Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), the German doctor who founded Homoeopathy, became disillusioned with the current medical practices of his time (such as the use of purgatives and bleeding).

This eventually led him to the belief that the answers to disease must lie in Nature. He expressed his understanding thus: "The Author of all good, when He allowed diseases to injure His offspring, must have laid down a means by which those torments might be lessened or removed."

Like the ancient writers such as Paracelsus, Hahnemann observed that the symptoms which various substances produced in a healthy individual could be used as a guide in the selection of that same substance to act curatively in a sick individual.

This understanding enabled him to develop what is known as The Law of Similars which is the cornerstone of homœopathic philosophy. It is well-expressed in the name Homoeopathy derived from the Greek words: 'homoios' [similar] and 'pathos', [suffering] meaning '[the cure] is like the disease'. Hahnemann referred to conventional medicine as Allopathy, meaning '[the cure] is unrelated to the disease.'

The western medical model espouses the Cartesian maxim: "The sum is the whole of its parts." This is essentially a reductionist model that necessitates the use of specialists for treatment, so is different from the homœopathic model of medicine which encompasses the Holistic medical tradition. This tradition recognises that each part and every creature is not only an entity in its own right, but is also an integral part of larger and larger systems. That is why homœopaths say that they "treat the whole person".

According to the WHO Homoeopathy is, after Traditional Chinese Medicine, the second most widely-used medicine in the world. It is practised on every continent and has enjoyed over 200 years of continuous use. In Australia, a practitioner registered with AROH (Australian Register of Homoeopaths), will provide safe and competent treatment as registration is only attained after study at a Registered Training Organisation which teaches curricula that are based on the government-endorsed National Competency Standards.

The professional organisation to which most registered homeopaths in Australia belong is the Australian Homoeopathic Association (AHA).

If you would like to know more about the rich and extensive history of Homoeopathy in Australia, visit this website: www.historyofhomeopathy.com.au

The Homoeopath is essentially a Vitalist; that is one who sees the human organism as a body/mind/spirit complex which, as a whole, makes a response to environmental stressors. Disease and sickness occur when this complex is out of balance. The disturbance may be an internal or external one, and the signs and symptoms which follow are an attempt by the individual to come back into balance.

This implies, then, that there is an innate power of self healing in every creature (which can be termed the Life Force) and a tendency always to restore order. In the Organon of Medicine, the Homoeopath's "Bible", this self-healing power is referred to by Hahnemann as a 'Dynamis' which gives life to the body. In other traditions, this energy is often referred to as: Chi; Prana or Soul. Today, homoeopaths call it the 'Vital Force'.

In keeping with the Vitalist tradition, Homoeopathy sees the Vital Force as being that aspect of each individual which: adapts to environmental influences; animates the emotional state; provides thoughts and creativity and gives rise to spiritual inspiration. Signs and symptoms of disease then are referred to by Homoeopaths as being the defense mechanism of the Vital Force at work as it attempts to restore equilibrium when subjected to a stressor whether it be physical, environmental or mental/emotional.

A good example of this fact occurs with food poisoning. As soon as the Vital Force recognises that a poisonous substance has been ingested, the most unpleasant results of vomiting and diarrhoea can be sure to follow as the body attempts to come back into balance. Disease then, is merely a response of the body to an assault on the Vital Force.

Signs and symptoms such as fever, rash or discharge from the nose or throat are then produced in an attempt to restore order. Disease can be acute, such as with influenza or cholera, where the symptoms come on suddenly and ferociously and leave in a short time with the person either dying or making a full recovery; or it can be chronic where the symptoms, such as with asthma or diabetes, persist for years resulting in a gradual deterioration of the individual's health.

Classical Homoeopathic philosophy revolves around the following principles:

1) The Law of Similars:

"Any substance which can produce a totality of symptoms in a healthy human being, can cure that totality of symptoms in a sick human being".

The knowledge of which remedy to prescribe for a patient comes from an understanding of what are called "provings".

Provings occur when groups of healthy people, under double-blind conditions, take remedies and keep meticulous diaries over following days, weeks and months, noting down accurately all the resulting symptoms. These can be physical or mental/emotional.

All these symptoms (both objective and subjective) are collated and written up in a book called aMateria Medica. Homoeopaths, through many years' extensive study, have a good working knowledge of what is contained in a Materia Medica. Therefore, when sick people present at the Clinic and their signs and symptoms are taken down, the "Simillimum" or similar remedy which closely matches the current symptom picture is selected.

2) The Single Remedy

Because Homoeopathy is a medical modality which treats the individual rather than the disease, treatment is individualised for each patient. The Simillimum is always a single remedy (never a mixture) of a specially prepared potentised substance selected from the animal, vegetable or mineral kingdoms. When taking the case, the Homoeopath takes careful note of all the physical symptoms.

However, environmental stressors and the mental/emotional state of the individual are also noted and used for remedy selection. In this way the profile of the medicine closely matches the personality profile of each patient. Because of this fact, several patients presenting with a known disease such as asthma, for example, will probably be each given a different remedy.

3) The Single or Minimum Dose

Homoeopaths believe that disease occurs primarily as a result of a disturbance to the Vital Force. In weakened or susceptible individuals such an assault results in signs and symptoms being produced as the Vital Force attempts to repair the damage and come back into balance.

Usually, the initial disturbance is a one-off event such as over-exposure to cold, wet or hot conditions; or an emotional shock such as which occurs with the loss of a loved one or loss of employment; or a physical shock such as exposure to a bacterium or a fall. Homoeopaths, therefore, believe that the restoration of the Vital Force requires a one-off stimulus in the form of a remedy given in minute quantity, in order for integrity (that is the removal of signs and symptoms) to be restored to the Vital Force.

4) The Use of a Potentised Remedy

Hahnemann's belief that disease stemmed from a disturbance to the energetic field of the body, led him to believe that the best cure could be effected with the use of energised medicine. Tinctures which form the basis for the remedies are made mostly from plants or minerals. Herbal tinctures are usually made by soaking or boiling; while tinctures from minerals are obtained by grinding the substance in a mortar and pestle from which a solution is then made.

Homoeopathic remedies used by most practitioners are produced in either the decimal (X) scale or the centesimal (C) scale. The decimal scale (dilution of 1:10) is produced by initially mixing a drop of the tincture with 9 drops of ethanol. The centesimal scale (dilution of 1:100) is produced by initially mixing two drops of the tincture with 98 drops of ethanol.

Another scale (the LM scale) represents a dilution of 1:50,000 and is prepared in a complex way. However, all scales undergo a progressive series of dilutions with shaking or "succussing" the bottle of medicine in between each dilution. Homoeopaths believe that this process imparts a dynamic aspect to the remedies which is then used to match the dynamic aspect of the Vital Force.

5) The Law of Cure

When treating an individual, the Homoeopath observes that the symptoms will always move from:

(a) the vital organs to the less vital organs
(b) from within, outwards
(c) from above, downwards
(d) in reverse order of appearance

Asthma usually follows eczema which has been treated by ointments of various kinds. In treating an asthmatic, the Law of Cure would be seen to be in action when the symptoms move from the lungs to the skin (ie from a vital organ to a less vital organ; from within, outward, and in the reverse order of appearance). Eventually, as the Vital Force is strengthened by continuing homoeopathic treatment, the eczema should move down the trunk and onto the extremities before settling down. When symptoms move in this pattern, the homœopath is able to gauge the efficacy of the treatment.

Ultimately, however, the tendency in individuals towards certain types of diseases rests with the genetic inheritance. Hahnemann demonstrated that he truly was a man of great insight when he touched on this aspect in his Theory of Miasms; a theory arrived at when it was observed that some sort of innate obstacle to cure persisted in spite of accurate prescribing. Such innate obstacles to cure due to genetic factors are treated with special medicines called Nosodes.