We assume that the curative action of homeopathy is based on the information the remedy provides. The carrier of that information is of lesser importance: milk sugar, water, nanoparticles, coded imprint of maybe even focused attention. More important is the scope of action; in other words: what are we trying to achieve? I’ll go into that in a later article but suffice now to say that, as Hahnemann wrote, our aim is ‘to restore the sick to health’.
Therefor the first thing is to define ‘health’. It seems like Hahnemann considered health as the natural state of a person, and indeed of every being on the planet. God isn’t sick. That doesn’t imply that our experience in the third dimension is meant to be an everlasting state of vibrant health and bliss, most of the time even quite the contrary indeed. Nevertheless: the potential, the promise and our inner yearning keeps us going. The famous aphorism 9 explains how healthy state looks like: “In the healthy condition of man, the spiritual vital force , the dynamis, that animates the material body, rules with unbounded sway, and retains all parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation, as regards both sensations and functions, so that our indwelling, reason-gifted spirit can freely employ this living, healthy instrument for the higher purposes of our existence”.
Our
dis-order, dis-ease, disturbance suggests we’re being out of reality, which we
know is always perfect. The problem is, we don’t experience it as such but
rather as painful, scary and depressing. We are always reminded of our State as
it produces signs and symptoms, we are all familiar with: feelings of lack,
being less then, sleeping disorders, pains, grief, doubts, loneliness, self-loathing,
cancers, shame, the list is endless.
To get a picture of this disturbance, I compare it to a disordered stomach. The
latter will trouble us with indigestion, pain, lack of appetite, irritability,
worrying about the cause and the solution, the side effect of the medication,
fear of stomach cancer and the like. It will hinder us on all levels. When then
the stomach problem is solved and over, worries are gone, we are no longer
irritated or brooding over it, our appetite is back, pain is gone, we can enjoy
our food again, yet…. the stomach is still there! It doesn’t ask for attention
anymore and silently does its job in the background, leaving us free for ‘the
higher purposes of our existence…’.
Likewise, a disordered ‘Vital sensation’ (or ‘State’) is producing physical symptoms, energy leaks, mental and emotional distress (all making an unique pattern) until it is cured with a similimum. It doesn’t vanish when healed: it is still there, operating in the background without asking for attention. No more brooding, unwelcome thoughts and unwanted emotions, no more physical pain: the vitality goes up, sleep, digestion, all automatic processes work like a well-oiled machine in the background, allowing the person the freedom, the inspiration and the joy of adding his gift of uniqueness to the world.
What needs
to be done in order to bring this ‘order’ about, to restore the persons natural
healthy state?
The homeopathic answer is to give the remedy that is most similar in its core
(and its peculiarities) to the State of the patient. This has been the subject
of most of my teachings: how to find the similimum?
Next question is about posology: how often are we supposed to give that remedy
and in what potency? These are crucial questions as they often make the
difference between success and failure in case management.
When we keep in mind that the remedies are packages of information, tailored at the patients’ needs, we can refer to our own experiences with ‘information’ coming to us.
Have you ever come across a notebook or a journal you wrote 20 years ago and been surprised at your own wise words? How come that you knew this so long ago and yet only now you seem to understand what they mean? Many of us had the experience of reading something for the second, third or fourth time and suddenly it strikes us; we ‘get it!’ We hear wise words and have an epiphany, only to forget about it after a few months. Then we read something similar and are reminded of this eternal truth that is going to change out life… until we forget. Maybe we are in a therapeutic weekend some months or years later and are again enlightened by these wise recommendations: now we’ll change our life and practise them…. only to slowly wearing out. Later we receive a book where we find these basic truths again and now they really sink in… until the year later… we see a movie where these premises strike us as the most important in a persons’ life.
With
homeopathic information (contained in a pill) it is the same; some patients get
it from the first dose and are completely restored to health. It has a lasting
effect in their well-being, and they don’t bounce go back to previous states.
But the majority needs the same information more than once in order to
integrate it; in other words, repetition
of dose.
To be effective though, it must be the right information at the right time.
That is why I don’t think too frequent repetition or too high potencies are a
good idea. In the first case repetition blunts the patient. Imagine getting to
read or to hear the same information every week, after a few weeks you know it
from the top of your head, but I won’t have any effect whatsoever, it only
becomes boring. Who would benefit having to read the same book every day, week
or two weeks…?
Too high potencies are like shouting the information too loud at the patient. For many this won’t work as they can’t let it in: they’ll shut down, defend against it or be hurt by it. Too low potencies on the other hand whisper too softly and can’t be heard by the patient.
We know the potency must match the patient, even Hahnemann pointed out that the sensitivity of the patient to a potency differs with 1 to a 1000 (aphorism 281:… There are patient whose impressionability compared to that of the unsusceptible ones is like the ration 1000 to 1). That’s is why I literally give every potency between 1 and infinite in either LM, C, K or D.
When we consider homeopathic remedies to be carriers of an information package, we understand why it has the potential to remind us of our basic blueprint, containing a particular, individual code resulting in a tendency to perceive reality as less than perfect. Whenever triggered we’ll get out of alignment in our particular, individual way and become less coherent. The remedy brings us back to greater coherence. That’s a never-ending process, and we can’t speed it up by hammering the information in too loud or too often. This would be like expecting a person going to a lecture of a guru and be instantly enlightened by hearing his words…. obviously, reality is different. When we expect our remedies to do this, we hold on to unrealistic expectations: a recipe for disappointment.
