Day 8: Homeopathy in 30 Days Lesson
Welcome to Day 8 of the Homeopathy in 30 Days course.
Designed for flexibility, this 30-day course offers three learning levels:
- Five-Minute Overviews for busy schedules
- Twenty-Minute Explorations for enhanced understanding
- Two-Hour Deep-Dives for comprehensive learning
In them, you’ll discover how homeopathy offers a gentle, safe approach to treating first-aid needs, acute conditions, chronic issues, and even preventing epidemic diseases. You’ll also develop practical skills to apply homeopathy in these various situations.
With that said, let’s make a start on today’s lesson.
Five-Minute Overview
(This Five-Minute Overview is a concise summary of today’s key points, including the ‘Know Your Remedy’ synopsis. Perfect for a quick read or weekly review. Complete this stage before moving on to the Twenty-Minute Exploration.)
By the end of the Twenty-Minute Exploration you should:
- Know Your Remedy: Discover the uses of Rhus toxicodendron (Rhus-t.) by reviewing its keynote synopsis, and exploring some of its acute and chronic uses. As you read, think about possible first-aid or quick-relief applications.
- Know what potentisation is and why it is used.
- Be able to explain what the letter that follows the name of a remedy means.
- Be able to explain what the number that follows the name of a remedy means.
- Have an awareness of how large-scale manufacturing of homeopathic remedies is done.
By the end of the Two-Hour Deep-Dive you should:
- Have a much deeper understanding of Rhus toxicodendron (Rhus-t.) after watching one video and reading two materia medicas, each of which present a larger symptom profile than the earlier remedy synopsis.
- Be able to give a definition of potentisation.
- Be able to identify remedies from the decimal, centesimal, and fifty-millesimal scales of potency according to the nomenclature at the end of their names.
- Know the difference between decimal, centesimal, and fifty-millesimal scales of potency.
- Know the dilution ratio for decimal, centesimal, and fifty-millesimal scales of potency.
- Know the number of succussions given between each dilution phase in the decimal, centesimal, and fifty-millesimal scales of potency.
- Have a general understanding of how to make a homeopathic remedy from a source substance.
- Have an awareness of the historical development of potentisation.
- Have a general awareness of potential explanations for how homeopathic remedies work.
Twenty-Minute Exploration
(This Twenty-Minute Exploration is the ‘learn and understand’ section of the course. It builds on the Five-Minute Overview. Complete this stage before moving on to the Two-Hour Deep-Dive.)
Know Your Remedies: Rhus-toxicodendron (Rhus-t.)
(These synopses contain the keynotes of each remedy- the most frequently occurring, distinctive, or unusual symptoms which often allow the prescriber to recall them from memory alone.)
Rhus toxicodendron (Rhus-t.) is the seventh remedy synopsis for this course.
Take time to read the Rhus toxicodendron (Rhus-t.) synopsis and the symptoms it treats in the Know Your Remedies section of the Homeopathy Plus website. (As a Twenty-Minute Explorer, it is sufficient to read up to the ‘Where Do I Find It?’ heading as the material beyond this will be covered either in the ‘Deep-Dive section or in coming lessons.)
When symptoms suit, Rhus toxicodendron is an important remedy for poison ivy rashes, fibromyalgia and cold sores … but that’s not all Rhus toxicodendron treats. Can you see other acute and chronic symptoms within its synopsis?
Introduction to Potentisation
Today, our focus is on potentisation: what it is, it’s benefits and advantages, and how it is done. Time to start reading!
Letters and Numbers
The scale and level to which a remedy has been potentised is shown by Roman numerals at the end of the remedy name.
Q: What do Numbers and Letters After Remedy Names Mean? explains all.
Video: Large-Scale Remedy Production
Boiron is one of the largest producers of homeopathic remedies in the world.
Watch their Boiron Manufacturing Process video, to see how a large pharmaceutical company sources and potentises its remedies.
Questions From You?
Do you have questions about today’s lesson?
Head to the Day 8: Questions About the Lesson? Ask Them Here thread and post them there.
Two-Hour Deep Dive
(This Two-Hour Deep-Dive is the ‘learn, understand, and apply’ section of the course. Proceed if comfortable with earlier material to engage with in-depth activities.)
Diving Deeper With Rhus toxicodendron (Rhus-t.)
In the Twenty-Minute Exploration section a synopsis of Rhus toxicodendron (Rhus-t.) was presented. Now, it is time to go further and deeper.
- Return to Rhus toxicodendron (Rhus-t.) in the Know Your Remedies section of the Homeopathy Plus website and read the From Past Masters section. This section contains an anecdotal account by medical homeopath, E. B. Nash (M.D.), of his experiences with Rhus toxicodendron at the turn of last century. Nash includes treatment stories from his practice, and comparison remedies that should also be considered with Rhus toxicodendron.
- Another text, the Materia Medica by William Boericke, M.D., contains a condensed list of symptoms for Rhus toxicodendron (Rhus-t.). The focus of this materia medica, unlike some modern materia medicas, is on a remedy’s physical symptoms and pathology more than its mental-emotional symptoms.
- The video, Rhus Toxicodendron: Homeopathic Medicine -Tips For Beginners also provides useful information on this remedy.
More on Potentisation
The Twenty-Minute Exploration section provided an introduction to potentisation. The following two articles add to that information.
Three Scales of Potency – the Numbers Count
Benefits and Advantages of Potentisation
Organon Instructions on How to Prepare Remedies
Hahnemann gave instructions on how to prepare centesimal and fifty millesimal (LM) potencies in aphorisms 264 to 271 of the Organon.
Making a homeopathic remedy is easier than you may think so be prepared, in coming lessons we may even suggest that you try to make one yourself.
The History of Potentization
In the lesson from Day 4 we learnt that homeopathy’s foundational text, the Organon of the Medical Art, was published in 6 editions as Hahnemann’s understanding of how to apply treatment by similia developed.
If you take another look at the Day 4 information on these editions you will see that Hahnemann’s discovery of potentisation did not occur until the 4th edition. So, how was he treating people with homeopathy before then? With crude or chemical doses but still according to similia. Obviously, depending on what was used, this approach was fraught with potentially dangerous side-effects on the way to cure. Potentisation did away with these toxic effects.
The important point to retain with this knowledge is that potentisation doesn’t automatically mean something is homeopathic. Only the application of similia makes a treatment homeopathic with the potential to cure, and that can happen with crude doses or potentised remedies. Potentisation is just the ‘cherry on top’ that removes toxicity so that any substance, poisonous or not, can be safely used.
In a well researched article from the The American Homeopath further insights into the Hahnemann’s experimentation and final introduction of potentisation: Hahnemann’s History of Potentization is explored.
Homeopathic Remedies: Nanoparticles and Quantum Physics
(Extension reading and watching when time permits.)
Recent Indian research in a downloadable pdf indicates nanoparticles may be retained in homeopathic remedies following potentisation. While this may prove to be true, it does not completely explain how remedies given by olfaction (sniff doses) have a therapeutic effect.
The following papers present the current state of research on nanoparticles in homeopathic remedies.
- The Complexity of the Homeopathic Healing Response Part 1: The Role of the Body as a Complex Adaptive System in Simillimum-Initiated Recovery from Disease
- The Complexity of the Homeopathic Healing Response Part 2: The Role of the Homeopathic Simillimum as a Complex System in Initiating Recovery from Disease
In addition, the following video discusses recent research and concepts of how homeopathic remedies work at the quantum level: Dr Alex Tournier | Quantum coherence domains.
Questions From You?
Do you have questions about today’s lesson?
Head to the Day 8: Questions About the Lesson? Ask Them Here thread and post them there.
Course Information
Designed for flexibility, this 30-day online course offers three learning levels:
- Five-Minute Overviews for busy schedules
- Twenty-Minute Explorations for enhanced understanding
- Two-Hour Deep-Dives for comprehensive learning
Lessons arrive daily via email with links to text, audio, and video content.
You set the pace—work through lessons daily, weekly, or monthly.
Each day, you’ll receive an email with your lesson, linking to online content that includes helpful information, practical activities, and audio or video content. These materials are designed to make it easy for you to understand, use, and enjoy homeopathy.
You’ll also have access to a friendly forum where you can ask questions, share thoughts, and connect with us and other learners. Whether you choose to participate or simply browse, we’re here to support your journey.
Weekly Zoom Meetings
We host four live Zoom sessions for questions and discussion, with audio recordings available in the forum:
Four Zoom meetings for questions and further discussion are held throughout the course. The audio from these meetings is also recorded and placed in the forum for those unable to attend on the day. For more information about the meetings, click on the links below.
First Zoom Q & A - Sunday, August 2, 2026, 8:00-9:00 a.m. (AEST/AEDT)
Second Zoom Q & A - Sunday, August 16, 2026, 10:00-11:00 a.m. (AEST/AEDT)
Third Zoom Q & A - Sunday, August 23, 2026, 12:00-1:00 p.m. (AEST/AEDT)
Fourth Zoom Q & A - Sunday, August 30, 2026, 7:00-8:00 p.m. (AEST/AEDT)
Confirm times for your location at the Time Zone Converter. as daylight saving changes will affect scheduling.
Meetings may also fall on a Saturday rather than a Sunday in your time zone, so please double-check.
Next Homeopathy in 30 Days Course
Our next course starts in August 2026. If this course is helping you grow in your homeopathic knowledge, consider sharing it with others. Thanks for spreading the word!
Info on Next Course
