Casa Early Morning
It’s still dark as we walk to Kelsie’s house for our 6:00 am breakfast and we wonder if the first stage of her security system (the garden gate) will be unlocked. We walk down the driveway and lean against it and as if by magic it swings open for us to proceed to the door of her kitchen. We continue to prepare for the full day ahead; it all seems so strange and new. We are dressed in white clothes, even our underwear is pure white to keep with the spirit of the experience; we even have our white hats with us. We are entirely ready.
We arrive at the Assembly Hall at 6:45 am and start to wait. Our efforts are rewarded with seats on the benches nearest to the front and right of the small stage. This deal is supposed to start at 8:00 am but we have to take into consideration the fact that this is Brazil and Brazilian time is in effect which means that it will start when it starts; there is no rush. This is an open-air hall with a skylight that lets in air and sunlight; to start with it is quite cool with a breeze; soon enough it will warm up sufficiently to turn on the several fans. There is a line of people carrying pillows and back supports who will go into the Current rooms to meditate during the morning session. The Hall fills, all the chairs and benches are full, there are people sitting on the edge of the small stage, the empty spaces fill, there are some sitting on the floor, and there are several folks in wheelchairs in the space to the right of the stage. They will invited in first.
Several Casa volunteers appear near the stage and the middle door. The translatorswork at the windows at the back of the hall. Kelsie and Bill go together to have our requests translated into Portuguese; I stay seated to save our seats. Norberto speaks Portuguese and German. He welcomes us and leads us in the Lord’s Prayer and Hail Mary in Portuguese then begins to talk. Although we don’t understand Portuguese or German, we get the gist of what he is saying, but he seems to be using an extraordinary amount of words. He is very well dressed in white, his doctor’s coat and
Translation Windows-Assembly Hall
slacks are tailored and he has a beautiful watch and shoes. Heather then translates what he has just said in English and French using about half the amount of words. There are several other men and women making sure that the entry to the Currant room is clear and a passage is maintained to the Infirmary door on the far right. We are reminded that there are no photos or videos allowed in the Hall during Casa Days at the request of the Entities. Kelsie tells us it just got out of hand with all the cellphones and iPads being held up to capture all the action. All of my photos of the Assembly Hall are taken when there are no people present.
Then there is José, a small man, he looks like a jockey and limps slightly. Dressed in white, his job appears to maintain silence in the hall. He keeps an eagle eye on all present making sure that every participant keeps the posture of no crossed hands, arms or legs. It’s an endless job but he puts forth his best effort. Unfortunately, he appears to hold resentment over the fact that not everyone is paying attention to his directions. We wonder why he doesn’t ask for some help with that from the Medium.
The volunteers ask if there is anyone who has been scheduled for invisible spiritual surgery or deep spiritual cleansing or those who wish to volunteer for this procedure and they are allowed through the middle door. Then Medium Joáo appears from the blue door on the left of the stage. After a short talk in Portuguese – he asks or more precisely the Entities of Light incorporating through him ask – if there is anyone in attendance who wishes to have a visible operation/surgery on stage. Although there are exceptions, this is generally limited to people under fifty-two years of age.
Three people climb up onto the low stage and stand with their backs to the wall facing the audience. They are asked a couple of questions by a volunteer, I assume it is about what problem they want worked on or addressed. They are: A woman who points to her lower right abdomen, a man who seems quite agitated, and another man who seems almost unnaturally calm.
Medium Joáo invites a couple of the volunteers onto the stage to testify about their own healing. They do so in Portuguese. Among them is José, who gesticulates, stomps his foot and points to his leg. We guess he was healed of an injury to his leg. Medium Joáo then asks if there are any medical doctors in attendance. There is and he mounts the stage to have a closer look. It appears that Medium Joáo, or the Entity within him, has quite a conversation with the doctor. He then proceeds to take a scalpel from a tray a volunteer is holding and after he lifts the woman’s shirt and lowering her pants a little, he makes an incision in the right side of the her abdomen; there is virtually no bleeding although there is a little red in evidence. He then reaches two fingers into the incision and removes what looks like to be a tumor and places it in a kidney shaped surgical tray. He places two stitches in the wound and turns to the doctor who looks stunned. The woman is taken from the stage to the Infirmary on the far right side of the stage in a strange little Brazilian wheelchair with very small wheels by the volunteers.
Next he turns to the calm man and while he is still standing makes an abrupt adjustment to his back. He is taken from the stage. Next it’s the agitated mans’ turn, the Medium places his hands on the back of his head, makes an adjustment and then takes what appears to be a hemostat with a piece of cotton and rather forcefully shoves it up the man’s right nostril into his sinus. The man writhes, collapses into a wheelchair and is taken to the Infirmary. I later learn that this procedure is affectionately called a “nose job” and is not necessarily for sinus problems; it could be used to treat almost anything. All three of these folks will remain in the Infirmary until the spiritual anesthesia wears off; about three hours. The medical doctor is invited into the Entities Currant room to observe the rest of the morning session and any visible surgeries that may occur in there. Medium Joáo disappears back through the blue door.
OK! So we have never seen or really believed in anything like this before this moment, but we both agree that we always knew it was possible, somehow. We strive to put our judgment aside.
We wait in the Assembly Hall for our line to be called to file in front of Medium Joáo as he is incorporating the Entities of Light to make our requests for healing. The Entities call the order of the lines and today the Second Time line is called first. We are very near the front of the line. Bill and Kelsie are three people ahead of me in the line; Bill is unsteady and Kelsie wants to make sure that she hears what the Entities have to say to him. As we approach we hand our requests to Ricardo, the translator who originally translated the requests; hopefully he can read his own handwriting. He reads it to the Entity within the Medium, who then says in Portuguese to Bill “I can fix this” which is, of course, translated back to Bill and prescribes spiritual surgery or intervention for him during the afternoon session that begins at 2:00 pm.
Kelsie comes back to be with me as I approach, the Entity/Medium Joao takes my hand and says “I can help you” and moves me along. I must have faith in this process, suspend my judgment, and accept this gift. We move into a room where some prayers are said over us and we are allowed back out into the world. Next we head to the soup terrace to consume our blessed soup. It is a mild vegetarian soup with curly noodles, carrots and a mild, tasteless vegetable named chuchu in Brazil or as we know it– chayote.
Garden Area at the Pousada
Then we are off for lunch at the pousada and a short nap before returning to the Casa where Bill is scheduled for the spiritual surgery at 2:00 pm. Kelsie is very pleased that the Entity saw Bill as strong enough for surgery. She says that she will meet Bill after the surgery and make sure that he gets a taxi back to the pousada; it’s only a short distance but since spiritual surgery or intervention can be very exhausting and you could be open to unfriendly spirits, it is suggested that you return to your lodgings as soon as possible and sleep for twenty-four hours excluding bathroom and eating breaks. We will bring his food to his room and allow him to sleep as much as he wishes. Kelsie also suggests that I sit in Currant for the afternoon session and I agree to do so.
We arrive back at the Casa at 1:45 pm. Bill will enter at 2:00 for the intervention/spiritual surgery. I bring my pillow to support my back and enter the Medium’s Currant room or Currant Room One which is where newcomers like me get to sit in silent meditation for as long as the session lasts. The people who sit in this room are tasked with the job of cleansing the energy of those who pass through the room when they are in line to pass before the Entity. There is a woman who will lead our meditation this afternoon. I later learn that she is Irish and she owns a small restaurant in Abadiania to be able to stay in Brazil and volunteer at the Casa. She introduces herself as Mary and starts the session by asking us to closed our eyes and keep them closed for the duration of the session. The reason is that to open our eyes would mean breaking the currant and could actually physically harm Medium Joáo as he is incorporating the Entities that heal through him during the sessions. I think, Oh my—this is a big order— I have to sit still with my hands and legs uncrossed for perhaps three hours, maybe this is a little hard core for me, but I can’t get up and leave—I’ve got to see this through. She is definitely passionate about this whole thing and leads us in prayer: The St. Francis Prayer and other less familiar ones as well as other inspirational texts; there is beautiful music playing. Since we all have our eyes closed, she tells us when the various lines are passing through the room. I sneak a peek at my watch and two hours have passed and I’m beginning to think of her as some kind of spiritual drill sergeant. She finally tells us that the last line is filing past us and is silent for a while. I begin to think that she is never going to let us open our eyes and stand up. From the sounds around me I can tell that things are winding down; my butt and my back are killing me. At last it is over; we are told to open our eyes and we move out of the room. I look at my watch and it has been three and one-half hours. Despite all my complaints, the experience is exhilarating, inspirational and moving. She is extremely enthusiastic about providing this service during the sessions and I do feel that it is especially helpful to those having trouble giving themselves up entirely to the practice of this type of meditation.
I return to the pousada in time for dinner with Kelsie, Bill is sleeping in his room and I bring him his dinner Now the reason for having two separate rooms becomes very clear. It would be impossible for me to move about in the same room without disturbing him. Kelsie suggests that I volunteer for surgery tomorrow (Thursday) morning. I agree to do this. It means that I will have twenty-four hours of rest, until Friday morning at about 9:00am.