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 an 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 priinciples: - 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 ave 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.
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