About 50 people approached the Homeogune on the last Saturday of February: homeopathic physicians, regular clients and citizens interested in the subject. Joseba Argintxona, member of the association and coordinator of meetings, opened the program: “Homeopathy is strange to today’s society, what it proposes is fully complied with. That is a tragedy for me, because it denies the hope of dealing with human suffering. I can’t accept it.” It then focused on the objective of these days: “We must make known the scientific, clinical and experimental evidence of homeopathy. We are small, but the message is huge.”

First of all, the adoption of

The motto chosen by the organizers was not in vain: Out of the closet. Indeed, it did not take long to realize the need to discuss the matter. Before grouping into groups and answering questions, several friends, such as Mari Karmen Torrealdai, reported their personal views and experiences. He's 71 years old and has been practicing homeopathy for 16 years. “I owe her life,” she says.

In 2003, he was unwilling to close Egunkaria, when Brother Juan Mari Torrealdai, arrested and tortured, was acquitted. It affected Mari Carmen in a number of ways, until the body spoke to her: “I felt like I burned it from my elbow to my fingers. Very red and suppurative skin (suppurations). I immediately went to the doctor and couldn't believe what I saw. He asked me what he had burned his skin, and I told him no, it was natural. He didn't believe it and asked me to be hospitalized. I said no, I'd go home and come back the next day. She gave me corticosteroids, but I went home. The next day I went to see the osteopath and he told me it was too much for him to take another path. What am I going to do now? So they talked to me about homeopathy. I had no idea what it was, no idea where I could find it, but I left without thinking twice. To this day.”

He says that what had happened to him in his arm had spread throughout his body and that for a year he had been without leaving home, almost unable to move: “I had a very bad time. Everything had grown up, had a bad smell, needed help to get to the toilet... She also had to wash her clothes many times because she smelled badly and became yellowish.” After a year he began to go out in the street. Imagine that at the foot I used shoe number 38 and I came out with shoe number 45. People thought I had cancer.
“All of this I have treated with homeopathy, just homeopathy,” he says. He has also indicated that he has overcome the other diseases he has suffered since, such as the pneumonia that has happened recently. “That’s why, when people talk badly about homeopathy, it’s placebo, etc., I feel it’s a lack of respect. Customers haven't fooled us, we're not crazy. You have to listen to other people, especially those who have experienced experiences.”

Health, integrity

Health is the whole thing. Homeopathic physician Joseba Argintxona and Inma Agirre have stressed that you need to see whole people and that fieldwork is very important. “In college, we are not taught to talk to the person who is sick, we only learn the disease and treatment. For example, antidepressant for depression. But if we know why, we can understand that depression is normal and analyze what can be done to overcome it.” Torrealdai shares this opinion also from the user’s point of view. “Homeopathy is not limited to just a specific disease. It makes you clean in everything. I am better when it comes to the head, the memory and the 50 years of everything.”

The doctor has compared to the past to reinforce this argument: “Before, there were no drugs, and people were treated. Common medicine has that limit, which can only deal with the drug, and it's clear that pharmacists and general medicine want it; cut off and offer a single path, yours. It's the power of industry." In addition, he added that currently alternative therapies are considered "a threat", with a dimension that could assume in 50 years. “In France, half of the population is treated with homeopathy and in Spain they do not want this to happen,” he says.

Unconventional therapies are increasingly under pressure in Hego Euskal Herria, while the opposite occurs in Ipar Euskal Herria, where they live normally and “with the utmost respect”, as explained by the organizers of the meetings. Agirre tells us that her daughter is studying in Bidart, and among her friends mentioning homeopathy, two people from Hego Euskal Herria have abused and tried her, while those from Ipar Euskal Herria have acknowledged and underlined her. “It’s something that works in the French state, some doctors use it,” he added.

Italy, Switzerland, England, Austria and Belgium also support homeopathy. In Switzerland, for example, there is the possibility of indicating what kind of medicine you want to be treated with, including homeopathy. In England there is a homeopathic hospital, also in Mexico.

Agirre completed his medical degree in 1985. He reported that at that time it was difficult to find work and that he had conducted a course on homeopathy proposed by INEM. He studied four months in Madrid. At the end he was named a homeopath, but he was eager to know more about the subject. He moved to Mexico and studied speciality for three years. Last year he spent internships at a homeopathic hospital in Mexico City. He added that in addition to the specialty, there is the possibility of obtaining a bachelor's degree in Homeopathy. In 1998 he returned to the Basque Country and made another specialty in the UPV, also linked to homeopathy. “Today you could not believe, but we have the title and everything,” he says with astonishment.

“The media has sold fear and bewilderment around all of this, lately we can read something negative almost every day. There’s a lot of interest behind it,” he explained.

Lifestyle Care

There are those who have added a plus in this chaos. Marta Dafauce has studied Nursing, Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture and has a short consultation in Donostia-San Sebastián. Like the Homeopat, Dafauce feels attacked and has approached the encounter driven by the same reason and enthusiasm. In addition to health, he mentioned social organisation and the system itself: “You don’t just have to focus on homeopathy. I think a lot of work needs to be done, and not just health, for example, models of education and consumption. We're used to living in a very conventional way, but there are other ways of doing things. For me everything is related, we're talking about the way of living. You can do a lot of work in a field, but if you don't change your life in general, it doesn't work at all."

With unconventional therapies, he explained that the body can be understood in its entirety and that the first thing he wants is to “live and express” that vision. Speaking in contradictory terms, he quotes the money: “Issues related to the economy are always difficult. Do I have to charge for this or not? And how much should I charge? At the end of the month we all have to arrive, but where should we put the limit? What will I have that money for? Has no one thought of creating small groups?” In Agirre’s words, prices are reasonable: “Expensive? Social security is expensive, it has to be paid every month, compulsory. It is true that homeopathy is expensive and private. But elsewhere it is a specialty, why not here? To be included in social security...”. He adds that the way money is managed is in the hands of each of them. Dafauce acts flexibly, providing “facilities for access to anyone” to his/her consultation.

More doubts have arisen in the last conversation: Do all homeopaths necessarily have to be doctors? Some have argued that no, that the homeopath does not have to be the result of official studies or be subject to a degree, since knowledge can be acquired in different ways. Others doubt this: “If homeopathic doctors make things difficult, imagine if we weren’t doctors.” No joint conclusions on this subject. Yes, by pointing out that it is time to give impetus to alternative therapies. To do so, it is intended to be aware of what one can do and to add and materialize all the ideas that are gathered in the meeting. We have felt them strong, wanting to continue collecting information and teaching and disseminating what we have learned.