Many people think that homeopathic medicines are made from plants, but in fact the remedies can be made from anything.
The substances are made from
- plants; poisonous and non-poisonous plants, herbs and toad-stools
- minerals, like sulfur, sodium chloride or silicium
- metals, like mercury, gold or silver
- animal substances, like the poison of a snake, ink of the cuttlefish, tarentula or spanish fly
- chemical combinations, like causticum or nitroglycerine
- chemical drugs, like penicillin, morfine or salicyl acid
- psychedelic drugs, like marihuana or opium
- sick body-tissue, like a mammae-carcinoom or tuberculous sputum
- addictive stuff, like cigarettes or coffee
- miscellaneous, like X-ray or charcoal.
Wow! This sounds weird, how safe is it actually to take these things?
Very safe in homeopathic form since the remedies are all made according the processes described in the homeopathic Pharmocopoeia, and the substances are carefully diluted so they have lost their possible poisonous or harmful character. And above a potency of D30 or C9 there's no molecule left of the original substance. Many of these raw materials may seem very unattractive, but once you see a hyperactive and aggressive child who refuses anything, become quiet and gentle by three tiny pellets of Tarentula, I'm sure you will change your mind.
In his former practice as a physician Hahnemann had seen the devastating effects of large doses of raw 'medicines' like arsenic and mercury; so he invented a system of minimum doseage
He came up with potentization of the medicines by alternatively diluting and vigorously shaking (succession).
This is how it works: from a raw material, lets's say a plant, a mother-tincture in alcohol is prepared. From this tincture we take one drop and mix it with 9 drops of alcohol (to achieve a ratio of 1:10) or 99 drops of alcohol (to get a ratio of 1:100); next this dilution is strongly shaken a 100 times. Now we have a D1 potency (1:10) or a C1 potency (1:100). One drop of the D1 or C1 mixture is added to 9 or 99 drops of alcohol, again vigorously shaken, and now we have a D2 or C2 potency. This process can be repeated endlessly. The higher a remedy is potentized the more it leaves the material plane and returns to its original state of energy. Through the repeated shaking, known as succession, the amount of energy is raised. The mechanism behind this is not clear; yet experience has obvious proven that higher potentized remedies work stronger and longer than the lower potencies.
For self-medication often the potencies of D6,D9, D12 or C6,C9 or C12 are advised.
The classical homeopath mostly works with the potencies C30, C200, M(C1000), 10M and 50M.
Later on in his life Hahnemann introduced the LM-potencies (1:50.000), but these are not widely used among homeopaths, although the ones who do use them are very enthusiastic about it.
