Single plant, mineral and animal substances are diluted and succussed (shaken) over and over in a method called potentisation. Homeopathic remedies are prepared in homeopathic pharmacies. One part of the plant extract, i.e.is diluted in 9 parts of water and then shaken. Then one part of this 1x dilution is again diluted in 9 parts water and shaken. Now it is 2x--and this is continued in a serial manner. Homeopathic practitioners use remedies diluted to 6x, 12x, 30x, 200x in this decimal system, and on up to 100,000x and even more dilute. The centessimal dilutions are diluted 1:100 each time and designated 6C, 30C, etc.

Hahnemann noted that potentized medicines acted more forcefully than they did in the gross form, and that the more a medicine was diluted and succussed, the stronger its action. So, the more dilute, or potentised a substance is, the more powerful its action on the governing system of the body, the VITAL FORCE. Chemically, there can be no molecules of the original substance left in the solution after dilution past 24x. The energetic imprint of the substance appears to be left in the solution, perhaps because of the shaking process and a concept known as the "memory or water". Because of their dilute nature it is unlikely that the remedies exert any chemical action on the cells of the body. Since the vital force is an energy system, the remedies are thought to work on the energetic level itself.

Almost all homeopathic remedies are available over the counter from homeopathic pharmacies. One remedy vial costs less than $10 and will last a family several years. They may be in the form of tablets, granules or liquids, all prepared to the highest quality standards based on the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States and FDA approved. They are prepared from pure and natural sources and are sweet tasting and palatable even for the youngest children.

Homeopathic medicines do NOT have any side effects, as they are administered in minute doses and do not have a chemical or mechanical effect on the body. But still, homeopathic medicines must be judiciously taken on the advice of a qualified homeopath and not self-medicated except in self-limiting acute ailments. The remedies have been used safely for pregnant and nursing women and infants for 200 years.

Disease consists of a disruption of the central regulating energies that maintain life. Hahnemann called this regulating energy the "vital force". Practically ignored by modern science, except under the limited term "immune system", every other culture's traditional healing system recognizes such a concept as central to understanding and affecting the health. "Chi" in China, "prana" in India--the life principle that regulates body, mind and spirit does not lend itself easily to technological investigation, but its understanding is the next frontier in medicine. It is the vital force, which a homeopath attempts to reach and stimulate when a homeopathic medicine is administered.