Trituration: Making Insoluble Substances Soluble

It’s easy to make homeopathic remedies out of soluble substances – just repeatedly dilute and succuss (agitate vigorously) – but what happens when the base substance is insoluble as with the metals? That’s when you need to triturate. The following instructions on trituration are drawn from aphorism 270 of the sixth edition of the Organon. This same procedure is still used by homeopathic pharmacies around the world today but is so simple that anyone could do it within their own home.

Instructions

Collect one part of the substance you want to triturate, 99 parts of sugar of milk (lactose), a porcelain mortar and pestle, scraper, storage container and a plastic bag.

Step 1:

  • Start by grinding one part of the substance with 33 parts of the sugar of milk (lactose) for 6 – 7 minutes with the mortar and pestle.
  • Scape the powder off the sides of the mortar and pestle for 3 – 4 minutes so that it is returned to the mixture and then repeat the grinding process for another 6 – 7 minutes.
  • Again scrape the powder off the sides of the mortar and pestle for 3 – 4 minutes so that it is returned to the mixture.

Step 2:

  • Add another 33 parts of the sugar of milk (lactose) to the powder and repeat the grinding process for another 6 – 7 minutes.
  • Scrape the powder off the sides of the mortar and pestle for 3 – 4 minutes so that it is returned to the mixture and then repeat the grinding process for another 6 – 7 minutes.
  • Again scrape the powder off the sides of the mortar and pestle for 3 – 4 minutes so that it is returned to the mixture.

Step 3:

  • Add the final 33 parts of the sugar of milk (lactose) to the powder and repeat the grinding process for another 6 – 7 minutes.
  • Scrape the powder off the sides of the mortar and pestle for 3 – 4 minutes so that it is returned to the mixture and then repeat the grinding process for another 6 – 7 minutes.
  • Again scrape the powder also off the sides of the mortar and pestle for 3 – 4 minutes so that it is returned to the mixture.
  • These 3 steps take approximately 1 hour after which the substance will have been triturated to a 1C potency.

Step 4

  • Repeat the above steps 2 more times, using one part of the previously triturated powder as your ‘substance’, to first produce a 2C and then a 3C potency. The original insoluble substance has now been rendered soluble and will dissolve if placed into a liquid.
  • Place the powder into a labelled 3C container and store away from direct sunlight.

Higher Potencies

To make potencies higher than 3C, just add one part of the 3C powder to 99 parts of a water-alcohol mixture and succuss 10 times to produce a 4C potency. This potentisation process can be repeated numerous times to produce ascending potencies. Read the potentisation Tutorials 3, 4 and 5 for further information.

Cleaning Your Utensils

Clean your mortar, pestle, and scraper to deactivate any energetic residues before triturating another substance by first washing them with warm water and then boiling them for half an hour. As an extra precaution, you can follow the boiling by placing the implements in a very hot oven for 30 minutes.

Tips

  1. It takes a total of 3 hours to turn an insoluble crude substance into a soluble 3C powder by trituration. The time passes quickly if you do it while listening to music or watching a good movie on TV.
  2. Grind the substance and lactose powder with your mortar and pestle inside a plastic bag. If you don’t, you and your room will be covered in a fine white dust.

Happy triturating!