Looking for Cures

In the next few posts, inshallah, I will share some of Sidi Hakim's teachings

Sidi Hakim teaches that often the remedy or cure that we are searching for is, infact in front of us. When he was in England many years ago, he set up a small hospital in his home since there was a Hepatitis A outbreak. While researching the remedy for this illness, he found out that there was a certain plant that was the appropriate remedy. After that, when he returned back to his place, strangely enough he found that the very plant was growing in the cracks of the house.

Along the same line, he also teaches that sometimes the remedy appears before the illness. The story he tells to illustrate this goes back to when he was in Pakistan studying with his teacher [a hakim]. People from all over Pakistan would come to see his teacher and would bring plants indigenous to their area of origin. The plant that the previous client would bring would turn out to be the remedy for the next client! Another story he shares is once he was picking saw palmetto berries [good for prostrate problems] with a friend who wanted to learn about natural medicine and to whom he mentioned the concept of remedies arriving before the illness. On the way back, they picked up a hitchiker who upon learning that they dealt with natural medicine asked if they could suggest a remedy for his prostrate problems. Sidi Hakim's friend awestruck handed over the berries they had picked.

The Doctrine of Signatures is one that I find particularly amazing. This doctrine states the purpose of a plant/food is "written" on it, i.e. it has a signature. For example, walnuts that look like the two hemispheres of the brain are infact good for the nervous system. Watermelons grow on thin stalks resembling the kidneys is good for the kidney/genitourinary system. Pulsatila, a homeopathic remedy indicated for insecurity, attachment issues and emotional swings, is a plant that "moves with every wind" much like how it is indicated for people whose emotions swing and change rapidly.