Provings
In order to discover what kind of symptoms a substance can produce in a healthy person, the homeopath can utilize a number of sources. For example, if a substance is very toxic, then many of the symptoms induced are familiar because of the number of people or animals who have fallen ill from it. Homeopaths can also tap into the study of traditional medicine as a rich source of information on many substances.
In order to discover the curative properties of a broader range of substances, Dr Hahnemann introduced a method of testing called ‘proving.’ In a proving, healthy individuals, the provers, take a small dose of a substance and by very carefully observing themselves document any symptoms which are at odds with their normal state. By this method symptoms connected to the substance are discovered.
The smallest possible dose
A remedy that is based on the Law of Similars can induce health in a patient without causing unwanted, dangerous side-effects. Hahnemann designed a process that he called Potentization, which involves a series of steps of diluting and shaking (dynamisation) a solution containing the substance. Starting with a mother tincture (a first dilution of the substance in water and medicinal alcohol), the substance is further diluted and shaken in a series of successive dilutions. Using this process, a homeopathic pharmacy can produce a wide variety of potencies of a remedy.
Through the potentization process, the chemical substances which could cause side-effects are diluted further with each step. Water has the ability to ‘remember’ what substances have been dissolved in it. (This has been proven by modern day leading material scientists (Lo, et al., 1996; Elia and Nicoli, 1999; Rey, 2003). By shaking the fluid after each dilution, the healing information of the substance is imprinted into the water. Through this 'potentization' process a homeopathic remedy is produced. That is, a substance which could induce certain symptoms in a healthy person is processed in such a way that it can then produce a curative response in a sick person suffering from those same symptoms. It can induce this healing response in the diseased individual without causing side-effects. Thus, homeopathic remedies, applied in the correct way, can be safely used for everyone, including small babies and pregnant women.