Philippines is a country that is rich in some of the most dynamic, intense, and effective forms of health treatments that have been practiced for many centuries. Psychic surgery, however, has gained more attention more than any other healing practices in the country.
Psychic surgery is a specialized healing modality performed by faith healers using bare hands to extract a tumor, body tissue, a blood clot, or any unwanted obstruction from inside the body. This is done while the patient is conscious and is considered to be painless even without the use of anesthesia. It usually leaves no scar but sometimes may cause minimal scarring.
Another form of psychic surgery uses cutting instrument to penetrate into the skin. This is performed in South America but not in the Philippines where bare hand operation is more common.
Psychic surgery is a direct application of the major phenomenon of mediumship wherein the healer acts as a medium, or a channel, for spiritual and magnetic energies to flow through himself and into the patient. The healer manipulates magnetic energy to be able to penetrate the body, both the spiritual and physical body.
Psychic surgeons are under constant scrutiny because people often could not believe their own eyes when observing such phenomena. Psychic surgery clearly defies the laws of medical science as they are currently understood. Despite the negative publicity and criticisms about this practice, many patients continue to report remarkable recoveries at the hands of the psychic surgeons in the Philippines.
Mr.Licauco, a Filipino paranormal researcher has written several books about psychic surgery. According to him, the first psychic surgeon to emerge is a healer named Eleuterio Terte from the Union of Espiritistas (a spiritist organization), in the late 1940's. As the story is told, while Terte was performing magnetic healing on a patient, suddenly his patient's body started opening up. Allegedly, he was able to remove gallstones and infected tissue with only his bare hands. From that time on, he has continued this work known today as psychic surgery. According to Terte's son, Terte started out as a magnetic healer in 1925, after two angelic children appeared when he was seriously ill. From then on, he accepted the gift of healing.
Based on my research, Terte is the first recorded psychic surgeon but not necessarily the first one in the Philippines. There were others who have been practicing psychic surgery long before Terte existed. However, the technique wherein the surgery was done was slightly different as compared to Terte's style.
Another ancient form of psychic surgery is the bloodless operation wherein the healer could remove certain body tissue or blood clot from the patient's body without blood. Some consider this as plain materialization but nevertheless, whether materialization or not, this is still a psychic surgery. Surgery that involves drawing of blood is still what made psychic surgery very popular.
Lahid healing technique removes or extracts foreign bodies or particles embedded in the flesh or bloodstream allegedly caused by black magic, spells or the machinations of evil forces. Also according to occult tradition, it is a counter-power strength mechanism which dissolves or dismantles evil works that inflict diseases on victims. Using a white linen pouch containing ground herbs is massaged on the affected area of the patient’s body for several minutes, ranging from 20 to 40 minutes. Items extracted from the body are usually solid objects such as bones of fish, broken glass, stones or insects. Lahid is still practiced today in some remote provinces in the Philippines.
Tandock or Tandok is a healing technique practiced in the Southern part of the Philippines, in the island of Mino in Mindanao. It involves cutting an incision on the patient's affected area, then a type of scope is attached where blood is supposed to drain out.
Psychic surgery, as we know it today, involves cutting the skin and extracting objects and/or draws out blood from the patient. It has evolved from the more primitive psychic surgical techniques: the Lahid and Tandok.
Espiritista is a term of Spanish-Filipino origin. It refers to persons who have the ability to channel the spiritual energy of, or be possessed by, the Holy Spirit for positive healing goals.
Almost all of healers who can perform psychic surgery are Espiritistas but not all Espiritistas are psychic surgeons. Every Espiritista has a destiny. Some of them become magnetic healers (similar to pranic healers); others become expert on exorcising evil spirits on possessed persons and they may also drive away bad spirits or negative energy from a house or a building. Others become prophets and some turn out to become evangelists and priests. Nevertheless, only few of them are gifted by the Holy Spirit to become psychic surgeons.
Early known psychic surgeons belong the organization called the Union of Espiritistas of the Philippines whose purpose is to train gifted healers and to gather its congregation in rituals of union with the Holy Spirit. However, many psychic surgeons have mushroomed from different spiritual organizations alike. Even foreigners who are not Espiritistas have eventually become psychic surgeons after involvement in many spiritual sessions.
Magnetic healing is a method by which an individual of reputed high spiritual sensibilities may be able to consciously induce trance states to skillfully manipulate the subtle vital force of electro vital force of electromagnetism. The technique requires both the power of concentration of the healer in his own union with this energy and the ability to focus it on another person, in order to make substantial changes on the physical plane.
Magnetic healing obtains same effect as psychic surgery but runs through a different process. Magnetic energy melts the condition. If there is cancer, magnetic healing will melt this. Effective psychic surgery cannot be done without the use of magnetic energy. But magnetic healing can be done even without doing psychic surgery on the patient. That is the difference. A bloodless psychic operation uses more magnetic energy and therefore is practiced only by the advanced and more experience healers.