For those familiar with the original Star Wars movie trilogy (1997, 1980, 1983), the idea of the Force was introduced with the phrase “May the Force be with you.” Obi-wan Kenobi explained to Luke Skywalker, “The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us; it penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.” George Lucas, the creator of the trilogy, imagined The Force from an eclectic mix of religious philosophies, concepts of good and evil, New Age ideas of spirituality, and the idea of a mystical universal power that pervades the universe and all living things as taught in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. In the Star Wars movies, The Force was an energetic power that could be used for good or for evil.
The Force concept of Star Wars is NOT the vital force of homeopathy.
Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy, wrote in Aphorism 9 of the Organon, “In health, the spirit-like life force that enlivens the material organism as dynamis, governs without restriction and keeps all part of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation, as regards both feelings and functions, so that our indwelling, rational spirit can freely avail itself of this living, healthy instrument for the highest purposes of our existence.” He continues in Aphorism 10, “The material organism, thought of without life, is capable of no sensibility, no activity, no self-preservation. It derives all sensibility and produces its life functions solely by means of the immaterial wesen (the life principle, the life force) that enlivens the material organism in health and in disease.” Hahnemann concludes in the footnote to Aphorism 10, “Without life force, the material organism is dead…It decays and is again resolved into its chemical constituents.”
Hahnemann uses the terms dynamis, life force, life principle, and life energy interchangeably. These words all represent the immaterial energy that directs the complete system of hierarchical functions in a living organism. The life force is an immaterial dynamic presence that permeates a living being, is united with the organism, and is not separate from it. It is the vital principle, energy or force which is unique to living things and distinguishes living organisms from nonliving. This life force has both sustaining power to maintain and preserve life and generative power to generate or cure dis-ease in an organism.
Hahnemann used the German word wesen, for which there is no one English word equivalent, to express the concepts of being, essence, substance, nature, a living thing, entity, or the nature of something. He used this term to refer to the quintessence, the essential dynamic aspect of something, that affects the individual organism. Hahnemann also uses the word wesen to refer to different medicines, diseases, epidemics, and the allopathic medical system, each with its own hierarchical functions and organized activities that affect circumstances, conditions, and events both inside and outside of itself.
For Hahnemann, the Greek word dynamis meaning dynamic energy, force, drive, inherent power, and strength, best captured the idea of the human wesen. Specifically, the human wesen could be likened to instinct, the natural inherent capacity of all living things that enables them to function in complex ways without having to think or learn how to function in a particular way. For example, homeostasis in biology refers to the optimal functioning of an organism and includes the self-regulation of blood sugar, body temperature, blood pressure, levels of essential cell minerals, fluid balance, the pH of blood and skin, and many other functions. In the body, the heart and brain function through electromagnetic activity, and the body can become imbalanced through the effects of electromagnetic frequencies upon the body. The life force or life energy directs each of the organ systems of the human body to perform particular functions in an orderly cohesive manner. These body systems work together in the most optimal way possible moment by moment.
The “Father of Medicine,” Greek physician and philosopher Hippocrates, taught that “nature is the healer of disease. This principle of the healing power of nature is the basis for the medical philosophy of vitalism. Vitalism is another way of understanding the inherent dynamis or life energy that Hahnemann espoused. Instead of viewing life as merely mechanistic, chemical or material, vitalism is the belief that “The healing power of nature is the inherent self-organizing and healing process of living systems which establishes, maintains and restores health.” It is an ordered and intelligent life force that controls life processes in nature and cannot be explained simply by material or chemical actions. The Latin word vital means life or life giving. Today the term vital force is commonly used for the dynamic immaterial life force that Hahnemann described in Aphorisms 9 and 10 of the Organon. The concept of a vital force is one of the fundamental principles of homeopathy.
Although Hahnemann defined this life energy as a “spirit-like force,” he was not referring to “prana,” the Hindu concept of a “life breath” or a divine cosmic energy that comes from the sun and connects all elements of the universe including humans, animals, plants, and inanimate objects. Nor is he referring to the similar Taoist concept of “qi,” an ethereal ever-flowing constantly changing energy of the universe that animates and connects all things in the universe, living and nonliving.
Although some homeopaths, influenced by their personal worldview, may view the vital force this way, it is evident that Hahnemann was precise in his use of words due to his mastery of multiple languages. He often used several words to convey aspects of the same thing. Notably, Hahnemann lived in Europe during the 1800s. His philosophy of life would have been influenced by Christianity, the dominant worldview of his culture. Hahnemann viewed the immaterial life force of each individual material organism as an indivisible whole with that individual organism. This vital energy powered and preserved that organism’s life until death. Hence his emphasis on matching the peculiar characteristics and dynamic symptoms (wesen) of the sick individual with the wesen of the homeopathic remedy that their symptoms most resemble.
In summary, the vital force in homeopathy refers to the innate self-regulatory life energy that orders all functions of a material organism (mental, emotional, and physical) and sustains the life of that material organism until death.
References:
Organon of the Medical Art by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, Edited by Wenda Brewster O’Reilly
Vitalism–A Worldview Revisited: A Critique Of Vitalism And Its Implications For Integrative Medicine by Ian Coulter, PhD, Pamela Snider, ND, and Amy Neil, MS, MAP
The “True Nature of the Force” is Way More Complicated Than You Think