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 A new book, Spiritual Alliances: Discovering the Roots of Health at The Casa de Dom Inácio, tells about João de Deus (John of God), now world-famous, and his center, The Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola (Saint Ignatius of Loyola House), in Abadiânia, state of Goiás, Brazil, which welcomes people of all faiths.
A 64-year-old Brazilian, João Teixeira de Faria, better known as John of God, helps people heal from AIDS, cancers, psychological illness, and all manners of diseases. Millions of recipients have experienced dramatic results. He is available to anyone who comes to him - for free. His sanctuary even provides translators for those who speak English, Spanish, French and German. Alternative and complementary medicine is one of the most vibrant growth areas in health care today. John of God is a forerunner in the next frontier in treatment now on the horizon: Spiritual Healing. American TV's ABC-Primetime has had two one-hour programs in 2005 about him, and the Discovery Channel is airing a one-hour special December 23rd. Author, Emma Bragdon, Ph.D., a visionary and pioneering psychotherapist, is highly acclaimed for her writing on spiritual themes. She has been a teacher and healer herself since 1966, and has been leading groups to visit his healing center since 2001. She continues to research Spiritist therapies used in conventional hospitals in Brazil to facilitate psychological and physical healing. Forward-thinking physicians such as Dean Ornish, Andrew Weil and Bernie Siegel have popularized and legitimized the benefits of so-called "alternative" treatments. They posit that there is a lot more to healing than just surgery and drugs. More and more conventional physicians are trekking to Brazil to witness John of God first hand. What they find often astonishes them, and challenges everything they were trained to believe in medical school. John of God has been practicing spiritual healing for more than 40 years, and all kinds of people including well-known luminaries (actress Shirley MacLaine, politician Bella Abzug, among others), visitors from around the world, and the local poor have benefited from his ministrations. John of God's work is derived from the belief that spirits (angels and human beings who have passed on) exist and can interact in meaningful ways with those of us in body. Despite its overwhelmingly Catholic population, more than ten million Brazilians rely on the techniques and philosophies of Spiritism to help them manage their health. There are over 1,500 centers similar to The Casa de Dom Inácio throughout Brazil. John of God's amazing work has been documented by University studies in Brazil, research teams from around the world, and stories in a handful of trade books. Dr. Frank Salvatore, a Board-Certified Urologist visiting João from New Jersey, notes, "If the developed countries want to be leaders in health care, we need to take a closer look at Spiritist healing." Emma Bragdon's Spiritual Alliances: Discovering the Roots of Health at The Casa de Dom Inácio, includes healing stories from patients and visiting doctors, photographs and diagrams of the Center, travel information on visiting the Casa, a glossary of terms, and a detailed diary of one couple's day-to-day experience while receiving healing. The book is available through Lightening Up Press (#0-9620960-3-2) and sells for $19.95 (paperback). Contemporary Spiritism and Spiritist Centers in Brazil is the topic of Bragdon's latest book, Kardec's Spiritism: A Home for Healing and Spiritual Evolution (Lightening Up Press/ ISBN# 09620960-5-9/ Perfectbound paperback with Index, References, Footnotes, $16.95). For additional information on trips to visit John of God or to buy books online contact Emma Bragdon, Ph.D. or visit www.emmabragdon.com. Dr. Bragdon is the Director of Spiritual Alliances, LLC, helping integrate the universal truths found in metaphysics and spiritualism with the practices of medicine and psychology. They advocate 'health freedom' by empowering people to make responsible choices in managing their health, and facilitating health practitioners to work together, utilizing a wide range of effective complementary modalities to support wellness. Contact:
Emma Bragdon
Spiritual Alliances, LLC
PO Box 325
Woodstock, VT 05091
Phone: 802-674-2919
www.emmabragdon.com
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The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
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