This article is excerpted from Cosmic Healing: A Spiritual Journey with Aaron and
John of God, recently released by North
Atlantic Books. In this section, the author recounts some of her experiences
with the healer known as John of God at his teaching center, Casa de Dom
Inacio, in Brazil. She also makes reference to Aaron, a spirit she began
channeling in 1989.
I was eager to know more
about the workings of the Casa and about Medium João and the Entities. What I
have learned has supported my own healing process; therefore I gladly share it
with you, the reader. Since I had no direct access to João to ask questions
about his life, most of what I learned about it is anecdotal, drawn from
various books and websites. However, I was fortunate that my guide to the Casa,
Heather Cumming, knows João personally; therefore, she was able to give me a
more specific picture than that contained in the general stories. Heather and
Karen Leffler have written a fascinating biography of João, accompanied by
photographs taken by Karen. For more detailed information, I recommend their
book, John of God.1 There is also much detailed information about
João and the Entities, and Spiritism, on my website, including
some dialogue with Aaron.
Many of the stories
about João are common knowledge that has been passed on by word of mouth,
although I cannot verify that they are factual. João Teixeira de Faria, or John
of God as he is affectionately called, was born in a small village in central
Brazil in the early 1940s, the youngest of six children. He was raised in a
town about 105 miles from Abadiânia. His father was a tailor and ran a laundry service;
his mother ran a small hotel. The family income was meager, so João as a boy of
six started learning his father's trade. At the age of eight, after two years
of primary school, he was forced by his family's poverty to begin working, a
common happening in Brazil before the social reforms of the 1960s.
At the age of nine,
while on a trip to visit family, João predicted with some urgency that a storm
would come through the region. He pointed to specific houses that would be
flattened. His mother had faith in young João's prediction and they sought
shelter. The storm came as foretold, and 40 out of about 150 homes were badly
damaged or destroyed. This incident was the first demonstration of João's unusual
gifts. João was forced by poverty to move from town to town, searching for work
as a manual laborer and a tailor. At sixteen he had the experience that would
start his healing mission. He was looking for work and
decided to pause under a bridge at a stream to bathe. There he met what
appeared to be a beautiful woman who engaged him in spiritual conversation. She
suggested that he go to the Redemptor Spiritual Center in Campo Grande where
people would be waiting for him. When he arrived at the door, the director of
the center asked if he was João Teixeira de Faria. He was surprised to be
recognized, but entered the building as invited.
Almost immediately
upon entry, João lost conscious awareness. When he awoke he felt ashamed,
believing that his hunger had caused him to faint. He was told by the group
that the spirit of King Solomon had entered into him and that he had healed
many people. He protested, saying that his fainting was surely due to his
hunger and exhaustion. Finally the many witnesses persuaded João that he really
had incorporated King Solomon, and had healed the people. The director of the
center took João to his home, fed him and gave him a comfortable bed for the
night. The next day they returned to the center where King Solomon again
incorporated, and did more healing work. This is how João began his mission as
a healing medium in service to God and humanity. He often says, "I never healed
any one; it is God who heals." Over the next few months, the Entities themselves
instructed João in mediumship. Word of his abilities got around, and until
about the age of twenty-two, he traveled all over Brazil, and was known as João
Curador, or John the Healer. Repeatedly arrested and jailed for practicing
medicine illegally, João Curador was also persecuted by the religious clergy
who felt threatened by his work.
In 1964, he became a
full time military tailor, making army uniforms. His healing work continued,
and he gained the friendship and protection of the military people with whom he
worked. For the next nine years, he was able to continue his mission without
persecution.
In 1973, João was
directed to Abadiânia by a loving Entity. There he did his healing work, in a
one-room hut without electricity. Since that time, the Casa has steadily grown
into a much larger operation. João now has over thirty employees at the Casa
and many volunteers, serving hundreds, sometimes thousands of seekers per week.
The Casa gladly accepts donations, but the donations do not begin to cover the
costs of running the Casa. João funds the difference. In addition, he runs a
soup kitchen at the south end of the town; and provides many people with the
funds for an education. He has improved the lives of the residents of
Abadiânia, even as its population has grown and new businesses have sprouted to
support visitors to the Casa.
His early life of
poverty taught João the importance of money and honed his business and
entrepreneurial skills. He owns or has owned two cattle ranches, and several
mines. João uses the proceeds from his business ventures to run the Casa and
other service projects all over Brazil. Medium João also travels to different
centers in Brazil, which have been specifically set up to serve the local
Brazilian populations, because many Brazilians cannot afford to travel. Apart
from travels within Brazil, Medium João has also traveled to Bolivia, the United
States, Argentina, Portugal, Germany, New Zealand, and Peru. In Peru, it was
necessary to rent a sports stadium to accommodate the large crowds. During
fifteen days there, over twenty thousand people were helped, including the
President of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, and his son. Medium João was awarded a
Medal of Honor for his work.2
João suffered a stroke in 1987, which left him quite weak and atrophied
on one side of his body. When the Entities incorporated, however, his body
seemed healthy and vibrant. Eventually, one of the Entities performed visible
surgery on João while incorporated, making an incision on João's left front
torso. In other words, the Entity incorporated in João did surgery on the body
in which he was incorporated. A photograph of this surgery is available for
viewing. João made a complete recovery, and remains in good health.
João is married and
lives modestly in Anápolis, about twenty miles away from the Casa. Heather
Cumming's excellent book3 gives far more detail about these stages
of João's life, his early wanderings and persecution, and the founding of the
Casa.
This is the bare-bones version of the biographical details for John of
God. But in his words, he is finally only an Earthly container for the Entities
that incorporate into him and heal through him. João repeatedly says that "only
God heals," and this is a profound truth. The Entities at the Casa form a
smoothly functioning and enormously complex web that ultimately includes
thousands of discarnate beings in addition to the thirty-plus Entities that
incorporate into João. The interactions of these Entities with visitors to the
Casa, before, during, and after their visits, weave a vast tapestry of healing
that can only be partially explained or
understood.
One significant modern attempt to understand these sorts of
interactions between spirit and the material human world was Spiritualism, a
movement prominent in the nineteenth century, and generally linked to the
writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Spiritism, based on the writings of the French
author Allan Kardec in the mid to late 1800s, is an offshoot of Spiritualism.
Spiritism has an essentially Christian moral and philosophical edifice, and
assumes that reincarnation is for the purposes of spiritual evolution. The
dead, who reside in a spiritual world that overlaps our own, can communicate
with the living through mediums. These spirits, like humans, are evolving toward
greater union with God, and in appropriate circumstances, can offer help and
guidance on various matters. Spiritism is not separate from other religions,
although it does look to Jesus as a great master. It is based on the premise
that spirits exist and are a part of our reality, and it has a willingness to
work with spirit. The reader who wishes to know more can find helpful
information on a Kardec website.4
This
philosophy found fertile soil in Brazil, which is about 80 percent Catholic, but also has a strong
indigenous tradition of contacting spirits for help and guidance. Medium João
was raised as both a Catholic and a Spiritist. Today, many Brazilians will use
the services of Spiritist centers at some point in their lifetime.5
Yet Spiritism is not a separate religion. Spiritists often are more focused on
providing services like spiritual healing to the community. Bragdon cites a
center in San Paulo that provides "healing, child care, kindergarten, free soup,
a library, lectures, artistic and musical productions, parenting classes,
sewing and knitting, and consultations with doctors, homeopaths, dentists, or
financial planners."6
Yet the more
traditional religious, medical, and political authorities do not look favorably
upon this movement, and often harass its practitioners, as they harassed João
in his early career. The Catholic Church no longer accepts the Doctrine of
Reincarnation, and looks dimly upon exorcism or communicating with the Holy
Spirit without the services of a priest. The medical community does not accept
spiritual healing, and considers it to be a form of superstition practiced by
the uneducated. The political authorities argue that Spiritist healers practice
medicine and perform surgery without a license. Still, many medical doctors now
come to the Casa to observe the work and learn from João and the Entities.
João and his work at
the Casa fit firmly within the Spiritist tradition, and João has had lasting
friendships with several prominent Spiritist mediums, including Chico Xavier.
In like manner, many of the most prominent Casa Entities had former lifetimes
as Catholic saints. Despite these close ties, however, the Casa intentionally
eschews formal affiliation with Spiritism, Catholicism, or any other particular
institution or religion. All paths to the divine are instead venerated, and all
who come for treatment are attended to without regard to their beliefs. This
broad ecumenism and inclusiveness is evident-objects of worship and pictures of
saints from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and other major religions are amply
displayed in the Casa Current Rooms. It was comforting to me on my first trip
to find a photograph of Neem Karoli Baba in the Great Hall. That reassured me
that I was where I needed to be.
The Entities are
discarnate spirits who choose to serve God and humanity through their work at
the Casa. The spiritual hierarchy that governs the Casa begins and ends with
God. All workers at the Casa, human and discarnate, have their places and
roles, but all act in harmony with divine will. In this context, the clearest
answer to the question of the Entities' identities is similar to the
explanation that Aaron gives me now as I ask him the question of his own
identity: "I am a being of love and light who has finished my development as a
human and has no need to incarnate further. As such, I have no separate
identity from the divine source, except that which I choose to assume for the
comfort and ease of the humans I assist. I am here as an agent of divinity and
my sole purpose is to lovingly help other beings in their spiritual
development." That said, there are over thirty Entities who incorporate, one at
a time, into João's body. Thousands of other Entities are present without
incorporation. Many of the Entities have personalities that they choose to
display as they work; often based in part on one of their well-known previous
human lifetimes.
Saint Ignatius of
Loyola is one of the Casa's most prominent Entities, the one from whom the Casa
takes its name, Casa de Dom Inácio. He was born in 1491 as Iñago de Oñaz y
Loyola, the thirteenth son of a Basque nobleman. He was stubborn and easily
angered as a young man. While in the Spanish army, in 1521, his leg was badly broken
in a fierce battle, which left him with a permanent limp. During a long and
painful recovery, he read the lives of Christ and the Saints. This led to a
spiritual awakening, an austere new lifestyle, and a period of intense
education. In 1540, he founded the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits.
Until his death in 1556, he educated others and ministered to the spiritual and
material needs of the poor. The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius remains a
classic Catholic manual for spiritual growth through meditation, prayer, and
confession. According to Dr. Augusto, another of the Entities, Dom Inácio is
the light that oversees and protects everything at the Casa. Other Entities
with previous lifetimes as well-known religious figures include St. Francis
Xavier and King Solomon.
St. Rita is the
lovely woman under the bridge, who first directed the young man João to his
calling. He later understood her to be the spirit of Saint Rita of Cascia7
who was born in the village of Roccaporena in central Italy in 1381 and died
May 22, 1457. She is known as the Saint of the Impossible. Those who bear heavy
burdens, especially women, worship her as the patron saint of desperate cases.
The symbol most often
associated with St. Rita is the rose. One source8 tells how she
would regularly bring food to the poor, which her husband prohibited her from
doing. One day, her husband confronted her as she was leaving to bring bread to
the poor. The bread was concealed in Rita's robes; when she uncovered the bread
as her husband demanded, the bread became roses and Rita was spared her husband's
wrath.
At the end of her
life, when Rita was bedridden in a convent, a visiting friend asked if there
was anything Rita wanted. Rita replied that she would like a rose from the
garden of her parents' home. It was January, and this seemed like an impossible
request but the friend went to look, and discovered a single brightly colored
blossom on the bush just as Rita had described. She brought the rose back to
Rita at the convent. The rose is thought to represent God's love for St. Rita
and her ability to intercede on behalf of lost causes or impossible cases. St.
Rita is often depicted holding roses or with roses nearby. On her feast day,
churches and shrines of St. Rita provide their congregations with roses that
are blessed by priests during the mass.
Interestingly, during
my first visit to the Casa, I often smelled roses as I sat in meditation with
my eyes closed. Many people have reported this phenomenon. I had not heard this
story or anything of St. Rita at the time I first smelled the roses, and
wondered where the scent was coming from. There were many other flowers in the
room, but no roses. Now, whenever I
experience St. Rita's energy, there is a mix of strength and gentleness, and
the smell of roses. I often feel moved to address her as Mother. Since Medium
João does not incorporate female Entities, St. Rita works in the background.
The first time she
clearly appeared and spoke to me in meditation, Dr. Augusto was doing very deep
work on my eyes and energy field. Within that session, I was aware of very
painful past life karma related to the eyes. I was crying and didn't know if I
could do what was asked-to look deeply into the situation and forgive. Suddenly
there was a loving, supportive energy in my meditation, holding my head, and
carrying with her the intense smell of roses and quiet reassurances that she
would help me. Her love allowed me to go on.
Now she comes to me often, just lending her loving presence when I'm
doing challenging spiritual work. She rarely speaks to me; her greatest power
for me is just the love she brings. When she does speak, I experience her
thoughts more as images than words. The image usually invites me to see the larger
picture that I have resisted, and supports my opening to that picture and its
implications.
Some of the Entities who do incorporate have a past history as medical
doctors in a recent past life. An example is Dr. Oswaldo Cruz, who lived from
1872-1917. Graduating at nineteen from medical school, he quickly went on to
become a brilliant bacteriologist at the Pasteur Institute, producing vaccines
for smallpox, the bubonic plague, and other diseases. At the Casa, Dr. Cruz
rarely announces himself, but his identity can be deduced from his mannerisms,
an interest in communicable diseases, and a concern about wristwatches, which
disturb his current. He can be quite direct in his communications. He
powerfully radiates love and compassion, and kindly cares for all Casa
visitors. Dr. Cruz is also the Entity who later directed me to the specific
tones of tuning forks that would support my relearning to hear, and is the one
who has coached me in their use. I have been deeply moved by his patience.
Another familiar
medical figure is Dr. Augusto de Almeida, one of the most frequently
incorporated Entities at the Casa. Dr. Augusto worked in the military in one
previous lifetime and as a rubber tapper in another. In his last incarnation,
he worked as a gold miner. In addition, he was a physician and surgeon before
the development of anesthesia and, therefore, saw much suffering. Although he
appears to have a serious and authoritarian manner, which both gives and
elicits respect, people at the Casa respond to his kind and deeply loving energy
with their own love and affection. I am told that he has mellowed through the
years into a less stern personality.
Many Entities who
incorporate choose not to divulge their names or details of their personalities
at all, and others give little beyond their names. Dr. Jose Valdivino is one of
the Entities about whom little is known. He is very gentle and loving, with an
energy that is especially suited for healing paraplegics. Perhaps a judge in a
former life, Dr. Valdivino only says when asked, that he was a "protector of
families." Dr. Augusto has been the Entity who has directed the healing of my
ears and eyes. I've come to think of him as the specialist. Dr. Valdivino, on
the other hand, has been what I think of as my primary care physician. When I
meditate at home, away from the Casa, Dr. Valdivino will work with me to help
to open the energy field. This opening is vital before bringing very high
energy into a specific part of the body. Once the field is open, Dr. Augusto
will come in and work with intense energy to the eyes and ears. My entire body
shakes with the force of this energy.
For several years, up
to the writing of this book, I have felt Dr. Valdivino's energy with me almost
daily in meditation. He comes to support and direct the energy work that is
needed in the body. His support has also been very present as I have worked
with karma. His help has been profound. Much of it has been related to helping
me to feel which chakras are closed, and then to open to and heal the issues
involved therein.
Dr. Valdivino is not
there constantly, as Aaron is. But when I request his help, either he comes
immediately or another of the Entities comes to tell me that Dr. Valdivino has
been detained, but he or she has come in his place. Once just a few days after
I had left the Casa to return to the U.S., Dr. Valdivino was incorporated and
said to Heather, "I am helping your deaf friend. Tell her I am helping her."
Most of these
Entities have worked through João for many years. Occasionally new Entities do
incorporate. One newer Entity whom I have found very loving is Jose Penteado. I
am told that Jose Penteado is especially willing to explain what is being done,
which many people find very helpful.
In addition to the
Entities who incorporate into Medium João, there are literally thousands of
mostly anonymous spirits that assist with the various material and non-physical
services at the Casa. These Entities do not incorporate in João's body, but are
present nonetheless. People tell of experiencing an Entity in their pousada
rooms, where deep energy awakens them at night. An incomplete list of the services
performed by these helping spirits would include energizing the holy water,
soup, and herbs; removing stitches after surgery, which happens wherever in the
world we happen to be; and assisting with various tasks in the Current Rooms,
infirmary, and crystal beds. These beings move outward over the entire Earth to
support the care and healing of the Casa visitors, both before and after their
Casa visits. Most people who decide to visit the Casa begin to experience their
energy weeks and even months before the visit. This should not be surprising.
We all have spirit plane guides who are present with us all the time, though
most of us are unaware of that presence. The Casa Entities and our personal
guides work together to provide for our needs in very loving ways.
NOTES
1. Heather
Cumming and Karen Leffler, John of God: The Brazilian Healer Who's Touched the
Lives of Millions (New York: Atria Books, May, 2007).
2. John of God
informational websites, www.meetjohnofgod.com and www.johnofgod.htm.
3. Cumming and
Leffler, John of God.
4. Spiritism
site based on the teachings of Allan Kardec,
www.spiritistdoctrine.com.
5. Emma
Bragdon, Spiritual Alliances: Discovering the Roots of Health at
the Casa de
Dom Inácio (Woodstock, VT: Lightening Up Press, February
2002), 16.
6. Ibid., 18.
7. Some
information on this and other saints was drawn from Richard P.
McBrien, Lives
of the Saints: From Mary and St. Francis of Assisi to John
XXIII and
Mother Teresa (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2001).
8. Rev. Joseph
Sicardo, St. Rita of Cascia: Saint of the Impossible (Rockford, IL: TAN Books,
Inc.).
From Cosmic Healing: A Spiritual Journey with
Aaron and John of God by Barbara Brodsky, published by North Atlantic Books,
copyright © 2011 by Barbara Brodsky. Reprinted by permission of publisher.
Image by Marufish, courtesy of a Creative Commons license.