This is part two of Barbara Brodsky's reflections on her healing trips to Casa de Dom Inácio. Click here to read part one.

I was preparing an article on Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) for our Healing Series when I came across the Wikipedia entry on it. Wikipedia, if you do not know, is a free online encyclopedia that is contributed and edited by anybody who wants to. It is also very much reflecting the current human consciousness since it is an open project participated by all.

Back to the entry on EFT, I saw something that caught my eye:

“There are two studies which appear to show positive outcomes from use of the technique, but another study has suggested that it is indistinguishable from the placebo effect. Critics have described the theory behind EFT as pseudoscientific and have suggested that its utility stems from its more traditional cognitive components, such as distraction from negative thoughts, rather than from manipulation of energy meridians.”

The exact words that grabbed my attention are “placebo effects”. It set off a chain of thoughts in me. This is not the first time the more scientific or left-brained people have brushed off something as a placebo effect. In other cases, they simply use the word “fake”. It seems that our world is so left-brain centric and logical that most people have declared that they wouldn’t believe something unless they see it with their own eyes. Others would be afraid to acknowledge what they feel to be right in order to conform with society.

In an excellent video made by the founder Gary Craig on EFT, a medical doctor tested a group of subjects and showed the laboratory results of their blood flow before and after 5 minutes of EFT. Before using EFT, the blood cells were stagnant and clumped together under the microscopes. In the medical field, this is usually explained as health issues that need to be addressed. After 5 minutes of EFT, their blood cells are starting to flow again. This doctor is convinced but unfortunately, she remains the minority.

The Casa de Dom Inácio is a healing center in central Brazil, headed by a man named João Teixeira de Faria, affectionately called John of God. Medium João, as he is also called, serves as a channel for many healing entities that work through him to do what often seems to be miraculous healing.

This article is an excerpt from "The Book of Miracles: The Healing Work of Joao de Deus" by Josie RavenWing.

Jan is one of the many visitors from outside of Brazil who I met at the Casa. I got to know her over several visits to Abadiania as Jan stayed there for some months. As with many others, her illness became the catalyst for great learning and rich spiritual experiences. Here is her story.
- Josie RavenWing

"I am 24 years old, and life has been a mountain climb for me. The most difficult part of this journey started when I discovered at age 21 that I was HIV positive, and I had no other choice than to choose to die or to live.