Daffodils and Arnica

Just as daffodils symbolize Spring, Arnica montana symbolizes homeopathy. I saw daffodils for the first time this year and I knew that Spring was near; I saw Arnica prominently displayed in the wellness section of my local co-op and I smiled, thinking that this is the one homeopathic remedy accepted by almost everyone.

We can all agree that there are many other types of beautiful flowers in Spring, so why is it hard to accept that there are many other types of (beautifully valid) homeopathic remedies? It's as if the bridge from Arnica to all the other remedies is too difficult to cross, given the prevalent medical materialist philosophy. That leap from believing that Arnica helps with bruising, an acute ailment, to believing that homeopathy also helps with chronic depression or kidney failure or asthma or cancer—anything! —that leap is too great for some.

It's fascinating to me that plastic surgeons use Arnica to mitigate the effects of face lifts and rhinoplasty, but go no further. You would think these medically trained professionals would look more closely into this drug that helps their patients recover so well, but they don't. In fact, their voices remain silent when homeopathy in general is ridiculed. It goes against their medical culture in general to defend it.

The propaganda against homeopathy is intense, but why? It eats into Big Pharma's profits, but would pharmaceutical moguls hire slick marketing groups to defame homeopathy if it weren't a real threat? And what makes it a real threat? Could it be its validity?

You might argue that their marketing campaigns are keeping you "safe" from quackery, but what is the truth? Has the medical community's definition of safety ever been accurate, or is that term used by the propagandists to lull people into taking medications that have the potential to be harmful? Every drug has side effects, so the term "safe" should stop being used so flippantly. And the same goes for the term "effective." No one drug is effective for all people; we are unique individuals and one person's cure is another one's poison. Homeopaths understand this concept and recommend remedies based on an individual's total symptom picture.

In Love on the Vine  Lord Featherstone tells Fiona that she shouldn't argue with the medical professionals, but she doesn't listen to him. She has faith in homeopathy and thus prevents an amputation. My hope is that one day, hopefully sooner than later, our culture will shift into a clearer understanding and appreciation of homeopathy. This shift will bring a beneficial change to medicine.