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What is homeopathy? History of homeopathy The principles Health – Disease – Cure What does homeopathy treat? FAQ
Disclaimer
What is homeopathy? History of homeopathy The principles Health – Disease – Cure What does homeopathy treat? FAQ
History of homeopathy
CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH SAMUEL HAHNEMANN
10.04.1755 - 02.07.1843
Hahnemann was born in Meissen, Saxony in 1755. Academically brilliant he mastered 6 languages before leaving school to study medicine and chemistry enabling him to finance his studies by teaching and translating.
He practiced medicine for some years but got increasingly disillusioned with its methods and treatment. Despite inevitable poverty he renounced the practice as “I might no longer incur risk of doing injury and I engage exclusively in literary occupation”. He became the leading translator of scientific works into German.
When translating “A Treatise on Materia Medica” written by the Scottish physician William Cullen he was sceptical about the author’s conclusion regarding the mode of action of Cinchona (Peruvian bark) in the cure of intermittent fever (malaria). He tested it on himself and was surprised as he developed attacks of intermittent fever. The implication that cause and cure might somehow be related made him repeat the experiment on members of the family and friends.
He suspected that he stumbled upon the law alluded to by Hippocrates and Paracelsus, that what a poison can cause it can cure – the first law of homeopathy was born:
Similia similibus curentur - like cures like
He continued to do these “tests” with lots of different substances for the rest of his life and recorded his observations with the utmost accuracy. He managed to prove about 100 remedies – today there are more than 3000.
Later in his life he discovered that there must be an underlying cause for the development of disease as cases relapsed or symptoms reoccurred – he called that predisposition or susceptibility from inheritance a miasm – cure can only be reached when the miasmatic picture (our inheritance) is taken into account when prescribing a remedy.
His most important and well known book however is the “Organon of the Healing Art” – he continuously researched and refined his knowledge about disease and cure and managed to write 6 editions until the end of his life.
He died in Paris where he spent the last few years finally getting some admiration and appreciation for his work.
10.04.1755 - 02.07.1843
Hahnemann was born in Meissen, Saxony in 1755. Academically brilliant he mastered 6 languages before leaving school to study medicine and chemistry enabling him to finance his studies by teaching and translating.
He practiced medicine for some years but got increasingly disillusioned with its methods and treatment. Despite inevitable poverty he renounced the practice as “I might no longer incur risk of doing injury and I engage exclusively in literary occupation”. He became the leading translator of scientific works into German.
When translating “A Treatise on Materia Medica” written by the Scottish physician William Cullen he was sceptical about the author’s conclusion regarding the mode of action of Cinchona (Peruvian bark) in the cure of intermittent fever (malaria). He tested it on himself and was surprised as he developed attacks of intermittent fever. The implication that cause and cure might somehow be related made him repeat the experiment on members of the family and friends.
He suspected that he stumbled upon the law alluded to by Hippocrates and Paracelsus, that what a poison can cause it can cure – the first law of homeopathy was born:
He continued to do these “tests” with lots of different substances for the rest of his life and recorded his observations with the utmost accuracy. He managed to prove about 100 remedies – today there are more than 3000.
Later in his life he discovered that there must be an underlying cause for the development of disease as cases relapsed or symptoms reoccurred – he called that predisposition or susceptibility from inheritance a miasm – cure can only be reached when the miasmatic picture (our inheritance) is taken into account when prescribing a remedy.
His most important and well known book however is the “Organon of the Healing Art” – he continuously researched and refined his knowledge about disease and cure and managed to write 6 editions until the end of his life.
He died in Paris where he spent the last few years finally getting some admiration and appreciation for his work.