By Brian Foster

Abstract

Like many others, I am extremely suspicious when I hear of religious healing. I think of naive people receiving faith healing with tragic consequences if they stop taking their medicine, or even worse, never see a doctor. Therefore, I wanted to visit a Spiritist healing center to determine their process and what they actually provide.

Introduction

On August 2nd, 2014, I visited the small town of Rio Novo, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The town is about four hours by car from Rio de Janeiro. We came to a cozy little town, with much of the colonial architecture still intact. At around noon, the plaza was mostly empty, there were a few cars and an occasional horse drawn cart would announce itself by the distant click-clack of the horse’s trot and then traveled through the plaza at high speed.

We checked into a pleasant hotel, walked around the plaza, then decided to take a quick rest before going to the Spiritual healing center around five o’clock in the afternoon. In the hotel room, I thought of why I had wanted to come.

In the book, Brasil, Coracao do Mundo, Patria do Evangelho, (translated to Brazil, Heart of the World, Home of the Gospel), there is reference to the Spiritual world’s plan to start spiritual healing centers in Brazil;

“Jesus, com as suas maos meigas e misericordiosas, fez reviver, no pais abencoado dos seus ensinarmentos, as curas maravilhosas dos tempos apostolicos.” [1]

Which translates (roughly and without the correct accents, etc.; for I am no expert) into, “Jesus with his merciful hands, shall revive, in the blessed country of his teachings, the marvelous cures of the times of the Apostles.” Who hasn’t read the Bible and sometimes thought that the cures by the hands of Jesus must have been exaggerated or simply mistaken. This paragraph, from a book that hasn’t yet been translated into English, actually implies the cures performed by Jesus and some of his Apostles was a singular event and was meant to be part of the definition of what was to become Christianity. That this blessing would occur again after almost 2000 years must mark the beginning of an important era.

Learn more about Spiritism and how we are all immortal souls who travel through life after life in our quest to become a perfect being – read Spiritism 101 – The 3rd Revelation.

One significant distinction to bear in mind, whereas the cures of the ancient times were done alone, according to the Doctrine of Spiritism, cures today is hand in hand with medical science. If you are under treatment for an affliction, you are supposed to remain in treatment. You should not abandon the treatment given to you by your physician. Spiritual cures are there to both supplement and thereby hasten your recovery, or in some cases to facilitate recovery when medical treatment has been ineffective. As an example, if you break your arm, go to the doctor and get it set properly, please don’t go to any type of Spiritual healing location. On the other hand, in my case for example, I have a bad back, I have gone to doctors, who have done nothing to help, and chiropractors, who are excellent in adjusting me, when I have problems. I went to the Spiritual center to see what help I could find.

I did not go to find a miracle cure for myself nor did I go to seek out testimony about someone else’s cure. I went to see what is happening and how it is done. I will leave it to others to determine the effectiveness of Spiritual healing in a Spiritist center.



Organizacao Paracientifica Adolfo Fritz

The center is called, the Para-scientific Organization of Adolfo Fritz. Para-scientific; it means an accessory to science, hence not yet a science but hopes to be one someday. The medium who applies, or channels the energy of Dr. Fritz is Chico Monteiro. His Facebook page is at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Organiza%C3%A7%C3%A3o-Paracient%C3%ADfica-Adolfo-Fritz-Chico-Monteiro/208141902554229

According to Wikipedia, Adolfo Fritz is:

“In a mediunic interview, channeled by Arigó, the spirit of Dr. Fritz said that he had been born in Munich. His father suffered from asthma and a doctor recommended that he move to a place with a better climate, so the family moved to Poland when the boy was only four years old. Forced to work when he was young because of his parent’s premature death, Fritz studied medicine on his own. One month before graduating, a general came into his office with his daughter in his arms, and despite his efforts, Fritz could not save her. The officer accused Fritz of her death and had him put in jail, where he suffered all sorts of tortures. He escaped from the jail and fled to Estonia, where he lived from 1914 until his death in 1918.

Exhaustive research has found no mention of a doctor with any of those names in German records. Followers of Arigó have retorted that the name provided by the spirit, as well as the German-like accent of his channels, were probably faked by Dr. Fritz himself, in order to preserve his true identity. Skeptics insist that the psychic surgeons themselves have invented the entity.”[2]

I have seen other biographies, with more detail, on Portuguese language web sites. But the above is all I could find in English. I would like to point out, that spirits have communicated with us at many times and in many locations using a pseudonym. For example, Andre Luiz, who has inspired many books with Francisco C. Xavier, also uses a pseudonym. Since families tend to reincarnate in groups, exposing one spirit’s true identity, could expose others, who don’t wish to be revealed.

People at the Spiritist Center, Seara Fraterna, in Rio de Janeiro, recommended I go there. Many of their members have gone for assistance. I was instructed to look up the organization on the internet and then register myself. I entered my name, date of birth, and the aliments that I wished to have investigated.No request of money of any kind were made, a Spiritist organization would not request payment. I need to point out that the Organization we went to is not a Spiritist center, but one created by a talented medium that exists on it own. Other Spiritist has used their services and found good results. According to the Doctrine of Spiritism, to ask for money for services gifted by the spirits is wrong.



The Visit

I arrived at an old industrial building. There was an efficient check-in line staffed by volunteers. I gave my name and a sheet of paper with my ailments and basic data was printed out. I was directed to wait on some wooden benches to wait until my name was called.

The building was aged but clean. Inside was spacious and full of places to sit. Outside, people were selling snacks and other small items. There must have been around two hundred people in attendance and around fifteen volunteers.

Periodically, people would be called by an attendant, who by the way was very professional. He had the perfect balance of directing people while simultaneously appearing extremely caring. I waited my turn. The people around me were a various group, old, young, male and female. Most simply dressed. Talking to some, I found out they were here to help with a pregnancy, vision problems, assist in healing various wounds, which did not seem to want to repair themselves, even with modern medical methods. All of the problems that people have.

Suddenly I was called. I walked into a room, constructed as a stand-alone hall inside the old warehouse building. In the hall, there were many hospital-like gurneys, no wheels, lined up two in each row, with about six to eight rows. On each gurney sat two people. We sat sitting up facing a desk where volunteers were working. There were probably thirty people on the gurneys. Older people who had trouble walking sat in chairs along the side of the walls. The hall was filled with blue light. It had a very calming atmosphere. Everything was perfectly clean.

In front of us, for everyone was facing the same direction, were Chico Monteiro and his staff of volunteers. First they collected the pieces of paper that we carried with us. Next, I saw them look at the pieces of papers one by one, and then a volunteer would staple something to each paper. On and on it went as they discussed each form. After the stapling noise subsided, Chico looked at us and he proceeded directly to the back of the room.

As I was facing forward, I could hear muffled talking, but nothing that I could understand. Finally, Chico appeared in front of me. He looked at me and then held my hand with one of his hands and with his other hand touched his fingers to the inside of my elbow. I felt a small electrical shock. Next, we waved his hands over my entire head and made, what seemed a sign of the cross directly in front of my face. He then moved his hands over my head and around my chest. All the while, another assistant, standing behind me, slightly pulled down my collar.

Suddenly, he put his hand on my chest and I felt a small bit of pressure. He squeezed my arm and said, “Be with God.” Then he moved on to the next person. Not performing the same motions, but always working fast and seemingly he concentrated on the areas where people had described their aliments.

When he finished with the entire group, the volunteers handed out our original pieces of paper with the names of suggested medicine we should consider purchasing from any pharmacy, or talk with our doctor about the suggestions, to help with our complaints. Also stapled to the paper was the name of a book Essencia Vibracional, translated to Vibrational Essence, which we could buy on the premise. Sales of the book and the donation box that I saw close to the check-in were the only visible means of supporting the work of the center.

The entire process took about 30-40 minutes to complete. When I left the room, the people who exited with me, noticed small scratch marks on their skin. A person next to me pointed at my chest and said I had blood on my chest. I looked down and I had a small circle of congealed blood exactly where Chico placed his hands on my chest. I had not felt any pain whatsoever.

The process, as told to me, is that Chico goes from patient to patient and then with the assistance of spirits, the patient is injected with the required vibrational fluids to assist the patient with whatever is concerning them. This seems similar to the concept of passes, whereby a person, with a spirit standing behind them, transfers energy to you to replace the energy that you have lost through stress or other causes.

After The Procedure

After the procedure, I talked to some of the other participants. We all compared are scratches and wounds. Then one lady told me about her brother. Her brother is a Spiritist and he comes to the clinic often. One of the spirits who works through Chico likes her brother, therefore when Chico comes up to him; Chico always passes on a message. Then one day, the spirit passed on a joke to her brother.

It went something like this, “As the bulls and cows are on top of the mountain, the underwear is torn.” OK, I am not sure I understand it, maybe something to do with sexual passion? All of us weren’t really sure what it meant, but we did know for certain, it wasn’t funny (even in Portuguese!). At least it points out that the spirit world has a sense of humor.

This reminded me of an Albert Brook’s movie, “Defending your Life”. The premise of the movie is that when you die, you are sent to a type of corporate run heaven. There you are on trial for your past life and they decide where you are going for your next life. During the time off from the trial, the Albert Brooks character, visits a comedy club. The comedian, one of the advanced life forms, is on stage and making jokes that absolutely no one in the audience gets or even remotely thinks is funny. The comic on stage gets frustrated and asks Albert Brooks, “How did you die?”, and Albert responds, “Like you, on stage.”

Next, I am told we should return to the hotel, rest for a while, then return to the center to meet Chico, when he is finished with everyone who showed up. I was told that sometimes he and his volunteers will work until three in the morning to satisfy all requests. Also, at the end, little pebbles are passed out, symbolizing that your sickness is now out of your body. You should keep those stones with you and think positive that what was wrong with you is now outside and harmless. All of this coincides with the Spiritist philosophy of positive thinking and that fact that thoughts have power. We are all radio transmitters, sending out thoughts and our good thoughts help us and all around us.

Later that night I returned and with about one hundred people, we made an elongated circle inside the warehouse. Volunteers passed around a basket with polished stones, that you could pick from to keep to remind you to believe you are free of your disease. Then Chico came out and walked around the circle meeting everyone and giving kind words to all.



Conclusion

In conclusion, I have no proof that anyone was actually helped. I do know that no one was harmed and absolutely not one person was told to ignore the advice of a medical professional. For myself, I will have to wait to see if my back goes out again. Overall, it was a positive experience, I felt better. How much was in my mind? I am not sure, but I will track my progress and add to this article if I detect any effects.

If you wish to learn more about Spiritism and how the forces of the unseen world guides you and helps you one your life’s journey, read my personal discovery of how the forces affected me in my book, 7 Tenets of Spiritism – How They Impact Your Daily Life.

Update as of January 9, 2015 – My back has never been better after four months. It went out once, when I was trying to pull start an electric generator, but that was all. My wife said her ailment was much improved for about 2 months, then she started to have the same symptoms. I think we need to go back, it definitely helped us.

I have written a book about problems few go through in our lives and there possible causes, since I visited Rio Novo the first time, you may wish to find out why we must go through the trials and tribulations in our lives and what we may have done in a previous life to need to learn in this life – read my book The Problem is the Solution.



Author:

Brian Foster has a BSCS degree and a MBA. He has worked in R&D for medical device corporations and in IT for large financial institutions. Brian Foster has a blog at http://www.nwspiritism.com.



Works Cited

Wikipedia. (2014, August 11). Wikipedia – Dr. Fritz. Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Fritz

Xavier, F. C. (1938). Brasil, Coracao do Mundo, Patria do Evangelho. Brasilia (DF), Brasil: Federacoa Espirita Brasil – FEB.

[1] Xavier, Francisco C., Brasil, Coracao do Mundo, Patria do Evangelho. Brasilia (DF), Brasil: Federacoa Espirita Brasil – FEB., p. 177

[2] Wikipedia, “Dr. Frtiz”, n.d., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Fritz, (accessed August 11, 2014)