You could almost guarantee the interest in magic water couldn’t you.
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I can confirm that magic is alive and well… 
Quite a few “young folk” were happy to cast a spell … to help the mechanic who was having problems at a recent car show… 
Those damn scientists are at it again!
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@Barbara I quite agree with you Barbara there is no way we can live without traditional medicine. personally, i do not use homeopathy I prefer traditional medicine. Just my opinion, maybe because i was a nurse in another life. lol
Bizarrely enough when I was being a gofer for MSF in Afghan refugee camps during the Soviet invasion and the war, we didn’t use homœopathy. It isn’t a lot of use to someone drowning from the inside because their lungs have been burnt with white phosphorus, or for traumatic injury eg after stepping ona mine.
It is very effective for the ailments of the rich and healthy though.
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Anyone who read the antidepressants article should have picked up on the power of the placebo effect so no treatment that does not cause harm should be written off completely. The preferences of those who choose to put their faith in the medical profession and scientific research should also be respected.
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Unnecessarily dismissive, Veronique? I’ve been a nurse for almost 60 years (most of them practising in a very wide variety of contexts including Africa), and I certainly know the value of allopathic medicine and emergency surgery. But I have found it’s wise not to be arbitrarily dismissive of other approaches to health and healing. We may know a lot about both, but I also understand there is more to know and understand, and open-minded scepticism trumps absolutist certainty, especially when it is expressed scornfully.
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One of my cousins has recently retrained as a medical hypnotist and he assures me that he has had some great results already working with people who want to change specific behaviours or addictions. He says that his sessions will only work if the patients have belief in him and his methods and that they genuinely want to change. They are usually people who have been failed by more traditional approaches. He has said more than once that he couldn’t do anything for me as I don’t meet the first two points on the list.
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I keep an ‘open mind’ to all sorts of possibilities regarding health and mental well being.
I use essential oils for ‘minor things’ such as toothache, headache, stings etc.
My mum (who is on morphine) was prescribed a treatment for pressure sores, frankly the side effects were horrible and the treatment didn’t work. I used an ages old remedy of curcuma powder and it did the trick.
I also use lithotherapy and it helped my cat who was ill (can’t argue against an animals reactions) and has also given some comfort to friends, as well as clearing an area in my house that had bad vibes.
Obviously there is a time and place to bring in stronger treatment by visiting a doctor/specialist where needed, but never discount centuries old remedies.
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Not scornful, I said v effective on people who haven’t got eg massive trauma or anything really wrong with them but are not well in themselves, as it were.
If it makes them feel better that’s great.
I am a big fan of the placebo effect!
I think people with a multitude of sophisticated ailments will probably feel better just with attention and interest but as that is in short supply, if sugar pills will do, then so much the better.
My GP is mad keen on homœopathy but strangely when I go and see him with a chest infection he prescribes clavulanic acid and bronchodilators. Because if he prescribed sugar pills I would die.
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Véronique, I must have overlooked your “very effective” remark somewhere, but I am happy to see a more nuanced assessment of the possible value of homeopathy. I don’t think the most fervent homeopath would prioritise a remedy over an antibiotic for gross sepsis, as I know you realise yourself in your calmer moments 
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I’m entirely calm, thank you Peter.
So yes, allopathy for when someone is actually ill, homœopathy for when they imagine they are.
People are also at liberty to dance, coated in clay, around a bonfire, with crystals in their hands, playing ancient healing melodies through their Buryat nose-pipes if it makes them feel better. Just as long as they aren’t paying some quack a fortune to do it.
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@Veronique I am a big fan of the placebo effect¨ I do not understand how you can be a fan of the placebo effect , when we do not know if we are taking a placebo or genuine medicine .
I would be interested to know how you if you could tell us about the placebo effect.
It seems the ruddy foreigners brought their plague to the beautiful clean island people of Britain. That’s why we need medicines or natural or scientific background. If your ill, stay put where you are and definitely don’t get on trains, planes and buses
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Carol… in a very general way, true… but…
As an example… let’s think about the number of times in the past, that I have used a "kiss better " to work its magic… certainly on the young ones… a smile/hug/kiss often took away the pain and distress…
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When people imagine they have something wrong, then you can argue that they do have something wrong with them, even if they in fact don’t have organic disease with a zillion bacteria whooping it up in their bloodstream etc etc.
So if you can cure them with eg pills made of dried out red email diamant toothpaste ( I did this to a girl at school) then so much the better: hence I am a big fan of the placebo effect.
(Mind you if they really have something wrong with them and take homœopathic granules and get over it by themselves but feeling happier then that’s good. If they feel more cheerful and then die well that’s better than feeling miserable and then dying.)
So you treat imaginary ailments with imaginary medicine, same topo as Stella says kissing it better.
I used witchcraft for bumps etc on my small children (very credulous) but came clean when they were bigger (cf father christmas, the tooth fairy etc etc).
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@Stella Of course if we are talking about little bobos ok a little kiss and a cudddle does miracles.
No I was thinking about real illnesses there I don’t believe in homeopathy but allopathie. We all have our ways of thinking and believing that is perfect . But i agree with the little kiss for a bobo even for adults (hardly)
@Veronique We are on the same end there Vero , If the fact to take homeopathique granules make the “ill” person feel better , all is well.Especially as granules are not expensive and the treatment is limited to a few days.
Why not.
@Veronique you must be a good mummy Vero, doing all the imaginary treatment for your children.God bless you.
You’re in the championship league when it comes to colourfully imaginative allusions, Veronique. Anyway that cheerful picture made me chuckle, so thanks. 
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