Soul Medicine Vision

Homeopathy is a safe and effective form of energy medicine that has been used successfully for more than two hundred years. It is an invitation to live life in harmony with our deepest nature and offers a real alternative to anyone looking for a more natural approach to health and healing.

Homeopathy has proven to be extremely effective in helping patients recover from a vast range of ailments, ranging from from acute infectious illnesses to deep-seated chronic conditions. Emotional states such as anxiety, depression, as well as psychological and psychiatric complaints, respond especially well to homeopathic treatment, as do challenges of a more specifically spiritual nature.

All of these conditions are considered by homeopathy to be symptomatic of underlying energetic imbalances and are treated in the context of all aspects of the patient’s life, both personal and ancestral. 

The term ‘homeopathy’ was coined by the German doctor Samuel Hahnemann, in the late 18th century from two Greek words: hómoios, “like” and páthos, “suffering” to describe the new system of medicine he had developed. Born out of his deep dissatisfaction with medicine as it was then practised, Hahnemann created a unique synthesis of alchemy, traditional herbal medicine and esoteric understanding which, in the hands of a qualified practitioner, has proven to be a powerful and effective healing tool.

Declan Hammond was introduced to homeopathy in Germany in 1976 and has used it, personally and professionally, ever since. He began his studies in India two years later and joined The College of Homoeopathy in London in 1987, where he received his Licentiate to practise. He has since studied and taught with many of the world’s leading practitioners; has been published in many homeopathic journals and has been responsible for a number of innovative homeopathic provings. He is a registered member of The Irish Society of Homeopaths.

Homeopathy for Declan has always been a tool for growth and development. A homeopathic consultation with him is the beginning of a journey towards wholeness; where all the broken parts of life are gathered together; where each of these parts is seen as essential to an understanding of the whole; where the unique individuality of the patient is respected and both work together in harmony towards greater healing and clarity of soul purpose. 

Shamanism is an ancient spiritual and healing practice, possibly the oldest on the planet, dating back 50,000 years, at least. It has grown out of humanity’s relationship with the earth and all her inhabitants and is a way of connecting with the great store of wisdom that has been accumulated by our ancestors throughout the ages.

Central to the practice of indigenous shamanism is the initiation or healing crisis, typically an encounter with death or a life-threatening illness. The shaman is the wounded healer who, after surviving her/his own initiation and having learnt to integrate the experiences of sickness, suffering, dying and death, can then support those who face these challenges in their own lives. The shaman uses ecstatic techniques such as drumming, dance or shamanic journeys to enter non-ordinary states of consciousness in order to access support, insight, healing or power for those s/he is working with. These practices can be used to benefit individuals, communities, plants, animals, even the earth herself. It is a path and practice that can help bring us back into contact and balance with the primal energies of life and the forces that shape and hold our world in balance.

Declan has trained with and done field work with many renowned shamanic practitioners including Don Guillermo Arevelo, Ernesto Garcia Torres (Amazonia); Don Victor Estrada (Andes); Don Andrés Carrillo Bautista (Mexico); Josep Villa (Spain) and Jonathan Horwitz (Scandinavian Centre for Shamanic Studies).

In the shamanic understanding, when people undergo traumas such as abuse, loss of a loved one, life-threatening disease, accidents, addiction, etc, they are considered to have lost a part of their essential nature and experience Soul Loss. Non-ordinary states of consciousness such as hearing voices, seeing visions (horrific or beatific), depersonalisation and depression commonly follow this loss.

Soul Medicine uses a combination of creative visualisation, shamanic journeying and homeopathically-prescribed remedies to recover the parts of the psyche that have been lost. In this way, these challenging experiences of non-ordinary consciousness are transformed into deep healing and often a new spiritual awakening.

Tantra is an art, a science, a spiritual path and a lifestyle. In its essence, it is a path of transformation with its roots in the shamanic practices of ancient India, and it embraces all of life. Tantra recognises that every aspect of life is considered to be potentially divine and can be used as a tool to expand awareness, to heal and to enable practitioners reach their highest potential.

According to Tantra, every state of body/mind can be transformed to bring about spiritual awakening. As a spiritual path, Tantra is unique in understanding, respecting and embracing the polarity of masculine and feminine energies and the need to find a balance between these energies within one’s own being and in relationship with others. 

Tantra uses a highly sophisticated understanding of how energy flows and has developed numerous forms of meditation, breathing techniques and visualisations which can be used to raise consciousness, create ecstatic states and spiritual enlightenment. These practices can be done alone or be enhanced through working with a partner.

Declan Hammond has practiced Tantra Yoga since 1976 and has studied with tantra masters such as Sri Sri Anandamurti, Margot Anand and Mahasatvaa Ma Ananda Sarita.

From a homeopathic perspective, health and disease have always been considered to be energetic in nature and remedies act primarily on this level. Tantra, in its understanding of the chakra system and its energy matrix, provides a context for all of this. Soul Medicine uses this understanding to gain a deeper understanding of the healing process and provides tools and meditations to support individuals, couples and groups in bringing balance into their lives and relationships.

Plants have been used medicinally by traditional healers since the dawn of time. In each culture, certain plants have been considered to be teacher or master plants. These have been used ceremonially over millennia for initiation, deep healing and rites of passage and were considered to be the most important plants in each of their traditions. Their exact nature may vary but, from Lapland to the Amazon and from India to the Andes, the reverence of the teacher/master plant as a plant of the gods was universal.

As we are living in a culture without rites of passage, many people are experimenting with these plants and substances in wholly inappropriate festival and recreational environments, often triggering challenging states of soul loss (panic, dissociation, derealisation). When they present to their doctors with these states these patients are often diagnosed as psychotic, delusional or even schizophrenic.

In traditional indigenous cultures these would be recognised for what they are, potential spiritual emergence states, and patients would be supported by appropriate treatment. In Declan’s Soul Medicine practice, using homeopathically-prepared vibrational essences of these plants, patients can experience the kind of deep soul healing that traditional healers aspire to and learn to integrate these new experiences into a richer, fuller life.

Men, on average, live for six years less than women; have higher death rates in every age category; routinely fail at close relationships; commit over 90% of the all acts of violence (and are 70% of victims); make up 80% of the homeless and comprise over 90% of prison populations. In school, around 90 percent of children with behaviour problems are boys, and over 85% of children with learning problems are also boys. Young men (aged 15 - 25) have three times the death rate of young women and these deaths are all from preventable causes. The leading cause of death among men between 15 - 44 is self-inflicted death. Men and boys die by suicide four times more frequently than girls and women.

From the above, it is clear that modern social constructs of masculinity causes great suffering for men and boys. The number of addicted and afflicted men and their comparatively shorter lifespans compared to women, proves that this currently accepted version of masculinity is killing men. And even when it does not literally kill, it causes a sort of spiritual death, leaving many men traumatised, isolated and often unknowingly depressed. And for many men, the process begins long before manhood, constantly having to prove and reprove the fact that they are men.

As a man, son, father and grandfather to two boys, Declan has long been troubled by these challenges. His personal healing journey has given him a unique perspective on these and the ability to create and hold safe and supportive space for men’s healing. He works with individual men, couples and in men’s circles.