Alternative medicine. Assortment of alternative medical therapies. They include homeopathic tablets, aromatherapy oils (in bottles at left), healing quartz crystals (at bottom right) and various herbs in the background and in the pestle and mortar at upper right. Homeopathy is based on the principle that symptoms of a given illness may be cured by taking tiny doses of substances that cause identical symptoms. Healing crystals are believed to contain positive energy which can be channelled from healer to sufferer. It is claimed that massaging with aromatherapy oils or heating them on a burner relieves various problems. Herbs have traditionally been used to treat illness.