Introduction to Homeopathy
"The highest ideal of a cure is rapid, gentle and permanent restoration of the health, or removal and annihilation of the disease in its whole extent, in the shortest, most reliable and most harmless way, on easily comprehensible principles."
(Hahnemann, Organon of Medicine, paragraph 2)
Homeopathy was first formulated as a system of medicine in the eighteenth century by the German physician, Samuel Hahnemann and has evolved to become one of the most popular forms of complementary and alternative medicine in the world today. The practice of homeopathy is both an art and a science. It necessitates an in-depth understanding of health, disease and human nature as well as the curative properties of the medicinal substances.
Like cures like
Homeopathy is based upon the principle that ‘like cures like’; a substance which creates symptoms in a healthy person can heal those same symptoms in a person who is unwell. Consider for example the response that many people have when they peel an onion. The eyes may sting and water, the nose may run and so on. Homeopaths use onion in a specially prepared dose for these symptoms and in fact it is often used as a treatment for hay fever or colds.
Vitalistic medicine
Homeopathy is a form of vitalistic medicine, recognising that the body has an innate ability to heal itself. Minute doses of a similar substance are used to stimulate this healing ability.
Holistic and individualised
Remedies are carefully selected for each individual according to the pattern of their symptoms on the mental, emotional and physical levels. They are prescribed for the person and not the disease and as such any group of people suffering from the same complaint may each receive a different remedy.
Homeopathic materia medica
Since the inception of homeopathy over 200 years ago, new remedies have been continuously added to our materia medica through trials on healthy individuals known as provings. We now have nearly 3,000 remedies from which to choose, all from natural sources. The remedies are specially prepared using a method of dilution and high speed vibration, known as succussion that renders them highly potent even when used in small doses.
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