Great Women of Homeopathy (and You’re One of Them!)

 

In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought we might take a look at some of the great women of homeopathy.

But then I thought … all women of homeopathy are great women of homeopathy!

Throughout history, maintaining the health and integrity of the family has fallen to the women: mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters. It’s a hugely important job.

One could say it is the groundwork of civilization. And women have risen to the challenge.

The dedication of women has brought change to society, to healthcare, to the world.

And this is further evidenced with the practice of homeopathy. It was often women who were attracted to this elegant, effective and gentle method of medicine.

Anne Taylor Kirshmann in “A Vital Force: Women in Homeopathy” estimates that 2/3 of the homeopathic patients in the 19^th century were women.

When allopathic doctors were offering barbaric treatments such as bloodletting, leeches, mercury and arsenic, women went looking for safer, gentler methods.

They were drawn to homeopathy because of its effectiveness in dealing with the infectious diseases of the day and because it considers the emotional and mental concerns of a person in selecting the correct remedy.

Perhaps most attractive of all, homeopathy allowed women to take care of their families and friends themselves, without relying on doctors.

Julian Winston in “The Faces of Homoeopathy” tells of a homeopathic doctor addressing a meeting of the American Institute of Homeopathy who allegedly said, “Many a woman armed with her little stack of remedies had converted an entire community to homeopathy.”

And so it is today. While the traditional medical system hawks drugs and questionable vaccines, mothers search for better alternatives and the autonomy to make health choices for their families.

It is probably not surprising that many of the leaders of the suffragette movement were proponents of homeopathy.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton raised seven children on homeopathy, including successfully treating three of her sons for malaria, and eventually became a lay practitioner, prescribing homeopathics for others in her community.

Victoria Claflin Woodhull, the first woman to own a Wall Street investment firm, the first woman to own a

newspaper and the first woman to run for president (she lost to Ulysses S. Grant) was another advocate for homeopathy, as was Florence Nightingale, pioneer of the nursing industry.

Mercy B. Jackson, MD, was the first woman admitted to the American Institute of Homeopathy, which by the way, voted to admit women in 1869, seven years before the AMA considered doing so.

Dr. Jackson later served as professor of diseases of children for the Boston University School of Medicine and is credited with demonstrating that Pulsatilla can be used to turn breech babies in the womb and to speed labor. (I’ve personally witnessed this phenomenon and can attest to its efficacy.)

Without this discovery, many women and babies would have been subjected to unnecessary surgery. (About time we re-employed this method.)

Clemence Sophia Lozier, M.D., opened the first homeopathic medical school for women in 1863, the New York Medical College and Hospital for Women, because she felt that “woman was, by every instinct and aptitude of her nature, better fitted for the medical profession than man.” This was the first hospital to offer a course in hygiene and preventative medicine.

It is also interesting to note that homeopathic medical schools were much more open to minorities than conventional medical schools, and in 1928, the New York Homeopathic Medical College became the first in the nation to establish a scholarship for minority students.

Moving on to World War I and II, Dr. Dorothy Shepherd was an English medical doctor who used conventional methods until she learned of homeopathy from veterinarians and homeopathic physicians practicing in England at the time.

She instructed her staff in homeopathic protocols for trauma and emergencies, using Calendula instead of conventional antiseptics and Hypericum, Ledum and Arnica instead of conventional analgesics.

Her books: Homoeopathy in Epidemic Diseases, Homoeopathy for the First Aider and More Magic of the Minimum Dose: Further Case Histories by a World Famous Homeopathic Doctorprovide a fascinating study of her frustration with the conventional tools of her medical professors and colleagues and how she found a solution in homeopathy.

It wasn’t just the medical profession that found female advocates of homeopathy. Writer Louisa May Alcott, in her novel Little Women, made a point to mention how Jo treats Beth’s scarlet fever with Belladonna (which is later antidoted by Camphor and Beth succumbs to the disease).

She also treats her own headache with Arsenicum and an ankle injury with Arnica. In her later novel Jo’s Boys, the lead character Nan becomes a homeopathic physician.

Emily Dickenson and Harriet Beecher Stowe are other prominent women writers who used and advocated homeopathy.

I’ve written before of my admiration for Mother Teresa, who

used homeopathy to treat the poor in India. She opened her first homeopathic medical dispensary in Calcutta in 1950, and her order, the Missionaries of Charity, continues her work today.

The list could go on and on.

For the past two centuries, women have led the movement towards homeopathy. If you are one of these women, if you have undertaken to study and use homeopathy, you are part of a revolutionary movement and a rich heritage.

You carry on the work of these great women of the past, taking a stand against the pushing of pharmaceuticals and against the injustice of today’s health care systems and standing up instead for the autonomy of the family and for safe, user-friendly medicine.

You may be a quiet army … not protesting in the streets, not resorting to violence … just calmly going about the day-to-day business of healing your families and sharing your knowledge with others. But you are an unstoppable force.

On this Mother’s Day, to all the mothers, women and caregivers who have taken this important step. I salute you!

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I have been where you are now. I’ve dieted, taken supplements, bioidentical hormones, essential oils, herbs – but nothing, nothing has ever come close to the reproducible, safe, and effective results I and my clients have achieved with homeopathy. To see the full syllabus for my Feminopathy course and read the testimonials of other women who have been helped by my Practical Homeopathy methods, click here.

Photo of Dr. Clemence Sophia Harned Lozier attributed:http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=32230947

Victoria Woodaloria V Woodhull – Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaen.wikipedia.org

Feature photo: William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_1825-1905_-_Rest_1879.jpg