THE TWO BASIC PRINCIPLES:
LIKE CURES LIKE
As we have often been told, the symptoms are not the disease. With Homeopathy, we don't use "anti-anythings" (antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, anti-diarrheals, anti-emetics) to get rid of the symptom (and leave the disease). Rather, we listen to what the symptoms are saying, and we encourage their expression, by using the energy pattern of a substance from nature which, if taken grossly, would cause those same symptoms. In other words, we align the chosen remedy with the expressed symptoms, and allow them to work together for the purpose of healing the body.
For example, let's say a child has a high fever, flushed face, dilated pupils, burning throat, pulsating headache of strept throat. You could use an antibiotic to kill the streptococcal overgrowth; at the same time, you would be killing off the beneficial bacteria which are necessary to the healthy organism, and assisting the development of a super-strain of streptococcal organisms, resistant to the antibiotic. Or you could choose to employ the energy pattern of belladonna. This plant material taken grossly would result in the symptoms named above. Taken as a remedy (the energy pattern) provokes in the immune system a similar but stronger response to the symptoms, and results in quick and gentle restoration of health.
THE MINIMUM DOSE
This second basic tenet of Homeopathy has to do with converting the substance in nature to its energy pattern [according to the Einsteinian principle of Energy = (mass) (speed of light, squared)] by using a sequential process of dilution and succussion of the substance in water. The further this process is carried out, the more potent the remedy becomes - i.e., the more energy is released, which can be used for healing. It is similar to the splitting of an atom, except that it is done in a slow and patient step-by-step process, liberating the energy slowly and safely rather than with a single split and massive explosion.
A remedy that is a 30c potency, as often found in your local health food store, started with 1 drop of the substance in 100 drops of water, and succussed. This is a 1c. A drop of that in 100 drops of water and succussed is a 2c. A drop of that in 100 drops of water and succussed is a 3c. After 12c (about the level of Avagadro's number), there is no molecule of the substance remaining - only its energetic imprint on the water. So when a remedy has been through this potentization process, there is no need to worry about toxicity, as you are dealing with Energy and not substance.
HEALING AS A JOURNEY ~ HOMEOPATHY AS EMPOWERMENT
When you come to a homeopathic practitioner, you begin to be an active partner in your own healing process. You recognize that the healing process is your journey, and your homeopath is your guide. Along the way, you will be receiving insights and benefits on the physical, mental and emotional level. As you progress in your journey and share your insights, your homeopath is benefited and grows into their experience alongside you. In the best of circumstances, it is a mutually empowering, win-win situation.
HOMEOPATHY AS A PHILOSOPHY
Homeopathy is more than a beautiful system of healing. It is also a philosophy, with such embraceable tenets as these:
  1. Symptoms are the body's symbolic language, informing the careful practitioner of the mis-tunement of the Life Energy. Illness is an opportunity to bring that mis-tunement into alignment, and thus become healthier than before.
  2. Everything in the universe, including plants, animals, minerals, elements, has its own energetic force, and those energies can be used for healing.
  3. The energies of the universe are related, and intertwined. Careful observation can yield information about the world around us, and our place in it.
HOMEOPATHY VS. PHARMACEUTICAL MEDICINE
Many of us have had ample opportunities to observe some of the problems inherent in our present medical model. The emphasis on chemicals and pharmaceuticals has led us down a not-so-merry path, resulting in a loss of health freedom on many levels. We have come to equate drugs with medicine ~ convenient for the chemical industry, but detrimental to our health. Now we find ourselves in the unfortunate circumstance of medical crisis, with many unable to afford the pharmaceutical medical model.
HOMEOPATHY VS. HERBAL MEDICINE
Herbs are wonderful healing agents, and fascinating to study. However, one of the problems that presents itself with herbal supplementation is the over-harvesting of herbs. As an energy-based system of healing, Homeopathy is eco-friendly. It does not use up massive quantities of species, endangered or otherwise. Furthermore, it can be gentler, quicker, and has the capacity to actually heal on an energetic level (i.e., after they've been taken and done their work, there is no further need for them) rather than palliate (which requires continued usage of the substance).