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abilities. They told the scientists that they were human instruments of elevated spirits whom they called "Spirit Protectors". Under the aegis of the Holy Spirit, these elevated spirits performed psychic surgery through the healers’ hands. abilities. They told the scientists that they were human When they finished their session, they returned to their normal instruments of elevated spirits whom they called "Spirit routines and habits. All my research seemed to indicate that the Protectors". Under the aegis of the Holy Spirit, these elevated mediumistic culture of the Filipinos had, in some inscrutable man- spirits performed psychic surgery through the healers’ hands. ner, predisposed them to discover in Jesus' teachings about the Holy Spirit the means of bringing forth an atavistic resurgence of EARLY RECORDS OF FILIPINO SPIRITUAL HEALING the miraculous healing work first described in the New In addition to the obfuscation of the healers' successes, no one Testament. seemed to be even remotely interested in researching the history Westerners were disturbed by the fact that psychic surgeons of psychic surgery. Seeing no end in sight to the bitter debates on explained their work in Christian terms. Western scientists the pros and cons of the operations, I decided to conduct research viewed their explanation as mythology. Western Christians on these very questions—questions that had been overlooked by denounced them as satanic. Bypassing both the dogmatism of sci- both the advocates and the detractors of psychic surgery. ence and the human domination of religion that Western civilisa- In my studies, I discovered that the history of psychic surgery tion has succumbed to, the paranormal healing abilities of the stretched back hundreds of years. As I delved deeper into the Filipino healers were derived from a verbal dialogue with the mystery of Filipino spiritual healing, I uncovered a history of not Holy Spirit, established in the 19th century through devout one, but two types of psychic surgery, each with distinctly sepa- Christian mediums. rate but related histories. I discovered references to the therapeu- What I discovered Filipino Christian Spiritism to be, is nothing tic use of sleight of hand in manuscripts dating as far back as the _less than a fully integrated synthesis of Christianity and the para- 16th century. normal. To comprehend the gifts of the Holy Spirit as paranormal In 1565, a Spanish priest/explorer, Pedro Chirino, described the | phenomena mediated by trance, altered states of consciousness earliest reference to the therapeutic use of and dissociative behaviour, sheds light on sleight of hand in the Philippines. Chirino the reason why millions of our brothers and wrote: "He [the sorcerer] placed one end of sisters in the non-Western cultures are the hollow bamboo upon the affected part, increasingly redefining both Catholic and while through the other end he sucked up the Protestant Christianity in charismatic terms. air; then, he let fall some pebbles from his When the The world-view described in biblical narra- mouth, pretending they had been extracted a tive is much closer to the everyday experi- from the affected spot." Chirino continued: Spirit Protector was ence of non-Western cultures than it is to "In times of sickness, these men were at their "incorporated", they our own. The reality of an unseen world best, because in times of sickness they [the . that lies parallel to our own is as much a patients] were ready to venerate anyone who were transformed into fact of life to Filipinos as the ground cot giv hem a temedy at Teast | Mourth-dimensional Pvt hi et Tough he woo In 1588, an English explorer named surgeons”. the existence of this unseen world has now Cavendish wrote: "The priests of these tribes were known as Catalona in the north, and Babailan in the Visayas. They were the sorcerers or medicine men, and rude beyond measure was their art in curing, consisting generally of the imaginary extraction of pebbles, leaves and pieces of cane from the afflicted part." The second type of psychic surgery, the one that had been extensively docu- mented by parapsychologists both in the Philippines and Brazil, was a more recent development. As my understand- ing grew, I began to realise that some- been widely documented in the West. That this unseen world is inhabited by supernatural beings that can be com- municated with, underpins not only the rationale behind prayer, but it can also be extrapolated to include all forms of mediumistic revelation. Filipino/Filipina Christian Spiritists claim that they are instructed by ele- vated spirits who identify themselves as "the Spiritual Messengers of Christ". The Greek term for messen- ger is angelos. To Christian Spiritists, the messenger spirits that communi- cate with them through their mediums When they finished their session, they returned to their normal routines and habits. thing very unusual had taken place in the Philippines. are the Western equivalent of angels. Within the Christian "Spirit-directed psychic surgery", as I call it, began with the Spiritist community, I found hard evidence that documents their introduction of Catholicism by Magellan. Rather than being sci- claims: records of events that took place between 1904 and 1933 entific in nature, the real mystery of Filipino spiritual healing lay in the rural province of Pangasinan in northern Luzon. Without in their religious practices, based on their unique understanding of _ this evidence, the real source of the power to perform genuine, what Western Christians call "the Holy Spirit". The history of "fourth-dimensional operations" would probably have remained a spirit-directed psychic surgery is the history of the incorporation mystery. of the Third Person of the Christian Trinity, the Holy Spirit, into the heart of the shamanic traditions of the indigenous people of | CHRISTIAN SPIRITIST UNION the Philippines. At the core of the paranormal healing practices of the Filipino As I listened closely to the Filipinos, I began to understand that healers lies an organisation. This organisation was established their success in healing was derived from their abilities as medi- according to directives received from the unseen world of the ums of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit Protector was "incorpo- Spirit. I learned about the inner workings of this organisation rated", they were transformed into "fourth-dimensional surgeons". from three documents which I had translated. This organisation ; When the Spirit Protector was "incorporated", they were transformed into surgeons’. When they finished their session, they returned to their and habits. mystery. CHRISTIAN SPIRITIST UNION At the core of the paranormal healing practices of the Filipino healers lies an organisation. This organisation was established according to directives received from the unseen world of the Spirit. I learned about the inner workings of this organisation from three documents which I had translated. This organisation 28 - NEXUS “fourth-dimensional normal routines OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 1999