PROVINGS
Provings provide excellent opportunities to gain personal experience and deep insight into our profession. Many homeopaths have demonstrated the benefits of conducting or participating in provings such as improving observation and prescribing skills, increasing
Materia Medica
knowledge, enhancing awareness of repertory rubrics and sharpening remedy selection abilities.
The best part about provings is that they ultimately benefit those who seek our homeopathic help. Read on to enjoy
comments from CCHs who have experienced provings in various roles. Let their stories inspire you to find your own ways to demonstrate the power of homeopathy!
Kelly Callahan, CCH, RSHom (NA):
"When I was a homeopathy student, we did some trituration provings. I was fascinated with the experience, as someone who likes to go deep, be immersed, and understand the inner workings of what I’m involved in. These were informal provings, intended to give willing and interested students the opportunity to experience this unique aspect of our healing art. The work side of it - the review, organization and collating, was not emphasized and honestly, that piece didn’t appeal to me. I was all about the EXPERIENCE!"
“I enrolled in the Dynamis School with Jeremy Sherr, who, as most of us know,
revitalized provings within the homeopathic community. Jeremy is meticulous in the organization, study, and presentation of his provings. Through that exposure, I began to see how being a prover is like visiting a new destination for a weekend; the work on the other side is more like relocating, learning the language, experiencing the culture. You might think it's the opposite, but when you
work
on a proving, you see the parts and pieces that
*every*
prover experienced; as the prover, you only understand yourself."
"I’ve worked for years now as part of the team for Sherr’s Repertory of Mental
Qualities. In this role, I read provings to identify symptoms that will qualify ‘new’ remedies for broad but essential mental themes like Control, Perfectionism, Victim, Type A and many more. I’ve read and seen provings by homeopaths from around the world, everything from meditation provings to full, well- executed Hahnemannian provings. While we can debate the merits of these different executions, the thing that unites them is a commitment to exploring our natural world through homeopathy and bringing the potential for greater, more similar healing to the planet. It’s a worthy and fulfilling endeavor."
Jason-Aeric Huenecke, CCH, RSHom (NA):
“
We have in homeopathy this remarkable process for ascertaining the curative
powers of a potentized substance called provings. I have participated in twenty one provings over the last 29 years. These are, for me, powerful, sometimes, intense opportunities to understand myself and the energy signature of a foreign substance with greater clarity and with focused attention and intention."
"What motivates me to pursue provings is that I know that discerning and
ascertaining what is curative in a substance may lead to the healing, meaning the end of suffering, for someone who is in need of healing that is specific to that substance and heretofore unknown."
"It is a remarkable process, taking the substance, experiencing temporary
symptoms, becoming aware of the ‘not me’ or ‘the otherness’ of the substance,
what it wants, what it needs, and what it is averse to or craves, and then, it lifts, it leaves, and I feel all the more myself, stronger and more vital. I also know that the information gained benefits me and others through our homeopathic practices. This is what I love about homeopathy and especially provings - the invitation to open up to the world with curiosity and wonder."
Rowan Jackson, CCH, D.O.M:
“
Provings are the cauldron from which the mysteries of Homeopathy are discovered. Jeremy Sherr’s first proving was Scorpion. He taught it in 1988 prefacing it with the need for a stronger poison for his patient’s anger and violence than was available; noting a broader social relevance to provings and miasms.
"
"I sourced Bald Eagle Blood in 1994. I had to choose between a Bald or a Golden. I realized the weight of my choice and picked the Bald, because of the symbolic meaning of Bald Eagles to Native Americans and the U.S. Government."
"
Egypt has images of Scarab beetles everywhere; historically placed over the heart of the deceased, they represent reincarnation and regeneration. I sourced the Scarab in June of 2001. The day I sent it to Helios, the NYTimes had a story on the discovery of the regeneration of heart tissue. It is a heart remedy after all!
"
"
When Jeremy Sherr proved Chocolate, Cacao shot up on the commodities exchange, when he proved Hydrogen, Cold Fusion was achieved. The field effect is well known. Supervisors would get symptoms while their provers didn’t. Provers on placebos would get symptoms as clear as if they had taken it in potency."
"I sourced Black Hole Cygnus X1 in 2007. Cygnus was a binary star, its companion, Cygnus X1, became a black hole after a cosmic cataclysm. Can you imagine the grief of a star? Jeremy Sherr proved Cygnus Bewicki in 2002. Grief from lost or unrequited love is a strong symptom for that swan. How can a star, light years away, influence our language as it comes to us in provings, myth and metaphor?"
"I took part in a proving of Nuala Eising. I “saw” my floor in Santa Fe flooded with two inches of water; months later I found out the substance was Peat from County Sligo. There’s the water!
Jump in! Source a substance, Aude Sapere, dare to know."
