1. The Freemasonry, Secret Organizations, Al-Ikhwaan

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In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Teixeira and the second or paternal family name is Faria.

João Teixeira de Faria

Faria in 2006

Born 24 June 1942 (age 83)

Cachoeira de Goiás, Brazil

Other names João de Deus (John of God)

Criminal status Under house arrest due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Convictions Rape, sexual misconduct, illegal possession of firearms

Criminal penalty 489 years and 4 months imprisonment

Part of a series on the

Paranormal

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Parapsychology

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João Teixeira de Faria (born 24 June 1942), known also as João de Deus (John of God), is a Brazilian self-proclaimed medium, and self-proclaimed psychic surgeon.[1][2] He was based in Abadiânia, Brazil, where he ran a spiritual healing center called the Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola. He received media coverage on CNN, ABC News, and personally from The Oprah Winfrey Show. However, James Randi and Joe Nickell exposed his healing procedures as nothing more than carnival tricks,[3][4] and there is no evidence that the benefits reported by patients are anything more than placebo effects.[5]

In 2018, after over 600 accusations of sexual abuse, Faria turned himself in to police. In the following years, he was found guilty of a number of different crimes, including illegal firearm possession and statutory rape.[6] The sentences add up to 489 years and 4 months in prison.[7]

Early life

João Teixeira de Faria was born in Cachoeira de Goiás on 24 June 1942.[8] He has no medical training and describes himself as a "simple farmer".[9] He completed two years of education and spent a number of years travelling from village to village in the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais as a garrafeiro, a sort of travelling medicine man.[10]

Career

Overview

Faria said he was told by his spirit guides that he must expand his work to reach more people and spiritist medium Chico Xavier told him he should go to the small Goiás town of Abadiânia to fulfill his healing mission. Around 1978, when he first performed healings there, he just sat outdoors in a chair near the main road where people began to arrive seeking cures for their illnesses and conditions. Gradually the numbers increased to thousands per day and he developed his centre, Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola.[11] The Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola was visited by millions of people seeking healing. Faria also owned a nearby cattle ranch, which covered about 1,000 acres and was valued at over 2 million reais.[12][13]

Much of his income came from selling passionflower preparations, the single herb prescribed by Faria to cure a variety of ailments. The company that bore his initials, JTF Ltda., marketed the drug and was registered in the name of his wife, Ana Keyla Teixeira, and his driver and employee Abadio da Cruz.[13][14]

Claims of healing powers

Faria on stage after performing a "psychic surgery"

Faria regularly prescribed meditation and walking to a nearby waterfall as part of treatment. The Casa also sold herbs, "blessed" items and artefacts such as magic triangles. It was estimated by 60 Minutes Australia in 2014 that those sales earned Faria over $10 million per year.[15]

When called for a spiritual surgery by Faria, patients were offered the choice of "visible" or "invisible" operations. If they selected an invisible operation (or were younger than 18 or older than 52) they were directed to sit in a room and meditate. Faria said that spiritual physicians could perform surgery on the actual patient via a surrogate when the actual patient was unable to make the trip.[16]

A very small percentage of people chose a visible operation where Faria operated without anesthetic. Instead he used "energized" mineral water and the spiritual energies allegedly present, the latter of which were provided by groups of volunteers who meditated in a separate room called the 'current room'. Those practices, such as inserting scissors or forceps deep into a nose or scraping an eye without an anesthetic or antiseptics, were scrutinized by medical authorities and skeptical investigators such as James Randi, who called for Faria to stop victimizing people with stunts and trickery.[3]

Faria would tell people not to stop taking their medicine and said that not everyone he "treated" would be cured. Often the treatment included capsules containing pure passion flower, which he would say carried special blessed spiritual energy to support the individual's healing process.[17] Before his final arrest and conviction, Faria had undergone trials and scrutiny of his work; he was arrested several times for practicing medicine without a licence, and was jailed once.[12]

Outside Brazil

Faria travelled to other countries to perform his healing ceremonies, which he called Live Events. Gail Thackray said in her book, Spiritual Journeys: Visiting John of God, that the main "entities" at work in Brazil were the same ones at Live Events, along with thousands of other entities doing healing work.[18][19]For other people named João Teixeira, see João Teixeira (disambiguation).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Teixeira and the second or paternal family name is Faria.

João Teixeira de Faria

Faria in 2006

Born 24 June 1942 (age 83)

Cachoeira de Goiás, Brazil

Other names João de Deus (John of God)

Criminal status Under house arrest due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Convictions Rape, sexual misconduct, illegal possession of firearms

Criminal penalty 489 years and 4 months imprisonment

Part of a series on the

Paranormal

Main articles

Skepticism

Parapsychology

Related

vte

João Teixeira de Faria (born 24 June 1942), known also as João de Deus (John of God), is a Brazilian self-proclaimed medium, and self-proclaimed psychic surgeon.[1][2] He was based in Abadiânia, Brazil, where he ran a spiritual healing center called the Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola. He received media coverage on CNN, ABC News, and personally from The Oprah Winfrey Show. However, James Randi and Joe Nickell exposed his healing procedures as nothing more than carnival tricks,[3][4] and there is no evidence that the benefits reported by patients are anything more than placebo effects.[5]

In 2018, after over 600 accusations of sexual abuse, Faria turned himself in to police. In the following years, he was found guilty of a number of different crimes, including illegal firearm possession and statutory rape.[6] The sentences add up to 489 years and 4 months in prison.[7]

Early life

João Teixeira de Faria was born in Cachoeira de Goiás on 24 June 1942.[8] He has no medical training and describes himself as a "simple farmer".[9] He completed two years of education and spent a number of years travelling from village to village in the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais as a garrafeiro, a sort of travelling medicine man.[10]

Career

Overview

Faria said he was told by his spirit guides that he must expand his work to reach more people and spiritist medium Chico Xavier told him he should go to the small Goiás town of Abadiânia to fulfill his healing mission. Around 1978, when he first performed healings there, he just sat outdoors in a chair near the main road where people began to arrive seeking cures for their illnesses and conditions. Gradually the numbers increased to thousands per day and he developed his centre, Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola.[11] The Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola was visited by millions of people seeking healing. Faria also owned a nearby cattle ranch, which covered about 1,000 acres and was valued at over 2 million reais.[12][13]

Much of his income came from selling passionflower preparations, the single herb prescribed by Faria to cure a variety of ailments. The company that bore his initials, JTF Ltda., marketed the drug and was registered in the name of his wife, Ana Keyla Teixeira, and his driver and employee Abadio da Cruz.[13][14]

Claims of healing powers

Faria on stage after performing a "psychic surgery"

Faria regularly prescribed meditation and walking to a nearby waterfall as part of treatment. The Casa also sold herbs, "blessed" items and artefacts such as magic triangles. It was estimated by 60 Minutes Australia in 2014 that those sales earned Faria over $10 million per year.[15]

When called for a spiritual surgery by Faria, patients were offered the choice of "visible" or "invisible" operations. If they selected an invisible operation (or were younger than 18 or older than 52) they were directed to sit in a room and meditate. Faria said that spiritual physicians could perform surgery on the actual patient via a surrogate when the actual patient was unable to make the trip.[16]

A very small percentage of people chose a visible operation where Faria operated without anesthetic. Instead he used "energized" mineral water and the spiritual energies allegedly present, the latter of which were provided by groups of volunteers who meditated in a separate room called the 'current room'. Those practices, such as inserting scissors or forceps deep into a nose or scraping an eye without an anesthetic or antiseptics, were scrutinized by medical authorities and skeptical investigators such as James Randi, who called for Faria to stop victimizing people with stunts and trickery.[3]

Faria would tell people not to stop taking their medicine and said that not everyone he "treated" would be cured. Often the treatment included capsules containing pure passion flower, which he would say carried special blessed spiritual energy to support the individual's healing process.[17] Before his final arrest and conviction, Faria had undergone trials and scrutiny of his work; he was arrested several times for practicing medicine without a licence, and was jailed once.[12]

Outside Brazil

Faria travelled to other countries to perform his healing ceremonies, which he called Live Events. Gail Thackray said in her book, Spiritual Journeys: Visiting John of God, that the main "entities" at work in Brazil were the same ones at Live Events, along with thousands of other entities doing healing work.[18][19]For other people named João Teixeira, see João Teixeira (disambiguation).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Teixeira and the second or paternal family name is Faria.

João Teixeira de Faria

Faria in 2006

Born 24 June 1942 (age 83)

Cachoeira de Goiás, Brazil

Other names João de Deus (John of God)

Criminal status Under house arrest due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Convictions Rape, sexual misconduct, illegal possession of firearms

Criminal penalty 489 years and 4 months imprisonment

Part of a series on the

Paranormal

Main articles

Skepticism

Parapsychology

Related

vte

João Teixeira de Faria (born 24 June 1942), known also as João de Deus (John of God), is a Brazilian self-proclaimed medium, and self-proclaimed psychic surgeon.[1][2] He was based in Abadiânia, Brazil, where he ran a spiritual healing center called the Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola. He received media coverage on CNN, ABC News, and personally from The Oprah Winfrey Show. However, James Randi and Joe Nickell exposed his healing procedures as nothing more than carnival tricks,[3][4] and there is no evidence that the benefits reported by patients are anything more than placebo effects.[5]

In 2018, after over 600 accusations of sexual abuse, Faria turned himself in to police. In the following years, he was found guilty of a number of different crimes, including illegal firearm possession and statutory rape.[6] The sentences add up to 489 years and 4 months in prison.[7]

Early life

João Teixeira de Faria was born in Cachoeira de Goiás on 24 June 1942.[8] He has no medical training and describes himself as a "simple farmer".[9] He completed two years of education and spent a number of years travelling from village to village in the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais as a garrafeiro, a sort of travelling medicine man.[10]

Career

Overview

Faria said he was told by his spirit guides that he must expand his work to reach more people and spiritist medium Chico Xavier told him he should go to the small Goiás town of Abadiânia to fulfill his healing mission. Around 1978, when he first performed healings there, he just sat outdoors in a chair near the main road where people began to arrive seeking cures for their illnesses and conditions. Gradually the numbers increased to thousands per day and he developed his centre, Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola.[11] The Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola was visited by millions of people seeking healing. Faria also owned a nearby cattle ranch, which covered about 1,000 acres and was valued at over 2 million reais.[12][13]

Much of his income came from selling passionflower preparations, the single herb prescribed by Faria to cure a variety of ailments. The company that bore his initials, JTF Ltda., marketed the drug and was registered in the name of his wife, Ana Keyla Teixeira, and his driver and employee Abadio da Cruz.[13][14]

Claims of healing powers

Faria on stage after performing a "psychic surgery"

Faria regularly prescribed meditation and walking to a nearby waterfall as part of treatment. The Casa also sold herbs, "blessed" items and artefacts such as magic triangles. It was estimated by 60 Minutes Australia in 2014 that those sales earned Faria over $10 million per year.[15]

When called for a spiritual surgery by Faria, patients were offered the choice of "visible" or "invisible" operations. If they selected an invisible operation (or were younger than 18 or older than 52) they were directed to sit in a room and meditate. Faria said that spiritual physicians could perform surgery on the actual patient via a surrogate when the actual patient was unable to make the trip.[16]

A very small percentage of people chose a visible operation where Faria operated without anesthetic. Instead he used "energized" mineral water and the spiritual energies allegedly present, the latter of which were provided by groups of volunteers who meditated in a separate room called the 'current room'. Those practices, such as inserting scissors or forceps deep into a nose or scraping an eye without an anesthetic or antiseptics, were scrutinized by medical authorities and skeptical investigators such as James Randi, who called for Faria to stop victimizing people with stunts and trickery.[3]

Faria would tell people not to stop taking their medicine and said that not everyone he "treated" would be cured. Often the treatment included capsules containing pure passion flower, which he would say carried special blessed spiritual energy to support the individual's healing process.[17] Before his final arrest and conviction, Faria had undergone trials and scrutiny of his work; he was arrested several times for practicing medicine without a licence, and was jailed once.[12]

Outside Brazil

Faria travelled to other countries to perform his healing ceremonies, which he called Live Events. Gail Thackray said in her book, Spiritual Journeys: Visiting John of God, that the main "entities" at work in Brazil were the same ones at Live Events, along with thousands of other entities doing healing work.[18][19]For other people named João Teixeira, see João Teixeira (disambiguation).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Teixeira and the second or paternal family name is Faria.

João Teixeira de Faria

Faria in 2006

Born 24 June 1942 (age 83)

Cachoeira de Goiás, Brazil

Other names João de Deus (John of God)

Criminal status Under house arrest due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Convictions Rape, sexual misconduct, illegal possession of firearms

Criminal penalty 489 years and 4 months imprisonment

Part of a series on the

Paranormal

Main articles

Skepticism

Parapsychology

Related

vte

João Teixeira de Faria (born 24 June 1942), known also as João de Deus (John of God), is a Brazilian self-proclaimed medium, and self-proclaimed psychic surgeon.[1][2] He was based in Abadiânia, Brazil, where he ran a spiritual healing center called the Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola. He received media coverage on CNN, ABC News, and personally from The Oprah Winfrey Show. However, James Randi and Joe Nickell exposed his healing procedures as nothing more than carnival tricks,[3][4] and there is no evidence that the benefits reported by patients are anything more than placebo effects.[5]

In 2018, after over 600 accusations of sexual abuse, Faria turned himself in to police. In the following years, he was found guilty of a number of different crimes, including illegal firearm possession and statutory rape.[6] The sentences add up to 489 years and 4 months in prison.[7]

Early life

João Teixeira de Faria was born in Cachoeira de Goiás on 24 June 1942.[8] He has no medical training and describes himself as a "simple farmer".[9] He completed two years of education and spent a number of years travelling from village to village in the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais as a garrafeiro, a sort of travelling medicine man.[10]

Career

Overview

Faria said he was told by his spirit guides that he must expand his work to reach more people and spiritist medium Chico Xavier told him he should go to the small Goiás town of Abadiânia to fulfill his healing mission. Around 1978, when he first performed healings there, he just sat outdoors in a chair near the main road where people began to arrive seeking cures for their illnesses and conditions. Gradually the numbers increased to thousands per day and he developed his centre, Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola.[11] The Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola was visited by millions of people seeking healing. Faria also owned a nearby cattle ranch, which covered about 1,000 acres and was valued at over 2 million reais.[12][13]

Much of his income came from selling passionflower preparations, the single herb prescribed by Faria to cure a variety of ailments. The company that bore his initials, JTF Ltda., marketed the drug and was registered in the name of his wife, Ana Keyla Teixeira, and his driver and employee Abadio da Cruz.[13][14]

Claims of healing powers

Faria on stage after performing a "psychic surgery"

Faria regularly prescribed meditation and walking to a nearby waterfall as part of treatment. The Casa also sold herbs, "blessed" items and artefacts such as magic triangles. It was estimated by 60 Minutes Australia in 2014 that those sales earned Faria over $10 million per year.[15]

When called for a spiritual surgery by Faria, patients were offered the choice of "visible" or "invisible" operations. If they selected an invisible operation (or were younger than 18 or older than 52) they were directed to sit in a room and meditate. Faria said that spiritual physicians could perform surgery on the actual patient via a surrogate when the actual patient was unable to make the trip.[16]

A very small percentage of people chose a visible operation where Faria operated without anesthetic. Instead he used "energized" mineral water and the spiritual energies allegedly present, the latter of which were provided by groups of volunteers who meditated in a separate room called the 'current room'. Those practices, such as inserting scissors or forceps deep into a nose or scraping an eye without an anesthetic or antiseptics, were scrutinized by medical authorities and skeptical investigators such as James Randi, who called for Faria to stop victimizing people with stunts and trickery.[3]

Faria would tell people not to stop taking their medicine and said that not everyone he "treated" would be cured. Often the treatment included capsules containing pure passion flower, which he would say carried special blessed spiritual energy to support the individual's healing process.[17] Before his final arrest and conviction, Faria had undergone trials and scrutiny of his work; he was arrested several times for practicing medicine without a licence, and was jailed once.[12]

Outside Brazil

Faria travelled to other countries to perform his healing ceremonies, which he called Live Events. Gail Thackray said in her book, Spiritual Journeys: Visiting John of God, that the main "entities" at work in Brazil were the same ones at Live Events, along with thousands of other entities doing healing work.[18][19]For other people named João Teixeira, see João Teixeira (disambiguation).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Teixeira and the second or paternal family name is Faria.

João Teixeira de Faria

Faria in 2006

Born 24 June 1942 (age 83)

Cachoeira de Goiás, Brazil

Other names João de Deus (John of God)

Criminal status Under house arrest due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Convictions Rape, sexual misconduct, illegal possession of firearms

Criminal penalty 489 years and 4 months imprisonment

Part of a series on the

Paranormal

Main articles

Skepticism

Parapsychology

Related

vte

João Teixeira de Faria (born 24 June 1942), known also as João de Deus (John of God), is a Brazilian self-proclaimed medium, and self-proclaimed psychic surgeon.[1][2] He was based in Abadiânia, Brazil, where he ran a spiritual healing center called the Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola. He received media coverage on CNN, ABC News, and personally from The Oprah Winfrey Show. However, James Randi and Joe Nickell exposed his healing procedures as nothing more than carnival tricks,[3][4] and there is no evidence that the benefits reported by patients are anything more than placebo effects.[5]

In 2018, after over 600 accusations of sexual abuse, Faria turned himself in to police. In the following years, he was found guilty of a number of different crimes, including illegal firearm possession and statutory rape.[6] The sentences add up to 489 years and 4 months in prison.[7]

Early life

João Teixeira de Faria was born in Cachoeira de Goiás on 24 June 1942.[8] He has no medical training and describes himself as a "simple farmer".[9] He completed two years of education and spent a number of years travelling from village to village in the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais as a garrafeiro, a sort of travelling medicine man.[10]

Career

Overview

Faria said he was told by his spirit guides that he must expand his work to reach more people and spiritist medium Chico Xavier told him he should go to the small Goiás town of Abadiânia to fulfill his healing mission. Around 1978, when he first performed healings there, he just sat outdoors in a chair near the main road where people began to arrive seeking cures for their illnesses and conditions. Gradually the numbers increased to thousands per day and he developed his centre, Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola.[11] The Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola was visited by millions of people seeking healing. Faria also owned a nearby cattle ranch, which covered about 1,000 acres and was valued at over 2 million reais.[12][13]

Much of his income came from selling passionflower preparations, the single herb prescribed by Faria to cure a variety of ailments. The company that bore his initials, JTF Ltda., marketed the drug and was registered in the name of his wife, Ana Keyla Teixeira, and his driver and employee Abadio da Cruz.[13][14]

Claims of healing powers

Faria on stage after performing a "psychic surgery"

Faria regularly prescribed meditation and walking to a nearby waterfall as part of treatment. The Casa also sold herbs, "blessed" items and artefacts such as magic triangles. It was estimated by 60 Minutes Australia in 2014 that those sales earned Faria over $10 million per year.[15]

When called for a spiritual surgery by Faria, patients were offered the choice of "visible" or "invisible" operations. If they selected an invisible operation (or were younger than 18 or older than 52) they were directed to sit in a room and meditate. Faria said that spiritual physicians could perform surgery on the actual patient via a surrogate when the actual patient was unable to make the trip.[16]

A very small percentage of people chose a visible operation where Faria operated without anesthetic. Instead he used "energized" mineral water and the spiritual energies allegedly present, the latter of which were provided by groups of volunteers who meditated in a separate room called the 'current room'. Those practices, such as inserting scissors or forceps deep into a nose or scraping an eye without an anesthetic or antiseptics, were scrutinized by medical authorities and skeptical investigators such as James Randi, who called for Faria to stop victimizing people with stunts and trickery.[3]

Faria would tell people not to stop taking their medicine and said that not everyone he "treated" would be cured. Often the treatment included capsules containing pure passion flower, which he would say carried special blessed spiritual energy to support the individual's healing process.[17] Before his final arrest and conviction, Faria had undergone trials and scrutiny of his work; he was arrested several times for practicing medicine without a licence, and was jailed once.[12]

Outside Brazil

Faria travelled to other countries to perform his healing ceremonies, which he called Live Events. Gail Thackray said in her book, Spiritual Journeys: Visiting John of God, that the main "entities" at work in Brazil were the same ones at Live Events, along with thousands of other entities doing healing work.[18][19]