Homeopathy        If a genie were to appear and offer to grant me instant knowledge and ability to perform just one natural medicine practice (along with EFT of course :o), that method would be homeopathy.  Like EFT, I’ve watched it perform seeming miracles, and like EFT, (at least on first seeing it) it seems to make no sense that it should be able to do so. Although the procedure to diagnose and determine the best remedy in this practice is fairly complex, and the preparation of the remedy used quite tedious, the basis of what homeopathy is - is quite simple . . . . . . it’s a system that fights fire with fire! More precisely, homeopathy is an exact opposite to ‘most’ traditional/allopathic (your family doctor type) practice. In homeopathy the rule is to use a system of similars, whereas traditional practices use a system of opposites.  One example of this difference might be the recommendation that would be made by your doctor, verses your homoeopath if you were to go to them complaining of a recurring headache. Your doctor would likely rule out the possibility of serious disorder like a tumor (which – if he suspected – he’d order scans, x-rays or whatever). If nothing as serious as that is suspected, he’d likely suggest an over the counter pain killer, or prescription drug for your condition. The important thing to note here is that the remedy suggested or prescribed is in direct opposition to your condition. Rather than look for and treat the reason you have the headache, this will act to dispel the ‘symptom’.  The symptom – not the disorder causing it – is addressed. On the other hand, your homeopath will interview you to try to determine what’s causing the headache. His/her next step would be to recommend a remedy that will address the cause – not the symptom. What’s more, the remedy you’d receive would quite possibly be more of the same thing that caused the disorder in the first place. Weird – huh?  That’s where the law of similars comes into effect. Homeopathy in North America is only around 170 years old, but it’s efficacy is so great, it’s cost so low (relative to the drugs used for the same ailments), and safety so profound, that it’s growing rapidly all over the world. I can see where adding it to every traditional medical practice would greatly enhance our doctors’ delivery of ‘healing’. Today however, the AMA (American Medical Association) continues to discipline members for using this and other alternative therapies. Most health food stores carry some form(s) of it. I’ve seen things like the common cold dramatically reduced with a product right off the shelf. Name dropping may be a no-no, but I’ve seen many people with colds and flues almost magically improve using a remedy called ‘oscillococcinum’. (I know . . . the only way I can remember the darned thing is to have it written into my day timer :o) Okay, so what is a homeopathic remedy? When you purchase a homeopathic remedy you'll receive instructions just like you do when you buy a bottle of Aspirin. The biggest (smallest?) difference you’ll notice is that the Aspirin bottle may say “Take one or two as needed”, whereas the homeopathic dose will be all 50 or 60 in the vial. Whew! – Big glass of water – right? Actually, the ‘pellets’ you’ll be taking are very small. So small in fact that you can place all 40 to 60 of them under your tongue with ease.  But what’s in these little pellets? Remedies come from a multitude of sources including minerals, plants, animals, and even venom from snakes and histamine from bees. What’s most interesting (and perhaps bewildering) about the remedies though, is that they’re diluted to the point that nothing more than the mere essence of the original ingredient remains once the remedy is ready. This remaining bit of the original substance is often referred to as a ‘footprint’. When you leave a footprint behind, that’s all you leave. Your foot . . . all of it . . . continues on with you. You and I may not be able to tell much by looking at a footprint, but an experienced tracker or investigator might build a whole case out of it, or track you (and the rest of your foot) down :o). This might make it easier to understand how homeopathic remedies are able to work. Trackers and investigators are people who can make something of a footprint due to years of training and experience. Every cell in your body is like a highly trained investigator, and is ‘innately’ intelligent enough to recognize and track down the source of these footprints and put them to use. In other words, each cell is able to pass on the offering as it goes by, or accept it - because it will resolve the 'cause' of a disorder within itself. This is how a typical batch is produced; 1 drop of the substance (let’s say – snake venom) is put in a vial. 99 drops of water are added to the vial. The vial is shaken (not stirred) 40 times (they call this 'percussing') 1 drop of the resulting mixture is put into a new vial 99 drops of water are added to this vial It’s shaken 40 times 1 drop of this mixture is put in a new vial and 99 drops of water added (Yikes! . . this goes on for 17 cycles, so let’s jump to the next step) Tiny pellets made of lactose are dropped into the final mixture After the right amount of time the pellets are dried out (with that footprint remaining inside them) and packaged See what I meant when I said “bewildering”?  By the time you’ve diluted the original ingredient 1 to 99 X 17, to say that even the ‘essence’ of it remains is hard to accept!  Yet the entire practice of homeopathy is based on the fact that your body is so smart that it can convert this veritable ‘footprint’ of the original into not just a relief, but a cure! **  Remember how I mentioned the safety of this method earlier on?  If you were to drink a gallon (4 litres for you metric buffs) of the end result liquid that the pellets are soaked in, your worst side effect would be bloating - because you drank too much, too fast.  Compare that to side effects from the last drug you consumed or had injected into your body!  ** Okay, so that’s how you make it, now what do you use it for? I haven’t read anything that indicates they've found an end to the disorders you can treat with homeopathy. All the same, mentioning some of its more popular uses might tweak your interest, if not for yourself, then perhaps for a friend or family member who's reached the end of the 'traditional' methods line. Here are a few of the more common applications; Gastrointestinal Problems – constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, and irritable bowel syndrome Skin conditions – acne, eczema, psoriasis, warts, herpes and poison ivy Respiration – colds, asthma, allergies, and chronic sinusitis Pain – Headaches, bursitis, arthritis and sciatica One caveat to consider; Not all problems, even with the symptoms or conditions mentioned above are likely to be solved with homeopathy. Early in my EFT education I learned that there’s something that can erect an impenetrable wall in the way of even the most efficient of healing tools.  It’s called ‘tail enders’. I won’t go into a great deal of detail here because this is described in our PainBusters dictionary, but feel it’s important enough to at least say this bit; Somewhere, even beneath our subconscious, there are messages written that defy our best attempts to overcome adversity. If on your ‘unconscious’ wall there’s a message that says that you don’t deserve peace, love, comfort or relief, no remedy (including homeopathy) is going to bring it to you. That’s one of the beauties to being an EFT practitioner. With EFT you can often find and remove those blockages - making room for the power of things like homeopathy. But, all EFT promoting aside :o), homeopathy is proving amazingly helpful to people with a vast range of problems that traditional medicine seems barely able to touch. This – in my mind – puts it right up there among the most important considerations a person with health challenges should make. For those of you in my area (Windsor, Ontario, Canada), there are a number of homeopathic practitioners. One I’ll promote here as being worthy of contact is Sandy Wright. Sandy practices a number of modalities (including EFT), and is an expert at finding and relieving the reasons for disorders. You can view her site and learn a little more about her practice at;  The Sandy Wright Centre For those of you not in my area, I encourage you to visit a homeopath in your area, particularly if you’re suffering from something the traditional system is having a tough time resolving. You just never know how it might help until you try it, and though not covered by most insurance plans, homeopathic remedies are incredibly less costly (and come without the side effects of  most drugs). You can likely find someone close to you by typing "homeopathic practitioners in" (name of your city) in your favorite search engine. May you soar, John