The Power to Heal: Homeopathy
What makes homeopathy so effective and why is it being attacked by Big Pharma and the medical establishment? This therapy of the future reaches individual causes of illnesses without side-effects.
Homeopathy is a natural form of medicine used by tens of millions of people worldwide to treat both acute and chronic conditions. It is still considered a 'pseudo-science' by conventional medicine, because the physicalists have not understood how it works and its principles do not promise profits for the pharmaceutical industry. The holistic nature of homeopathy means that each person is treated as a unique individual with the aim of stimulating their own natural healing ability. Person’s physical state, emotions and mind are all considered in the management and prevention of disease.
Homeopathy is based on the principle of similia similibus curantur or “like cures like”. In other words, a substance taken in miniscule or non-observable amounts will cure the same symptoms it causes if taken in larger amounts. The basic principle is that homeopathic remedies do not act directly on the organism, but deal with the causes of organic diseases. Homeopathy treats the patient's whole system and the causes of illness, not just the symptoms.
Roots of homeopathy
The main principles of homeopathy have been around for a long time and have been applied in different circumstances. Hippocrates of Kos (around 460-377 BC), who is in modern times considered the “Father of Medicine”, did work with principles, which are similar to how homeopathy works. He thought that symptoms unique and specific to an individual should be taken into account before making a diagnosis. Hippocratic medicine was humble and passive. The therapeutic approach was based on “the healing power of nature” (vis medicatrix naturae in Latin). According to this doctrine, the body contains within itself the power to re-balance and heal itself. Hippocratic therapy focused on simply easing this natural process. Hippocrates also observed empirically that:
through the similar the disease develops and through use of the similar the disease is healed. So that which causes urinary tenesmus in the healthy, cures it in disease. Coughing is provoked and healed through the same agent in exactly the same way as in the case of urinary tenesmus.1
Paracelsus aka Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (1493–1542), the German naturalistic doctor and philosopher, was a more recent representative of this line of thought. He formulated the doctrine of signatures (“signa naturae”), according to which the therapeutic properties of plants or minerals can be deduced from some similarity between their forms or colours and various parts of the human body: sharply pointed leaves for stabbing pains, iris-like Euphrasia flowers for eye diseases, topaz to treat jaundice because both are yellow, and so on.2
Paracelsus is considered the one who developed spagyrics (in Greek “to separate and unite”), a process of alchemical origin that antecedes homeopathy. It differs from homeopathy just regarding the procedure – a potent plant with healing properties is in a special process (fermentation and distillation) burned to ashes and such ash is then added to the homeopathic distilled solution, which effectively amplifies the remedy’s curative effects.3
Although similar concepts existed previously, in modern times, homeopathic medicine was described by Dr Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), a German physician who was dissatisfied with the medical therapies and theories of his day.
Hahnemann considered the human being to be a biological unit animated by vital energy (‘Dynamis’) which when balanced, and therefore in a state of health, maintains a truly admirable harmony between all the components of the living organism which are involved in various functional and reactive activities. So Hahnemann’s idea of therapy was oriented toward the patient as a whole person rather than just to his illness, to the organism (the material instrument of life) and to disturbances of the Dynamis which animates it with sensitivity and will.
In 1796 Hahnemann published an article which can be regarded to all intents and purposes as the birth certificate of modern homeopathy. In this work, Essay on a new principle for ascertaining the curative powers of drugs, and some examinations of the previous principles, the law of similars was first defined in a systematic way.4
How does homeopathy work – some hypothesis
In homeopathy, medicines are used at extremely low doses and also at ‘ultramolecular’ dilutions (high dilutions, HDs). This term describes those remedies in which the original substance is unlikely to be present. Main research on homeopathy nowadays has in fact focused on the study of HDs, aiming to understand whether and how they work and to draw attention to their possible biological action.5
The most widely credited hypothesis to explain the mechanism of action of homeopathic medicines relates to understanding whether and how water may be able to retain information. This theory is known as the ‘‘memory of water’’. Recent studies suggest that in appropriate circumstances, aqueous or hydroalcoholic solutions can memorise and transmit information about substances which have been progressively diluted in them.6 On the basis of several studies it can be affirmed that there exists a measurable difference between the chemical–physical parameters of water and those of ultradilute homeopathic solutions, even though these are chemically identical to water. These differences have been attributed to the formation of specific molecular ‘‘clusters’’ or ‘‘coherence domains’’ induced by dynamisation, which alter the molecular structure of the water itself.7
A number of studies on the effect of homeopathy have been published by the Homeopathy Research Institute8 and and the British Homeopathic Association.9
How does homeopathy work – hylozoik explanation
There are serious seekers who want to have a deeper understanding of the reasons for the effectiveness of homeopathy and how it really works. Hylozoik teaching, founded by philosopher Pythagoras and mediated in modern times by Swedish hylozoik thinker Henry T. Laurency, offers an explanation to clarify the issue.
Hylozoic's main thesis about homeopathy is that homeopathic remedies act on the etheric envelope and not directly on the physical organism.10 Homeopathic medicines have effect upon the etheric envelope, activating the corresponding etheric energies, thus indirectly the organism. Until the existence of the etheric envelope has been recognized, the dogmatic medical mentality will go on rejecting these medicines.11
Etheric envelope is man’s physical energy body, consisting of matter, which is called etheric.12 It is a physical envelope, like organism, but consists of finer matter than the coarsest physical matter (solid, liquid and gaseous), visible to ordinary man. The etheric envelope consists of molecules, held together electromagnetically, of the three etheric molecular kinds (called life ether, superether and subatomic ether), which are invisible to ordinary man.
The etheric envelope is the essential physical envelope, which is explained by the fact that it contains all the energy centres that control the organism. The organism is a robot, mainly directed by the energies of the etheric envelope which largely have an automatic effect. Without its etheric envelope the organism is deprived of any kind of sense perception.
Every cell of the organism is permeated and enclosed by etheric matter, has its own etheric envelope, which is connected to the network. The sense organs of the organism thus have their centers of perception located in the etheric envelope. The etheric envelope exists before the organism, which is constructed on the network of the etheric envelope and with etheric energies. Without an etheric envelope no organism can be formed. The quality and capability of functioning of the organism depend on the etheric envelope.13
Besides the discovery of the etheric envelope it is also important discover the motion aspect of existence, the functioning of the energies and the energy resources of the various molecular kinds, a problem of which science knows nothing.14
So, how does homeopathy effect the etheric envelope and indirectly also the organism? For example, a ponderable dose of arsenic acts on the organism. But an imponderable and chemically unobservable dose beginning with one millionth part of a gram, D6, has an effect on the etheric envelope. The higher the potency, the stronger the effect. Generally, higher potencies than that of one hundred thousand are not produced. Formerly, however, there were those who manufactured the million potency and asserted that its effect was the strongest one (very probable, since the higher vibrations or frequencies of the etheric envelope are inconceivable to us).15
Indian homeopathic doctor Jayesh Shah has highlighted that:
“every time you dilute a homeopathic remedy, it becomes stronger. Homeopathy is opposite to allopathy – there the dose is more powerful the more substance is in it. In homeopathy it is vice versa, the less substance is in it, the more powerful it is.”
That is so, because homeopathy reaches to cure the causes of illness, not just the symptoms. And the causes mostly lie in the physical etheric envelope, not the physical organism. The etheric envelope can be affected by high dilutions of a particularly needed substance.
It is the business of medical science to discover the etheric envelope, the etheric energies, and the connecting link between the etheric envelope and the organism. As medical science appears irremediable in its dogmatic adherence to erroneous old views, it will take some time before these discoveries are made.16
In addition, esoteric therapy can be said to include homeopathy, light (colour), and sound therapy. All these methods are right in principle but are still at the experimental stage.
Usage of homeopathy
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), homeopathic treatments are now widely used in more than 80 countries. It is estimated that over 200 million people around the world use homeopathy17 and are patients to homeopathic doctors. Around 100 million of European Union citizens use homeopathic medicines in their day-to-day healthcare.18
An international study published in 2024, conducted over 18 months with a sample of 16,334 respondents in 15 countries19, found that 57% of people say they have used homeopathy in their lifetime and 55% plan to use it in the future because they consider homeopathic treatments to be natural and without side effects.20
This cannot just be a result of the so-called placebo effect that some conventional scientists use to explain the effects of homeopathy, but these figures show that more and more people have found and are finding real help from homeopathic treatment. Moreover, a meta-analysis of placebo-controlled double-blind randomised controlled trials has found that when homeopathic medicines are prescribed as part of individualised treatment, they are 1.5 to 2.0 times more likely to have a beneficial effect than a placebo.21
Homeopathy is used in many countries in the world, from Europe to Asia.
France
According to a 2018 survey in France (population of 67 million), over 40% of French people have been using homeopathy for more than 10 years and 87% say their close family or friends have used homeopathy.22
Germany
In Germany (population of 82 million), a survey has shown that 56 percent of Germans already have experience with homeopathy and homeopathic medicines and use them mainly for everyday problems, both for themselves and others. Also, integrative medicine – the coexistence of conventional medicine and complementary therapies such as natural medicine and homeopathy – is advocated by 75 percent of Germans.23
United Kingdom
An estimated 32 million people in the United Kingdom have used homeopathy (ca 50% of the population).24 More than 400 general practitioners use homeopathy along with conventional medicine in their daily practice, and The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (RLHIM) is the largest public institution for integrated medicine in Europe, offering an approach to diagnosis and therapy based on both conventional and homeopathic medicine.
USA
An estimated 193 million people have used homeopathy in the US (ca 60 % of the population) during their lifetime. Ca 90% of respondents were satisfied after using an homeopathic treatment.25
Switzerland
In Switzerland, homeopathy and three other complementary therapies were given the same status as conventional medicine in 2017 and homeopathy is the most commonly used form of complementary medicine. SantéSuisse, the biggest umbrella organization of health insurers in Switzerland argues that standardized methods used to test conventional treatments and its effectiveness cannot be applied to homeopathy as these systematic and internationally accepted methods of biomedical science go against the underlying principles of homeopathy.26
Part of national health systems
Several countries around the world include homeopathy in their national health systems: United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka etc. In Italy, Norway, Germany and Switzerland, homeopathy is very frequently chosen to treat paediatric patients. Even general practitioners often prescribe homeopathic remedies when conventional therapies prove relatively or completely ineffective.27
In several countries, e.g. Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Denmark, United Kingdom, Canada, United States and Australia, women, people of middle age and people with higher levels of education or higher income are more likely to use complementary medicine, including homeopathy.28
Why does conventional (allopathic) medicine oppose homeopathy so fiercely?
The use of homeopathy is being severely and systematically attacked by allopathic medicine and the pharmaceutical industry. Reasons for that can be the following:
Firstly, physicalism now still prevailing in science and conventional medical communities cannot simply understand and grasp homeopathy. Medical science rejects homeopathic remedies, since it cannot explain their efficacy. When, sometime in the future, it humiliates itself to explore the energy effect of the thousandth or millionth potency, it will make more revolutionary discoveries concerning the structure of matter than the physicists with their so-called splitting of atoms.29
Secondly, homeopathy is a principal threat to a now prevalent and powerful pharmaceutical industry in the world. Especially with its main functioning principles, which are different from allopathic biomedical system:
strictly individual approach towards patients’ whole being,
reaching root causes of illness instead of dealing with symptoms of a disease and
non-existence of harmful side-effects as in homeopathy medicines are used at extremely low doses and also as high dilutions of an original substance.
Side effects are a particularly serious problem in allopathy, where synthetic drugs designed to suppress or alleviate certain symptoms induce new symptoms in patients (as so-called side effects), creating a vicious circle of drug use, especially for patients suffering from e.g. chronic diseases. If the main working principles of homeopathy are one day accepted as superior for curing and treating patients, it will deal a heavy blow to the specific financial interests behind these allopathic pharmaceutical industries.
Thirdly, homeopathy is in the majority of cases efficient and cheap for patients. Several studies on evaluating the cost-effectiveness of homeopathy compared to conventional medicine have been conducted in France, Germany and Italy.30 Studies have showed lower costs for homeopathy31, or for similar costs better outcomes for those patients whose doctors also used homeopathic medicines.32
Though there has been a lot of attacks towards homeopathy in public sphere, informed patients make up their minds mostly based on the efficacy of a treatment. For example, 68 per cent of Germans think that counter-arguments about homeopathy in public are patronising, because everyone should decide for themselves what they believe. 42 per cent think the counter-arguments are wrong because they believe that people can see for themselves that homeopathic remedies work. In general, only 26 per cent of Germans feel that critical reporting on homeopathy in the media is useful.33
Conclusion
Homeopathy can be described as a therapy of the future. Today it is still in an experimental phase, but even so it has proved its efficacy for tens of millions of patients throughout the world. Conventional science has not yet accepted homeopathy, but this is inevitable when science finally discovers the existence of the etheric envelope and particularily begins to understand the motion aspect of existence.
Etheric matter and its energies are the field of research extending immediately before science. More and more scientists will be aware of the etheric. This will become especially important to medical science. Most of the diseases afflicting the organism are preceded by disturbances of the etheric envelope. The exclusively organic diseases are few in number. Disease mostly is due to etheric and emotional imbalances, which both entail disturbances of the etheric envelope that with time manifest themselves pathologically in the organism.34
L.J. Boyd (1936) A Study of the Simile in Medicine (edizione italiana a cura di P. Bellavite: Il Simile in Medicina. Medicina Ippocratica, omeopatia e scienza, Ed. Cortina, Verona, 2001). Boericke and Tafel, Philadelphia
Ibid
Giulio Vigano, Paola Nannei, Paolo Bellavite “Homeopathy: from tradition to science?”, J Med Pers (2015) 13:7–17, pub 12.12.2014
Ibid
Elia V, Napoli E, Germano R (2007) “The ‘memory of water’: an almost deciphered enigma. Dissipative structures in extremely dilute aqueous solutions.” Homeopathy 96:163–169 37. Also, Betti L, Trebbi G, Olioso D, Marzotto M, Bellavite P (2013) “Basic research in homeopathy and ultra-high dilutions: what progress is being made?” Homeopathy 102:151–154
Giulio Vigano, Paola Nannei, Paolo Bellavite “Homeopathy: from tradition to science?”, J Med Pers (2015) 13:7–17, pub 12.12.2014
Henry T. Laurency, The Knowledge of Life 3, Health, p 6
Henry T. Laurency, The Way of Man, The Physical Being of the First Self, p 15
Lars Adelskogh, Etheric Envelope, One, page 1
Henry T. Laurency, The Way of Man, The Physical Being of the First Self, pp 1-2
Ibid
Ibid, p 15
Ibid, p 13
Homeopathic medicinal products. Commission report to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of Directives 92/73 and 92/74
Ibid
15 countries: France, Spain, Italy, Germany, UK, United States, Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and India
Survey conducted by Toluna Harris Interactive. Summary published on Harris Interactive website 17 July, 2024: https://harris-interactive.fr/opinion_polls/lusage-de-lhomeopathie-dans-le-monde-2/
Mathie et al. (2014) Randomised placebo-controlled trials of individualised homeopathic treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis. Systematic Reviews, 2014; 3: 142
Market survey by Ipsos, november 2018
Survey by Kantar TNS, august 2018
https://harris-interactive.fr/opinion_polls/lusage-de-lhomeopathie-dans-le-monde-2/
Ibid
Ekins-Daukes S, Helms PJ, Taylor MW, Simpson CR, McLay JS (2005) Paediatric homoeopathy in general practice: where, when and why? Br J Clin Pharmacol 59:743–749
Frass M, Strassl RP, Friehs H, Müllner M, Kundi M, Kaye AD. Use and acceptance of complementary and alternative medicine among the general population and medical personnel: a systematic review. Ochsner J. 2012;12: 45–56
Lars Adelskogh, The Etheric Envelope, Four, page 21
E.g. Witt C, Keil T, Selim D, Roll S, Vance W, Wegscheider K, Willich SN (2005) Outcome and costs of homoeopathic and conventional treatment strategies: a comparative cohort study in patients with chronic disorders. Complement Ther Med 13:79–86;
Rossi E, Crudeli L, Endrizzi C, Garibaldi D (2009) Cost-benefit evaluation of homeopathic versus conventional therapy in respiratory diseases. Homeopathy 98:2–10;
Bornhoft G, Wolf U, Ammon K, Righetti M, Maxion-Bergemann S, Baumgartner S, Thurneysen AE, Matthiessen PF (2006) Effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of homeopathy in general practice–summarized health technology assessment. Forsch Komplementarmed 13(Suppl 2):19–29
Colas et al., Economic impact of homeopathic practice in general medicine in France, Health Econ Review, 2015; 5: 18, 2015;
Rossi et al., Cost-benefit evaluation of homeopathic v conventional therapy in respiratory diseases Homp (2009) 98:2-10;
SASIS-Datenpool Jahresdaten mit Abzugsdatum 2015, SVKH
Witt et al: Outcome and costs of homoeopathic and conventional treatment strategies: a comparative cohort study in patients with chronic disorders. Complement Ther Med. 2005 Jun;13(2):79-86
Survey by Kantar TNS, august 2018
Lars Adelskogh, The Etheric Envelope, One, p 6