If the materia medica is the encyclopedia of homeopathic remedies, the repertory is the index. It reverses the information flow: instead of looking up a remedy and reading its symptoms, you look up a symptom and find which remedies are associated with it. This makes the repertory the single most important tool for finding the correct remedy — and understanding how to use one is a foundational skill for any serious student of homeopathy.
What is a Repertory?
A homeopathic repertory is a systematic catalog of symptoms, organized by location (body part), sensation, modality, and context, with each symptom listing the remedies known to produce or cure it. The information comes from three sources:
Provings — Experiments where healthy volunteers take a substance and record every symptom it produces. This is the original source of homeopathic data, going back to Hahnemann's first provings in the late 1700s
Clinical experience — Symptoms that were cured by a remedy in actual patients, recorded by practitioners over two centuries of clinical use
Toxicological data — Symptoms known to result from poisoning or overdose of a substance, providing the "law of similars" foundation
Major Repertories
Several repertories are in common use today:
Kent's Repertory (James Tyler Kent, 1897) — The classical standard. Organized anatomically from mind to extremities. Contains approximately 68,000 entries. The "original" that most others build upon
Synthesis (Frederik Schroyens) — An expanded modern repertory containing over 300,000 entries. Integrates data from multiple sources and provings. The most comprehensive print repertory available
Complete Repertory (Roger van Zandvoort) — Similar scope to Synthesis. Widely used in homeopathic software. The 2024 edition contains over 400,000 symptom-remedy entries
Murphy's Repertory (Robin Murphy) — Organized alphabetically by clinical topic rather than anatomically, making it more intuitive for beginners. Excellent for clinical prescribing
Boger-Boenninghausen's — A smaller, highly refined repertory that emphasizes modalities and sensations. Preferred by practitioners who use the Boenninghausen method of repertorization
Repertory Structure: How Chapters Are Organized
Most classical repertories (Kent's structure) organize symptoms from top to bottom of the body and from internal to external. The standard chapter order is:
Mind — Emotional and mental symptoms (anxiety, irritability, fears, delusions, memory, concentration)
Vertigo — Dizziness and balance disturbances
Head — Headaches, sensations in the head, head pathology
Eye — Vision, eye pain, discharges, inflammation
Ear — Hearing, ear pain, discharges, tinnitus
Nose — Smell, nasal discharge, sneezing, obstruction
Face — Facial pain, complexion, swelling, expression
Mouth, Throat, Stomach, Abdomen — Continuing downward through the digestive system
Urinary, Genitalia, Larynx, Chest, Back, Extremities — Through the rest of the body
Sleep, Fever, Skin, Generalities — Cross-cutting chapters that apply to the whole person
The Mind and Generalities chapters are especially important because they describe symptoms of the whole person rather than a local body part — and in homeopathy, the whole-person symptoms are the highest priority for remedy selection.
Anatomy of a Rubric
A rubric is a single entry in the repertory. Understanding rubric structure is essential for accurate repertorization.
Consider this example rubric from the Stomach chapter:
STOMACH - PAIN - burning - eating - after - amel.
This reads: "Stomach pain of a burning character, occurring after eating, which is ameliorated (improved) by eating." Let's break down each level:
Chapter: STOMACH — the body region
Main rubric: PAIN — the primary symptom
Qualifier (sub-rubric): burning — the specific character of the pain
Modality: eating, after — the circumstance that affects the symptom
Direction of modality: amel. — the symptom is ameliorated (improved), not aggravated
Each rubric then lists the remedies associated with it, in a specific format that indicates how strongly each remedy is connected to the symptom.
The Grading System: Understanding Remedy Grades
Within each rubric, remedies are listed in grades that indicate the strength and reliability of the association between the remedy and the symptom:
Grade 3 (Highest) — Bold or CAPITALS
Remedies in grade 3 appear in bold or UPPERCASE. This means the symptom is strongly and reliably associated with this remedy — confirmed by multiple provings, extensive clinical experience, or both. A grade 3 remedy for a rubric is a keynote association.
Grade 2 (Medium) — Italic or Regular
Remedies in grade 2 appear in italics or regular type. The association is well-established but not as prominent — the symptom appears in provings but is not one of the remedy's most characteristic features.
Grade 1 (Lowest) — Plain or Small type
Remedies in grade 1 appear in plain text (sometimes in a smaller font). The association exists but is based on limited proving data or isolated clinical reports. The symptom can appear with this remedy but is not a strong indicator.
In practice: When several remedies appear in a rubric, those in grade 3 deserve the most attention. However, a remedy that appears in grade 1 in many of your rubrics may be more important than a remedy that appears in grade 3 in only one rubric. Repertorization is about pattern recognition across multiple symptoms, not fixation on any single rubric.
How to Repertorize: A Step-by-Step Method
Step 1: Take the Case
Thorough case-taking is the foundation. In acute prescribing, focus on:
Location — Where exactly is the complaint?
Sensation — What does it feel like? (burning, stitching, pressing, throbbing, cramping)
Modalities — What makes it better or worse? (temperature, motion, position, time of day, eating/drinking)
Concomitants — What other symptoms accompany the main complaint? (thirst, chills, mood changes, appetite changes)
Mental-emotional state — How does the person feel emotionally during the illness?
Step 2: Select Rubrics
Translate the patient's symptoms into repertory language. This is the most skill-intensive step. Guidelines:
Choose 4-7 rubrics that cover the most characteristic symptoms. Too few gives unreliable results; too many dilutes the picture
Prioritize strange, rare, and peculiar symptoms — a headache that is better from firm pressure is more distinctive than a headache that is worse from noise
Include at least one mental-emotional rubric if a clear emotional pattern is present
Use general rubrics (from the Generalities chapter) when the symptom applies to the whole person — "worse from cold" as a general sensitivity, not just cold on a specific body part
Step 3: Look Up Each Rubric
Find each rubric in the repertory and note which remedies appear and at what grade. In manual repertorization, this is typically done with paper and a grid. In software, the program compiles this automatically.
Step 4: Cross-Reference and Analyze
The goal is to find the remedy (or 2-3 remedies) that appears most consistently across all your selected rubrics with the highest grades. The remedy that covers the most rubrics at the highest grades is your top candidate.
A remedy appearing in all or most of your rubrics, even at grade 1, is significant
A remedy appearing in grade 3 in your most characteristic rubric is significant
Weight mental-emotional rubrics and strange/rare symptoms more heavily than common, general symptoms
Step 5: Confirm with Materia Medica
This step is essential — never prescribe based on repertorization alone. Read the full materia medica profile of your top 2-3 remedies. Ask: "Does this remedy's overall picture match my patient as a whole person?" The repertory gives you candidates; the materia medica confirms the choice.
Worked Example: Acute Cold Case
A patient presents with a cold that developed gradually over two days. Current symptoms:
Profuse, bland nasal discharge (watery, non-irritating)
Burning, watering eyes (the eye discharge is irritating)
Symptoms markedly worse in warm rooms, better in open air
Low thirst despite having a cold
Emotionally weepy, wants sympathy and comforting
Step 1: Identify Characteristic Symptoms
The most distinctive features are: bland nasal discharge combined with acrid (burning) eye discharge, better in open air/worse in warm rooms, thirstlessness, and the weepy emotional state.
Step 2: Select Rubrics
NOSE - DISCHARGE - bland
EYE - LACHRYMATION - acrid
GENERALITIES - WARM room - agg.
GENERALITIES - OPEN air - amel.
STOMACH - THIRSTLESS
MIND - WEEPING - sympathy, from
Step 3-4: Cross-Reference
Working through these rubrics, Pulsatilla appears in all six rubrics, predominantly in grade 2-3. Allium cepa appears in some (especially nasal discharge) but has acrid nasal discharge and bland eye discharge — the opposite pattern. Euphrasia covers the acrid eye discharge but misses the emotional picture.
Step 5: Confirm with Materia Medica
Reading the Pulsatilla materia medica confirms: this remedy is known for changeable symptoms, bland nasal discharge with acrid eye discharge, strong amelioration from open air, thirstlessness (highly unusual during acute illness and therefore keynote), and an emotional state characterized by weepiness, desire for consolation, and emotional sensitivity. The match is strong.
Prescription: Pulsatilla 30C, 2-3 pellets every 4 hours, reducing frequency as symptoms improve.
Try working through cases yourself using our Homeopathic Repertory, then cross-reference with remedy profiles in our Homeopathy Library.
The repertory is not an oracle — it is a tool. It organizes information so that your clinical thinking can be more systematic and less biased. The best prescriptions always combine careful repertorization with deep materia medica knowledge and, above all, careful observation of the patient.