How to make Homoeopathic Medicines

Homoeopathic medicine uses very small amounts of natural substances to gently stimulate the body’s own natural defence system.

The founder of modern homoeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann discovered, in the course of his research that progressively diluting the dose of a remedy and “succussing” or shaking it vigorously at each stage of dilution (a process known as potentization) makes the homeopathic remedy more powerful when given in the lowest concentration or highest dilution. The most powerful homeopathic remedies are so diluted that there is little probability of any molecule of the active original substance remaining.

One part of the substance animal, vegetable or mineral is diluted in many parts of alcohol and water. This mixture is shaken, and once again, one part from this mixture is added to many parts of alcohol and water and shaken. The process is repeated until we get the desired strength or "potency". This process of diluting and mixing is called, "potentisation". Potentization releases the curative energy of a substance.

Homeopathy frequently uses only minute amounts of active substances to alleviate symptoms of illness. Poisonous or inert substances must be diluted to become therapeutically useful in accordance with the ‘Similia’ principle. Hahnemann also found that even non-toxic substances could sometimes temporarily exacerbate symptoms if given in doses that were not diluted enough. To prevent such ‘aggravations’, Hahnemann proceeded to dilute his preparations according to the following technique which he called potentisation:

Homeopathic dilutions are also referred to as potencies

From the starting material, which would normally be a natural substance, a mother tincture or starting solution is produced. One part of this mother tincture is then added to 99 parts of alcohol and water, and “succussed”, by vigorously shaking the vessel containing this mixture against a semi-hard surface. This results in a 1C or first centesimal dilution. Repeating this process once more gives a 2C or second centesimal dilution, and so on.

Another system of dilution was developed in which one part of the mother tincture was added to 9 parts of alcohol and water instead of 99 parts. This gave a 1X or first decimal dilution. Repeating this step gives a 2X dilution and so on.

The table below shows the relationship of some of the potencies and the resulting dilutions. It is clear to see that as the potencies increase, the dilutions become quite extreme, however they also become more powerful in their curative qualities if the homeopathic remedy matches the symptom picture of the patient.

Decimal	Centesimal	Dilution
1X	-	1:10 (10 ^–1)
2X	1C	1:100 (10 ^–2)
3X	-	1:1,000 (10 ^–3)
4X	2C	1:10,000 (10 ^–4)
5X	-	1:100,000 (10 ^–5)
6X	3C	1:1000,000 (10 ^–6)
12X	6C	1:1 billion (10 ^–12)
60X	30C	1:1 billion billion billion billion billion (10 ^–60)

Today, most remedies are available in centesimal potencies and some chemists and health food shops will carry a range of the most common 6C or 30C remedies.