John of God - May 2009

John of God - the miracle man of Brazil
Abadiania - Brazil - May 2009

My Journal - May 2009

I have felt called to this place.  A friend lent me a book about 
John of God early in 2008.  Halfway through the book I called her 
saying 'when are we going?'.  I sent my photo through for healing 
on 25th April 2008.  This year all the signs just kept coming at me.   
Finally I just decided I must come and guess what?  It took 
exactly  a year to the day from the message 'come for spiritual 
healing' from the entities.  On 25th April 2009 I decided to come 
and here I am on 12th May 2009.

After a worrisome two weeks fretting about the actual trip itself, 
and my inability to pre-book my bulkhead seat, Koos met us at the 
airport and sorted out our seats. What an angel.  We had 
business class from Cape Town to Johannesburg, as there were 
no bulkhead seats available, and then I had a bulkhead seat, 
near the rest of the group, from Johannesburg to Sao Paolo, a 
10.5 hour flight.

In Sao Paolo, what friendly helpful people, they made sure we 
collected our luggage and that we had bulkhead seats.  It is 
policy on TAM airways that the bulkhead seats are reserved for 
people who need assistance.  Pity the other airlines don't do the 
same!  The 1.5 hour flight to Brasilia was comfortable, and we 
arrived in Brasilia to be met by our group leader.  The plan was to 
draw Brazilian currency (Reais) from the ATM using my credit card 
but no matter what I did, I could not manage to get any money 
out. Luckily John withdrew R$600 for me.  Thanks

We then piled into a 12 seater and went on a long drive through 
very dark, twisty, potholey roads with loads of speed bumps.  At 
one point I saw what I thought was a UFO hovering alongside us, 
but no-one else saw it or even heard me calling out to them about 
it.  Later I found out that this is UFO country so it might well have 
been one.

We arrived at Abadinia at 11pm (4am South African time).  Jacqui
helped me install my toilet seat extension, move the bedside table 
into the bathroom, yes, into the bathroom (or wet room) to be used 
as a brace to help me get off the loo!  Moved the double bed into 
the middle of the room so I could use the headboard as a handrail 
to help me cross the room.  I said thanks and goodnight and off 
she went.  Then the real challenge began:
- The bed was too low and too soft
- I couldn't get up from it as my feet kept sliding away on the tiled 
  floors
- Called out for Jacqui as she was in the next room, she couldn't 
  hear me
- Rang her cellphone, it was on voicemail
- Sent her an sms saying 'Please help - stuck - Dawn'
- I then sat there and begged the entities, God, anyone, to help 
  me saying 'You got me here - please help me'
- Summoning superhuman strength, I managed to stop my feet 
  sliding away and my arms collapsing and I stood up
Thank you, thank you!

Now I had to move my suitcase off the small single bed, pick up 
the mattress, get it onto the double bed and remake the bed.  
Where I got the strength from only the angels and all those I'd 
summoned know.

I had just sat down on this 'high' bed, and sunk straight down to 
the bed-base, when Jacqui came rushing in.  She'd just switched 
on her phone and got my message.  She picked me up and 
wheeled me to her room to see if that would be better, thinking 
we'd switch rooms.

Jacqui's room:
- Toilet on wrong side of the bathroom
- Higher bed but just as soft

We spotted another single bed mattress and decided to add yet 
another mattress onto my 'high' bed to lift it up even more.  Well 
I sat on this mattress mountain and my bum sank straight down to 
the bed-base forming a mattress angel where the three mattresses 
became my wings!  We giggled as Jacqui had to lift me up again.  
This time we put two mattresses onto the single bed-base.  It was 
still very low but we moved the double bed closer so that I could 
use the leg as a brace for my foot.  I finally lay down to sleep on 
this soft mattress cloud at 1:30am (6:30am SA time).  I'd been up 
since 3:30am.  I drifted off while the spirits started work on me.

After a few hours of sleep, I woke to the ugly, smelly sound of a 
truck outside my window, it was 5am.  I tried meditating, but the 
energy here is so hectic and busy, the only escape is to 
completely let go and drift with it.  At 6:30am when it started 
getting light, the birds started their chorus in the little garden 
outside my door.  I showered and dressed and went and joined the 
group for breakfast.  All of us had expected to lie in after the long 
journey, but all of us, except Felicity, were there. The breakfast was 
a lovely variety of fruits, pastries, meats, cheeses, breads, 
omelettes or, it appears, anything we wanted.  The family are 
friendly, the other guests all here for the sole purpose of visiting, 
John of God.

We went off for a little tour of the Casa  (Casa de Dom Inacio) - 
it's right next door,  what a beautiful place and what amazing 
energy.  The grounds are full of people sitting meditating, writing 
in their journals, exploring the grounds, buying crystals in the shop, 
booking crystal baths, volunteers cleaning and chopping 
vegetables for the blessed soup for the week.

We booked our crystal beds for 12 noon and then took a stroll 
(and a push) down the main road, which consists of pousadas, 
internet cafés and places to buy white clothing and crystals. I was 
happy we were right next door to the Casa and that our pousada 
had free internet access, and, joy of joys, my phone connected 
straight to their wifi network and I had instant access to skype so 
I could call my family.

Crystal Bed
I lay down on the bed, had a cloth put over my eyes and lay there 
wondering what this was about.  Then the piped music started 
and the seven lights shining through the crystals positioned above 
my chakras, started creating the most amazing shapes of all 
different colours in my mind's eye.  I drifted off at some point but 
woke up completely relaxed.

Spiritism
This whole centre is based on spiritist principles:
- We use our bodies for a short while on the earth 
- Life exists before and after death
- We can contact the spirits who have passed on
- They can assist us here on the earthly plane
Joao, John of God, incorporates, as an unconscious or full trance 
medium, many spirits who come through him.  He has dedicated 
his life to this and thousands of people pass in front of him.  He 
sees people, at the Casa, on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.  
Tonight, being Tuesday, we sat in the 'current' room for our 
English induction, which explained all the rules.  Diago, an 
American, Portuguese speaking, volunteer took us through all the 
procedures.  The 'current' is the energy of the spirits of the Casa 
who are working on everyone all the time.

Wednesday is Casa day.  I spent a lot of agonising moments on 
Tuesday afternoon and evening trying to decide on my three 
questions that I wanted to ask 'the entity', that is, whichever spirit 
was present in Joao when I faced him.  I wavered between the 
mundane, the physical, spiritual growth - and finally settled on the 
one that would make my heart sing her on this earthly plane. 
'I want to regain my physical strength'.

All dressed in white, I joined the hundreds of others waiting for an 
interpreter to translate my request into Portuguese.  With my piece 
of paper in hand, I was wheeled into the waiting area.  Here we 
waited, meditating, just looking, some climbing up onto the stage 
to use the prayer triangle.  I spent most of the time in tears, my 
emotions surging.  Various, people, volunteers, explained the 
procedures again in Portuguese and in English.  Then thousands 
of us held hands and repeated the Lord's Prayer and Ave Maria 
together.  Sadly, I remembered so little of my early childhood 
prayers.

One little boy came up three times to pray at the triangle, I was in 
tears, awed at his dedication - it was only later when I left the 
Casa that I saw him, or should I say them, triplets all dressed the 
same!

John of God came out of his room where he had been performing 
operations on those who had been sent for operations the 
previous day or at some earlier session.  Those of us in the hall 
were clutching either a '1st' time or '2nd' time ticket.  Mine was a 
1st time ticket (I had expected a '2nd' time ticket because I'd sent 
my photo before, but as I'd had no herbs, I was a first-timer).

Visible surgery
A woman came onto the stage standing with her eyes closed and 
her hand on her heart. John stood on stage randomly picking out 
people from the thousands (or maybe hundreds) waiting and sent 
them all for surgery.  Then he took a pair of scissors, wrapped a 
piece of cotton wool around the end and shoved it up the 
woman's nostril, all the way, at least 6 inches long, then extracted 
them.  The woman didn't cry out, she just stood there with her 
eyes closed and blood pouring (or rather dripping) from her nose. 
She was a little faint as the helpers put her into a wheelchair and 
wheeled her off to the recovery room.

John, or rather 'the entity', standing in his bare feet on stage, 
looked directly at me, then past me, chose a few more people for 
surgery.   He then looked straight at me again and saying, 'um, 
dois, tres' pointed to the three of us sitting in wheelchairs right at 
the edge of the stage.  He handed me a piece of paper with what 
looked like a signature on it and I then wheeled myself into a little 
room to the left of the stage.  We were told to keep our eyes 
closed, as we were about to have surgery.  I sat there trembling, 
being jostled and pushed as more and more wheelchairs were 
squeezed in.  The woman in the front kept praying and reminding 
us to keep our eyes closed.  Apparently the entities cannot operate 
on you if your eyes are open.  Then a man's voice was speaking 
in Portuguese, what sounded like a prayer, and the next minute 
we were told to slowly open our eyes and to come back on Friday.

We then had to manouver out of the surgery room.  At the top of 
the steep ramp, which I was too scared to descend on my own, I 
called out 'por favor' and someone pushed (or should I say, 
reversed me down the ramp).  She left me at the bottom and I 
then tried to push myself up the incline to the exit.  I was 
struggling, pushing forward an inch, putting on the brakes, then 
another inch or two, then the brakes.  Ahead of me, a woman 
standing at the translator's cubicle, parted the crowds, came 
towards me and said, in English 'Please can I help you, that looks 
hard'.  I gratefully accepted with tears streaming down my face.  
She offered to push me all the way back to my pousada, but as 
we got to the gate Jacqui arrived to get me.  The woman kissed 
me on the cheek and said 'thank you for allowing me to help you'.

Jacqui got me to my room and then asked me if I had my 
prescription.  'My what?' - ah the piece of paper on my lap!  That's 
what that was.  She went off to get it filled for me.  My very own 
'energy' infused passi flora capsules, to be taken three times a 
day.  I have no idea what the time was, but it was still early 
morning,  around 9am.  I drifted in and out of sleep.  I felt the 
entities or spirits working on my spine.  The angels, the women of 
the pousada, brought me the 'blessed soup' from the Casa at 
11am, followed by lunch and more blessed soup and fruit for 
supper.

Jacqui popped in to check on me frequently.  I slept, meditated, 
gave thanks, wrote this account and slept some more.  I heard 
people coming and going but stayed in my room for 24 hours.

On Thursday morning, my pousada angel brought me a smoothie, 
fruit, bread and cheese and coffee at 6:30am.  I slept a few more 
hours and then got up, showered, sorted out my smelly clothes 
and popped out onto my balcony to speak to my neighbour, 
Gregor from Boston.  I managed to convey to my angel that I 
needed some washing done and that I'd love a mug of boiling 
water so I could have a cup of rooibos tea (teabags all the way 
from Cape Town).

Thoughts:
- I want a miraculous, instant healing.  I want to be an example 
  that anything is possible.
- I'd love to create a similar place at my centre (my dream!), 
  offering healing
- I'd love to be able to afford to bring others here for healing. 
  Imagine if Mona and I could bring a couple of people at a time to 
  the pousada and the Casa
- I'd love to volunteer at the Casa, just helping people
- To do that, I need to get my miraculous healing

MY REQUESTS TO GOD
- I WANT AN INSTANT MIRACULOUS PHYSICAL HEALING
- I WANT TO REALIZE MY FULL POTENTIAL IN THIS 
  LIFETIME
- I WANT TO HELP OTHERS IN THEIR HEALING PROCESS

I've created a little sacred space and placed on top of these my 
two crystals I brought from home and the two I bought here at the 
Casa bookstore, plus a small candle.

Jacqui suggested I stay in seclusion all day today, Thursday, 
even though I was prepared to venture across the courtyard to 
lunch. Instead I learnt how to ask for a fruit smoothie and some 
pudding, in Portuguese.  I'm enjoying the solitude and the 
introspection, it's possibly a little like being a nun.  
Well I do have the shaved head!

I finally emerged from my room for supper on Thursday night.  I 
had previously decided I was going to go into current on Friday, 
but I do want to experience going through the line, so I'm going to 
go with my three questions.

It's Friday and I'm excited about going through the line.  The 
energy in the reception hall is much calmer, less frenetic.  I'm in 
front of Joao, look into his eyes, briefly touch his hand - feel the 
love.  My answer: operation at 2pm.

Stu, some arbitrary guy who is here to support his friend, Brian, 
pushes me out and he and Brian spend the next hour with us, 
visiting the shop, the meditation deck, the soup line.  Brian is also 
having an op at 2pm, as is Felicity and J.. and I.  Stu has offered to 
push one of us through to help Jacqui.

I've bought my rosary and my prayer triangle, so that I can do my 
prayers (which I've been practising) with ritual for my 24 hour 
solitary confinement again.  The more I see and experience, the 
more I'm drawn to come back and volunteer.

We were called into the surgery room, passing through the two 
current rooms as we went, past the hundreds of people 
meditating.  The energy here is palpable.  The surgery room was 
filled to capacity, all of us with our eyes closed, focussing on 
healing.  Joao came in and started praying.  We were asked if 
anyone was aged 18 to 52 and wanted visible surgery.  I don't 
know if anyone got visible surgery, but there was quite a long 
silence.  We were asked to place our hands on the afflicted 
areas or on our heart.  I sat, eyes closed, hand on my heart, 
beseeching God for a miraculous healing.  I think time stands 
still here.  Before I knew it I was whisked away.

Stu was waiting to help Felicity and I back to our pousada.  Brian 
was looking very drained and quite incapable of pushing either of 
us back.  They had brought us to the Casa, but were going to be 
unable to take us both back.  Stu pushed Felicity and I started 
using the wheelchair as a walker, when Jacqui came running up 
and pushed me home.  I climbed back into bed and went straight 
to sleep.  I have slept on and off for almost 20 hours!  I felt a lot of 
pain in my back and my stomach in the night.

Saturday morning, Regina, my pousada angel, brought me 
breakfast, plus a mug of boiling water for my 'cha' and loads of 
fruit.  I didn't think I was hungry but ate almost everything, leaving 
the fruit for later but even that was consumed before lunch.  The 
birds are hollering outside my room today.  There is a rock bird 
area where all the fruit skins get put out and the birds cluster for a 
feast.

The rhythm of this place:
- 5am trucks and traffic
- 6:30am people start streaming into breakfast
- 7:20am the great stream of humanity to the Casa
- 8:30am a quiet descends
- from 9:30am people start filtering back if they've had surgery
- 11:00 blessed soup
- 11:30 the noise of people starts up again
- 12:30 chatter and lunch noises
- 13:30 a little quiet
- 13:45 the stream of people back to the Casa
- 15:00 a trickle of 'surgery' people back to the pousada
- a quiet descends
- 17:30 people start trickling back
- 18:30 the noisy chatter of people and supper noises
- 19:30 the night time quiet descends

That is the rhythm of Wednesday to Friday, but Saturday to 
Tuesday the silence is stabbed by the mealtime noises and the 
trickling of people back and forth at odd times.

All day Saturday I kept to myself in my room, sleeping, thinking, 
praying and meditating.
- Prayer = talking to God
- Meditating = listening to God
I have done more praying here than I have ever done anywhere.

At 4pm we were allowed out of our seclusion, so we had a group 
session, sharing our challenges, hopes, thoughts and experiences.  
It was very profound.  After supper we had a completely light
hearted evening of games.

No sleep on Saturday night as my mind raced, also, listening to 
the explosions all through the night. What on earth were they? 
Mining? fireworks display? no idea!

On Sunday we had a slow start then joined the Prayers at the 
Casa - a multi denominational sharing in English.  I then had a 
Crystal bed and found it way too short, followed by a wander 
through the grounds and finally I succumbed and used the 
Internet at the pousada. (I couldn't resist!)

On Monday morning Jacqui organised a helper, a Brazilian 
woman,  Christina, who speaks no English, to help Felicity and I. 
That really triggered me.  I don't want fussing over.  The only way 
to avoid this is to heal!  But, she took us up to the town for 
manicures and pedicures, and to the Casa for Crystal beds, and 
to the shop for water.  She's also forcing me to improve my 
Portuguese and she's very sweet and willing.

Did some exercises with Gregor today, first exercise in a while and 
really enjoyed it.  Jacqui bought us chocolates!  After our popcorn 
and pizza and chocolate smoothies yesterday, this is a further 
indulgence.  We watched 'The Living Matrix' last night, an 
excellent movie, but it kept my mind racing through the night.  
After two nights of no sleep, I died this afternoon and had a good 
siesta.  The weft and the weave - I'm fitting in.

On Tuesday, after breakfast, Jacqui and I went for a walk to 
sunrise hill.  John's name for it. Jacqui walked, pushed, pulled me 
all the way!  A very long bumpy ride. She had a couple of plonks 
down on the odd grassy patch.  It was great seeing the 360deg 
view from there, and we had a great talk - but I now need new 
wheels for the wheelchair.

I went to volunteer my services at the soup making (the soup is 
made by volunteers on Tuesdays), but they had enough helpers 
so I went for my double Crystal bed (much better with a longer 
time) and also bought some crystals at the shop.

We had a great session in the evening, all sharing some 
meditation techniques.  I also did some more exercises with 
Gregor, some mind bicycling, wall climbing, swimming and flying.  
Brian joined us as Stu has now left.

On Wednesday, Casa day again, I was up at 6:00am, had 
breakfast and into 'current' by 7:30am.  I was very nervous and 
concerned that I wouldn't last the distance. I did!  The session 
was 3 hours long.  Twice I hit the limit of my pain threshold.  I had 
to then go for a bicycle ride in my mind in order to relieve the pain.

I lost my friend's photo, which I'd brought with me for healing, just 
before we got to the prayer basket.  Hopefully an angel put it in 
for me.  After the blessed soup, we sat in the garden soaking up 
more of the energy.  This place just oozes love.

At lunch I decided not to go into line, but to do current again.  
One of the benefits of being in a wheelchair is I get to sit in the 
2nd current room.  The downside, there is no English in the 2nd 
room.  Second time in current was easier.  I floated away on the 
music and landed up doing a lot of figure skating and dolphin 
swimming.

After three hours of current, I went with the group to the shop, 
bought a book about John of God, the prayer book - from the 
Sunday session, and a music CD.  Unfortunately the CD is not 
the same as the music played in the current rooms.  The 
afternoon was much easier.  Before we started I could see Brian 
diagonally across from me in the 1st current room.  We seem to 
draw strength from each other.  The pains were less intense, the 
energy strong and the love even stronger.

Back in the reception area at 7:30am on Thursday morning, 
waiting to go in front of Joao.  I woke this morning with no energy 
expecting to get another operation.  My question today is 
'What next?'.  Brian and I were alone together as everyone else 
was either recovering or already in current.  It was very cold so 
he borrowed one of my shawls.  He said it made him feel like a 
rabbi, and to be honest he did look like a rabbi.  Joao came out to 
perform a visible op, an eye scraping.  He then addressed the 
waiting crowds in Portuguese, and suddenly there was a 
stampede. Loads of people clambering to get onto the stage!  He 
dished out many prescriptions, sent loads of  people for ops and 
did a vast number of visible surgeries on stage.

We didn't know what was happening.  The woman in front of us 
told us he asked all who wanted healing to come forward. 
'Hey we're all here for healing' I wanted to shout.  
Soon he left and the crowd subsided.  Brian and I joked that they 
should just do all the surgery in the reception area.  Anyway, we 
held hands, sent love to family and friends and prayed together.
 
Fofosha, the dog from the pousada, appeared between our 
legs, crying and barking and looking for Larissa, her adopted 
owner.  Arturo chased her out.  I sent her some healing energy.
She was lying quietly at the entrance still waiting when I left.

In line and in front of Joao, I had two seconds and an 'operation 
at 2pm'.  I knew it.  Brian had the same news.  We went and had 
our blessed soup together and a little bit of sun in the meditation 
garden.  Both of us feel as if we've known each other for ever.  
I sat in the sun back at the pousada in preparation for my 24 hour 
seclusion.

Back to the operation room.  Brian pushed me through behind 
Marcello, the Dr Ronnie look alike who only ever responds with 
'I don't speak English' every time I greet him.  We now bow to 
each other with Buddhist greeting whenever we see each other.  
I concentrated on my stem cells throughout the op.  It was quite 
long.  We then waited for our post-op rules from Diago and then 
went to get our herbs. I now have herbs for 210 days.  I won't be 
able to go into the goodbye line tomorrow, as I'll still be in 
seclusion.  Diago says we can come for photos later on.

I came back to my room and had a very restless night. My door 
flung itself open at 9pm.  I was due to have my stitches from my 
first op out that night. Well they were very loud about it!   
I had  done all the required preparations:
- prayed to St Ignacious and the entities
- was all dressed in white
- had my blessed water ready.  
- was keeping my eyes closed

Somehow I had managed to scratch off a mole on my back so I 
was  bleeding. This was the 2nd mole (growth) that had grown 
here. The 1st one dropped off when my last stitches came out.  
It was a very cold night so I had to wear my bed socks and put 
my fleece over my head.

Friday morning and I am extremely happy not to have to get up. 
It's 'muito frio' today.  Regina brought me a mountain of food, 
which I couldn't finish for breakfast, including my favourites, the 
little baby cheesy things.  The pan pipers are back serenading 
me with music.  I am happy to sleep and write.

In a lucid dream I realised 'I am a student of God'.

Brian collected me from the pousada in the late afternoon.  We 
said our final farewell and had our photos taken with Joao.  Joao 
the man struggled to stay in his body.  Arturo had to keep calling 
to him as his eyes rolled back and he threatened to go into trance 
again and again.

It was sad leaving the Casa and the pousada, but I have vowed 
I will return.  I loved living in an environment of constantly giving 
and receiving unconditional love.

www.johnofgod.com

LINKS

Arriving

Pousada

Interpreter

Waiting line

Reception

Prayer

1st current

Joao's current

Deck

soup-making

Crystal bed

With Joao

Friends of the Casa