Answering Questions: X or C

My office is busy — buzzing with emails and phone calls.

As of this writing, I have three people answering your calls — and even a professional service to answer the lines when all of my team members are busy with other students.

Am I complaining?

Absolutely not! We love hearing from you and helping you potentize your homeopathy knowledge.

However …

There are certain questions that come up again and again and again — questions that don’t really require a call to my office.

Many times, these questions are things you can look up yourself. (I’ve written about this issue before in Let Me Google That for You.)

My belief is when you look something up yourself, you learn it more effectively. It’s the “teach a man to fish” concept.

Other times, we find you have questions whose answers are contained within the study group and course materials you have already purchased. You just haven’t read them yet!

My advice? Don’t get ahead of yourself. Go through your material at least once before you start formulating questions.

It's quite an organic process.

However, there are some questions that just seem to be universal … questions my team members hear day after day:

“How much is one dose?” (Surprise! The answer is in my aptly named blog post, How Much Is One Dose.)

“What is a repertory, and what is a materia medica?” (Please see What’s in a Word?)

And, “What’s the difference between the X and the C denoted in a homeopathic medicine’s potency?”

To help out my team, and perhaps eliminate a few phone calls a day, I’m going to give you my answer. So, allow me to get technical for just a moment:

Homeopathic medicines come in a variety of potencies or dilutions. The most common and widely used by those who are not professional homeopaths are the X and C potencies.

The X potencies are diluted to the 10th power (Decimal scale), and the C potencies are diluted to the 100th power (Centesimal scale).

Following the Centesimal scale method, one drop of the original substance in tincture form is added to 99 drops of alcohol. This is then vigorously shaken and hit on a semi-hard surface such as the hand (referred to as succussion) one hundred times. The resulting solution is considered 1C.

Then, a single drop of this 1C solution is diluted in another vial with 99 more drops of alcohol and again, vigorously succussed. This new solution is considered 2C. This procedure is repeated 30 times to give it a 30C potency.

Conversely, according to the Decimal scale method, one drop of the original substance in tincture form is added to 9 drops of alcohol and succussed to provide a 1X. This procedure is similarly repeated, for example, six times, to create a 6X remedy.

The higher the number, the higher the dilution and the stronger the potency.

It may appear contradictory that a substance, shaken and diluted to such a degree, could become more potent. Though it may seem strange, it is true. The potentization process minimizes — and even eliminates — the toxicity of a substance while liberating the healing properties.

As a result of this extreme dilution, what remains is nanomolecular so there is no risk of ingesting any gross aspect of the original material. Instead, the remedy’s power is thought to stem from the nano-molecular “blueprint” of the original substance remaining in the final dilution.

What does remain in the solution, after this process of dilution and succussion, is responsible for its curative action. Despite this, these remedies work with remarkable consistency!

Okay, so that’s the technical information.

Here’s what you really want to know — should you use an X or a C?

The precise answer is: It depends.

Things change. When I initially began my practice in homeopathy, remedies prepared in the X dilution scale were the most widely available in the United States. So, they are what I used and mentioned in my older writings.

Then Boiron — from France — came to the United States’ market. Their remedies were established in the C scale, and Boiron’s little blue tubes could be easily found in drug stores, grocery stores and health food stores.

So, because of increasingly easier access, I started employing many C remedies. I altered my writing to reflect the change.

As time passed, the reach of my little local homeopathy practice became global. Students in some countries couldn’t get medicines in a C. There were still others who couldn’t get medicines in an X!

To account for my worldwide audience in my newer writings, I began to leave off the letter representing the dilution method. I had no way of knowing in which country the reader resides. And I guarantee you, if I taught about the use of either an X or a C, the next morning my phone would ring off the hook with people who couldn’t get one or the other!

So, with no letter attributed to the medicine, I hoped they would employ whichever was available to them — an X or a C. (After all, homeopathic medicine is only as good as its availability for you to use it.)

I thought I’d arrived at an equitable solution.

But then, to add to the complexity, when I went to India for my fellowship with the Prasanta Banerji Homeopathic Research Foundation, I discovered they were precise in their prescription of either C or X potencies in their protocols.

At the Banerji Clinic, when they said, “X,” they meant X! When they advised, “C,” their patient was to use C.

So, my writings changed once again.

Yet, I still leave off the dilution method designation unless the distinction is significant.

If I explicitly teach about a medicine in an X or a C, it’s important!

If you want the same results I am accustomed to seeing, I suggest following my teachings to the letter (pardon the pun) if there is a letter included. In modern times, the internet has enabled us to order from all around the world, so there should be no reason not to.

It’s rather like baking a cake. If I gave you a recipe for a special cake, you’d be well advised to utilize any precisely named ingredients if you want to arrive at the same cake.

If you happen to be a master baker, only then are you welcome to improvise.

Similarly, if you are well-educated in homeopathy, you may choose to deviate from my specificities.

However, if I do not specify a letter with the remedy I am teaching, then you may use what you are able to find in your area.

As a general rule of thumb, when treating an acute condition, I don’t find that it matters whether X or C is employed, while when using a specific protocol for a chronic condition, that’s when the exact potency counts.

Having said all the above, when in a pinch I always say USE WHAT YOU’VE GOT UNTIL YOU CAN GET WHAT YOU NEED.

I hope that helps and keeps your curiosity alive.

Pass on the good news of homeopathy!

Warmly

P.S. This is only the tip of the iceberg. There is much more to know about the theory and manufacture of homeopathic medicines. For instance, you might even see a CH or a CK designation. What are those?

This blog article is not meant to give you a complete education — nor are my team members.

For that, I urge you to consider joining (or creating) a Gateway to Homeopathy Study Group. The wealth of knowledge you’ll obtain will serve you and your family well — right away. Plus, it will set you up with the proper foundation to continue your homeopathy education through my courses on specific types of conditions.