The Hahnemann Monument, honors the founder of Homeopathy, Washington DC
This week homeopaths around the world are celebrating WHAW (World Homeopathy Awareness Week). It coincides with Samuel Hahnemann’s birthday tomorrow on April 10th.
It may surprise you to know that Hahnemann, a German, is the only physician to be honored with a statue in Washington. In fact, just over a century ago there were 22 homeopathic medical schools, 100 homeopathic hospitals and over 1,000 homeopathic pharmacies. Boston University, Stanford University and New York Medical College all taught Homeopathy.
The Homeopathic Hospital in Reading PA, one of a hundred such hospitals.
In the ensuing decades, the AMA rigorously suppressed it because it was bad for their business and that of the apothecaries, whilst at the same time extolling the virtues of tobacco for all, including pregnant women.
The AMA supported the tobacco industry.
Homeopathy has always been contentious, yet at the same time hugely popular with those who have had direct experience of its benefits. It will come as no surprise that Hahnemann’s fierce criticism of the status quo, including blood-letting and poisonous “cures,” led him to have a very eventful life.
He spent much of his life moving from place to place to avoid the wrath of the European medical profession, often living in a state of near poverty. Yet his passion was Homeopathy and he would not let it rest.
Hahnemann’s second wife and colleague, Melanie
By 1834, Hahnemann was 79 years old and a widower. He was consulted by a Parisienne noble woman named Melanie d’Hervilly-Gohier. Melanie was suffering intensely from facial neuralgia and had heard of his new approachto medicine.
In fact, she was so curious she had made the long journey from France to Germany, just to see him, disguised as a man. Happily, he cured her. The following year Hahnemann married Melanie, who was 46 years hisjunior. He moved with her to Paris, where he became the most famous physician of his time. The two of them worked together treating nobility and the wealthy in the morning, then treating the poor, for free, later in the day. Samuel lived and worked until his death at the age of 89.
Rima Handley, author of “A Homeopathic Love Story” notes that, following his death and a legal struggle, Melanie became the first woman to practice medicine openly in Paris. It’s fascinating to note that the first woman to practice medicine in the western world was a Homeopath “at a time when no woman in Europe had yet succeeded in working as a doctor of any kind.”
Mark Twain , author of the wonderful “Huckleberry Finn”, was a great admirer of Homeopathy. He would have applauded Samuel and Melanie’s lives. Twain once said, very succintly:
“The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation.”
The Wise and Wonderful Mark Twain
One thought-provoking question to ask yourself is does the way you live your life makes your life and the lives of those around you better, in some way?
An important part of being healthy,which is often overlooked, is to spend as much time as you can doing something you love.
Here are some more questions that will help you get a sense of whether or not the direction your life is taking will nourish and sustain you:
If time and money were no object how would you choose to spend your life?
What inspires passion in you?
Is there anything you really enjoy doing, but generally don’t do?
Do you have something valuable to offer (a talent, skills, in depth knowledge) that you aren’t fully using?
If shaking up your life dramatically feels too daunting at the moment, start with small steps. Introduce one small thing to each and every day that brings you joy. For instance:
Go for a walk in Nature.Meet with a friend.Listen to a beautiful piece of music. Write a poem. Play a game.
Make time to play. (Photo Flickr. Thanks to D Sharon Pruitt.)
Remember, rarely does anyone ever die wishing they had spent more time at the office!
“Chase your passion, not your pension.”
Denis Waitley