João de Deus, John of God

It was dark when we arrived at Martine’s Posada in Abadiânia . We had a lovely dinner and were reunited with Trishana who had come directly from Porto Alegre. She filled us in on the Casa protocol for the next morning. We slept long and deep.

João de Deus sees people at his Casa every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. There is an introduction to protocol every Tuesday night but as the days unfolded we gathered more information from people who had been before. There were few English speakers in the group of dedicated volunteers and we found ourselves wandering around lost until another westerner would reel us in and set us off in the right direction.

The line starts forming at the Casa at 7:30 AM. Our Posada was a bit of a walk so we started out at 7, through the streets of the sleepy village, following the swelling groups of people. Several wheel chair devotees whizzed past us. The “Entities” prefer people to wear white, we were told, so most of the attendees were dressed suitably. I didn’t have anything in my wardrobe that answered that call and I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be seen.

Trishana told us that we should prepare three questions/requests for the Entity that would be speaking through João de Deus. When we arrived in the compound we were directed to a blue coated volunteer who translated the questions. We were to present this scrap of paper to João de Deus and the Entity would answer our questions. Anahata and Trishana were carrying pictures of loved ones along with their list. I decided I didn’t want to ask anything specific and would just let the Entity decide what treatment/advice I needed. However, I did ask if my lack of white attire would cause problems and was assured that it was of no consequence.

We were then directed to the bookstore where we were given little tokens that indicated that this was our first visit. There was quite a bit of milling around, inside the waiting room a TV was playing with videos of past healings. Some were quite gruesome…..psychic surgery. One of the common operations shows João scraping away at someone’s eyeball with a kitchen knife.

We had no idea what to expect. The crowd was pulsing with anticipation. A few volunteers gave little pep talks in Portuguese. A round little fellow led the group in the Lord’s Prayer. He looked like a character from Monty Python, his voice was soft and slurred, he could have been singing a limp bossa nova. A woman led the group in a more spirited Mary, Mother of God prayer.

The walls were covered with a variety of inspirational messages and paintings. We were relieved to see a set of White Tara prayer flags respectfully displayed behind glass. They had been given to João by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. That certainly gave the Buddhists in our little group some confidence.

Finally the lines were assembled according to the tokens we held. People who were scheduled for “surgery” went in first. Then the second timers and then us first timers. We passed through a room where people were sitting in meditation. We had been told that this was the first “current” room, where volunteers sat, amplifying the contact with spirit, helping João to keep the dimension between spirits and our world open so his entities could do their work.

We took a left turn into a second room, also full of “current” meditators and at the end we could see João. One by one people went up to him, some he held their hand, most he scribbled something on a piece of paper. All received a deep and penetrating look. The volunteer beside him stepped up to translate for those who needed it. They say that in a matter of moments the Entity looks into the physical “blueprint” of each person and is able to see exactly what they need to be brought to wholeness.

When I approached João he looked directly at me. His eyes were ice blue, clear and kind. He took my hand. I was certain that I heard him say that he would see me early the next morning. I could understand him perfectly. I have no idea what language that he was speaking. He scribbled something on a paper and gave it to me. Then there was something about go to the last room and something about a crystal bath. And then I was being escorted out the side door. The room I found myself in was dimly lit. There were several beds with resting surgery patients and the center of the room where I was directed was filled with chairs and people in meditation. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a woman talking to herself and making strange, dramatic, gestures.

There was a deep sense of peace about all of this, no hustling, no pushing, no crying out. After some time someone came in and indicated that those of us in the chairs should go out onto the porch and receive further directions.

There was a lot of shuffling around at this point. People received different directions. Some were told to get medicine. Some were told to come back the next session for surgery. Anahata got that message for herself. Trishana was to receive surgery for her friend. Anahata had been carrying Ciara’s picture and when João took it from her he wrote her a prescription so she went off to the “pharmacy”.

My case seemed to be set apart and the little Portuguese attendant didn’t know quite what to do with me. He did not believe that João had told me he would see me early the next morning. I finally convinced him. I was then directed to make an appointment for two crystal baths and to come back in the morning. He told me to have some “holy” soup, a pot of limp and salty vegetables that had been blessed by the entities, considered a part of the treatment.

I wandered about the gardens and bumped into Trishana. She was talking with a lovely American woman who told me that she also had been given the same instructions I had before. It meant that the Entity that was present this morning was not the one that I needed and that the Entity that specialized in my kind of need was going to be around tomorrow morning. I did not need any kind of token, it was a special line off to the side.

I made appointments for my crystal baths ($20Reals for 20 minutes) We wandered back to the Posada for lunch and to sleep. Whenever we were not at the Casa we all slept. It was as if the air itself there was drugged, it felt like we were rejuvenating on a deep level. The hospital theme was carried throughout our posada, the rooms were very clean and very austere.

Anahata and Trishana were to receive their surgery in the afternoon and Myriangela was going to go through the line for her initial visit. I scheduled my first crystal bath to coincide with their timing. We milled about in the lines and when they went in I wandered in the gardens, enjoying the views of the valley. The young man who ushered me into a small treatment room was gentle. He guided me to lay on a bed. He adjusted above me some kind of electrical apparatus with seven large crystals. He put a cloth over my eyes, started some very gentle music combined with nature sounds. I was told to just relax as he slipped out the door. Of course, I had to peek. Each crystal was organized roughly above each of my central chakras, throbbing at a different frequency. They were illumined with a colored light, red for the root chakra, progressing up to the spectrum to violet for the crown chakra. It was a very peaceful experience.

The same young man helped me out the door after my twenty minutes. I was happy to see Anahata in the distance and we sat in the garden sharing our stories. She had been asked if she wanted visible or invisible surgery. She opted for invisible. She was ushered into a room with the others who made the same choice, the room with the beds and meditators. As she sat there she heard a big sigh. We knew that was a sign that João was channeling entities who were moving about the room doing invisible operations. Anahata felt a strong pain in her heart. Everyone was told to put their hand over an area of strong sensation, which she did. And then it was over. She was escorted out onto a balcony with the rest of the surgery patients. There they were harangued about the following forty days. In order for the operation to be successful they first of all had to treat it as a real operation and go straight to bed. They were to rest completely for 24 hours. Then they were to observe some simple dietary restrictions (no pork, no hot pepper, no alcohol) and especially important they were to have no sex for forty days. This seemed to be especially aimed at the men who Anahata reported seemed to be somewhat surprised and discomfited by this unforeseen austerity. They were told to prepare for their stitches to be removed the following Tuesday night. Before going to bed they were to place a glass of water by the bed, make sincere prayers and wear white. (Anahata experienced the same pain in her heart during these proceedings.)

After these stern instructions they were directed to the “pharmacy” to get pills. Everyone at the Casa gets the same pills, passion flower root. The entities imbue the pills with different energies specific to each individual treated.

Trishana had a similar experience. Even though she was receiving the operation for a friend she also had a certain amount of gentle discomfort.

Myriangela’s story was quite amusing. Myriangela had not really been interested in the João de Deus phenomena. She drove us because she wanted to take care of us and be with us. She was content with her Tara practice, but like us, she was curious. Just prior to her journey in to see João we had given her our Gau, the locket that has relics of Shakyamuni Buddha and other powerful Buddhist teachers. Thus protected she approached João confidently. He took her hands and said, “I know you.” He insisted that she stay by him, loaning her energy to his work. It was difficult to understand all the exact details with our Portuguese/English dance but it seems that somehow she managed through the entire session and then he gave her a little bottle of her own “medicine”. She said she clutched the gau the whole time she was sitting there, keeping her eyes tightly shut so she would not have to witness the operations.

As we all walked back she delighted us with her great sense of humor. She was especially amazed at the shops that advertised in English. “Is this still my Brazil?” she asked us.

The next morning I was guided to a special line. We filed through the “current” rooms and then João was holding my hand looking into me with great penetration. His eyes rolled up in his head and then he was back, scribbling my prescription and directing me through the door. I picked up my medicine, had my second crystal bath and headed back down the road to see how the recovering surgery patients were doing. Anahata was feeling chipper, Trishana was too, we all enjoyed a leisurely afternoon, shopping in the little shops, connecting in to the Internet and exploring posadas closer to the Casa in case we want to take some folks with us the next time we come.

It was a great blessing to rest in the healing vortex of the Casa of João de Deus. We celebrate his generosity and accomplishment and pray that all who come to him for healing find comfort.

Prema and Anahata

To view photos illustrating this story:
http://homepage.mac.com/prematara/Brazil*2004/PhotoAlbum26.html