Homeopathy – what is it?
Homeopathy is a system of medicine based on the principal that “like cures like”. What this means is that a medicine that can induce particular symptoms in a healthy person can be used to treat those same symptoms in a sick person. These medicines are also used for sick animals and even plants.
While homeopathic medicines can be used to treat any symptom (whether it be physical, mental or emotional), the possibility is that they can stimulate a deep healing -- of the whole patient. To use homeopathic medicines holistically, we must look deeper than the common, outward symptoms. Though these symptoms get our attention, they are merely a reflection of, and a consequence of, an internal imbalance of the vital force (the spirit-like intelligence that governs the body). This imbalance, or central disturbance, is the origin of all symptoms and it is what must be healed. You could say that the vital force communicates to us via the unique expression of symptoms. Once the vital force is brought back into balance, the body heals itself naturally and the symptoms resolve. Because the vital force is a spirit-like entity, only energetic medicines are capable of restoring it to balance.
So, although both western (allopathic) practitioners and homeopaths classify and categorize disease, they do so from opposite perspectives. Allopaths use common, end stage symptoms to classify disease. Homeopaths use the subtle, individual (characteristic) symptoms to classify disease because they reflect the central (energetic) disturbance which occurred before the common symptoms appeared. Thus, animals with the same allopathic diagnosis usually require different remedies.
Correspondingly, allopathic practitioners use physical substances (drugs or herbs) to alter body chemistry and affect physical symptoms. Homeopaths use energetic medicines (remedies) to rebalance the vital force. Also, we interpret the response to a remedy differently than we interpret a response to a drug. Our goal is not just to get rid of symptoms, but to improve the health of the patient. Thus, with successful homeopathic therapy, we will first see increased vitality, emotional balance, and an overall sense of well-being. In addition, a stronger constitution is less susceptible to infectious agents and better able to withstand the various stresses of life.
* For further information on Homeopathy: Homeopathy-Beyond Flat Earth Medicine by Timothy R. Dooley, ND, MD; to order call (619) 299-1140
