What is Homeopathy?
Homeopathy is a distinct, comprehensive and deep healing system originally developed by Samuel Hahnemann about 200 years ago. It uses small doses of specially prepared (“potentized”) remedies to set the body’s systems back in order and stimulate a persons own energies toward a natural healing process. It is entirely distinct in both theory and in practice from other healing systems – most notably from ordinary or main-stream (“allopathic”) medicine, but also from acupuncture, chiropractics, naturopathy, etc., although some homeopathy often finds its way into these other fields of practice.
It is comprehensive in that it deals potentially with all of human ills. It can be used curatively whenever the individual’s basic biological strength (“vital force”) is strong enough to overcome the illness, and palliatively to provide prolongation of life and enhancement of energy and well being when the illness is incurable.
It is deep in that it can trigger and guide a healing reaction to even very subtle or severe or allencompassing mental or physical illness – often when other healing systems have failed. Many people discover homeopathy when they have an illness – perhaps chronic arthritis or other pain, or fatigue or depression or just a common cold – which other treatments cannot deal with and which homeopathy dramatically relieves.
Homeopathy also has the advantages that it is inexpensive (the only expense is the homeopath’s time and training – the remedies themselves cost practically nothing), non-toxic (although “side
affects” which reflect the body’s own healing processes may occur – such as fever, rash, discharge, etc.) and non-intrusive (the remedies are carried on tiny sugar granules which are dissolved in water or in the mouth, or swallowed).
Unique Aspects of Homeopathy
Homeopathy is based on a fundamental observation in healing processes – an observation which has apparently been made many times in different eras and cultures. Hippocrates is the first known source of it in our cultural heritage. Hahnemann rediscovered it and developed it into the elaborate healing system called homeopathy. The principle is that “like cures like” (in Latin, “similia similibus curentur”). One illness can be cured by another illness which can cause similar symptoms. It is as if the body maintains the first illness because it has not gotten the message or signal as to how to organize its energies to heal the disease. In homeopathy, the symptoms of the illness are matched to those known to be associated with a specific remedy – that is, with symptoms the remedy could cause in higher or toxic doses. The remedy in some way provides a signal to the body: it stimulates a reorganization and redirection of the vital force toward the symptoms that need to be cured. In summary, the patient has an illness; we observe the symptoms; we seek out and prescribe a remedy which could cause similar symptoms; the patient is cured. Like cures like.
Hahnemann experimented with smaller and smaller doses of the remedies, and discovered they could be given in extremely small amounts. In fact, if they are agitated violently during each of a series of dilutions, their physiologic stimulating or signaling properties actually seem to increase as they are made more dilute. It is this single aspect of homeopathy – the process of making a remedy even more effective by diluting it more (with violent agitation or “succussion”) – that has baffled the tens of thousands of people who have observed it, and antagonized and alienated the well-meaning, logical-minded people who have heard of it without observing it. It seems obviously logically impossible that something could become stronger or more effective as it becomes more dilute (if it is also succussed at each stage). Yet it is the daily irrefutable observation of hundreds of otherwise sane and sensible, even intelligent people that remedies, diluted (with succession) far beyond the point where there is any single molecule of the original material present, retained and even have increased the capacity to trigger a highly specific healing reaction. Homeopaths use this phenomenon daily in a repeatable, predictable way; those who have not had direct experience with it often scoff and debunk it.
Homeopaths use the smallest dose that will stimulate the healing reaction. And they usually use a single remedy (matching it carefully to fit all or the most important of the patient’s symptoms) in order to have the most clear control and knowledge of what is going to happen, of the response that is predicted. Multiple, or even two remedies become unimaginably complex in their potential interactions and net effect. Important principles in homeopathy: the minimum dose and the single remedy.
Potentization of the remedies involves three processes: serial dilution, succussion and trituration. Trituration essentially means a long, arduous, fine grinding process of the remedy with lactose milk sugar). This is especially used when the basic remedy is not soluble in water or ethanol (alcohol), for example with remedies prepared from gold (Aurum) or silver (Argentum). One part of the starting material is ground with nine parts of lactose for an hour. Then one part of that 1:10 mixture is ground with nine parts of fresh lactose, again for an hour. Finally for a third time one part of this 1:100 mixture is mixed with nine parts of lactose and ground together for a third hour. This mixture is – as you can imagine – a very fine powder that is one part of the starting material (perhaps gold or silver) with 999 parts of lactose. This mixture can then be dissolved in water or alcohol, and the potentization process continued by serial dilutions (each time one to ten) with vigorous mixing by impact (succession) approximately 40 to 100 times at each dilution.
Potency levels are designated by “x” (for example, 12x or 30x) if they have been diluted 1:10 at each stage. A 12x potency has been diluted 12 times, and therefore has one part of the original material to each 1,000,000,000,000 parts of the carrier or solvent (lactose, water, or ethanol).
The higher potencies are prepared by steps of 1:100 dilution, and are designated “c” or simply with no letter designation. For example, a 200 potency has been diluted one part of the original material to 100 to the 200th power (or 10 followed by 400 zeros) of the solvent/carrier. This is unimaginably dilute, and well beyond the point where there is no single molecule of the original material present (this point is passed roughly at the dilution of one part to 10 followed by 25 zeros). Yet these dilutions, and far higher levels of potentization, are found to be powerfully effective in clinical use.
In designating the higher potencies, “m” is used to designate 1,000 and “c” for 100. Thus “1m” potency would be a 1,000c; a “cm” would be a 100,000c; an “mm” would be 1,000,000c.