How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck if a Woodchuck Could Chuck Wood?
Or, How Many Succussions do You Use to Make Homeopathic Dilutions?

© Copyright 2002 by Bruce H. Shelton, M.D., M.D.(h), DiHOM & HEEL Inc. USA Medical Director, USA
(Explore Issue: Volume 11, Number 6)

Homeopathy is the field of medicine formulated by Dr. Samuel Hahneman, M.D., starting with the codification of the word Homeopathy in 1796, and which he continued formulating and modifying right up until his death at age 88, in 1843.

Key to the philosophy is the serial dilution of the remedies that get STRONGER "Biologically" as they get more dilute, or WEAKER from a "chemical" standpoint.

THE MORE DILUTE THE REMEDY, THE MORE POTENT THAT IT IS FOR THE PATIENT.

However, there is another key piece of the Potentization Equation. In-between each dilution step is a SHAKING step, known as SUCCUSSION.

A remedy that is diluted 1:10, involves one part of the remedy to 9 parts of the diluent (which is usually a 20% alcohol water solution). This 1: 10 dilution is called a 1X dilution. Making another 1:10 of the first 1X is called 2X. Doing it again makes it 3X.

If a remedy is diluted 1:100 (one part remedy in 99 parts diluent) it's called a 1C dilution. 1:100 of the 1C is called 2C; another 1:100 is 3C; etc., etc.

A series of 1000 1:100 C dilutions is called a 1M dilution.

A 1:50,000 dilution is called a 1LM Potency; 1:50,000 of the first 1:50,000 is called 2LM; etc., etc.

HOWEVER, in between each serial dilution, in order for the dilution to be truly considered Homeopathic, it has to be VIGOROUSLY SHAKEN against either a leather book (Hahneman used his Bible) or the palm of the hand. This vigorous shaking is called SUCCUSSION, and is an integral part of the Homeopathic process.

The number of "succussions" required for each dilution is not necessarily cast in Homeopathic stone, and is a matter of debate among homeopathic physicians, some of whom actually violently disagree on the correct numbers almost as much as traditional doctors disagree with the validity of Homeopathy itself.

At a recent lecture that your author gave in Seattle, Washington, we were demonstrating how to make a Blood Isode. We were doing ten succussions in between each dilution step, and a member of the audience challenged the procedure, saying that it wouldn't be a valid dilution unless it had been diluted 100 times in between each step. After agreeing to disagree, the lecture concluded, leaving the opportunity to author this article.

The best place to start any research project nowadays is of course, the Browser on the Internet. Simply typing the word "succussion" in the window brought up 1,244 different web pages from which to explore the answer for the question.

The best three from which to get good data are:

1. www.similibus.com/hahnemanns_dose.html by Dr. Will Taylor, M.D.
2. www.alchemilla.com/hana/Lm_water.html referenced by the Hahnemann Academy in Santa Fe, N.M.
3. www.homeoint.org/morrell/articles/pm_succu.htm by Peter Morell

The answers obtained reveal that Hahnemann initially only succussed twice between dilutions, and than advised his patients to shake vigorously before taking their daily dose of the remedy.

He feared that remedies that were shipped long distances would be violently shaken during transport, thus really making them more powerful than originally intended. Eventually he worked through the idea of diluting and succussing the remedies and than spraying the liquid onto lactose globules and having them dry forevermore at that final potency on the globules.

In the 6th and final edition of the Organon, he introduced the concept of the 1:50,000 dilution LM potency, and actually wrote that this dilution needed 100 succussions in between dilutions.

However, there are other parts of the 6th edition that make reference to shaking at 8, 10 or 12 shaking steps, and others at simple "vigorous" shaking.

When your author earned his DiHom degree from the British Institute of Homeopathy, a 1X dilution was defined as a 1:10 dilution with ten succussions, while a 1C dilution was defined as 1:100 dilution, but again, with TEN succussions. This philosophy is mirrored in the articles on the Internet.

Therefore, the right answer seems to be:

2 Succussions
8 Succussions
10 succussions
12 succussions
100 succussions
Or just
Vigorous Succussions.

What is accomplished by these succussions?

It is widely felt that the violent shaking somehow energizes the remedy and adds "Necessary Energy" to the solution. Experiments have been done with hard physical measurements that have proven that the chemical bonds between the molecules actually get stronger.

The final answer is as yet to be written, and the answer may actually be all of the above? No one seems totally right and no one is totally wrong!

Someday we may actually find the right Woodchuck, chuck that wood and solve one more mystery of the Universe.

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