This is the eighth episode in a series highlighting homeopathic remedies I carry with me all the time. There are almost 50, so it will take a while to complete!

I don’t know what it is about Belladonna that causes me to be so intrigued by it. Maybe it’s the Latin name, which means “lovely lady,” or the common name of “Deadly Nightshade.” The Nightshade family of plants includes banana peppers, potatoes and tomatoes, also some of my favorites, along with a host of other plants that we shouldn’t be eating if we want to live. There’s a great list here. I loved learning about Belladonna in the Academy of Practical Homeopathy, and reading about how Samuel Hahnemann found that the genius method of dilution and succussion that he discovered changed toxins like Belladonna into tremendously effective agents of cure. When Dr. Hahnemann was practicing conventional medicine, he and his colleagues were taught to use Belladonna, Mercury, Digitalis, and other poisons as medicines. They had to be extremely careful with their dosages or they would kill rather than heal their patients. Hahnemann quit practicing medicine because the treatment of far too many patients worked to their detriment rather than their benefit, and far too many died from the overzealous use of deadly toxins used as “cures” in their gross (original) form. I love to imagine the joy he must have felt when he realized that his signature process of finding the “minimum dose” could turn all of those substances into healers.

Homeopathically, Belladonna is used for many of the same pathologies that Hahnemann’s colleagues used it for in their day: fevers, pain, delirium, and the like. Except with Belladonna 3c, 6c, 30c, 200c, etc. there is no risk of overdose. The main mistake that can be made with any homeopathic medicine is taking a remedy too frequently, which can cause a slight negative response that’s usually easily handled by stopping the remedy and taking a strong sniff of mint.

Belladonna in potency has been used throughout homeopathy’s 200+ year history to bring the following illnesses to a successful resolution: Measles, mumps, joint pain, gout, boils, ovarian cysts or pain, sinus infection, respiratory infection, scarlet fever, tonsils, glandular swelling, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, cataracts, stroke (excerpted from Nature’s Materia Medica by Robin Murphy). It’s referenced in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (Alcott was an advocate for and user of homeopathy). And it’s in my everyday remedy box at all times.

I would love to share more information about homeopathy with you. Please click “subscribe” below to join my homeopathy email list, and consider taking one of my classes! If you would like to schedule an individual consultation about a health problem you’re experiencing, just send me an email and we’ll get the process started.

For even more information on Belladonna, check out this blog by my mentor, Joette Calabrese! As always, please subscribe, email, or comment to keep the conversation going.

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