Editorial: times of turmoil

As we write, we, the editorial team, are packed and ready to leave New Zealand to go to live in France. There is, of course, plenty of upheaval at a personal level, both trying and exhilarating. This upheaval, however, pales into insignificance when looking at the turmoils on a world scale. In the Middle East, dictatorial regimes are being toppled one after the other, the old regimes fighting to maintain their power or at least their wealth by all means available to them, which inevitably means violence, bloodshed, and countless tragedies. Closer to home, in Christchurch, New Zealand, a second earthquake has shaken the city and its inhabitants, this time bringing uncounted deaths in its wake. The whole country is in shock and the grief is overwhelming. Hundreds of deaths for such a small country means that most of us are affected by the loss of a loved one, be it family, friend or work mate.

It is of course nothing new – all over the globe there are disasters, both man-made and ‘natural’. One is simply reminded that even in the supposedly 'safe' corners of the world, one’s life can be turned upside down in an instant.

It is especially heartening to see the response to the grief and despair of those affected by the Christchurch’s earthquake. In times like these, solidarity seems to be an instinctual response, leaving far behind differences, oppositions, ideas, beliefs, etc. People are spontaneously sharing their resources, opening their hearts and their homes to whoever is in need; humanity at its best!

In the coming issues of Interhomeopathy, we would like to highlight some of the homeopathy projects that have arisen around the world to help those in severe need, both in acute situations, such as the aftermath of disasters, and in more ongoing situations, such as clinics and education for the treatment of AIDS, malaria, and other wide-spread diseases that decimate whole populations. Should you be involved in such projects or have information concerning the use of homeopathy in crisis situations, please feel free to write to share your experience with all of us.

In this issue, we continue to present collections of cases on one topic; this time, the Lamiaceae family is represented. An oversight article by Rob Peters gives a view of this family’s themes, from which many of our aromatic kitchen herbs come, and several cases present their scents to our homeopathic noses. We wish you much reading pleasure and hope this issue will help you to recognise them in your own practice.