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This article
is provided by kind permission of Harvey J. Martin III. This article
MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED without the permission of the author. The
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Unraveling the Enigma of Psychic Surgery
By Harvey J. Martin III - ©1999 All Rights Reserved
Of all the controversies that have emerged around the various forms
of spiritual healing, none have reached the level of controversy
surrounding "psychic surgery." In the book entitled "Into the Strange
Unknown," written in 1957 by reporters Ron Ormond and Ormond McGill,
are the first references to what would later be termed "psychic
surgery." Ron Ormond used the term "fourth dimensional operations"
to describe the paranormal healing work of Eleuterio Terte, whom
Ormond refers to as a "fourth dimensional surgeon."
Ormond tells us, "A patient suffering from what had been diagnosed
as a gall stone lay on the table, abdomen bared. Terte’s thumb and
forefinger of his right hand sunk out of sight into the flesh. As
his fingers disappeared within the man, the choir commenced their
singing, stopping only when the healer’s hands emerged with the
gall stone, which dropped into the waiting jar of alcohol."
He continues saying, "In each operation, there was seemingly
no pain, no bleeding, no open wound of any kind."
Overwhelmed by what they had seen, the reporters interviewed the
patients. They told them that, "God had performed the miracle,
using the man, Terte, as His instrument." Terte confirmed this
observation saying, "I can do nothing unless the power of the Spirit
Protector is within me." On their way back to Manila, the reporters
discussed the amazing events they had witnessed. Ormond asked McGill,
"What is your verdict?" McGill replied, "Either that man is working
miracles or he’s the greatest magician that ever lived."
In conclusion Ron Ormond summarized, "I, and McGill, still don’t
know what to think; but we have motion pictures to show it wasn’t
the work of any normal magician, and could very well be just what
the Filipinos said it was – a miracle of God performed by a fourth
dimensional surgeon."
Lacking any understanding of the religious beliefs and spiritual
practices of the "fourth dimensional surgeons," well meaning but
misinformed parapsychologists, attempted to define what they had
witnessed. The very term "psychic surgery" coined by the writer
Harold Sherman, inferred that the spiritual healing practices of
the Filipinos, derived from their religious practices, were equivalent
in some way to the surgical procedures of Western medicine.
This supposition aroused the ire of Western doctors and set into
motion a concerted effort on the part of the Western medical profession
to prove that "psychic surgery" was a fraudulent and deceitful form
of medical quackery. On close examination, it became apparent that
in addition to the genuine miracles that had been thoroughly documented,
some of the "psychic surgeons" were simulating the "operations"
with a sophisticated and innovative form of sleight-of-hand.
In 1974, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Senate Subcommittee
on Health and Long Term Care held hearings on psychic surgery. In
these hearings, the FTC heard the testimonies of 48 witnesses and
reviewed 134 exhibits. According to these witnesses, the Filipino
healers had defrauded their patients by palming small plastic bags,
which contained blood and tissue. The witnesses maintained that
the Filipino healers were defrauding their patients by producing
these plastic bags in sleight-of-hand simulations of surgery. Working
from the premise that Filipino healers were impersonating surgeons,
thereby practicing medicine illegally, police began setting up sting
operations in order to prosecute them. In 1984, Congressional hearings
chaired by Claude Pepper reviewed the files of five governmental
agencies. These agencies included the FTC, American Cancer Society,
National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human
Sciences, and The American Medical Society. This four-year review
led to the conclusion that they ‘could find no evidence that
psychic surgery was effective.’
In 1986, the arrest and prosecution of psychic surgeons began in
earnest. Gary and Terry Magno were arrested in Phoenix, Arizona,
and charged with the fraudulent practice of medicine. They posted
bail and immediately fled back to the Philippines. In 1987, Jose
Bugarin was arrested in Sacramento, California, for cancer quackery,
illegal practice of medicine. He was sentenced to nine months in
prison. In 1989, Placido Palitayan was arrested and prosecuted in
Oregon for the illegal practice of medicine. In 1991, immigration
officials arrested Terry Magno in the Philippines, and deported
her back to the United States to stand trial. Mrs. Magno faced 17
counts of fraud and one of conspiracy in connection with the 1986
charges of practicing psychic surgery in Arizona.
While the persecution of the Filipino healers was getting into
gear, the Institute of Noetic Sciences published a report on aspects
of the placebo effect that were known only to a select group of
medical researchers. One of the topics covered in the report was
the little known subject of placebo surgery. In the 1950s, several
American doctors conducted an experiment designed to determine the
merits of the surgical procedure for angina pectoris. In the experiment,
three of five patients received the operation. The other two were
merely placed under anesthesia, and given a surface incision, which
was then sutured. Once awakened, the five patients were monitored
during their recovery from the operations. To the amazement of the
physicians, a significant percentage of the patients who had received
placebo operations were cured. In 1961, Dr. Henry Beecher reviewed
two double-blind studies of the placebo operations. These studies
convincingly demonstrated that the actual operation produced no
greater benefit than the placebo operation. In a separate study
conducted by Dr. Leonard Cobb and his associates, placebo surgery
proved to be more effective than the real thing. Cobb reported
that fully 43% of the patients who received placebo surgery reported
both subjective and objective improvement. In the patients who had
received the real operation, only 32% reported satisfactory results.
What this research established is that the mere form (metaphor)
of surgical procedures can produce the same results as the actual
surgical procedures.
When I first read this study, lights went off inside my head. Could
the sleight-of-hand operations, the damning evidence in all of the
criminal cases against the fourth dimensional surgeons, actually
be a sophisticated form of placebo surgery? Were the small bags
of blood and tissue that had been used to seal the fates of healers
accused of medical fraud, actually tools being used by the psychic
surgeons to activate the mysterious placebo mechanism; a belief
mediated healing process that produced a 43% cure rate in American
placebo surgery studies? If ‘placebo surgery’ produced these results
in America, was it not logical to expect the same result when performed
by Filipinos?
All of the early research on psychic surgery was based on the assumption
that the operations were 100% paranormal phenomena. Paranormal phenomena
was judged to be genuine only in cases where the phenomena could
be subjected to rigid scientific scrutiny and proven to be replicable
under clinical conditions. Though researchers from several different
countries had succeeded in documenting a number of genuine psychic
surgery operations in tightly controlled studies, the discovery
that the Filipinos were using a form of placebo surgery breached
the required standards of proof for scientists and parapsychologists
alike.
To compound the confusion, it was becoming apparent to many researchers
in the 1970s that placebo operations were somehow healing people.
The researchers saw that patients who believed in the veracity of
the operations responded positively, even miraculously, to the placebo
operations. The discovery of sleight-of-hand psychic surgery in
the Philippines took place almost twenty years before scientific
research advanced enough to provide an explanation for the success
of the healers who used the placebo operations. Having insufficient
knowledge of psycho-neuro-immunology, parapsychologists concluded,
along with debunkers, that the placebo surgery practiced by the
Filipinos was a form of medical fraud. The discovery of fraud, however,
did not change the fact that dramatically paranormal operations
that did not involve sleight-of-hand had been extensively documented
in both the Philippines and Brazil.
In the increasingly polarized and hysterical debate over psychic
surgery the focus of research came down to two main issues. The
first was whether the psychic surgeons were actually opening the
bodies of their patients, or whether their operations were merely
simulations of surgery. The second was whether or not the extracted
tissues and blood produced during the operations were consistent
with the tissue and blood types of their patients.
A number of studies were conducted on these questions in virtually
every country the psychic surgeons visited. For every test that
confirmed the tissue and blood to be of human origin, and that matched
the blood and tissue of the patients, another found the samples
to be of either animal or non-human origin. For the Germans, Australians,
Americans, and Japanese who tested these samples of blood and tissue,
the results of these tests merely led to increased polarization
and offered no solution to the enigma of psychic surgery. The early
studies conducted by people like Henry Belk, Stanley Krippner, and
Andrija Puharich established that genuine paranormal operations
did, in fact, take place.
Faced with two very different types of operations, and lacking
the understanding to provide a satisfactory explanation for the
supposedly ‘fraudulent’ operations, those that had witnessed the
‘genuine’ operations were placed in a truly mind-boggling predicament.
If they acknowledged that sleight-of-hand was being used to simulate
quasi/surgical operations, they were forced to separate the imposters
from the genuine healers. Realizing that sleight-of-hand was indeed
widely used, and not wanting to be labeled as facilitators of quackery,
the advocates of psychic surgery began to distance themselves from
the healers. Serious researchers who had documented hundreds of
genuine operations retreated to the position that while sleight-of-hand
simulations of operations were a reality, genuine paranormal "operations"
were also a reality. Eventually, the debates on psychic surgery
ceased as no one could reasonably explain the practice of placebo
surgery.
In 1983, I had the opportunity to visit the Philippines as a guest
of the famous psychic surgeon Reverend Alex Orbito. I met Rev. Orbito
through a close friend who had been healed by him. Later, my friend
and I co-sponsored Rev. Orbito to come to Hawaii to conduct a healing
mission. During this healing mission, we strictly controlled the
healing environment, eliminating any possibility of fraud. The results
of the healing mission were so impressive that I was immediately
convinced that Rev. Orbito was genuinely performing paranormal healing,
and that psychic surgery was a fact. Two days before returning to
the Philippines, Alex asked my friend and me if we would come to
the Philippines and produce a video documentary of his life and
work. We agreed to do so and after a month of preparation, we proceeded
on to the Philippines.
I arrived in the Philippines in June of 1983 and immediately became
aware of the controversy surrounding psychic surgery. It seemed
that everyone I met had an opinion regarding psychic surgery. While
detractors of psychic surgery insisted that it be rejected entirely
as medical quackery, advocates insisted that it be integrated into
the conventional practice of medicine. Since my only experience
of psychic surgery had been totally positive, I was genuinely surprised
to find myself surrounded by so many zealous detractors of psychic
surgery. The publicity surrounding psychic surgery had drawn a number
of people from around the world that fancied themselves as freelance
quack busters. They saw themselves as public servants, boldly blowing
the whistle on medical fraud. To these skeptics, psychic surgery
was a brazen hoax with no redeeming value. As I came to know these
people, flaws in their thinking became apparent. The most obvious
was their total dismissal of the many dramatic, often miraculous,
cures that were taking place. While working at Alex’s healing center
I saw hundreds of people come from around the world with all sorts
of ailments, leave cured. I began to wonder why the debunkers were
choosing to ignore the obvious success of the psychic surgeons.
I was deeply impressed by the fact that, whatever psychic surgery
was, it seemed to be equally effective, regardless of the diverse
backgrounds of the patients who continually arrived from all over
the world. While skeptics insisted that psychic surgery was nothing
more than a ‘despicable’ fraud, delegations of patients continued
to arrive from around the world on a daily basis. I could not imagine
a better way to study the efficacy of a healing technique than to
subject it to the objective and subjective scrutiny of every conceivable
belief system, as well as the various racial and religious biases
of a broad cross-section of the entire human race. It also seemed
reasonable to assume that any method of healing that could produce
consistent results given these conditions, certainly had merit.
It was quite common to hear enthusiastic testimonies to the healing
abilities of the psychic surgeons being offered in the dialects
of Japanese, English, Arabic, Chinese, and many other languages.
Rev. Orbito told these delegations to surrender to God in whatever
way they perceived God to exist. The message at Rev. Orbito’s healing
center was that GOD is larger than any particular religious orientation.
Living in the Philippines and working at Alex Orbito’s healing
center, I saw overwhelming evidence that psychic surgery was a very
effective method of healing. Surrounded by so many satisfied and
grateful patients, I was both baffled and even offended by those
who continued to insist that the psychic surgeons must prove, under
clinical conditions, that what they were doing was ‘real.’ I couldn’t
understand why the hundreds of people who were visibly and dramatically
cured didn’t constitute ‘proof.’ In this surreal environment, the
definition of what constituted ‘real’ psychic surgery became increasingly
nebulous. To parapsychologists, psychic surgery was ‘real’ if performed
without using sleight-of-hand. To scientists, only conventional
surgery was ‘real.’ Skeptics demanded that the healers submit to
controlled scientific studies. When healers refused to submit to
such experiments, their refusal alone was regarded as proof that
they were fakes and that psychic surgery was quackery. This bizarre
situation forced Alex Orbito to publicly announce that; "…the
mission of the healing is not to convince the people, but to cure
the people." In fact, several psychic surgeons did agree to
extensive scientific testing and it didn’t take them long to figure
out that being the guinea pigs of scientific materialists was insulting,
absurd, and counterproductive.
In increasing desperation, those who continued to emphasize the
failures, and disregard the success of the healers were forced to
try and save face by taking a stand on the issue. Those who had
hoped that psychic surgery would conform to their theories and expectations
were bitterly disappointed. Sporadic miracles simply weren’t enough.
The miracles had to be produced on demand, under the intense scrutiny
of total skeptics. Anything short of permanent miracles, produced
on demand, were not miracles at all. Full of rage and bitterness,
the detractors of psychic surgery denounced the healers. To the
patients who were healed, however, a single miracle was more than
adequate proof. In the face of intense inquiry into the nature of
their work the healers offered a simple explanation for their phenomenal
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 their hands.
In addition to the obfuscation of the success of the healers, no
one seemed to be even remotely interested in researching the history
of psychic surgery. Seeing no end in sight to the bitter debates
on the pros and cons of the operations, I decided to conduct research
on these very questions, questions that had been overlooked by both
the advocates and the detractors of psychic surgery. In my studies,
I discovered that the history of psychic surgery stretched back
hundreds of years. As I delved deeper into the mystery of Filipino
spiritual healing, I uncovered a history of, not one, but two types
of psychic surgery, each with distinctly separate, but related histories.
I discovered references to the therapeutic use of sleight-of-hand
in manuscripts dating as far back as the 16th century.
In 1565, a Spanish Priest/Explorer Pedro Chirino describes the
earliest reference to the therapeutic use of sleight-of-hand in
the Philippines. Chirino writes, "He (the sorcerer) placed one
end of the hollow bamboo upon the affected part while through the
other end he sucked up the air; then, he let fall some pebbles from
his mouth pretending they had been extracted from the affected spot."
Chirino continues, "In times of sickness, these men were at there
best, because in times of sickness they (the patients) were ready
to venerate anyone who could give or at least promise to obtain
a remedy for them." In 1588, an English explorer named Cavendish
writes, "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
documented by parapsychologists both in the Philippines and Brazil
was a more recent development. As my understanding grew, I began
to realize that something very unusual had taken place in the Philippines.
Spirit-directed psychic surgery, as I call it, began with the introduction
of Catholicism by Magellan. Rather than being scientific in nature,
the real mystery of Filipino spiritual healing lay in their religious
practices, based on their unique understanding of what Western Christians
call the Holy Spirit. The history of spirit-directed psychic surgery
is the history of the incorporation of the Third Person of the Christian
Trinity, the Holy Spirit, into the heart of the shamanic traditions
of the indigenous people of the Philippines.
As I listened closely to the Filipinos, I began to understand that
their success in healing was derived from their abilities as mediums
of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit Protector was ‘incorporated,’
they were transformed into "fourth dimensional surgeons." When they
finished their session, they returned to their normal routines,
and habits. All my research seemed to indicate that the mediumistic
culture of the Filipinos had, in some inscrutable manner, predisposed
them to discover in Jesus’ teachings about the Holy Spirit, the
means of bringing forth an atavistic resurgence of the miraculous
healing work first described in the New Testament. Westerners were
disturbed by the fact that psychic surgeons explained their work
in Christian terms. Western scientists viewed their explanation
as mythology. Western Christians denounced them as satanic. Bypassing
both the dogmatism of science, and the human domination of religion
that Western civilization has succumbed to, the paranormal healing
abilities of the Filipino healers were derived from a verbal dialogue
with the Holy Spirit established in the 19th century, through devout
Christian mediums.
What I discovered Filipino Christian Spiritism to be is nothing
less than a fully integrated synthesis of Christianity and the paranormal.
To comprehend the gifts of the Holy Spirit as paranormal phenomena
mediated by trance, altered states of consciousness, and dissociative
behavior sheds light on the reason why millions of our brothers
and sisters in the non-Western cultures are increasingly redefining
both Catholic and Protestant Christianity in charismatic terms.
The worldview described in biblical narrative is much closer to
the everyday experience of non-Western cultures than it is to our
own. The reality of an unseen world that lies parallel to
our own is as much a fact of life to Filipinos as the ground beneath
their feet. Through the work of Dr. George Ritchie and Dr. Raymond
Moody the existence of this unseen world has now been widely documented
in the West.
That this unseen world is inhabited by supernatural beings that
can be communicated with underpins not only the rationale behind
prayer, it can also be extrapolated to include all forms of mediumistic
revelation. Filipino Christian Spiritists claim that they were instructed
by elevated spirits who identified themselves as "The Spiritual
Messengers of Christ." The Greek term for messenger is ‘angelos.’
To Christian Spiritists, the messenger spirits that communicate
with them through their mediums are the Western equivalent of angels.
Within the Christian Spiritist community, I found hard evidence
that documented their claims. The evidence I found were records
of events that took place between 1904 and 1933 in the rural province
of Pangasinan in Northern Luzon. Without this evidence, the real
source of the power to perform genuine ‘fourth dimensional operations’
would probably have remained a mystery.
At the core of the paranormal healing practices of the Filipino
healer lies an organization. This organization was established according
to directives received from the unseen world of the Spirit. I learned
about the inner workings of this organization from three documents,
which I had translated. This organization was first established
in 1904 and is named "The Union Espiritista Christiana de Filipinas"
(The Christian Spiritist Union of the Philippines.) The first of
the documents I discovered was the textbook of the Union. The President
of the Union published it in a limited printing in San Fabian, Pangasinan
in 1909. His name was Juan Alvear. The textbook was entitled "A
Short Spiritist Doctrine." The text was very difficult to translate
because it was written using a combination of three languages. These
are Ilocano, Spanish, and a local dialect known as Pangasinese.
After locating a translator who knew all three languages, the translation
still dragged on for over a year.
In the textbook, Alvear writes, "Here in the Philippines, the
forces of Christ in the spirit world made themselves manifest through
our mediums as medicine called magnetic fluid, which flows from
the spirit world through the mediums to introduce Spiritism through
healing." Alvear describes the reaction of the Church to this
collective spiritual intervention when he writes, "The pulpit
and the learned claim that the appearance of the spirits was the
work of the devil that settled in the Philippines." Alvear then
interjects, "…there is an increasing number infused with Spiritism,
which is spreading to the provinces and its result is none other
than morality and sanctity and the knowledge of God’s Spirit."
Alvear concludes, "So it has become clear that Spiritism is a
good tree because its fruit is good. Now, it is apparent that God
has manifested in the Third Person of the Holy Spirit, announcing
to the world that those who believe will be saved."
These Divine Spirits, which gained converts through paranormal
healing, ultimately instructed the Christian Spiritists to establish
an organization that would facilitate what they termed the "Coming
of the Holy Spirit." The second of the three documents I discovered
was the Constitution of the Union. The Constitution seemed in every
way to be a normal corporate document outlining the duties and responsibilities
of the members of the Union. It appeared so entirely ordinary that
I didn’t pay much attention to it. Then, one day, I took a closer
look at it and found a chapter entitled "Spiritual Direction of
the Association." I opened the booklet and read the following, "The
Spiritual Direction shall be the Supreme Authority of the Association.
This shall integrate a court of Spirits of Light, officially known
as Spirit Protectors, who shall be under the superior and unique
direction of our Lord Jesus. These Spirits are the ones who shall
direct the works in general of the Association, principally scientific,
philosophical, moral and spiritual, through medianimical communications."
I was astounded to discover that Spirit Protectors from another
dimension officially directed this duly registered corporation,
which appeared normal in every respect, through mediums. I was also
amazed to find that this entire spirit-directed organization was
under the "unique direction of Jesus."
The third document I discovered had been recovered from the basement
of an old Spiritist Center in Pangasinan that was being razed. The
book was hand written in a beautiful cursive style in Old Spanish.
The contents of the book were a mystery. When the archivist of the
Union entrusted the book to me, he made it clear that he had no
idea what information was contained in it. Once again, I began the
arduous task of locating a translator. I soon discovered that this
old book, brown and crumbling with age, was the only existing copy
of the corporate Minutes of the Union between the years 1919 and
1933. As the translator worked, I learned firsthand of the precise
nature of the trials and tribulations the great-grandparents of
today’s psychic surgeons endured in laying the foundation for the
"Coming of the Holy Spirit." As the Christian Spiritists proceeded
to establish their organization, they encountered intense opposition
from both the Church and the Philippine Medical Association. Whatever
challenges they faced, however, were overcome by the advice they
received from the Spirit Protector. In 1966, the fourth dimensional
healer, Eleuterio Terte led a schism from the Union Espiritista
and founded "The Christian Spiritists of the Philippines." With
the arrival of reporters Ron Ormond and Ormond McGill, Terte brought
the mission of the "…forces of Christ in the Spirit world" out of
the rural Philippines and into the world at large.
With the growing scientific evidence for the existence of life
after death and the scientific proof of the efficacy of prayer,
the reality of the unseen world is gaining credence. As Western
culture grapples with the existence of this parallel dimension that
exists in contradiction to the very premise of scientific materialism,
the Filipinos have moved into a new and highly advanced Spiritual
Dispensation. They believe that this Third Dispensation, in which
the Holy Spirit will bring about the perfect spiritualization of
humanity, is the core of the prophecies of Jesus. Having seen the
evidence, I believe them.
Correspondence: Please address correspondence
concerning this article to: Harvey Martin, Metamind Publications
– P.O. Box 5154, Canton, GA 30114 – USA. Fax - +1(912) 598-4900
– Email – inquiry@hypercon.net
Bibliography
Ormond, Ron & McGill, Ormond – Into the Strange Unknown – Esoteric
Foundation – 1958
O’Regan, Brendan & Hurley, Thomas – Placebo, The Hidden Asset
in Healing – Investigations – The Institute of Noetic Sciences –
1985
Sitter, A.J. – Bleeding them Dry (article) – Arizona Republic –
8/13/86
Ader,R (Ed.)-Psychoneuroimmunology – Academic Press, New York,
New York – 1981
True,GeorgeNavaII–Internetwebsite– http://www.netasia.net/users/truehealth/Psychic%Surgery.htm
Martin, Harvey – The Secret Teachings of the Espiritistas-A Hidden
History of Spiritual Healing – Metamind Publications - 1999
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