Homeopathy: A Pearl in the Pebbles
The chance of finding a pearl in the pebbles on a beach is extremely rare, probably something like a billion to one chance – nevertheless this indeed happened to me a few years ago. But more about that later. By the same token the chance of finding the ‘pearl’ of homeopathy amongst the rock-strewn strata of pharmaceutical products is also extremely rare. But the very fact that you have paused at this paragraph, prepared to read this short article, means you have perceived something of intrinsic value amidst the flotsam and jetsam washed up on the beaches of medicine.
So what is homeopathy?
Homeopathy is a scientifically recognised alternative medicine – and the term alternative in no way shrinks its importance. Basically, it is a ground-breaking system of dynamic healing employing the intrinsic energies within matter – energies that are the very foundation of the world, energies in all that is within, on and above our Earth. Homeopaths utilise these intrinsic energies to create potentised or energised medicines. (It should be noted that conventional pharmaceutical products work on a totally different level because they comprise perceptible components, many of which may be extremely minute (e.g. nano-) but, significantly, they are designed to affect the physical, chemical or molecular arrangements of an organism.).
Potentised homeopathic medicines, on the other hand, are more aligned with quantum physics than conventional reductionist medicine. And depending on the level of health, the truly similimum homeopathic medicine has the potential to touch the source of pathology, to reach far deeper than gross pathology on the cellular or molecular levels, and can influence unfathomable levels beyond atomic structures (approximately 0.1nm). Impossible, you might ask. But a cursory glance at some of the extremely ill people in clinical cases that have either been cured or had their health improved after classical homeopathy treatment proves how deep the similimum homeopathic medicine can go (1). For instance, examine this remarkable case report of Embryonal Carcinoma with Immature Teratoma treated effectively by Classical Homeopathy doctors Seema Mahesh, Mahesh Mallappa and Professor George Vithoulkas in 2018 (2). And there are many, many more like this.
Dynamic forces? Energies within matter? Is this science fiction? No, this is science faction. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. But to be effective one important factor is that the prescribed homeopathic medicine MUST be homeopathic, must be the similimum.
If you’re new to homeopathy, you may not have come across the Latin phrase similia similibus curentur which translated means ‘like curing like’. This term will come up often in discussions about homeopathy. Even the name ‘homeo–pathy’ means similar-suffering. So similia similibus curentur, then, is an ancient method of healing advocated by Hippocrates, the ‘Father of Medicine’, who was quoted as saying that there were two ways of healing: one was using similars (homeopathy), and the second was using opposites (allopathy). But the concept of ‘like curing like’ is extremely ancient, for instance the Inuit, an Eskimoan peoples inhabiting the Arctic, used to recommend that frostbitten areas of the hands should be covered with soft snow (3). This is a simple physical example of homeopathic action – snow may cause frostbite, and here we see it is used to cure frostbite. Another simple example is the use of the homeopathic medicine Allium Cepa for the early onset of a head cold where the eyes stream with tears and the nose runs – Allium Cepa is made from the onion which is well known for this effect.
Fortunately for millions of people worldwide, homeopathy was re-discovered by a German doctor called Samuel Hahnemann M.D (1755-1843). Hahnemann was appalled at the chronic suffering and needless deaths of so many patients at the hands of the physicians of his day. These physicians would try to help the suffering by dosing them with inordinately high doses of supposedly medicinal substances, many of which were blatantly poisonous. So Hahnemann experimented with smaller and smaller doses of single medicines in order to minimise the side-effects.
In an effort to reduce his patients’ sufferings, he finally developed a new method of sequential dilution, accomplished by a vigorous shaking of the medicine which he called succussion. The resulting product he called a ‘potentised medicine’. He found that not only did he have a medicine without any side effects but also the more he diluted the medicine using succussion, the more effective it was. Apparently succussion released the inherent energy in the substance, with none of the toxic effects. He then numbered the medicines according to the number of times they had been diluted. The sequential dilution of the substance along with succussion is known as potentisation.
Classical homeopathy, then, involves treating an individual with extremely dilute substances, usually in saccharum lactis tablet form, with the aim of triggering a person’s natural healing abilities. And only an extremely minute dose is needed to encourage the vital force to start healing itself.
So the first prerequisite of similia similibus curentur in homeopathy is a potentised medicine. Essentially, potential medicinal material is selected and crushed. Then it is diluted and shaken over and over again. After many repetitions of diluting and shaking there appears to be none of the original material left in the water. That is to say, there is nothing that can be commonly detected by contemporary scientific instruments. The only thing remaining is what may be termed its intrinsic energy.
The next prerequisite of similia similibus curentur is to choose a potentised medicine that corresponds with, or matches, the symptoms of the ill individual. The mental, emotional and physical symptoms of a medicine from a materia medica should ideally match as closely as possible the mental, emotional and physical symptoms of a patient. If the match is right, after the similimum is given, there will be a change in the recipient’s overall energy on the mental, emotional or physical level followed by an amelioration of their symptoms. Note that homeopathy does not treat diagnosed diseases per se, but only addresses the symptoms. The outcome of prescribing a homeopathic remedy will depend on the overall general health of the patient, their energy level, medical history, surgery, vaccinations, etc.
An initial adult consultation with a classical homeopath is like no other consultation with a doctor or specialist and can last between 1 to 2 hours. It is very thorough, examining not only the medical history, but the life and traumas of the person as well – past, present or future. For example, let us look at a few common forms of the physiology of pathology and its relation to emotions: a continued deep expiration of breath during the consultation (sighing) may indicate an emotional loss or anguish in the past; salty water appearing in the eyes (weeping) during an expression of present grief; or habitual urine incontinence before a future event (anticipatory anxiety) – all these are basic expressions of emotional energy and may be considered normal. These physiological expressions are based upon events from a patient’s past, present or future. But if they’re very strongly expressed, or continually expressed, they may also lead to other, long-lasting, physical, emotional or mental effects, compromise a person’s defence mechanism and impede their healthy expression of life.
Thus a classical homeopath will take into account everything a person has suffered, like for instance their total symptomology, any possible causation(s) or their pathology. The homeopath will consult vast historical compendiums of manifested symptoms produced from various medical materials in the form of poisonings or provings (Materia Medicas) – together with archives of data of precisely recorded symptomology (repertories) – these are the basic tools that assist them in finding the truly homeopathic remedy.
Rather than suppress or divert symptoms and sufferings in the conventional fashion of allopathic doctoring – a convenient but often weakening method of treatment – a homeopath perceives the symptoms and sufferings of an individual as an expression of their innate energy and their overall level of health. (4) Basically a strong healthy person may have strongly expressed symptoms and sufferings, whereas a weaker person may have weakly expressed symptoms and sufferings – this is important to an experienced classical homeopath in determining a person’s level of health and medical prognosis.
What is remarkable about homeopathy is that while the homeopathic medicine is addressing and encouraging an individual’s innate energy to heal itself, this action may also be positively affecting their DNA – the building blocks of life. Much research has shown this to be the case, like for instance when the homeopathic medicine Arnica Montana 30c helped repair the DNA damage in UV-exposed bacteria (5), or the homeopathic medicine Thuja 30c helped benzo(a)pyrene (BaP)-induced DNA damage, stress and viability of perfused lung cells of mice in vitro (6).
Newcomers to homeopathy may wonder what the homeopathic phrase ‘minimum dose’ means. A homeopathic medicine only needs to be the very minimum dose because it contains intrinsic energy released from repeated dilutions and succussion in its manufacture. It becomes, in effect, medicinal energy. So only one application, one initial stimulus of the similimum is usually enough to start the vital force’s movement towards curing itself. Much like rolling a ball … once the initial encouragement is there, no further assistance is required. And only one single medicine is given at any one time, followed by observation by the homeopath. The stimulus of only one dose of energy, one homeopathic pill or drop, is usually more than enough to encourage the vital force to start healing, but this of course depends on their level of health.
Because homeopathic medicines are usually proven singly at a time, they are usually prescribed singly at a time. If two or more different medicines are taken at the same time, or an unproven combination medicine is taken, a classical homeopath cannot ascertain which of the medicines has been the active ingredient – either positively or negatively (and as with allopathic treatments, some homeopathic medicines antidote one another).
Now about that pearl…
A few years ago I was on the idyllic Greek island of Alonissos, in the Northern Sporades. I had attended one of the many Postgraduate Courses at the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy (7). While waiting for my departing ferry to berth at the Patitiri docks, I realised I had lost a pearl stud earring while hugging friends goodbye. I searched all over, and especially between surrounding paving slabs, during those final few moments before boarding – but to no avail.
Six weeks later I was again on the island and, as the earring held sentimental value, I searched again – all over that very same area – but alas, without success. It was gone.
The following year brought me back to Alonissos again. I was relaxing on a near-empty beach in Roussoum late one warm Sunday afternoon. The late-lunch crowds had dispersed, the sun-loungers were empty, and there were only a handful of people at the far end of the pebbly beach. Lowering my gaze from the glare of the breaking waves, I paused to admire the multitude of various colours, shapes and sizes of pebbles at the side of my sun-lounger. Something unusual among the pale sun-bleached stones caught my eye. Was that a pearl? I leaned over and picked it up. Yes, it was indeed a pearl – a luminous pearl stud earring – exactly like the one I had lost on the docks of Patitiri the previous year.
I am sure you will agree that the chance of finding a lost pearl in the pebbles of a distant beach is extremely rare, probably something like a billion to one chance. Likewise, the fact that you have taken the time to browse this brief introduction to classical homeopathy indicates your encounter is also a rare occurrence. By now you will have understood a few of the basic concepts and, as fortune favours the brave, I am sure you will want to pick up more pearls of wisdom about homeopathy. After all, what have you got to lose?
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References
(1) Vithoulkas.com (2016). Positive Articles [Online]. Available from: https://www.vithoulkas.com/research/positive-articles?field_positive_research_author_value=&combine=&field_positive_research_journal_value=&field_positive_research_category_tid=93 [Accessed 1 December 2021].
(2) Mahesh, S. et al (2018). Embryonal Carcinoma with Immature Teratoma: A Homeopathic Case Report. Karger: Complementary Medicine Research [Online], 25(2):117-121. Available from:
https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/481819 [Accessed 1 December 2021].
(3) Avataq Cultural Institute – the Inuit cultural organization of Nunavik (Northern, Quebec, Canada). Traditional Medicine – Snow [Online]. Available from:
https://www.avataq.qc.ca/en/Nunavimmiuts/Traditional-Medicine/Medicinal-substances/Snow [Accessed 2 December 2021].
(4) Vithoulkas.com (2016). Levels of Health [Online]. Available from:
https://www.vithoulkas.com/learning-tools/books-gv/levels-health [Accessed 3 March 2022].
(5) Das S, et al (2012). Potential of the homeopathic remedy, Arnica Montana 30C, to reduce DNA damage in Escherichia coli exposed to ultraviolet irradiation through up-regulation of nucleotide excision repair genes. National Library of Medicine [Online], 10(3):337-46. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22409925/ [Accessed 28 October 2021].
(6) Mukherjee A, et al (2013). Thuja 30C ameliorates benzo(a)pyrene-induced DNA damage, stress and viability of perfused lung cells of mice in vitro. National Library of Medicine Homeopathic
[Online]. 11(6):397-404. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24299603/ [Accessed 28 October 2021].
(7) Vithoulkas.com (2016). Courses in Alonissos [Online]. Available from: https://www.vithoulkas.com/education/courses-alonissos [Accessed 1 December 2021].
Ann Sorrell 