By Christina Gago

Upon enrolling in ANTH-301, I committed to experience the Spiritist movement with as little cynicism and skepticism as possible. As part of this experiment in open-mindedness, I vowed to undergo John of God’s treatments in full and experience as of much of “the Casa life” as possible during my stay in Abadiânia. Therefore, on the second day of my stay, I opted for the spiritual intervention, silently repeating to myself, “I am all in.”

Grand Hall meditating and waiting for a chance to see John of God in the medium’s hall.

Stepping in line for the procedure, I noted that anyone regardless of age, condition, or experience may opt for spiritual surgery. This seemed to contradict John of God’s control over all procedures and treatments in the Casa; I could see a significant shift in decision-making power from the hands of the caregiver to those of the patients. Later, when speaking with Natalie, who has spent seven years with the Casa, I discovered that John of God originally strictly controlled the assignment of spiritual interventions, due to their emotionally taxing nature. Individuals who were denied access to the spiritual intervention procedure would often return, begging for surgery, only to be refused yet again as their bodies were not physically or spiritually prepared. Knowing this, I questioned to an even greater extent why John of God now allows individuals to choose for themselves whether or not to undergo intervention, and risk further aggravation of their conditions through voluntary surgery. Although Natalie could not explain this change in protocol, I see it as a means of crowd reorganization. By offering everyone the opportunity to undergo spiritual intervention, and, therefore, allowing more people to undergo the procedure, John of God drastically reduces the number of people he has to treat individually later that same day and as well as the next day (when patients are required to rest in bed). This new freedom allotted to patients, therefore, reduces the number of people he must treat individually, yet still allows everyone to receive some form of treatment.

Prior to my surgery, John of God blindly scribbled dozens of prescriptions to distribute. Moving into the surgery room, we all sat on parallel benches, placed our hands on our hearts, and concentrated our energy on the parts of our bodies where we desired healing. During this surgical period, I found it inexplicably difficult to focus my energy as I asked for help in reducing stress and anxiety; I felt alone, unlike any other experience in the Casa. I found the intervention and the following healing period to be very individualistic, whereas everything else in the Casa revolved around group support and participation. Remaining silent, I repeated my prayer several times in my head until the spiritual leaders stated that the entities had completed the surgeries. I then received the post-op instructions, paid R$60 for John of God’s prescriptions (a 70-day supply) and R$10 for one of his taxis, and returned to the hotel for 24 hours of rest (without light, conversation, or movement from my bed).

Passionflower herbs bought with a prescription from Medium Joao

Upon falling asleep at the hotel, I experienced inexplicably vivid dreams of family and friends from all stages in my life. After only a couple of hours of sleep, I awoke and immediately began organizing my life into lists involving everything from nursing schools I want to apply to, to classes I plan to take, to pies I want to bake upon returning home. I became frantic, facing everything that popped into my head, creating lists until I reached a blank, eventually achieving a state of peace and returning to sleep. Now, still not sure where the spirits cut into my body, I try to rationalize that the intervention helped ease my anxiety by forcing me to organize everything and prepare for the future during my rest period. In the end, however, I find that we cannot rationalize spirits. We may only choose to believe or not to believe in their power. At this point in my life, I find that I am, quite unfortunately, unable to believe without question or rationalization.