MR writes: “I read that the founder, Hahnemann, received a lot of his information during seances, which he readily admitted. I think that this is proof of homeopathy having its origin in the occult. What do you think?”
While I could find nothing that directly linked Hahnemann to seances where he was given information about homeopathy, the fact that he was a freemason and an occultist certainly raises the question of just how much of an influence the occult had in his work.
In the book, Do You Trust Your Doctor, Christian author and television anchor John Ankerberg does draw a connection between Hahnemann’s devotion to Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) who Hahnemann claimed was his mentor, and the fact that Hahnemann openly claimed that his homeopathic writings were “inspired.”
For those who are not familiar with Swedenborg, he was a Swedish scientist, theologian and philosopher who experienced mystic dreams and trances and believed he was appointed by Christ to write the real meaning of the Bible. He also believed that he was in communication with Moses, the apostle Paul, the Blessed Virgin Mary and Martin Luther. He taught his followers that spiritual entities were intermediaries between God and man and that God sometimes uses them to communicate with mankind.
Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843)
Knowing this, one can only wonder who – or what – spiritual entities Hahnemann might have been relying upon as the source of his homeopathic ideas, which are based in the pantheistic belief of a universal life force, which he referred to as a “vital force.”
That he relied on spirits was not something he hid from the public and even referred to himself a “diviner” of spirits. In the Swiss Homeopathic Journal, #4, 1960, the president of the International League of Homeopathy noted this when he wrote about Hahnemann:
“It’s futile to reject this or that principle annunciated in the ‘Organ’ [Organon]. There remains more than enough to recognize the unfathomable intuition and divinatory spirit of its author.”
This is the view of the Christian Medical Fellowship. “Hahnemann was a freemason and a hypnotist, but was reportedly a well-educated and empathetic practitioner. However, the answer to the question of whether homeopathy involves the occult is not immediately evident. It depends on where the ‘immaterial and vital’ force is thought to originate from. This will follow to some extent, but not necessarily wholly, from the therapist’s world-view.”
The article goes on to state that “there is certainly evidence from continental Europe of a link between homeopathy and the occult, where it has been alleged that homeopathic practitioners carry out research during seances and use occult practices such as the pendulum. This is probably less common in Britain, but anecdotal reports are of concern. Christian homeopathic practitioners should obviously not use these practices.”
Aside from the fact that there is no credible scientific support for the efficacy of homeopathy, the presence of these links to the occult is all the more reason to stay away from it.
Our New Age Q&A blog has numerous articles about homeopathy. Click here to access the blog index to read more.
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