As a young girl, I was given a little lock and key diary. Every day lined up one on top of the other. It had gold edges on the outside of the page so that when you closed it and locked it, you could see two inches of shiny glittering finish. It was never clear to me what I was supposed to write in a diary so mostly I filled the pages with gratitude, which at the time, I judged as rather lame. My life was pretty ordinary with little drama to fill these secret pages! I gave up after a time simply because I had bored myself. What was the point of writing thank you for this and for that?

It’s only now, as an adult well into mid-life that I can actually appreciate that being grateful is a gift. There really is so much to be grateful for in life, in particular- in my life. I wish now that I had saved that boring little lock and key diary so that I could truly appreciate that young girl all those years ago.

For me, gratitude and grace go hand in hand. My gift of gratitude is grace, “Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people.” That’s the dictionary definition and it is a truth in my life.

So this blog has been named Grace Notes. It is a place to continually give thanks for all that I have learned and a place where I can share that learning.

Also, my granddaughter’s name is Grace. She is a gift and I am so grateful for her in my life. All that I have to offer with the new website, blog and eBooks is simply a grandmother’s desire to pass on what I learned while raising children, “in sickness and in health”! Through my mother I am also able to access great-grandmother wisdom as well. My legacy from her is a wealth of common sense when helping children heal from childhood illnesses.

I am grateful to have been born at a time when fever and infectious childhood illnesses were treated at home, usually by my mom. My dad was called upon on occasion to make Vick’s VapoRub woolly sock neck wraps when we had sore throats, but for the most part, it was my mom’s cool hand on a fevered head that I recall. (I can still conjure up that energy on days when I feel unwell!)

So I grew up with all the infectious childhood illnesses: chicken pox, measles, mumps, rubella, yellow jaundice (hepatitis) and numerous other colds, coughs and sore throats.

My two sons however, were born in the early 1980’s at a time when “good parents vaccinated”. I trusted that what the doctors told me was true; a vaccine would confer life-long immunity. I never questioned vaccine safety and I certainly never considered that I had the option of choosing to vaccinate or not.

I have since learned otherwise and my two sons are now in the age group where re-vaccination is urged because they are not immune to infectious “childhood” illnesses. They are as susceptible now as they were as children.

So I am grateful for both experiences because after studying to be a homeopath and researching for 15 years, I now know that there is a gentle, non-toxic system of medicine that can help children (and adults) heal from childhood illnesses so that they have life-long immunity. Homeopathy is 250 years old and has historically proven itself in whooping cough, scarlet fever and influenza epidemics. It will prove itself effective in any return of infectious childhood illnesses as well.

If you are a vaccine-free family, join me on regular blog posts as I share information on fever, childhood illnesses and homeopathy. I’d love to hear from you so drop me a line or two and let me know what your experience is as a vaccine free family. I’d like to address as many of your concerns as possible with the blog and the newsletter.

Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a medical doctor in the 18^th century, (a man well ahead of his time!), systematically arranged and showed the operation of these general laws in his book, The Organon of the Medical Art and Science of Homeopathy. It is only in these last few decades that the invisible world of quantum science has been able to help us understand some of Hahnemann’s observations of health, disease and medicines at an energy level. We now know how much of our health is not simply a collection of physical symptoms but is intricately a part of our emotions and our mental health as well, all at the level of energy.

It is an art because homeopathy is able to individualize a single medicine for a person with an illness, rather than treat all individuals with an illness with the same single medicine. For example, in fever, the only conventional medicines available are “anti-fever” medications like Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Aspirin and they all have potential side effects if used incorrectly. With homeopathy, there are several remedies that can be used depending on the symptom picture of the fever “matching” the symptom picture of the remedy. When given, the body will be supported in healing itself, without fever suppression and possible side effects.

It is safe, gentle for babies, pregnant mothers and even animals. It is non-toxic and has no side effects. It is the only ecologically sustainable pharmacy on this planet. Our fragile ecosystems and animal life can breathe a sigh of relief!

It is quite easy to use in acute ailments once you understand some basic concepts. When I first started using homeopathy for my children’s colds, coughs, croup, flu, sore throats and ear infections I was delighted that I had something that gave me some sense of being able to “do something” that was safe and helpful for them during a sickness. I had become increasingly disheartened by the complications that came up with the use of antibiotics (diaper rash, digestive problems) and I always had the “sense” that whatever prescription medication was given, they only seemed to get sicker and need more prescription medications. At one point, the boys went from antibiotics for terrible coughs and colds to needing an inhaler, having been given the diagnosis of asthma.

So I dug into my beginner books on homeopathy (see the Resource Page for suggestions on how to get started) and looked under the sections for colds, coughs, sore throats and I would hunt for the single remedy that best suited the ailment that my sons had (yep…all illnesses usually came in a double dose and sometimes, the whole household would get the prevailing bug that was going around at school). Sometimes I would find that the remedy that best suited the one child was different for the other child. For example, in sore throat, one would have pain that was more on the right side and the other child, would have pain like a big lump in the middle of the throat.

This is Hahnemann’s first law in homeopathy and he called it the Law of Similars. Homeopathy means, like curing like and a remedy with its own unique symptom picture will help support healing in a person who has the same symptom picture: this is the Law of Similars.

The other aspect to this law is that whatever a substance can create in a healthy human, it can cure. For example, over the counter Ipecac syrup is used to induce vomiting if someone is feeling nauseous. Taking the syrup will make a person throw up even if they are feeling well. That is the action of this substance in a human. In homeopathy, Ipecac would be used for someone who is having constant nausea that is not better from throwing up. Pregnant women with morning sickness have found this to be of great help, especially when the symptom picture is a match to the symptom picture of Ipecac.

As a parent, what I also appreciated was the small amount of a homeopathic remedy that was needed to help my boys begin the healing process. No more 10 days or two weeks of antibiotics or prescription cough syrups! The recovery time was so much faster and no complications with the remedy or the illness.

I learned that this is the second law of homeopathy and Hahnemann called it the Law of the Minimum Dose. The idea is to stimulate the body’s own ability to heal itself in the most gentle way with the smallest amount of medicine needed.

It was while reading one day in my homeopathy books (when kids were well and I had some extra time!) that I stumbled on the third law, which at the time was so contrary to what I understood that I had to reread it several times. It seemed so improbable but what I read was that the preparation of homeopathic remedies is through a process of dilution with shaking (succession) or grinding (trituration).

A tiny amount of a substance is mixed with alcohol or milk sugar and then it is shaken or ground for a time. Then a small amount of that mixture is then added to even more alcohol or milk sugar (these are quite precise amounts but for our discussion just know that it is an amount), shaken and ground again and the whole process repeated until at some point, there is no material substance left at all, only the memory/energy of the substance contained within the alcohol or milk sugar.

See this story from the Huffington Post  if you are interested in the recent science that suggests that this is plausible and explainable…

This law Hahnemann says is the Law of Potentization. In an effort to use to smallest dose possible, Hahnemann experimented with dilution so that patients in his day were not taking toxic medicines with horrible side effects. Mercury was used as a “cure” in his day for treating gonorrhea and syphilis. It was considered a cure when the patient no longer had the disease but had in fact, died of mercury poisoning! My homeopathic teacher said that it was summed up in a phrase in Hahnemann’s day “Salivation is salvation.”

This last law is what makes homeopathy a non-toxic and sustainable pharmacy. You can have remedies made homeopathically, like Mercurius (made from mercury) that helps heal illness (e.g. when the symptom picture is “similar” as in teething where there is copious salivation) without the terrible side effects of mercury poisoning. And mercury, even in the smallest amount materially, is toxic to the human body. Here is a link to the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine video on mercury damage in the brain but remember, the body has neurons in the whole body as well. http://commons.ucalgary.ca/mercury/

This pharmaceutical process is also what makes homeopathy an energetic or vibrational system of medicine.

When you have a similar symptom picture between the sick person and the symptom picture of a remedy, given in a small dose and diluted to a point of non-toxicity, you are using homeopathy to help heal. This is what homeopathy is.