Author: Barbara Roberts, BPharm (hons), DipHom, RegPharmNZ, RCHom
The New Zealand homeopathic conference, “Back to Source: Homeopathy, Fountainhead of Healing Wisdom” was held on the weekend (20-21 June).
For me, conference began on Friday morning when I left Kerikeri. In Auckland I met my good friend Jess and we had lunch together before continuing on to Wellington- and there were also 3 other homeopaths on our plane!
We were staying at Mövenpick hotel Wellington which has “chocolate hour” every afternoon, and we were delighted to turn up and eat dessert for afternoon tea, and at the same time catch up with more homeopaths.
Registration started at 6pm, after which a group of us walked into town to find dinner. The only problem was finding a place that could accommodate a dozen of us. In the end Marian found Floriditas who agreed to seat us as 3 tables of 4. Dinner was lovely, after which we walked back to the hotel and got ready for bed in anticipation of a long day on Saturday.
Saturday began with seeing more people.
Jude Henry was our emcee, and Jem Maber, president of NZCH opened the conference.
Our first speaker was Gwyneth Evans, who walked us through a history of homeopathy. This including some fantastic (and sometimes scandalous) anecdotes from the greats of homeopathy past, with credit to, and in remembrance of Julian Winston. Gwyneth also shared some of her memories from a booming period of homeopathy in New Zealand, from 1987 to 2000, which she described as “according to me”.
Ann Gully deepened our understanding of Lanthanide remedies. These, part of the hidden row of the gold series, have a lot of themes relevant to homeopaths themselves, and those who seek homeopathy and complementary medicine. Autonomy, power, searcher, self-control, inner world, shadow, reflection, humanist, worth, isolation/hidden and reserved are all words that can be used to describe these remedies.
After morning tea, we had an eye-opening presentation from Shona Grundy. This introduced a unique New Zealand “Source” water that she and her husband are kaitiaki of, and her journey, through skepticism to belief, and the incredible stories of healing from people who are drinking this water. This included some science on structured water, and the exclusion zone, plus the unique properties of the water including its high pH and negative charge.
Ann Gully then continued her presentation on Lanthanides, by sharing a case of multiple sclerosis, and particularly the connection between bird remedies and lanthanide remedies. While initially one bird remedy was prescribed, Buteo Jamaicensis, the red tailed hawk, this was not the simillimum for this case, and on further review, Milvus milvus, the Red Kite was prescribed, with improvement from this remedy.
We then had Vanessa Young share her journey, with her very honest reflection of her own insecurity and how she has grown into being comfortable with two different paradigms. I have read her book, which is delightful, and I was happy to hear her speak in that same engaging manner.
Leila Joffe shared a case where she and the client created the remedy together, triturating a Cedar of Lebanon through eight levels over eight hours. This ancient tree, that has stood as a witness through the rise and fall of civilisations had themes of endurance through devastation, a search for identity and a deep loneliness from separation. The themes of Lebanon itself came up in the trituration, with paradoxical coexistence during conflict, and there were shadow aspects of ancestral grief, excessive responsibility and an inability to rest.
Alice Kleinsman had a practical presentation about the use of drawing and colour, as these can access the unconscious instead of filtering through a the rational left brain. It may be useful if talking is difficult, and can reveal emotional states, personality traits and deep-seated patterns. In this process clients can also make their own connections. The physical act of drawing, including pressure, pace, direction and even shapes can all mirror the internal state and energy, and be important clues for the observing homeopath!
To top off a very long day, we had Jeremy Sherr join us via video conference from Tanzania. He shared some of his amazing work working on an adaptive translation of the organon. While there are three translations, these are focused on the literal translation of the words, and an adaptive translation focuses on meaning. This includes for aphorism 9 changing “man” to “life” to recognise that it is not just humans (men and women!) that are treated, but we can also use homeopathy for animals and plants. He also discussed purpose of life, as Hahnemann’s gravestone is engraved “Non Inutilis Vixi” – I have not lived in vain. Jeremy shared with us a case, and then looked at Materia Medica and the picture of Oxygen. This is very relevant as a number of our remedies are actually oxide compounds, such as Alumina, Mercurius and Arsenicum Album.
Jeremy’s lecture was an invigorating end to a long day. Heading out to dinner we were all inspired again by homeopathy, which all traced back to the source, Dr Samuel Hahnemann.
Sunday began with a presentation by Kaylene Henderson drawing on her experience as a midwife and homeopath. She reminded us that a baby begins well before pregnancy, with parental health, conception and the state in pregnancy all having a direct impact on the baby and their health as they grow. The presentation also encompassed epigenetics, and that science is finally validating what homeopathy has been focused on all along: that inherited patterns, family tendencies, general susceptibility and miasms are all important.
Claire Bleakley shared an amazing case of extreme anxiety in a child. When the initial remedy did not help, she had to look wider. The remedy she then found, Hedera helix, had a profound healing effect with anxiety disappearing in days after only a few doses of 30c. She also briefly shared experience of another new remedy, Dracaena cinnabari, which may also be useful for anxiety.
For me, the most deeply moving presentation at the conference was that of Te Ara Tapu, by Tracey Bonnington. She shared her very personal journey of coming across the tree Patetē, and the process of creating the remedy, with both a trituration and traditional hahnemannian proving. This remedy, with an affinity for the adrenals, and an action as an adaptogen I’m sure will have a transformative effect for many people. This was also a proving that honoured Te Ao Māori and tikanga, and is an example of how future provings of New Zealand native plants should be carried out.
After lunch we had a brief presentation by Rebecca Stirrup about the work of Homeopathy New Zealand, including the charitable clinics, and political advocacy work.
The final presentation was by Sarah Penrose, with two case examples of hormonal disorders in elite female athletes. Her presentation was highly referenced with the published, peer-reviewed studies of individualised homeopathic medicines in premenstrual syndrome (PMS), primary dysmenorrhoea (period pain) and menopause. She also highlighted the papers that were later retracted by editors, including one that utilised homeopathy as add-on therapy in non-small cell lung cancer, with improvements in quality of life and survival, where the paper was withdrawn because of a disbelief in the results. While validity was confirmed, the editors later retracted for being unable to find “pharmacologically active compounds” in the homeopathic remedies. The two cases were long term follow ups, and there was also an in-depth discussion of over training syndrome, and the negative effects of sports where low body fat is prioritised and caloric intake does not cover the energy expenditure.
After the conference was formally closed (early, in order to make flights), those who could stay enjoyed a pub-quiz style history activity, stretching our brains as to whether the first edition of the Organon was published in 1810, and the names of Kent’s three most popular books, among other questions. Unfortunately I had to leave before I found out the result for my table, but I can’t say I was very confident!
One of the magic things about this conference was the reality of the cases shared – where you don’t get the remedy right the first time – it either does nothing or it partly helps but the core is still there. It’s sometimes hard in homeopathy to see these ‘perfect’ cases where they give one remedy and everything is fixed, but in your own clinic you don’t get it right the first time. Sometimes something that seems really well indicated is not right, there are other aspects that need to be considered.
There were also some profound changes from small doses – reminiscent of Aphorism 2, where Hahnemann states “The highest ideal of cure is rapid, gentle, and permanent restoration of the health…”
The conference was a huge undertaking for two people to organise by themselves, and Gwyneth and Leila did an amazing job of creating a space for us all to come and enjoy. The next conference is in Auckland in 2028, date TBC, but if you are a homeopath well worth planning to attend.
