I was a pilgrim once, like religious devotees who have traveled over the centuries to sacred sites in search of healing. Rather than to the Holy Land, or to Lourdes, I journeyed to Brazil to meet the man known as, John of God. Learning about him from friends and from the internet, this now 60s something peasant, has been known to the world since age nine, when he became a medium for the Old Testament’s King Solomon. He maintains that he is not the healer, but that God does the healing through him.
My journey was on behalf of my daughter, whose breast cancer had become resistant to chemotherapy, and who was unable to travel herself because she was preparing for a bone marrow transplant. As luck would have it I met a physician in my hometown who was studying with John of God at the time. He was attempting to bring western medicine and indigenous healing together for the benefit of both, and became helpful to me in making my arrangements.
Thunderbolts and torrential rains greeted me, as did a butterfly and some pesky bugs. I met a spirit painter, who to the accompaniment of Viennese Waltzes, squeezed paint onto his canvas, and with his bare hands, spread and shaped it into images of flowers. He explained that the waltzes were the favorite music of his spirit guide who actually did the painting through him.
Other highlights to my experiences in Brazil were relaxing in crystal baths, sipping soup midmornings with the community at the casa, attending an Umbanda ceremony in a simple house, indistinguishable from its neighbors, sitting in meditation in what is known as “the current,” and in the presence of John of God.
What all this did for my daughter, is unclear. For me, I know it brought a connection to the Perfection of the Universe, called God, or Source, Love or Light, which is one way to describe healing.
