Day 2: Homeopathy in 30 Days Lesson

Welcome back to Day 2 of the Homeopathy in 30 Days course. Designed for flexibility, this 30-day course offers three learning levels:

  1. Five-Minute Overviews for busy schedules
  2. Twenty-Minute Explorations for enhanced understanding
  3. 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: Know of Aconitum napellus’ first-aid uses AND have an awareness of its acute and chronic applications after reading a synopsis of its keynote symptoms. (See: Aconitum napellus (Acon.)).
  • Know how often to initially give a dose of a 30C homeopathic remedy for first-aid and acute complaints.
  • Know when to stop dosing with a 30C remedy, and when to repeat a dose of a 30C remedy for first-aid and acute complaints.
  • Know when to stop a 30C remedy if there is no improvement at all in symptoms, and what to do next.
  • Understand how much of a remedy to give to infants, children, and animals.
  • Understand what ‘sensitivity’ means in homeopathy.
  • Know why people do and do not respond to homeopathic remedies.
  • Have an initial understanding of hypersensitivity and ways it can be managed.
  • Have a growing familiarity with homeopathic terminology by reference to the glossary.
  • Have been able to successfully complete the glossary crossword puzzle by referring to homeopathic terminology in the glossary.

By the end of the Two-Hour Deep-Dive you should:

  • Have a much deeper understanding of Aconitum napellus after watching one video and reading two materia medicas, each of which present a larger symptom profile than the earlier remedy synopsis.
  • Know how to turn pills into liquid remedies and the advantages of liquids.
  • Understand olfaction dosing and when and why to use it.
  • Know where to find Hahnemann’s instructions on olfaction dosing in the Organon.
  • Understand how to manage and treat hypersensitivity with homeopathy.
  • Have a general awareness of the science around vibrational theory and olfaction dosing.
  • Have the awareness of seven different learning strategies for locking remedy keynotes into your memory.
  • Know several suggested ways of how to learn materia medica.
  • Have been able to successfully complete the glossary crossword puzzle by referring to homeopathic terminology in the glossary.

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: Aconitum Napellus (Acon.)

(These daily 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.) Our second remedy synopsis for the course is another well-known first-aid remedy, Aconitum napellus (Acon.), commonly called ‘Aconite’.

Aconite comes from the plant commonly called monkshood or wolfsbane. Take a moment now to read the full Aconitum napellus (Acon.) synopsis in the “Know Your Remedies” section on the Homeopathy Plus website. (If you’re doing the Twenty-Minute Explorer stream, you only need to read up to the heading “Where Do I Find It?”. The information after that point will be covered later—either in the Deep-Dive section or in upcoming lessons.)

Key point to notice: When the symptoms match closely, Aconite is one of our most important remedies for sudden shock, intense fear, or panic—especially right after an accident, bad news, or a frightening event. People often need it when they feel terrified, restless, and convinced something terrible is about to happen.

But Aconite is not only for shock and fear. Look carefully through the synopsis again. Can you spot examples of both

  • acute complaints (sudden, short-term problems that come on quickly and strongly), and
  • chronic complaints (longer-lasting issues)

that Aconite can help with?

Many of the chronic pictures trace back to an original shock or fright that was never fully resolved. This is a classic pattern with Aconite—pay attention to it as you study.
Feel free to jot down any acute and chronic symptoms you notice. We’ll discuss them more as the course continues!

How Often to Dose

One of the most common questions new homeopathy users ask is: “How often should I take a dose of my remedy? There’s no single “one-size-fits-all” answer.

It depends on several things:

  • How sensitive you are to remedies
  • Whether the problem is acute (sudden and short-term) or chronic (long-term)
  • The potency of the remedy (we’re focusing on 30C here for acute issues)
  • How intense or severe your symptoms are

Manufacturers of over-the-counter homeopathic products often print standard instructions like “take 3 times a day.” These can be helpful as a starting point, but they don’t work perfectly for everyone.

In this lesson, you’ll learn flexible ways to dose that match your own symptoms more closely for better and faster results.

Here’s a practical guide (especially for 30C potencies used in acute complaints): How Often Should I Take My Remedy? As you read the article, pay special attention to these key principles:

  • The more intense the symptoms, the more frequently you dose. Severe, fast-moving symptoms may need a dose every 15-30 minutes at first (or even more often in true emergencies). Milder symptoms might need one only every 4 hours or so.
  • Stop dosing as soon as clear improvement begins. Once you notice the symptoms easing or getting better, pause. Don’t keep taking the remedy just because “the bottle says so.” Let your body continue the healing on its own.
  • Repeat the dose only if improvement stalls or symptoms start coming back. Think of it like gently nudging the healing process forward when it needs help.
  • If there’s no noticeable change after 3 doses (or up to 3-6 doses in very urgent, intense situations where faster repetition is safe), stop and reassess. The remedy probably isn’t the best match. Choose a different one that fits your symptoms more closely.

These are guidelines, not strict rules – homeopathy is about observing and responding to what your body shows you.

Start with this approach on simple acute problems (like a sudden cold, minor injury, or upset stomach). With practice, you’ll get better at judging when and how often to dose.

We’ll talk more about this in future lessons, including how dosing changes for chronic issues or higher potencies.

How Much Remedy for Children and Animals?

Homeopathic remedies work as energy-based medicines rather than chemical ones. (Some recent research even suggests tiny nanoparticles may still be present, but that’s something we’ll explore more later if you’re interested.)

Their special preparation process is called potentisation and will be covered in a future lesson.

The key thing to know now is this: Once a remedy reaches 12C potency (or higher), it’s extremely unlikely to contain even one single molecule of the original substance. What remains is the energetic information or “imprint” of the original source.

This energetic information is the same whether you give one drop, five drops, one pill, or even twenty pills.

For most people – and for children and animals – the amount in a single dose doesn’t make a big difference in how well the remedy works. The important things are:

  • Choosing the right remedy (the one that matches the symptoms closely)
  • Giving it at the right frequency (how often, based on the person’s sensitivity and how strong the symptoms are)

Unless someone is hypersensitive to homeopathic remedies in general (which is rare), or extremely sensitive to that particular remedy, giving more drops or pills won’t cause harm or change their effect much. It won’t create toxicity or addiction because there’s no chemical material left to overdose on.

Practical tips for dosing children, babies, and animals:

  • Babies and young children: You can safely give them the same sized dose as an adult, or as a smaller amount if easier – the effect will be the same. Pills can be dissolved in a small amount of water and offered on a spoon or in a bottle.
  • Animals (farm and domestic): Again, the same size dose size works fine. You can drop it directly into the mouth, mix a few drops into water or food, or even spray a liquid dose onto their vulva or rub a few drops on the gums or ear if they’re fussy.

There’s no need to reduce the amount you give just because they’re smaller—homeopathy isn’t weight-based like chemical drugs. For more details, read this helpful article: Doses for babies, doses for adults: is there a difference?

Sensitivity and Hypersensitivity in Homeopathy

First, let’s talk about normal sensitivity.

Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, discovered something important: A person who is unwell becomes sensitive to a homeopathic remedy only when the remedy’s symptom picture closely matches their own current symptoms.

When this close similarity exists, the remedy stimulates and strengthens the body’s own healing response. The body “recognizes” the energetic message and starts to correct the imbalance.

But if the remedy doesn’t match the symptoms well (no close similarity), the body simply ignores it. There is no sensitivity to that particular remedy, and no healing action happens.

This kind of sensitivity is normal and healthy. It varies a little from person to person depending on their overall constitution (their basic vitality and resilience). Most people fall into this normal range.

Now, hypersensitivity is different.

Sometimes a person is hypersensitive to homeopathic remedies- or even to many remedies. This is not a normal or healthy state. For hypersensitive people:

  • Even a standard dose of a remedy (whether chemical medicine or homeopathic) can act like an overdose.
  • Their symptoms may temporarily worsen (an aggravation), or completely new and unrelated symptoms can appear.

People who are hypersensitive to homeopathics often show similar over-reactions to other things in life. Common signs include:

  • Allergies or intolerances to pollen, dust, animal dander, strong smells, noises, touch, or even regular (orthodox) medicines.
  • Mental-emotional symptoms like foggy thinking, hysteria, confusion, or unwanted psychic/oversensitive impressions.

Hypersensitivity to environmental stimuli is a symptom in its own right and a sign of ill-health. The good news is that with the right, gentle homeopathic treatment, it can be reduced and managed over time.

Fortunately, true hypersensitives are a small minority among people who use homeopathy. Most of us are in the normal sensitivity range and don’t need special adjustments.
Practical ways to handle hypersensitivity (when it occurs):

Two gentle approaches often work well:

  • Using liquid remedies in a suitable dilution (more water makes the dose gentler).
  • Using olfaction dosing (simply sniffing or inhaling the remedy’s vapor from the bottle—no swallowing needed).

These methods ‘soften’ the energetic effect so the body can respond without over-reacting.

(If you’re following the Twenty-Minute Explorer path, you don’t need to go deeper right now- just know these options exist. If you’re curious or think this might apply to you, drop down to the Two-Hour Deep-Dive section called ‘Managing and Treating Hypersensitivity’. This section will also tell you how to convert your pills into liquid remedies.)

A Question for You (1)

Have you ever ‘overreacted’ to a homeopathic remedy? Your experience is bound to be interesting and we can all learn from it.
Tell us what happened in the Day 2: Overreactions to Homeopathic Remedies thread.

Learning Activities

1. Remember: there will be a Test Your Knowledge quiz on the 20 remedies listed in Homeopathy Made Simple – First Steps to First Aid in the Day 7: Revision Lesson. We don’t keep a record of quizzes but try to commit these remedies to memory in preparation for the quiz, and so you can turn to them quickly in an emergency.

2. The Test Your Knowledge section toward the end of this lesson has a crossword puzzle drawn from words in the glossary for you to complete.

Questions From You?

Do you have questions about today’s lesson? Head to the Day 2: Questions About Today’s 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 Aconitum Napellus (Acon.)

In the Twenty-Minute Exploration section a synopsis of Aconitum napellus (Acon.) was presented. Now, it is time to go further and deeper.

  1. Return to Aconitum napellus (Acon.) 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 Aconite at the turn of last century. Nash includes treatment stories from his practice, and comparison remedies that should also be considered with Aconite. Especially notice how Nash contrasts Aconite with Belladonna, plus a number of other remedies throughout this account. This method is one way of studying and learning remedies, and is an approach used in the ‘Comparison Charts’ example in the Strategies for Learning Materia Medica section below.
  2. Another useful text, the Materia Medica by William Boericke, M.D., contains a condensed list of symptoms for Aconitum napellus (Acon.). 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.
  3. The video, Aconite Napellus: Homeopathic Medicine -Tips For Beginners also provides helpful information on this remedy.

Managing and Treating Hypersensitivity

While hypersensitives are well and truly in the minority of those needing treatment they do need careful management if they are to progress well with homeopathy.

The two main approaches used for their management are explained in: Instructions for Turning Pills into Liquid Remedies and I Sniff At Homeopathy – Olfaction Dosing Hahnemann briefly mentions olfaction dosing in Aphorism 284 of the Organon

The Fascinating World of Odors and Vibrations

(Extension reading when time permits.) The ‘More Information’ section of I Sniff At Homeopathy – Olfaction Dosing refers to several studies and reports related to olfaction dosing and it’s possible modes of action. While these articles are not ‘essential’ reading for the Deep-Dive section those with a scientific inclination may find them interesting.

▪ Molecular vibration-sensing component in Drosophila melanogaster olfaction

▪ Supporting Information for Molecular vibration-sensing component in Drosophila melanogaster olfaction

▪ Investigation of vibrational theory of olfaction with variously labelled benzaldehydes ▪ Smell May Be Caused by Quantum Vibrations

▪ Could the Olfactory System Be a Target for Homeopathic Remedies as Nanomedicines?

Strategies for Learning Materia Medica

When first learning homeopathic remedies it is best not to try to learn everything at once. With thousands of homeopathic remedies now listed in the materia medica it is an impossible task.

Instead, focus on the keynotes of a common remedy and create a ‘top three’, ‘top five’ or ‘top ten’ list of keynote symptoms. As the initial keynotes are learnt just add additional ones to the list.

Use some of the learning strategies listed below to help lock keynotes into your memory. These strategies are especially useful for visual, auditory or experiential learners. Click on the links below for examples.

• Acronyms – the letters of a remedy name matched to one, or some, of its symptoms.

• Mnemonics – word games and associations.

• Mind maps – visual representations of interconnections of a remedy.

• Drawings – symptoms visualised within an image.

• Stories – remedies portrayed as characters within a story. (A shorter example will be Sulphur Jack and Arsenicum Jill characters in our upcoming Day 5 story.)

• Poems – rhymes of remedy keynotes.

• Comparison Charts – similarities and opposites.

A Question for You (2)

Can you think of other strategies? Place them in the Day 2: Strategies for Learning Remedies. We’ve already posted one of our own acronyms in it. Can you do better with your favourite strategy? (Note: as already discussed, it is mentally and physically impossible to retain all the information about thousands of remedies available. That’s where the ability to repertorise symptoms comes into use. It allows you to search for specific symptoms and find the remedies associated with each of those symptoms. Repertorisation is beyond the time limit and scope of the Twenty-Minute Exploration section but will be taught in the Two-Hour Deep-Dive section in future lessons.)

Further Suggestions for Learning Materia Medica

(Extension reading when time permits.) One homeopath from today and four past masters offer their suggestions on how to study materia medica in:

  1. How to Study a Remedy
  2. Methods of studying Materia Medica
  3. On the Study of Homeopathic Materia Medica
  4. The Study of Materia Medica
  5. Best Way to Teach the Student How to Approach and Study the Materia Medica

Learning Activities

1. Remember: there will be a Test Your Knowledge quiz on the 20 remedies listed in Homeopathy Made Simple – First Steps to First Aid in the Day 7: Revision Lesson. We don’t keep a record of quizzes but try to commit these remedies to memory in preparation for the quiz and so you can turn to them quickly in an emergency. 2. The Test Your Knowledge section toward the end of this lesson has a crossword puzzle drawn from words in the glossary for you to complete.

Questions From You?

Do you have questions about today’s lesson? Head to the Day 2: Questions About Today’s Lesson? Ask Them Here thread and post them there.

Test Your Knowledge

Throughout this course there will be regular mini-tests and exercises so you can check how well you have absorbed the information. They are for your benefit only and we do not keep a record of your results. This lesson, we have a crossword drawn from words in the glossary for you to complete. Copy, paste, and print it (or obtain it from Day 2: Glossary Crossword Puzzle Clues thread in the forum), fill it in, and then head to Day 2: Glossary Crossword Puzzle Answers thread on Day 3 to check your answers.

Course Information

Designed for flexibility, this 30-day online course offers three learning levels:

  1. Five-Minute Overviews for busy schedules
  2. Twenty-Minute Explorations for enhanced understanding
  3. 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 November 2026. If this course is helping you grow in your homeopathic knowledge, please consider sharing it with others. Thanks for helping spread the word!

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