Homeopathy stands and falls with the simile rule. Hahnemann formulated this rule in the introduction of the Organon. There it literally says: “The true path of healing, for which I give instructions in this work: choose, in order to heal gently, quickly and permanently, in every case of illness, a remedy which can cause a similar suffering for itself as it is supposed to cure (similia similibus curentur)!
“Similar things can be cured by similar things”. The simile was already mentioned by Hippocrates, Galen and Paracelsus, but until then it had not influenced medicine. Hahnemann was the first to recognize its importance and made it the basis of his teaching which he called homeopathy.
As a counter term Hahnemann called allopathy, by which he meant everything non-homeopathic. The principle of similarity is to be understood as a biological principle, an organ-specific regulatory therapy which works with threshold and even subliminal stimuli. Homeopathy is empirical medicine of stimulus and counter-stimulus.
According to purely physical and chemical laws, the simile rule and the effectiveness of homeopathic therapy cannot be classified and explained. A distinction is made between artificial and natural therapy. The measures of artificial therapy are directly aimed at eliminating the pathological changes and their causes.
A passive role is ascribed to the organism. The measures of natural therapy, on the other hand, aim at an active participation of the body, at its natural abilities to react and regulate, adapt and defend against pathogenic influences. Homeopathy is a natural therapy with limits and only possible where the organism still has the ability to react. For homeopathic treatment, one must choose the remedy that can induce regulatory processes in the organism that are as similar as possible to those that are already in progress under the influence of the damage (Dahlke).
Drug Disease
The drug found according to the simile rule is supposed to cause a medicinal disease similar to the natural disease. The healing processes in the organism should be strengthened and set in motion by the simile. It is to be understood as a directional impulse and is to give a higher degree of order to the more or less disorderly running disease processes.
A homeopathic remedy is not strong or weak, not good or bad, but it depends solely on the right “wavelength” and the information transmitted to the body. Therapy with few side effects Homeopathy is a therapy with few side effects, as it does not intervene in natural functions, but stimulates the self-healing powers. The effect is based on an active participation of the body.
