THANK YOU!

What a journey this has been! What a privilege and what a joy!

In the 1980s and 1990s homeopathy was booming and blooming. The Materia Medica was expanding rapidly and the understanding of remedies deepening. Homœopathic Links was my favourite journal, as it was the platform where all these developments were shared. I loved how it provided a connection with colleagues from all around the globe and directly influenced my results in practice.

When in 1995 the opportunity arose to become involved with Links as editors, we—Jean Pierre Jansen, Corrie Hiwat and I—were excited. The first editors—Beat Spring and Lorraine Taylor—had done an amazing job. In just a few years, they turned what started as a newsletter into the leading international journal on classical homeopathy. They were ready to hand over the torch, and we were honoured to carry it further.

The advances in homeopathy that started in the last decades of the 20th century further accelerated in the new millennium. While remaining fully in the spirit of Hahnemann's legacy, the exploration of miasms and kingdoms brought homeopathic philosophy to higher levels. In the meantime, improved skills of case-taking and case analysis transformed the practice of homeopathy.

Having been the editor of Links in these glorious years was an amazing experience and fills me with gratitude.

A year ago I felt the time had come to pass on the torch.

I've had the honour to work with guest editors from many countries. I've expressed my gratitude to them in a personal letter and invited them to contribute to this special issue. Thank you Rajan, Peter, Jörg, Julie, Roger and Nancy, Bhawisha, Sally, Dinesh, Chetna, Melanie, Gustavo, Isaac, Alex and Peter for accepting this invitation. This issue, containing a wealth of beautiful, diverse, informative and inspiring articles, is the result.

The June issue of this year will be my last one as editor-in-chief. I've asked Corrie Hiwat—my dear friend and colleague throughout all these years—to be the guest editor for that issue. This means that this editorial is my last. I like to take the opportunity to use this editorial for expressing my gratitude.

Throughout these almost 23 years I've been in contact with so many beautiful people, that I may miss mentioning some. Please forgive me if it concerns you and don't misread my lack of memory for a lack of appreciation.

Let me start with you, the readers, spread over some 50 countries. Some of you have been subscribers from the very start, in 1987. Without you this journal would not be possible. By reading in these pages, the experiences shared by colleagues you found cures for your patients. That, above all, is the very aim of this journal—to provide a link between information that can heal and those that need healing.

I am hugely indebted to the hundreds of authors who have submitted their articles. Each homeopathic practice is a treasure trove. Those colleagues who take the trouble of sharing their successes and failures make a huge contribution to the profession. Thanks to your dedication, Links has never been short of articles. Due to quantity and quality of your contributions, I was able to change the concept of deadlines—so typical for any form of media—into one of lifelines. Never has the creation of an issue turned into a stressful, nail-biting, late hour event. It's amazing to realise that.

Guest editors I already mentioned. A big thanks to all of you. Beat and Lorraine had initiated this concept. It works beautifully. Guest editors enrich the contents of Links by reaching authors and covering topics that may otherwise never enter these pages.

Alex, Jörg, Jay, Ian and Liesbeth, with your contributions as columnists you spice up Links .

Thank you so much to all editors, copy correctors, proof-readers and reviewers : Deborah, John, Jennie, Gudrun, Mariette, Julie, Jonathan, Munjal, Patricia, Dick, Christian, Lionel, Marco, Catherine, Franz, André, Francis, Harald, Charles, Tom, Fred, Frank, Jane, Peter, Annette, René, Ralf, Robert, David, Joe, Prem, Klaus, Kaare, Ivo, Petra, Jay and others. You made my job so much easier and improved the journal enormously.

Thank you production managers, typesetters, subscription office and media service.

I'm also indebted to the publisher for the trust placed in me. As I've always had complete freedom regarding contents, Links is a truly independent journal.

Thank you board of advisors. You were there if I needed you.

We're all indebted to the founders Beat and Lorraine, for giving birth to this journal. Jean Pierre, your contribution in the first years after we had taken on this task was phenomenal.

Let me end with you Corrie. Although … there is no end with you. Our friendship runs so deep that people often thought us to be lovers. We are not, but we are also not just friends. Perhaps our friendship goes beyond that of just lovers. I do not know a better way of wording my gratitude to you than with this poem. Thank you love!

Gratitude to all of you—mentioned and not mentioned.

The new editors will introduce themselves in the September issue. I wish them a similarly rich experience as was endowed on me. What a privilege!

Blessings, Harry

Alchemist—painting of Corrie Hiwat by Candace Charlton (Poem by Harry van der Zee)

Alchemist

Pour bygone ages in a mortar

Grind lives once shared minutely fine

Press Gaya's grapes till the last drop

Ferment love into golden wine

Then mix the two and stir and stir

Add tears and joy the same

Share hearts beyond gender's divide

Let go of me and mine, of name

And then be still, witness, watch

As in this heavenly blend

An image grows—one's deepest self

Reflected in a friend