We are happy to bring you a more reflective edition of the California Homeopath, looking at some people’s experience of practicing homeopathy in California, noting the changes in homeopathic work as the state changes and the social and political winds have their impact. In the last ten years, all the homeopathic schools in the Bay Area have closed but still many of the graduates of these schools are in practice and spreading homeopathy. Many of the original practitioners that brought homeopathy out from the cold in the 1970’s are still working while a whole new generation of homeopaths carry on the baton. Ten years ago, the Bay Area Homeopathy Association was started and is still going strong and the California Homeopathic Medical Society is also maintaining its active role in the community and offering an annual conference in California. The Pacific Academy of Homeopathy morphed into the Homeopathy Institute of the Pacific and is continuing making homeopathy accessible to many communities. Schools in Los Angeles and San Diego area have continued to educate people and carry on the important work of homeopathic education, but as with all things, there are ebbs and flows in how things evolve.

More broadly on a world stage, we have seen how homeopathy has been under attack from many sides. In some countries, especially in the UK there has been a coordinated campaign against homeopathy, from people who find its presence as part of the National Health Service an affront to their idea of science. Some of these groups are funded by “big pharma” and supported by various medical bodies and media outlets and by what could be called “secular fundamentalists.” These individuals and groups see  homeopathy as a threat to their idea of science and reality, as well as anything that smacks of religion and/or a “holistic” perspective to life that embraces an energetic model of the universe. However, homeopathy has prevailed in spite of these attacks and while it may seem we have gone underground a bit, all the work that has been done and continues to be done has an impact and it’s important we all recognize and embrace this.

So in these challenging times it is interesting to reflect on the work that has been done to make homeopathy more known and accepted in California. The articles in this edition reflect this work, both on an individual level and also on a political level,  and especially since the significant California bill SB-577 was passed, one of the most important health freedom bills in the country. John Melnychuk, who was the guiding force behind this legislation lays out the story of the bill and is a reminder of its importance today for all natural health care practitioners in California and beyond. Therefore it is important we are all reminded of the impact of this legislation and how we need to comply by its guidelines. My thanks to John for submitting this article, and also to all the other contributors this time who have shared their experience of being a homeopath in California.

Also, this will be my last edition that I will edit the journal. It is now over 10 years since the 1st edition of the journal was produced, where I shared the editorial duties with Premananda Childs. Since then, I have focused on producing two issues a year, often with long “New Yorker” style articles, reflecting a desire to produce a more literary homeopathic journal that also explored other areas of health. But having left California eight years ago and now living in Africa – as I sit here now surrounded by mosquitos at dusk – it is time to move on and allow the journal to move into a new direction. I want to thank everybody at the California Homeopathic Medical Society for supporting the journal, to Premananda who helped initiate the journal with me and to Marci Mearns, for doing all the sterling design and practical work to get the journal online and on time!

Finally, I would like to resubmit the first editorial of the journal back in April 2006 that outlines the history of homeopathy in California and the origin of the California Homeopath in 1882. I am particularly keen on recognizing the historical continuity of homeopathy in California, the role of the journals over many years that reflected the work of dedicated folk and the role of the California Homeopathic Medical Society in maintaining a voice for homeopathy in the great state of California.