How To Make Homeopathic Remedies Go Further

Natural Remedies

It is best to use fresh remedies which have been commercially prepared to approved standards and formulas, using sterile equipment.  But sometimes, when you have run out of a remedy, it can be extremely useful to ‘doctor up’ your existing remedy to make it go further, at least until you can purchase a new bottle of your liquid homeopathic remedy.

Here is how to do it:

The most important thing to remember is not to contaminate your original remedy in any way.  When you remove the dropper to add vodka to the remedy, make sure not to touch the inside of the dropper apparatus.  This is best done by having a sterilized spoon handy on the bench:  You can rest the inside of the dropper on the spoon which you have just dipped into boiling water, so that you can add the vodka to the remedy.

So – select your homeopathic remedy which needs reconstituting.  Use the same bottle which should have a little of the old remedy left in it.  Just a few drops will do.  Even if the bottle is empty, the remedy can be reconstituted again so long as the bottle has not been dry for too long and has not sat in the sun.

Do not wash out the bottle which had the old remedy in it.  Simply fill it up with vodka straight from the vodka bottle.  I keep vodka on hand for reconstituting remedies or making herbal potions, although I never drink the stuff these days. Be careful not to touch the dropper inside the bottle of homeopathic medicine, and do not rest it anywhere else except on the sterilized spoon you have ready.

Return the dropper to the remedy which now has the vodka added to it.  Put on the lid if it has one. Now succuss your remedy to release the active force within it.  This is done by shaking the remedy repetitively, accentuating the downbeat.  Succuss 100 times.

Your remedy is now ready for use.  Use as needed in exactly the same way as you did before reconstituting it.

Method Two:  The above method is the best one for reconstituting remedies, as there is least chance of contaminating the remedy, so long as the dropper is placed on a sterilized utensil, such as a spoon, and so long as you do not touch the inside of the dropper while you add the vodka.

However, it is possible to make up a fresh remedy by using some of the remedy from the original remedy.  If you do this, you must use a sterilized bottle and be sure not touch the inside part of the dropper.  Put the dropper on a sterilized spoon while you add the vodka to the new bottle.

Use one part of remedy to nine parts vodka, OR one part remedy to 99 parts vodka.  Succuss in the same way as above.

It is also possible to make up a remedy using tablets, but this is not the best method.  Tablets do not keep as well as a liquid remedy, and they do not have such an immediate effect as using a liquid remedy, so I avoid them if I can.

However, sometimes a tablet remedy is all that is available.  You could reconstitute the remedy by grinding up a few tablets using sterilized glass bowl and pestle, then using your sterilized spoon, ladle the powder into a sterilized bottle and dropper, add vodka, and success in the usual way.

I find tablets generally weaker in effect compared to liquid homeopathics.  They also need to be stored carefully, away from heat, damp and light, else they lose their potency very quickly.  So, the resulting reconstituted remedy using tablets might be a bit dubious in effect.

Liquid homeopathics, although more resiliant than tablet homeopathics, also should be kept in a cool, dark place.  They will last for years if they are looked after.

 

Common Homeopathic Remedies In Use In 1880

Natural Remedies For Common Complaints

This information is mainly from ‘The Homeopathic Vade Mecum’, by E. Harris Ruddock, M.D., which was published in 1880 in London by the Homeopathic Publishing Company, 2, Finsbury Circus.

It has a wealth of information in it, and is most beautifully written.  So  I will quote a little of it for your pleasure and learning.

Dr Ruddock impresses us in the preface about how using the safe remedies of homeopathy can prevent an illness from becoming severe, or even fatal.

I find it fascinating that, over 130 years after his book was published, the medical authorities are still out to supress information on Homeopathy and other natural methods of healing.  Nothing much has changed, it seems.  But still, the science of Homeopathy survives despite constant efforts, by medical orthodoxy and the drug companies, to stifle it. I quote Dr Ruddock from 1880:

‘Objections are often raised to medical works like the present, (he refers to his book of 1880) on the ground that they encourage amateur practitioners, and are therefore dangerous, and interfere with the legitimate pursuits of the medical profession.  These objections are entirely groundless.’

Dr Ruddock goes on to say: ‘In nearly every family, domestic drugs – Castor oil, Epsom Salts, Rhubarb, Sulphur, Magnesia, Quinine, Anti Bilious Pills, Hydrate of Chloral, Bromide of Potassium, and even preparations of Mercury and Opium are employed, and our object in the production of this book, is to reform domestic treatment, by substituting (homeopathic) remedies and suggesting measures which, while generally harmless for evil, are powerful for good.’

About the value of home-prescribing, or ‘amateur doctoring’, he says:  ‘It is useless to try to suppress amateur doctoring;  on the contrary, we hope that such practitioners may find much to help them in the following pages.’

‘Simple and uncomplicated cases – Cold, Fever, Dyspepsia, etc, – may often be arrested at their outset; but which, if neglected, may form the nucleus of serious or even fatal disorders.

Natural Remedies

Culpeper says of Sage that it ’causes the hair to become black’.

Garden sage has many therapeutic uses.

In the garden, its flowers provide medicine and nectar for the bees, as well as a herbal tonic to the neighbouring plants.

It is well-known as an aid to oral hygiene.  It has strong antiseptic qualities and is supposed to whiten tooth enamel.

Sage is still used today in some tooth-pastes.  It is reputedly one effective remedy for bleeding gums,  and improving gum health:  The crushed fresh leaves are massaged several times a day onto the gums and teeth.

The tea is gargled to relieve sore throats, colds and flu,  and ulcers in the mouth.

It can be effective to reduce fevers, and has been used in the past for thyphoid fever. (see ‘Herbal Remedies  and Homeopathy’ published by Geddes and Grosset.)

It is a valuable nerve medicine, and is a useful stomach remedy for improving a weak appetite.

Natural Herbal Hair Dye and Tonic:  Sage can help restore healthy hair and improve the colour.

Strong sage tea encourages hair growth and darkens the hair, if it is used on a regular basis. Many herbalists describe it in their writings:  see John Heinerman’s ‘Encyclopedia of Fruits Vegetables and Herbs’.

Rosemary is another wonderful herb which can help hair growth, but it does not have such a darkening effect on the hair, as sage does.

Recipe For Sage Hair Dye:  Here is a simple, natural hair dye and tonic which you can try.  It is perfectly safe to use, as it does not contain any harmful additives such as you might find in commercial dyes for darkening the hair.

Take two cups of fresh sage leaves and put into a stainless steel saucepan.

Add one cup of dry black tea leaves

Add half a cup of cider vinegar and eight cups of water.

Simmer very gently, with no lid, for one hour on a very low heat.  You should have around half the original quantity of liquid left at the end of an hour.  If you need to add a little more water, make sure you do so well before you finish simmering the brew.  If you add more water at the end of the simmering, then your mixture will not keep so well.

Take off the heat after an hour of simmering.  Set aside to cool.

Once your sage mixture has cooled properly, strain it off.

To the liquid remaining add the same amount of vodka.

Put into a bottle with a screw-top lid and store in a cool place.

Massage around a tablespoonful of the sage infusion into the hair each day.  Use more or less, depending on how much hair you need to cover.

Massage the sage tonic well into the roots of the hair as well, so that it feeds the scalp and hair follicles.  Massaging the scalp with the sage tonic will help the hair to grow again.

The oils in the sage leaves will put a natural shine to the hair.

Once the hair is sufficiently darkened, which may take several weeks, you can reduce the amount of applications each week.  Once or twice a week may be enough to maintain the darker colour.

Sage is really very good for the hair in so many ways.

Alternative Sage Tonic Without Alcohol:  You could make up your sage tea without the alcohol if you wish.  Only, remember that your mixture will not keep for longer than a week, and it must be kept in the fridge.  You could make up a lesser amount, enough to last a week, and then make up a fresh brew of tea for the following week.

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Improve Your Soil With Natural Green Manure and Seaweed.

Dig in a crop to fertilize your soil:  Plants which nourish the soil are comfrey, clover, chicory, lupins, buckwheat, lettuce, mustard, turnips, radishes and alfalfa or lucerne.  Grow any of these plants, then dig them into your soil to fertilize it and fix it with nitrogen.   Lupins and clover are extremely good for bringing nitrogen to the soil.  Lawn clippings, although they are  good fibrous  matter for the soil, especially useful for breaking down clay soils,   actually draw nitrogen from the soil as they decompose.  If you are using lawn clippings or seaweed, you can help the nitrogen content of the soil by putting diluted urine over this area of the garden.  Urine is especially high in nitrogen, and this makes it a good supplement to use for  nitrogen-hungry seaweed, and lawn clippings.   All citrus trees thrive on a weekly dose of diluted urine.  Dilute the urine about one part to eight of water.

Digging in seaweed picked up from the beach is also a good way to fertilize your soil.  This is the best way to bring Iodine and other important minerals into your soil.  Seaweed is not such a good supplier of nitrogen, so remember the tip for using diluted urine if you are digging in seaweed.   Your plants will have a higher content of Iodine and all other minerals if you replenish the soil occasionally with seaweed nutrients.   Just make sure not to let the seaweed touch the plants if you are laying it on the garden.  You can make up a liquid seaweed by soaking a bunch of seaweed in a bucket for 2 or 3 weeks.  Dilute the seaweed solution with about 8 times the amount of water, and spray around your plants.  This seaweed solution helps to bring the worms, as well as bringing nutrients directly to the plants in the garden.  Seaweed used this way is also a deterrent to troublesome insects.  It is a safe way to help control the insects you do not want around, as it does not kill bees and butterflies, which derris dust and pyrethrum insecticides  do.

Comfrey is also excellent:  This miracle herb brings silica and other nutrients which benefit the growth of plants.  If you are using Comfrey, then you would pick the leaves from another part of the garden to dig into your vegetable or flower garden plot.  Comfrey roots are very tenacious, so you would not grow a crop of Comfrey all over your vegetable garden, but instead, you would use some of the leaves from the plant which grows in the spot which you have allocated for it.    Alternatively, you can make a Comfrey liquid fertilizer by picking some Comfrey leaves, and soaking them in water for 2 or 3 weeks.  Dilute this liquid to put around your plants, or to spray on the plants.  This liquid fertilizer helps to bring the worms, and it is a good way to distribute the Comfrey silica and other nutrients throughout the garden.  Silica is an important mineral, because it helps all living things, including plants, to process other minerals and vitamins.

How To Grow Organic Food:  Any Green Crop can be grown as a natural green manure.  Let  your spare seeds of carrots, lettuce, silver beet, or turnips, clover and alfala, grow around your garden.  When they are about half grown, you can dig them into the soil. The plant leaf material, once dug into the soil, will attract the worms.   The worms  eat the leaf material, and carry it about while they digest it.  As they work through the soil, they aerate it, which is also beneficial for the growth of plants.  Once the leaves have been digested, they are  turned  into a rich, organic fertilizer which benefits the soil.

By using compost, or these natural green manures and seaweed solutions, and avoiding the use of chemicals,  your  organic garden will flourish.  Your vegetables will be more healthy with a higher vitamin and mineral content.  Gardening with compost, seaweeds,  and natural green manures makes your plants more resiliant to insects.  Using natural organic fertilizers helps to discourage insects at the same time as they increase the nutritive value of the vegetables.

Natural Organic Home Made Herbal Hair Dyes

Commercial Hair Dyes are mostly VERY bad for the health.  This is because the harmful  chemicals which are in them get absorbed through the pores of your skin.  After entering through the pores of the skin, they enter the blood-stream, and find their way to the liver and other parts of the body.  The liver stores nutritive elements for the body to use, but it also stores harmful chemicals as well, which is why using cosmetics on your skin, using herbicides, pesticides, and other chemicals, should be avoided.  Chemicals stored in the liver can cause cancer, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and other diseases.

It is best to  avoid using those harmful commercial hair dyes, and use natural herbal hair dyes instead.  These don’t have the same vibrant colours which commercial hair dyes have, but they are still effective for either darkening or lightening the hair.

Powdered henna is a popular herbal dye and conditioner which is used for dying the hair, as well as the fingernails. This can be bought at many health food shops, and at shops which stock Indian spices.  Henna herb usually produces  a bright red colour, which can give wonderful red highlights to dark hair.  If your hair is going grey, though, then henna powder does not work so well on the hair as a dye.

Here are a few suggestions for dying the hair with some other, easily procured,  natural herbal hair dyes which you might like to experiment with.

Natural Herbal Red Hair Dye With Privet Leaves and Guavas.

Boil up  two cups of  privet  leaves and two cups of red guavas  in just enough water to cover.   Simmer for twenty minutes.  Let the mixture cool, then strain, add two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.  Use the mixture to rinse the hair with.  This colour will become more intense if the rinse is applied once daily for three days.  This rinse could make your hair dry, so be mindful of that if your hair is already dry.  A few drops of almond oil could be massaged into the scalp and hair after the dye has dried.

Other vegetable and herbal material which can be used to make a red dye for the hair are:  chopped raspberry leaves, chopped raddish leaves or radishes, chopped beetroot leaves or beetroot, and cranberries.  You would use 2 cups of your chosen vegetable or fruit, to 2 cups of privet leaves, just the same as the recipe above.  Myrtle leaves can be used instead of privet leaves, in which case you would use 2 cups of myrtle leaves to, say,  one cup of chopped beetroot and one cup of chopped  radish leaves.

Natural Herbal Hair Dye With Brown Colouring: 

Strong Sage Tea for brown colour:  Simmer one cup of chopped sage leaves in two cups of water for 10 minutes.  Let cool, add two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and use as a hair rinse.

Strong black tea can be added to the sage tea for added effect.

Walnut Herbal Dye for dark brown colour:  Pick 20 green walnuts which still have their outer husks on.  Put into a bowl.  Chop one cupful of walnut leaves and add to the bowl.  Sprinkle over one rounded tablespoon of sea salt.  Pour over just enough boiling water so that the walnut leaves and green nuts are covered.  Leave overnight.  Use the next day as a rinse.  This rinse will  darken the hair the more often you use it, so it could be applied several days running. Again, this herbal mixture is quite drying:  It might not be suitable for all hair types.  You could try massaging a little almond oil into the scalp after the dye has dried.

Alternatively, 2 cups of walnut leaves could be chopped and simmered in enough water to cover, for 20 minutes.  Let cool, strain, and add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.

Other herbal material which produces a dark dye for the hair: rosemary leaves, stalks and flowers,  globe artichoke leaves, marjoram leaves, and elderberries and  elderberry leaves.  Select two cups of the herb, chop up, cover with boiling water,  and simmer for 10 minutes.  Leave overnight to infuse.  Strain and use in the same way as for the other herbal rinses, massaging into the scalp and hair for three days in a row.

Herbs To Lighten The Hair:  Simmer for 10 minutes 2 cups of chamomile flowers, or privet or myrtle flowers, in just enough water to cover.  Leave to cool, then add two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.  Use as a rinse for the hair.

Rhubarb Root To Lighten The Hair:  Boil one cup of rhubarb root in two cups of water for 20 minutes.  Let cool, then add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.  Use as a rinse on the hair.

Hollyhock Flowers To Lighten The Hair:   Use 2 cups of hollyhock flowers and 2 cups of water.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Allow to cool, then add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and use as a rinse for the hair to help lighten it.

Use Honeysuckle To Lighten The Hair:  Use 2 cups of flowers, stalks and leaves from the honeysuckle plant.  Simmer in 4 cups of water for 20 minutes.  Allow to cool, add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and use as a hair rinse.  More effect is noted if it is used over a period of several days.

 

How To Make Liquid Organic Comfrey Fertilizer

Nitrogen-Rich Comfrey Fertilizer

Here is how to make Comfrey Fertilizer for your garden.  Comfrey is rich in many nutrients, including nitrogen, and natural phosphates which are all good for the soil.

Using natural fertilizers such as Comfrey Fertilizer will encourage the worms to come.  Worms are really beneficial for your garden, as they aerate the soil, as well as carry nutrients from the top of the ground to the roots of your plants.

To Make your Organic Comfrey Fertilizer:  Simply put some comfrey, leaves, roots, flowers, and all, into a bucket.  You can almost half fill the bucket with Comfrey plant material.  Fill up the bucket with water, and leave the bucket to stand outside in a quiet place,  with a loose-fitting lid on the top to keep insects from falling in.

You can safely spray this over your plants to good effect.  The high silica content, and perhaps the allantoin too, help to discourage insects and fungus or bacteria from attacking your plants.

Add Potency To The Organic Fertilizer By Adding Onion or Garlic: Make your own natural organic insecticide and plant anti-biotic by adding left over onion skins, or garlic to your mix.     These can be a good addition to the Comfrey organic fertilizer, as garlic and onion  help to discourage pests and protect against diseases.  You would add these things into the original fertilizer mix, with the  comfrey and water, at the beginning of the process.