A Former Homeopathic Skeptic Now a True Believer

You might be wondering if homeopathic medicine really works or if it is just a placebo effect.  When I first learned about it, it sounded too good to be true.  Well, I wasn’t the only skeptic out there.  The “father of Homeopathy in America”, Constantine Hering, started out a skeptic himself.

Dr. Constantine Hering is known for formulating the famous Homeopathic Laws of Cure.  Believe it or not, when he first began studying homeopathy, he did so as a researcher trying to disprove homeopathy. Hering started down a path that would change his entire future when a French surgeon he was studying under in Dresden asked him to take on the project of writing a pamphlet discrediting homeopathy. In order to do this, he started studying the writings of homeopathy’s founder, Samuel Hahneman. To his surprise, Hering became convinced that Hahneman was right, and the two men began a correspondence and eventual friendship. Please understand that this was not some quick survey of Hahneman’s works. In fact, he devoted two years to studying Hahneman’s principles before coming to his conclusion.

Like many skeptics, it took a personal experience with homeopathy to completely convince Hering of homeopathy’s validity. During an autopsy, Hering sliced his finger, and the wound eventually became infected. The finger developed gangrene, and amputation was recommended. Luckily, a friend gave Hering the remedy Arsenicum album. No amputation necessary!  

As a result of his amazing cure, Hering decided to devote his life to spreading homeopathy’s message. When he immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1833, he brought knowledge of its powerful ability to heal with him, eventually becoming the “father of homeopathy in America”. Before he arrived, Samuel Hahneman’s homeopathic texts were only available in their original German, and very few homeopaths were practicing in this country. Besides having this valuable literature translated into English, Hering also started the first American School of Homeopathy, the North American Academy of the Homeopathic Healing Art located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Working tirelessly, Dr. Hering eventually oversaw provings of 91 remedies, including such valuable polycrests as Lachesis and Gelsemium. But his greatest contribution may have been the first Materia Medica in English, The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica.

As Constantine Hering shows us, sometimes the testimony of a former skeptic is the best proof.  Give homeopathy a chance to see what it can do for you and your family.  Chances are, you will become convinced of what an incredible form of medicine it can be once you try it!