World's most renowned psychic surgeon Reverend Alex Orbito defied many a belief about the human form in front of hundreds as he moved his hands over the bodies of people to withdraw material as if he was yanking stuff out of a purse. A first person account of the surgery and the seminar in Mumbai (India), one of the four metros on Orbito's whistlestop tour

Born to heal

Reverend Alex Orbito (priest of the Union Espirista Christian de Felipinas) is considered the best psychic surgeon in the world. Orbito’s mother and two of his brothers Marcos and Roger are healers too, while his elder sister Felicitas is a medium.

Destiny thrust Alex into a healing role at age 14, when a neighbour called upon Alex to heal his paralysed mother who had dreamt the previous night that he would be able to do so. On seeing her, Orbito recognised her as the cripple he had himself dreamt of healing. Taking a bottle of coconut oil, he massaged the woman’s limb with it. The next day, for the first time in 10 years, she walked.

Famous as a healer, Alex shrank from the role. He adopted the name Joseph Viloria, and ran away. But destiny held him firm. He was earning well as a photographer when one day, the studio in which he worked, was broken into and the equipment stolen. Orbito was suspected of the theft and jailed. He languished there until he heard a mysterious voice urging him to return to healing or he would never see the outside world.

Alex agreed and the next day, the culprit confessed and he was released. Once out, he forgot his promise and continued his pursuit of a good life until he fell mysteriously ill. The voice came to him once more, reminding him of his promise. This time he kept his word. Orbito has healed over a million people since, including Shirley Maclaine and the Saudi Royalty.

Says he: ‘‘No one has ever died on the operating table.’’ About 70 per cent of patients have healed, he claims. Books written on him include Going Within by Shirley Maclaine, Man of Light by Rinaldo Lampis, The Secret Teachings of the Espiritistas by Harvey Martin and A Psychiatrist’s Search for God by Adrian Finkelstein.

Here, in his own words, is what happens when he operates: ‘‘As I see the crowd of sick people waiting for me to relieve them of the suffering, my heart is filled with compassion. I deeply concentrate and fervently pray to God to make me a channel of His will power."

Orbito continues, "I first feel a strange coldness all over my body as the spirit descends upon me, then a feeling of great warmth… As I place my hands on the patient’s body, I feel the healing energy surge through my fingers causing vibrations and stimulating the cells of the patient’s afflicted part… my hand becomes like a magnet that attracts the diseased part… I can see and feel the patients being relieved instantly.’’