Interviews

Judyann McNamara

Written by Julia Thompson

Julia Thompson interviews Judyann McNamara, Founder of the Montreal Institute of Classical Homeopathy (MICH).

Julia: The quantum perspective adds a rich dimension to our classes at MICH. I love how you use your background in physics to bring the Organon and Hahnemann’s teachings to life. I’m sure a lot of people would be interested to know how you went from physics to homeopathy. Do you mind if we start there?

Judayann-McNamara

Judyann (laughing): That’s probably the question I am asked most during public conferences! There were two interconnected factors that brought me to homeopathy: circumstances and the questions they provoked – which neither physics nor medicine could answer.
Life has a way of putting us in interesting circumstances. I had the privilege, due to the nature of my work as a physicist, to act as a consultant to some of the most brilliant minds in medicine, working on the leading edge of research. For example, a group of researchers asked me to set up an X-ray diffractometer which would assist them in studying the crystal casing of viruses. They wanted to understand the phenomenon of virus activation which involves the shattering of the crystal casing and the liberation of the viral DNA, which then finds its way into the nucleus and the DNA of a normal cell, corrupting it’s functioning. At the time (in the 80’s), this was the suspected mechanism by which viruses were thought to cause cancer and AIDS.

This theory stimulated deeper questions in my mind. Such as: “What would make the cell change in order for it to be able to transport such a large molecule into its nucleus?” Normally, such large proteins cannot enter the cell membrane and certainly not the nucleus. A change must occur in the normal cells simultaneously with the release of the viral DNA. Another question was: “What mechanism provokes the activation of the virus?” So the questions became: “What is the mechanism that would simultaneously trigger the shattering of the crystal coating of the virus and increase the susceptibility of the cell’s nucleus to a foreign protein?” These two phenomena would have to happen together in perfect unison – simultaneously – in order for the implantation of the viral DNA to occur.

Because the phenomena are totally unrelated chemically or physically there can be no possibility of cause and effect. We were looking at synchronistic phenomena happening on a sub atomic level.

Once we go beyond simple cause and effect relationships and enter the world of synchronicity we enter the quantum realm.

Here for me was the evidence that a quantum mechanism would be behind this event. As I pondered this possibility, I came to realize that the basis of life on our planet – both the mechanism of photosynthesis and the final stage of the Krebs cycle are also based on quantum principles.

Other experiments, such as photon transmission between cells, began to confirm the deeper quantum level of biological mechanisms of living processes.

I began to actively seek work and research in the realm of quantum medicine. This search brought me to other physicists who were studying biological subtle energy fields. Then, life also created the circumstance whereby a medical condition I had had since birth was successfully treated by a homeopath. There was a subtle but significant change in the state of my body’s mode of operation after the treatment. My body was optimized in a permanent way. I wanted to learn more about the medicine that could do this.

Julia: How did you go about finding out more?

Judyann: I had already begun to study Naturopathy, and began going to conferences in homeopathy and searching out a school with the full four year training. In the meantime, I read the Organon.
I discovered that the Organon was the first and only, as far as I know, complete review of Western medicine from its roots in Hippocrates’ time to the 1800s. I found out that homeopathy was the result of this scientific review, and, that the mechanism through which homeopathy works as explained in Aphorism 11 is a quantum mechanism!

Julia: Can you explain that a bit more?

Judyann: In Aphorism 11 Hahnemann uses two examples to explain how homeopathy works: the effect of the moon on the tides and the attractive pull of a magnet on iron filings.

What fascinated me about this aphorism is that Hahnemann used the only two examples of a quantum field available to him at his time. What he was saying was that homeopathy acted as a field effect. It is only in this last century through quantum physics that we have been able to define and study the phenomenon called fields. Hahnemann attributed both the disturbance underlying the appearance of symptoms, and the “wesen” of the remedy able to alter the disturbance, to field effects.

In other words, the action of the remedy, and the processes of both life and disease are quantum phenomena. This insight also helped me see how cellular mitosis which is so perfectly orchestrated millions of times per minute can also only be mediated by a field effect. A field is much more subtle and therefore more precise than any chemical reaction. This is why no biologist has been able to explain the mechanism behind cellular mitosis. The mechanism operates implicitly, on a level deeper than the physical molecules and atoms. The understanding of this level requires the quantum perspective as described by the Nobel Prize laureate and physicist David Bohm in the landmark book called the Implicate Order.

In this order or level of reality, interconnectedness is much more obvious and therefore the mechanism of synchronicity rather than cause and effect is in greater evidence.

I now had the answer to my question about the viral coating AND an understanding of how homeopathy works.

Homeopathy treats the specific underlying implicate state by which both the cellular susceptibility and vibrationally related virus are affected synchronistically.

How could I not want to know more about this quantum medicine, called homeopathy with its more than 200 years of scientific provings and clinical evidence? It was my obvious next step.

Julia: Listening to your answer reminds me of what you have said in class: that we should be guided by the questions we can’t answer and by facts that appear contradictory.

Judyann: Yes, that is the mark of a true researcher and seeker of Truth. It is also the mechanism through which insights arise.

The word aphorism means insight. The Aphorisms are insights which Hahnemann had by asking questions to uncover the truth about the results achieved by medicine for over 2000 years.

The theory of relativity on which quantum physics is based also came as an insight to Einstein. It is an important mechanism in case taking as well, to arrive at the totality of symptoms in a case.

When two facts, two statements, two symptoms, appear to contradict each other, only an insight can reveal the bigger picture, the greater whole which contains both sides because it embraces a view beyond – bigger than either one. It is the insight that comes from paradox, which is how spiritual masters teach their disciples.

This way of thinking helps to expand one’s worldview and understanding of humanity. I found this to be a fundamental part of successful homeopathic case taking.

Julia: I find it interesting that questioning and the search for truth is the basis of research, science, homeopathy as well as spirituality.

Judyann: Yes, it is fundamental. Yet it is one of the most challenging things for students, or any human to adopt.

Inviting paradox and embracing the bigger world view that emerges from inquiry involves the death of one’s opinion, belief and point of view on that subject, simultaneously with an expansion or growth. What we held as a truth perhaps even a universal truth, we now see as a limited belief, something that is true only in a limited way. Our sense of self is based on our opinions and we don’t like losing our sense of self.

Julia: Was it difficult to find a group of teachers and facilitators able to adopt this philosophy?

Judyann: No, because MICH was borne out of a small group who met one Friday a month to inquire, explore and dialogue about the healing process through successful cases and cures. It is that group that gave birth to the idea of the creation of a homeopathy school grounded in the philosophy and approach of both Hahnemann and Einstein. The MICH method of case-taking which evolved from these discussions follows Hahnemann’s full instructions, and his precocious but accurate quantum understanding of biology. The two Directors of MICH, Carla Marcelis and Melissa Dair as well as other members of the team, are from that original group. We all find it extremely rewarding to work with open inquiry, inviting contradictions and paradox and the insights their exploration provokes.

Julia: Can you provide an example of the process of insight?

Judyann: Let me provide two. The first one is the insight that Einstein had contemplating the paradox that light – photons act as both waves and particles.

He thought about this paradox as he stood in a train station looking at the big clock. He could see that it was 8 o’clock because the photons of the light that hit the clock carry the image that then reached his eyes. If he waited a minute and looked up again, the photons hitting the clock at 8:01 would travel to his eyes and he would see the image of 8:01. He then imagined being that light beam as it bounced off and traveled forward. What he realized was that if he was the photon that hit the clock at 8 am and bounced off, that it would always be 8 am for him because the photon that hit when the clock showed 8:01 would never catch up with him. He would never know the time had changed.

He suddenly saw that time was relative to the speed at which one traveled.
This insight led to the theory of relativity and the turning of Newtonian physics upside down.

Newton’s understanding of cause and effect was replaced by the concept of synchronicity and the concepts of space and time were revealed for what they are: concepts; beliefs held by humans, rather than absolute truths.

It also led to the realization that energy, matter and light are three expressions of the same thing. Matter is fundamentally energy, and light is the bridge between the two, thus resolving the perceived paradox that light cannot be both matter (particle) and energy (wave).

What is interesting is that the relativity formulae reduces to Newtonian formulae when we plug in numbers which are on the order of magnitude of the human being. But, the relativity formulae alone are able to explain astronomically large events and microscopically small events which are beyond the human’s limited directly perceptible experience of reality, and thus beyond the capacity of Newtonian physics. We all appreciate the usefulness of the GPS, satellite communication, DVD players, computers, bar code readers, medical imaging devices and all the other instruments based on Einstein’s discovery, but how many of us have embraced the associated fact that time is a concept, relative and not absolute?

This example illustrates all the properties of an insight:

1. An insight resolves a paradox – or conflicting points of view: in this case, the conflict of whether light is energy or matter.
2. An insight provides a bigger view which explains more than the previous views.
3. An insight contains the previous views. In other words it contains the provisions through which the previous view would appear true.
4. An insight challenges our beliefs, our sense of ourselves and our perception of reality.

E=mc2 establishes the energetic basis of reality and explains matter as a more dense and superficial expression of energy. This is such an important fact for homeopaths, for it helps us contextualize Hahnemann’s insight that disease does not have a material cause and so can never be successfully cured with material substances or intervention.

Let’s use this insight of Hahnemann as our second example. The paradox he addressed 200 years ago is still plaguing modern medicine today. He asked allopaths of his time how they could think that disease had material causes when it was obvious and so often recorded that people fell sick after experiencing grief, shock or emotional trauma. He proposed a model which embraces body and mind, in fact, body, mind, emotions and disease as one whole, each an expression of the deeper state of the more fundamental energy field he called the vital force. Today, allopaths still struggle with a limited chemical mechanical model, still trying to reduce both mind and emotions to chemistry. Repressing symptoms chemically which requires continuous medication is still mistaken as cure. They fail to see the quantum level as more fundamental and providing a bigger picture than chemistry.

Julia: Thank you, Judyann, for sharing this. Can you tell me a bit about your personal life to end the interview?

Judyann: MICH takes up a big part, but whatever is left goes to spending time with my husband, Jacky, and some daily Tai Chi, Yoga, meditation, gardening, and calligraphy as a real treat.

Julia: Is your husband, Jacky, also as passionate about questioning and inquiry as you are?

Judyann: Even after almost 35 years, Jacky is not interested in my ponderings. One of the many great things about Jacky is that he gets my head out of the clouds and grounds me in the appreciation of the simplest things in life and nature – which is wholeness at its best!

Julia: Thank you so much for sharing your personal process with us. Our experiences at MICH have not only trained us as homeopaths, they have changed our lives, and our appreciation of life.  For this I am grateful to have had the opportunity to experience the magic of homeopathy from a teacher who is continuing to expand our understanding of Hahnemann’s great legacy.

Montreal Institute of Classical Homeopathy
http://www.homeopathymontreal.com/

About the author

Julia Thompson

Julia Thompson, R.N., ND has had a passion for holistic medicine since a young age. She was the youngest graduate from NHC in 2005, with a Vibrational Medicine Certificate, a Spiritual Psychotherapy Certificate, and a Massage Therapy Certificate. She graduated from the Montreal Institute of Classical Homeopathy in May 2009 and graduated as a nurse in May 2010.

5 Comments

  • It’s all energy and it’s great to have people with educational credentials in support of homeopathy.

    • What are Judyann McNamara’s educational credentials. They are not mentioned in the interview. All it refers to is a background in physics. Does she have a Ph.D.?

  • This article was explain so an ordinary person can understand. When people are disbelievers of homeopathy this article makes them think.
    Thank you for that.

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