remedy – Herbs of Grace Healing Arts

January 13, 2010January 27, 2010

Homeopathy Facts

The following is a compilation of excerpts from an article written by Louise Mclean, LCCH MHMA, editor of Zeus Homoeopathy News and www.homeopathyheals.me.uk

FACT: Hippocrates ‘The Father of Medicine’ of Ancient Greece said there were two Laws of Healing: The Law of Opposites and the Law of Similars. Homeopathy treats the patient with medicines using the Law of Similars, orthodox medicine uses the Law of Opposites, e.g. antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, anti-convulsants, anti-hypertensives, anti-depressants, anti-psychotics.

FACT: Homeopathic theories are based on fixed principles of the Laws of Nature – unlike medical theories which are constantly changing!

FACT: Homeopathy is an evidence-based, empirical medicine.

FACT: Homeopathy is both an art and a science.

FACT: The Homeopathic PROVINGS of medicines are a more scientific method of testing than the orthodox model of RCTs or double blind trials.

FACT: Homeopathic medicine awakens and stimulates the body’s own curative powers. The potentised remedy acts as a catalyst to set healing into motion.

FACT: Homeopathic medicines work by communicating a current/pattern/frequency of energy via the whole human body to jump start the body’s own inherent healing mechanisms.

FACT: Homeopathy assists the body to heal itself, to overcome an illness which brings the patient to a HIGHER level of health. Orthodox medicine suppresses the illness, bringing the patient to a lower level of health.

FACT: The homeopathic practitioner endeavors to search for and treat the CAUSE of the disease in order to heal the EFFECT.

FACT: Outcomes of homeopathic treatment are measured by the LONG TERM curative effects of prescribing and complete eradication of the disease state.

FACT: The homeopathic practitioner treats the WHOLE PERSON, believing all symptoms are interrelated and seeks to select a medicine which most closely covers them all.

FACT: Homeopathy works FAST in acute illnesses, slower in chronic illness.

FACT: Homeopathic medicine has been proven extremely effective in Epidemics such as cholera, typhoid, diptheria, yellow fever, polio and influenza and were used extensively in 19th century. http://www.whale.to/v/winston.html

FACT: Homeopathic remedies are cheap.

FACT: Pharmaceutical medicines are expensive.

FACT: Homeopathy is the 2nd most popular and widely used medicine in the world.

FACT: There are more than 4,000 homeopathic medicines.

FACT: Homeopathic medicines have no toxic side-effects.

FACT: Homeopathic medicines are NON-ADDICTIVE.

FACT: In 200 years, there has never been a single homeopathic medicine recalled, unlike pharmaceutical medicines.

FACT: Every true homeopathic medicine is made using ONE SUBSTANCE – whether plant, mineral, metal, etc. The exact substance is known, unlike most modern drugs where we are rarely informed of the ingredients.

FACT: Any remedy up to a 12c or a 24x potency still contains the original molecules of the substance and this is known as Avogadro’s number.

FACT: Every Patient is Unique so homeopathic medicines are individualized.

FACT: Homeopaths treat genetic illness, tracing its origins to 6 main genetic causes or ‘miasms’: Tuberculosis, Syphilis, Gonorrhoea, Psora (scabies), Cancer, Leprosy.

FACT: High fevers will drop within minutes after taking the homeopathic medicine Belladonna or Aconite.

FACT : In the United States in the early 1900s there were 22 homeopathic medical schools and over 100 homeopathic hospitals, 60 orphanages and old people’s homes and 1,000+ homeopathic pharmacies.

FACT: Members of the American Medical Association had great animosity towards homeopathy after its formation in 1847 and it was decided to purge all local medical societies of physicians who were homeopaths.

FACT: Big Pharma does not want the Public to find out how well homeopathy works!

FACT: In 2005 World Health Organization brought out a draft report which showed homeopathy was beneficial causing Big Pharma to panic and the Lancet to bring out an editorial entitled ‘The End of Homeopathy’.

FACT: In 2005 the Lancet tried to destroy homeopathy but were only looking at 8 inconclusive trials out of 110 of which 102 were positive. This was a fraudulent analysis.
“The meta-analysis at the centre of the controversy is based on 110 placebo-controlled clinical trials of homeopathy and 110 clinical trials of allopathy (conventional medicine), which are said to be matched. These were reduced to 21 trials of homeopathy and 9 of conventional medicine of ‘higher quality’ and further reduced to 8 and 6 trials, respectively, which were ‘larger, higher quality’. The final analysis which concluded that ‘the clinical effects of homoeopathy are placebo effects’ was based on just the eight ‘larger, higher quality’ clinical trials of homeopathy. The Lancet’s press release did not mention this, instead giving the impression that the conclusions were based on all 110 trials.”
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1375230

FACT: There have been many clinical trials that prove homeopathy works. In the past 24 years there have been more than 180 controlled, and 118 randomized, trials into homeopathy, which were analyzed by four separate meta-analyses. In each case, the researchers concluded that the benefits of homeopathy went far beyond that which could be explained purely by the placebo effect.

FACT: The Bristol Homeopathic Hospital carried out a study published in November 2005 of 6500 patients receiving homeopathic treatment. There was an overall improvement in health of 70% of them. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/4454856.stm

FACT: Homeopathy can never be properly tested through double blind randomized trials because each prescription is individualized as every patient is unique. Therefore 10 people with arthritis, for example, may all need a different homeopathic medicine.

FACT: Homeopathic medicines are not tested on animals.

FACT: Homeopathic medicines work even better on animals and babies than on adults, proving this cannot be placebo effect.

FACT: Homeopathy is safe for women to take while pregnant and safe for old people.

FACT: Scientists agree that if and when homeopathy is accepted by the scientific community it will turn established science on its head.

FACT: The popularity of homeopathy has grown in the past 30 years, its revival entirely through word of mouth and estimated to be growing at more than 20% a year the world over!

FACT: Hundreds of famous people throughout the past 200 years have enjoyed the benefits of homeopathic medicine. www.homeopathicrevolution.com

FACT: The Royal Families of Europe use homeopathic medicine and Queen Elizabeth II of England never travels anywhere without her homeopathic vials of medicine.

FACT: Homeopathy is practised nowadays in countries all over the world. In India there are 100 homeopathic medical schools and around 250,000 homeopathic doctors!

FACT: In a recent Global TGI survey where people were asked whether they trust homeopathy the following percentages of people living in urban areas said YES: 62% in India, 58% Brazil, 53% Saudi Arabia, Chile 49%, United Arab Emirates 49%, France 40%, South Africa 35%, Russia 28%, Germany 27%, Argentina 25%, Hungary 25%, USA 18%, UK 15%. http://www.tgisurveys.com/documents/TGIbarometerhomeopathy_Jan08.pdf

FACT: The media as a whole has been unwilling to air a defense of the efficacy of homeopathy and the validity of this 250 year old profession.

January 12, 2010June 10, 2015

Homeopathy

Homeopathy is a wonderfully safe, effective and gentle healing art that was founded in the late 1700’s by a physician named Samuel Hahnemann in Germany.

The practice of Homeopathy is based mainly on three fundamental principles:

* The Law of Similars

* The Infinitesimal Dose

* The Treatment of the Whole Person

The first fundamental principle of homeopathy is based on the Law of Similars; the principle of “like cures like”. Hahnemann called this the similimum. This has also been stated as: Similia Similibus Curentur – let like be cured by like. This concept has been acknowledged since the times of the ancient philosophers and physicians. Hippocrates, Galen and Paracelsus have all touched on the philosophy of the Law of Similars.

What this means is that a disease can only be cured by a remedy that produces the same or similar symptoms, when given to healthy people, that the disease produces in those who are afflicted with it.

The second principle of homeopathy is that of the infinitesimal dose. One of Hahnemann’s driving forces behind his search for a better system of medicine was his disgust for the medical treatments of the time. The administration of massive doses of poisonous medicines, common at the time, led him to state in par 2 of the Organon, “ The highest ideal of therapy is to restore health rapidly, gently, permanently; to remove and destroy the whole disease in the shortest, surest, least harmful way, according to clearly comprehensible principles.”

He designed his original provings to gradually reduce the dose to determine the smallest dose that would still remain therapeutically effective. By coincidence, what he found was that not only are infinitesimally small doses even more therapeutically effective, but they are also completely free from the side effects that may be present in larger doses.

Homeopathy is a very individualized modality of medicine. It aims to treat the whole person, to bring about a rebalancing of the vital force, and complete disappearance of all symptoms, or in other words, a total cure.

In homeopathy, the remedy is matched to the individual, as well as to the symptoms, so people who have the same symptoms may receive different remedies. The entire makeup of the patient –their constitution – is taken into consideration when choosing a homeopathic remedy. Hahnemann says in the Organon par 5: “In bringing about a cure the physician should consider: the evident physical constitution of the patient (especially in chronic affections), his affective and intellectual character, his activities, his way of life, his habits, his social position, his family relationships, his age, his sexual life, etc.” The remedy is matched in every way to the patient – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, according to lifestyle, environment and family medical history. Determining whether a person is anxious, overweight, straight forward and light haired, or confidant, thin, artistic and dark haired can make all the difference in prescribing the correct remedy for that particular person. This shows that homeopathy is indeed a “wholistic” form of treatment and it is, in fact, the third principle of homeopathy – to treat the patient as a unique individual and not just a set of symptoms, or the bearer of a disease.

January 11, 2010June 10, 2015

My Journey to Natural Health

My journey in natural healing began almost 20 years ago. To overcome a recurring bout of bronchitis, a friend suggested I try an herbal remedy instead of the usual course of antibiotics that were obviously not working very well. I was amazed when I recovered in half the time I usually did. What was even more amazing was that my episodes of recurrence became less and less frequent until bronchitis became a thing of the past for me. That did it…..I was hooked….

Within a couple of years, I decided to undertake a course of study in Herbal Medicine with well known herbalist, Cascade Anderson Geller, in Portland, OR. After completing beginning through advanced courses, I was unsure of how to put my new-found knowledge to best use. I was not comfortable with the responsibility associated with asking people to put their health in my hands. However, I had a genuine desire to work with herbs. So, after some brainstorming, and a serendipitous class in herbal soap making, I decided to start a business hand crafting herbal soaps and skin care products. My Christmas gift recipients that year became the guinea pigs for my new line of products. Fortunately, they were all well received and Herbs of Grace was born. (Herb of Grace is one of the common names for Ruta graveolens, or Common Rue.)

My main marketing venue for the first several years, aside from my website, was the local farmer’s market in Vancouver, WA. I had a steadily growing base of clientele and the part-time schedule worked well with my growing family which now includes a husband and three daughters.

When my second daughter, Scarlet, was 10 months old, we attended a birthday party where we later learned we were exposed to strep throat. Right on cue, my daughter developed symptoms that led me to believe she had contracted the illness. After calling our naturopath and describing her symptoms, he confirmed that she most likely had scarlet fever (what did I expect, naming a child Scarlet…) After some research, he advised us to give her Belladonna 30C every 20 minutes for 1 hour and then 3x/day for the next 2-3 days. He said she would probably fall asleep right after the first 3 doses and her fever should break. He also mentioned that the fever may spike again in the evenings, but that was normal over the course of the illness, and that after 2 or 3 days, she should be well. To my delight and relief, she recovered *exactly* as he had described. This experience was a huge turning point in my life and eventually my business. Treating my own illnesses with natural modalities was one thing, but trusting my intuition to forego the mainstream conventional medical treatment in favor of traditional healing wisdom with someone else’s health, moreover my baby’s health, was another thing altogether. This experience not only cemented my trust in alternative medicine, but it also strengthened my trust in myself and my intuitive healing abilities.

In 2004, within months of the birth of our third daughter, our family had the opportunity to move to Japan for a year. I had just debuted a new line of mineral makeup based on the needs of my clients and it was very well received. Somehow, in my sleep-deprived, post-partum state, I decided that it shouldn’t be too difficult to pack up my business and 3 babes, move to a foreign country where I don’t speak the language and set up shop….So, off we went! That year proved not only to be the most challenging, but by far, one of the most enjoyable I have ever had. One of the biggest obstacles I had to face during the course of our stay in Japan resulted in my decision to stream-line my product offerings by discontinuing everything except the mineral makeup line. While this allowed me to focus on what was really selling well, it also took me away from working with my beloved herbs.

However, my business continued to grow, and by the time we came back to the states, my husband and I decided to take the risk and see if my business could provide for the family on a full-time basis, so we incorporated in January 2006. For the past 4 years now, we have been working from our farmhouse in rural western Washington, unschooling our girls, growing some of our own food, teaching belly dance classes on the side and now have Herbs of Grace Natural Look Mineral Makeup placed in over 60 retail locations nationwide.

Our decision has required us to forgo many things. We live closer to the earth, which has been a blessing to me. It has afforded me the chance to grow, harvest and use my own herbs for the first time, and I feel like I am literally getting back to my roots as an herbalist. Having these experiences has ignited in me the desire to incorporate natural medicine into my business… and having had so many wonderful experiences with homeopathy over the years, such as the one I mentioned earlier, I feel like I am now ready for that responsibility. These events led me to the British Institute of Homeopathy to enroll in the General Diploma of Homeopathy program.

I have a deep passion to continue the herbal and homeopathic traditions of the past and expand awareness of more natural, gentle forms of healing. I believe it is important at this point in time to remind people not only of their innate power to heal themselves, but also their responsibility to do just that. Herbalism and homeopathy have been a very empowering force in my life and I hope to share that experience with others. As I continue to add to my knowledge of natural healing modalities, I have decided the best way to share my skills is to put the “herbs” back into Herbs of Grace by offering consultations in natural health, specializing in herbalism and homeopathy.