongoing work.
crowd, in a

The use of uppercase and lowercase

- the Main symptoms are written in all capitals (uppercase)

- the Sub-levels are written in all lowercase, with the following exceptions:

• Anatomical locations start with one uppercase letter.

• Geographical or personal names start with one uppercase letter.

• Abbreviations like AIDS are written with all uppercase letters.

3
The repertory order of Synthesis is as follows

With each further sublevel, the same order is repeated. If there is no known symptom for a
certain level it is skipped.

CHAPTER

SIDES
TIMES
MAIN RUBRIC 1 [modalities] (alphabetically)
sides
times
modalities + description of pain rubrics (alphabetical)
The sub rubric accompanied by is located alphabetically, at the beginning of the
modalities section.
With each modality e.g. ’walking agg.’ all the possible descriptions of pain are
mentioned as next sub rubrics.

extending to
Locations (parts of the body, alphabetically, First letter uppercase)

MAIN RUBRIC 2
MAIN RUBRIC 3
MAIN RUBRIC 4

EXTENDING to

LOCATIONS (PARTS OF THE BODY) (alphabetically) (Kent often anatomical)

4
The order of rubrics in Synthesis
The below schema shows the structure of the repertory: S - T - MD - E – L
This order is being used throughout the repertory. If there is no symptom in a certain section
available, then it is just skipped.

S The sides of the body

T The times
M+D All the modalities, where the descriptions of pain (aching, boring, stitching,…) are always
mentioned at the last level.
E All the extending to symptoms
L The last of these 5 sections, are the specific anatomical locations. These locations are in
alphabetical order (contrary to Kent repertory where they sometimes are in anatomical
order, sometimes alphabetical)

Again the order of rubrics in Synthesis

- EXTREMITIES (all main-level rubrics are written in all uppercase letters)
o s
o t
o m+d (first the modalities, the description of pain is included, but always placed as
the last part of the ‘symptom sentence’)
o e (extending to,… the Locations itself starting with an uppercase letter)
o L (starts with an uppercase letter)
▪ Ankle
▪ Fingers
▪ Foot
▪ Forearm
▪ Hand
▪ Joints
▪ Knee
▪ Leg
▪ Lower Limbs
▪ Shoulder
▪ Thigh

5
 ▪ Toes
▪ Upper Arm
▪ Upper Limbs
▪ Wrist

Descriptions of pain (aching, boring, stitching,…)

One of the important differences between Synthesis and the old repertory of Kent is that the
separate section of the “type of pain rubrics” (the descriptions of pain, aching, boring,…) have
been moved to the modalities section, and are always placed at the last level.

The order in Kent repertory

In the repertory of Kent there is a general modalities section, and there is also a separate
section where the descriptions of pain ate located (with again modalities at a sublevel).
If you are looking for an important modality, you need to search in at least two locations (and
maybe you need to check in all type of pain symptoms.
So in Kent there where 6 sections, in Synthesis there are only 5 sections.

The order in Kent repertory

- EXTREMITIES
o s
o t
o m
o d (a separate section with descriptions of pain, again with many modalities)
o e
o L
▪ Joints
▪ Upper Limbs
▪ Shoulder
▪ Upper Arm
▪ Forearm
▪ Wrist
▪ Hand

6
 ▪ Fingers
▪ Lower Limbs
▪ Thigh
▪ Knee
▪ Leg
▪ Ankle
▪ Foot
▪ Toes

The chapters in Synthesis

The below schema shows a kind of “anatomical” order of the chapters.

The Times
The Times section in Synthesis compared to Kent repertory are given in this schema.
Note that “Before midnight” is a sublevel of midnight and is from 22.00 to 00.00.

7
An example of the symptom format in Synthesis
- In the chapter CHEST, the main rubric CATARRH is written in all uppercase [1].
- There are no sides, it starts with times (morning) [2].
- Then accompanied by is mentioned alphabetically in the section of modalities, this means it is
often one of the first mentioned rubrics [3].
- Bronchial tubes is the first anatomical rubric in this example, and starts with an uppercase
letter [4].

An example for Synthesis, explaining the “descriptions of pain” order

EXTREMITIES – PAIN – Legs – chill – during – aching.

The modality chill comes first, aching is at the last level.

In the chapter EXTREMITIES, look up the main rubric ‘PAIN’, then in the Locations [1] section
look up ‘Legs’, then look for the modality ‘chill’ [2] then ‘during’ [3], only then comes the type of
pain “aching” [4] as last level.

So it does not matter exactly what type of pain you are looking for, your first look for the
modality, and only then are mentioned the types (descriptions) of pain.

8
To show the difference between Synthesis and Kent repertory, the
same symptom how it was listed in Kent
The disadvantage of Kent repertory is that you need to search in two locations to check if the
symptom you are looking for is present or not.
First you need to look in the modality section.
Then you need to look for the separate section of the descriptions of pain, then search of the
modality you are searching for is mentioned there or not.

EXTREMITIES – PAIN – Lower Limbs – ….

You look in the above section and search for the modality, but you cannot find it there.
Then you need to go to the separate section of the ‘descriptions of pain’,… you need to search
again, and there you can find it: ‘aching’ [1] and then ‘Leg’ [2], then ‘chill [3], during’ [4].

Not only do you need to search in two locations, but if you are not sure about the exact type of
pain, you will need to look through all the types of pain (aching, biting, boring, burning, cutting,
etc.) to check if the modality ‘during chill’ is present.

9
Accompanied by (concomitants)
A concomitant symptom means that two (often seemingly unrelated) symptoms, in different
parts of the body, occur at the same time.
These rubrics ’accompanied by’ are located alphabetically at the start of the section of the
modalities.

EYE – BLEEDING FROM EYES – accompanied by – Head; congestion to

Usually concomitants have a quite high value in the hierarchy of symptoms. When you see a
true, clear concomitant in a case, and you are able to find the rubric for it in the repertory, this
will often bring you close to the correct remedy.

A concomitant is one of the group of symptoms from Von Boenninghausen, which is part of the
‘complete symptom’.

10
More resources to study the repertory Synthesis
In this introduction we only mentioned the key features to consider when making additions.
If you like to study the repertory Synthesis in-depth we recommend the following sources:

• Foreword of the book Synthesis 9.1

• Textbook of repertory language of Synthesis
• For students an excellent book is “Practice Makes Perfect” by Arjen Pasma

Practice makes perfect

by
Arjen Pasma

Available via your local homeopathic bookstore

ISBN: 978-90-74456-18-0

Published by: Lutra Services

A. v. Engelandstraat 17
5616AZ Eindhoven
The Netherlands

11