John of God The Brazilian Healer Who’s Touched the Lives of Millions by Heather Cumming and Karen Leffler
Brazil’s Own Miracle Man
Every day, a sea of hundreds of people wearing white wait in Abadiânia, a small town in Brazil, to see João de Deus–John of God. They have heard of his miraculous healing abilities: curing crippled legs, tumors, and disease. A pile of crutches, canes, and other walking aides collects dust in a room: a testament to the amazing transformations that have taken place. But who is this man and how did he come to perform these miracles?
In this first authorized personal portrayal John of God: The Brazilian Healer Who’s Touched the Lives of Millions, John of God’s translator Heather Cumming and photographer Karen Leffler bring you inside the Casa de Dom Inácio and into John of God’s personal life. The authors retell the story of how João de Deus, an uneducated tailor, embarked upon his life of service at age 16 after being visited by a vision of Saint Rita of Cascia.
John of God, a full trance-medium, leaves his body in trust to the care of disembodied spirits called Entities, all of whom were remarkable people in their own lifetimes. These include King Solomon, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and Doctors Augusto de Almeida and Oswaldo Cruz.
Color photos in the book document public surgeries, images of incorporation, sacred areas around the Casa, and some of the people who have been healed. For the first time, John of God’s birth home and everyday lifestyle is photographed, giving the reader an intimate portrayal of the man behind the medium. Filled with amazing stories of healing and transformation, John of God creates a “virtual Casa” where the reader can have direct connection with the energies and Entities that perform the healings, and possibly have a healing experience themselves.
One of the messages that John of God offers is that our physical well-being is distorted by our beliefs, spirit-level and cellular karma that is stored in the body. Healing is the resolution of this distortion so that the physical body can receive a direct message from the Divine. Healing may occur at different rates depending upon a person’s beliefs and karma. John of God says that he doesn’t heal people–it’s God that heals.
Heather Cumming is a Shamanic Practitioner and Reiki Master/Teacher. She is a daughter of the Casa, a member of the family of Casa mediums, and an official Casa Tour Guide. John of God requested Heather to be his personal caretaker and translator for his healing trips to the US in 2003 and 2006. Heather also serves as his liaison for future healing tours to the United States. Heather has studied with shamans and healers in Brazil, Bolivia and the United States. She maintains a private practice in Westport, Connecticut.
For more information, visit her website, www.healingquests.com .
Karen Leffler is a Buddhist and Qi Gong practitioner and is a Daughter of the Casa. She is a published architectural and freelance photographer offering her expertise to nonprofit organizations and photographs John of God and the Entities in Brazil. As a spirit-energy photographer, she has taken photographic journeys to temples and sacred sites in America, South America, Nepal, and India.
For further information on spirit photography, sacred journeys or to purchase her images, visit her websites: www.worthathousandwords.com or www.spiritfotos.com .
Endorsements for John of God
Heather Cumming and Karen Leffler bring us into a wonderful world where we learn how the power of unconditional love creates unlimited possibilities, miraculous healings, and hope. John of God’s work and the message of the entities are vital to the healing of the planet.
~ Sandra Ingerman, author of Soul Retrieval and Medicine for the Earth. These exquisite descriptions of the process of healing open a window through which one enters another reality. This powerful book challenges fundamental assumptions about the extent to which spirit actively intervenes in our lives. Spirit jumps off the pages and the book will not leave you unchanged.
~ Robert Dreyfus, M.D., psychiatrist and healer. No other book so heartfully describes the private life and personal history of the extraordinary medium and healer known as John of God. Heather and Karen are to be acknowledged for adding more dimension to our view of the benevolent spirits and spiritual healing.
~ Emma Bragdon, Ph.D., author of Spiritual Alliances and Karde’s Spiritism, co-producer of I Do Not Heal, God is the One Who Heals: A Tribute to John of God. This book is solid and enriching–an insightful and inspiring book that will help millions of people for years to come. The authors have done a fantastic job of presenting John of God’s story with clarity and accuracy. No other book about John of God offers such a rich assortment of first-hand accounts of this remarkable man.
~ Bill Hayes, President and Executive Producer of Figure 8 Films and Advanced Medical Productions, Inc. This inspiring book will take you on a journey of self-healing and hope. Your eyes will be opened to how the divine current of love flows to us in order to alleviate personal suffering. Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, this is a must-read book!
~ Trudy Griswold, coauthor of Angelspeake Book of Prayer & Healing John of God is one of the most important documents ever to be written on the capacity of spiritual healing and the metaphysical mysteries that are unfolding in our world today.
~ Jenny Lauren, author of Homesick
About Heather Cumming and Karen Leffler
Heather Cumming is a Shamanic Practitioner, Reiki Master/teacher, and certified Qi Gong practitioner. She was born and raised on a cattle ranch in the interior of Brazil. The wranglers who worked the land taught her the importance of living in harmony with nature and the local shamans educated her in native healing traditions.
She has studied with shamans and healers in Brazil, Bolivia, and the US, including Michael Harner, Sandra Ingerman, John Perkins, Linda Hooper, and Qi Gong Master Binhue He. She maintains a private practice in Westport, Connecticut.
In the summer of 2000, Heather was preparing to take a group of people to see Brazilian tribal shamans when she heard about John of God and felt drawn to visit him. Shortly afterwards, she was asked to take a small group of people to the Casa for healing. When Heather went before the Entity Dr. Augusto, she received a deep healing. From that point on, she knew her spiritual home was Abadiânia and devoted her life to service to the Casa and John of God’s mission.
As an official Casa Tour Guide, Heather takes groups to the Casa on a regular basis. She is multilingual (English, Portuguese, Spanish, French) and translates for visitors who come to the Casa. She also devotes her time to support John of God’s healing mission outside of Brazil: accompanying him on healing trips abroad, translating for him and the Entities, and acting as liaison for his healing trips to the United States.
For more information, please visit Heather’s website, www.healingquests.com .
Karen Leffler is a published architectural and freelance photographer residing in Weston, Connecticut. Her previously published book, “The House That Jill Built,” was a collaborative effort with fellow Buddhist practitioner, Judy Ostrow.
Karen is a Buddhist and Qi Gong practitioner who began her studies in 1986 when she took refuge with Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. In 1972, she traveled to India to study and live at the Ashram of Satya Sai Baba for four months. The following year, she returned with a group of 30 people having started a Sai Baba Center in California. She has taken photographic journeys to temples and sacred sites in America, South America, Nepal and India, meeting and studying with such Masters as His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, Urgyen Tulku Rinpoche and Chogyal Namkhai Norbu.
She has been a long standing member of the board of Padma Shedrup Ling, a Buddhist organization in California. She offers her photographic services to nonprofit foundations, and photographs John of God and the Entities in Brazil. Karen is a Daughter of the Casa. To contact Karen for further information on spirit photography, sacred journeys, or to purchase images, visit Karen’s websites: www.worthathousandwords.com or www.spiritfotos.com .
To order a DVD copy of Miracle Man: John of God as seen on The
Discovery Channel, please visit www.advancedmedical.tv
View clips of John of God at www.healingquests.com or
www.spiritfotos.com
www.johnofgodbook.com
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Simon & Schuster and Beyond Words Publishing available at www.Amazon.com
May 2007
Atria Books / Beyond Words
20827 N.W. Cornell Road
Suite 500
Hillsboro, Oregon 97124-9808
Tel:(503) 531-8700
Fax:(503) 531-8773
John of God: The Brazilian Healer Who’s Touched the Lives of Millions by Heather Cumming and Karen Leffler
ISBN10: 1-58270-164-4
ISBN13: 978-1-58270-164-6
$22.95, hardcover
208 pages, 6 x 9 inches
Body, Mind & Spirit Healing, General/
Spirituality, General/ Spiritualism