I’ve been home a week now from the most amazing yet weird, most surreal yet calming experience of my life in Brazil.  After a long 14 hour flight including a stop off in Portugal I ventured across the Atlantic to a strange Portuguese speaking country I had never visited before…Alone!  Was I extremely brave or extremely bonkers?  A bit of both I believe with a touch of desperation thrown in to the mix.  Going such a long way for spiritual healing, I knew deep down I was doing the right thing as I whole heartedly believe in the power of the mind and spiritual healing so there was no better place to receive it than in Abadiania with the most powerful spiritual healer on the planet, and has been for more than 2000 years.
I researched John Of God extensively before booking my trip, reading books written about him and using my little internet friend “Google” to fish out the good and the bad, the positive and the negative and the promising and the sceptical reports on the man that sees more than 1000 people a day over 3 days a week and has done so for over 40 years.  I came to my own conclusion that this was no fluke, seeing him cure so many people time and time again with no other logical explanation.  The healings are truly miraculous but when faced with a life threatening illness and after continuously hitting a brick wall with conventional medicine I have to believe in miracles when all other options are running out.
So with desperation stamped all over me but with a heart filled with hope I found myself in a small rundown little village surrounded by likeminded people, some more desperate than others and others with no desperation at all but a clear faith and belief in the healing that takes place there.  I soon found my feet and with a little help from a friend who I met over there I was shown around the place and guided in the “Do’s and Don’ts” of the Casa, a church like environment where I would queue for hours to meet the man himself with my 3 translated questions.  Dressed in white (this makes it more visible for the spirits or entities as they are known, to see what is wrong with you) I approached John of God, heart in mouth and pounding so hard I wondered if he thought I would need heart surgery over anything else, but as I suspected he ordered me to have a spiritual operation the following day.  This literally means sitting in meditation for 15 minutes in a room with other people who had been told the same thing, and then sleeping for the next 24 hours.  And that’s exactly what I did.
To my surprise I slept all day the following day after the “operation” and continued to sleep all through the following night.  Something must have happened, I thought although I didn’t experience any sensations like many other people did who shared their stories with me.  Flashes of the brightest purple floated in my view as I sat there patiently, eyes closed, waiting for my miracle.  Other visitors saw visions of saints or red Indians, felt tugging and pulling going on inside them or had drafts of cool air blow against their hands and faces.  So I was a little disappointed and wondered how much had actually happened whilst I was there experiencing very little.
Whenever I discussed this with others they repeatedly told me the same thing “You don’t have to feel anything for it to work.  Just trust and believe and let go and your healing will come in good time”.  This I found hard to deal with as the days passed by and I entered into more meditation and relaxation and chakra beds I still I felt nothing and saw my dreaded red patch on my skin double in size.  Remaining hopeful, I splashed blessed water on the area daily and chose not to look at it as best I could and placed all my attention on learning to go deep into a medative state to relax and focus me.
So I saw John of God 5 times in total during my stay and each time I asked different questions, the final one being “Please support me during my medical operation on Feb 11th in the UK” to which he nodded gracefully.  “Do I need to come back?”  I asked to which he replied “You will”.  And I believe I will.  Experiencing a cleansing, natural waterfall in a rainforest environment, accompanied by butterflies was the highlight of my trip.  I went under the cold, down pour of water after taking a deep breath and prayed…no guesses what for and with tears streaming down my face I came out beaming the biggest smile you could ever imagine.  It had a huge positive effect on me and certainly a turning point whilst I was there.  I witnessed 2 physical operations with no anaesthetic with my own eyes and met people, who I spoke to directly, that have healed from cancer after their visits, owing their life to one man performing miracles.  I also met people who it had not worked for them or their loved ones and had to get my head around that too but I thought, at the end of the day I have a choice, to think the worst or hope for the best and again, no guesses what I’m praying for.