Homeopathic History, Theories and Principles
These are based on painstaking clinical observation and experimentation on human volunteers, originally carried out 200 years ago by the founder of homeopathic medicine, Dr Samuel Hahnemann, and since, by others in the homeopathic communities all over the world. Hahnemann had studied medicine in Germany at the beginning of the industrial revolution. At that time, much of medical treatment included Galenic practices such as blood letting by leeches and cutting veins, purging by emetics, enemas, hot irons and drugs to cause convulsions. He was appalled by these practices, and became a translator of medical and scientific texts instead, to make a living. He became very knowledgeable about many areas, including the new emerging discoveries in chemistry and physics. He also was greatly influenced by sixteenth century alchemists such as Paracelsus, and by Anton Mesmer, the originator of “Mesmerism”, which later was developed into hypnotism by Braid; the latter two being big influences of Sigmund Freud.
Hahnemann had a theory that malaria was cured by the bark of the cinchona tree because if a healthy person ate this, they would develop similar symptoms. Somehow, the artificial disease created by the bark would provide a signal to the body for it’s natural defence mechanisms to come into play, where before they were blocked for some reason. This is the theory that homeopathy took it’s name from. The “Law of Similars”, was an ancient theory dating back as far as Celsus in the first century AD and was used by Paracelsus and herbalists in the sixteenth century. Hahnemann tested this out, firstly on himself, by taking the cinchona bark, then on friends and followers. He started to test out many different substances from the medicines already known at the time and from his knowledge of herbal substances.
Many of these substances were poisons, and he was making himself and his friends ill a lot of the time, so he decided he would try them out at diluted quantities. To his surprise, he discovered that the more dilute the substance was, the more therapeutically effective it was. With repeated observation, he discovered that not only dilution was required for this increase in effectiveness, but during the dilution, he would mix the substance with the water and alcohol diluent by banging the test tube on a leather-bound book several times. This, he called “succussion”. The best results would come when the substance was diluted and succussed, which he then called “potentisation”.
The dilutions most common in homeopathic remedies are on the centesimal scale. Imagine a drop of a substance diluted to saturation in water, (i.e. until no more substance will dissolve), taken and dissolved in 99 drops of water and alcohol, i.e. 1 in 100. This is a 1C potency. A 2C potency is a drop of the 1C taken and dissolved in 99 drops, and so on. The potencies usually sold in chemists are 6C and 30C. Therefore, a 6C potency will be diluted to 1 in 1,000,000,000,000. ie 1 in a million million. At this potency, there will be a few molecules left in the solution. At any potency over 12C, there will be no molecules left. Most homeopaths in the UK and USA work with 30C and above potencies.
These solutions are then dropped or sprayed onto lactose sugar tablets. The tablets are inert. The solution contains the “active ingredient”. It is obvious that the “active ingredient” is not biochemical as there is no chemical substance left. Hahnemann explained it as a “spirit-like essence” 200 years ago. A more modern description might be an “energy imprint”, which is contained by the water. There is some evidence of this in the form of MRI scans on water. Hahnemann postulated that this imprinted, or “dynamised” substance must act on the “spirit-like vital force” of the organism to effect their cure.
This “vital force” was similar to other life force theories, e.g. Paracelsus (16th Century) “archeus”; Mesmer’s “animal magnetism”, and similar to the Chinese “qi” and the Indian “prana”.
These days quantum physicists are getting closer to an explanation of this non-material entity or energy. Fritjov Capra, in “The Tao of Physics” said, “Particles are merely local condensations of the field”. It looks like the homeopathic remedy potentisation process has captured that energy or “field” of the original substance in the diluent.
There are, however, some remedies that often resonate with most people in a certain state, such as Arnica, which works in most cases of bruising, and Nux vomica, which works in most cases of hangovers! There are enough of these first aid remedies to have caused a huge increase in over-the-counter sales in recent years. However, though most people have their first positive experience of homeopathy from these first aid remedies, there is a lot more profound healing work that can be done if a skilled practitioner is consulted.
To date, there have been over two thousand remedies tested. Each has its own symptom picture, and this forms the basis for the homeopathic materia medica texts. There also are, potentially, an infinite number of potencies (or strengths) of each remedy, though in practice, most homeopaths will use10 to 20 different ones.
Due to this “non-material” factor, homeopathic remedies are safe for all ages. They can, however, have a biological effect on the person, especially if repeated regularly; therefore if something is not working for you, it is advisable to consult a homeopath.
