Healing hands

In his 1966 book Healing Hands, (revised in 1978), J. Bernard Hutton tells the story of British medium George Chapman, who channeled a deceased doctor named William Lang for the purpose of treating patients with intractable medical problems. Hutton himself, a professional writer, was treated by Chapman/Lang and saved from possible blindness. The experience made him a believer, and he proceeded to write Chapman's biography and to document some of his more outstanding cases.

Chapman took no money for his work*, even when it required him to travel. People who knew Dr. Lang in life reported that Chapman, in trance, perfectly captured Lang's personality and mannerisms; moreover, "Lang" recognized his former patients without an introduction, and knew things about them that only he and they could know. Lang's own life is extensively documented - he was a fairly prominent specialist in the pre-WWII era - and the authenticity of the spirit control has been as well confirmed as any such case can be.

(*Update, September 21. Having read further in the book, I have to correct this statement. In the early years of his mediumship, Chapman accepted no payment; he held on to his job as a firefighter and provided healing services for free. Later, however, he retired from firefighting and became a full-time healer. At this point he did charge most of his clients, though he offered free services to those who could not afford to pay.)

The healing technique used by "Dr. Lang" was to gently separate the patient's spirit body from the physical body, then operate on the spirit body, leaving the physical body untouched. When the two bodies were rejoined, the improvements in the spirit form apparently translated into improvements in the physical form in relatively short order. This, at least, is how "Dr. Lang" explained things. Incidentally, this relationship between the physical and spiritual bodies - with the spiritual form serving as a template for the physical - dovetails with mystical traditions and channeled material, as documented in Robert Crookall's books.

Much of Healing Hands concerns the sometimes remarkable cures that Chapman/Lang effected for patients who were thought to be beyond help. One impressive case involved Dorothy James, described as an "Amersham housewife," who on November 12, 1954, was hit by a speeding car and gravely injured. As soon as Mrs. James arrived in the hospital in critical condition, an orderly on the hospital staff called Chapman and asked if he could perform "distant healing" on the patient. Chapman went into trance, and Lang purportedly used his powers at long distance to keep her alive. In an interview with Hutton ten years later, Mrs. James said:

'The hospital doctors were of course not aware of my being given distant healing and they couldn't understand how it was that I was alive. First they said I would never live. When I didn't die they said I would never see, or talk or walk again, and if I did indeed survive, I would have to face a future in a Mental Home. You see, the specialists had diagnosed that my brain was damaged, my whole nervous system affected, and that this damage would result in mental deficiency and permanent blindness; apart from this, my right leg and ankle were crushed.'

More than two months after the accident, Dorothy James was finally allowed to leave the hospital. By then the staff knew her as The Miracle Girl, because she had not only survived but had partially recovered. Still, she was in bad shape and faced the prospect of many more operations and a difficult road ahead, with no prospect of full recovery in sight.

Here's where our story gets really interesting. Let J. Bernard Hutton tell it:

George Chapman called to see Mrs. James immediately after Boxing Day during his off-duty time at the Aylesbury Fire Brigade. He talked with her for a little while about her accident and about the hospital but, while he was still talking, she fell into a deep sleep. Only when she woke up after a long and refreshing slumber did she find out from her mother, who had been in the bedroom, that George Chapman had gone into trance, and that Mr. Lang had performed a number of spirit operations and had then ordered that the patient was not to be wakened, but allowed to sleep on.

'When I awoke I asked my mother: "Where's the gentleman gone?" ' Mrs. James continued. 'Instead of telling me, my mother said: "Don't try to pull yourself up in bed, you'll hurt yourself!" I told her: "No, don't touch me, I can do it myself." I remember putting my right arm down -- the arm that I couldn't use or feel before -- and I cried out, "I can lean on my arm!" And oh! there can be only one explanation -- the gentleman must have done it....

'The next morning Mr. Chapman came again -- straight from the fire service and still in his uniform. He hadn't been home to have his breakfast. He wanted to see what progress, if any, I had made since the previous day....

"On this occasion I saw Mr. Chapman go into trance. He took off his wrist-watch and put it on the side-table, and then went over to the corner and muttered a prayer. I watched him and noticed that his body went down a little bit. I thought that my eyes must be playing tricks on me again, and I felt upset because since his first visit the previous day I had had no eye trouble at all.

'When he spoke to me a few moments later, Mr. Chapman's voice had changed completely. It was not Mr. Chapman's quiet voice, it was a deep husky voice and it seemed to me as though the words were sort of blurred. He came over to me, moving his hands and flicking his fingers and I had the impression he was talking to doctors and nurses, asking for instruments and things. He never touched me, but was obviously working on my head and I felt a strange sensation. Then he started working on my shoulders. My arms had been pulled out from my shoulders during the accident, and the right one hadn't been set back properly. Again he didn't really touch me, but I could feel the bone moving inside the socket. It didn't hurt, it went sort of numb....

'During that afternoon and the following day I improved rapidly. I felt so much better -- my speech was better, I could move my arm much more easily and my vision was so much clearer. For the first time since my accident I really started feeling on top of the world.

'When Mr. Chapman came again -- that was on the day before I was due to go back to hospital -- I saw him go into trance the second time, exactly in the way he had done so on the previous occasion...

'We talked for a little while and out of the blue ["Dr. Lang"] said: "You do believe that I am going to make you better?" I assured him that I did, but I told him that I had to go back to the hospital next day. "I've no intention of staying there," I said. "No, you won't have to, young lady," he said. "I shall see you again next week -- here in this house."...'

Mrs. James was taken back to the hospital the following day but she was convinced that she would not be requested to stay. When the doctors examined her it was to find an improvement in her condition that was beyond their capacity to explain. They agreed to her request that she should be allowed to return home, because, they said, they believed the home atmosphere might be beneficial....

'When they took the plaster off at the hospital, my right leg was three-quarters of an inch shorter than the left, and they said that I would have to have a special surgical shoe built,' Mrs. James told me. 'Well, I didn't want to have this, and I fervently hoped that Dr. Lang could do something. So I told him about it when he came again through Mr. Chapman, and of my dread. I could see he understood my feelings. While he was operating on me that day, I suddenly had this funny feeling, as if someone was lifting my leg and putting weights on the end of it....

When I returned three days later to the hospital, the doctors were flabbergasted when they measured my legs and found that they were both the same length!

'There was another remarkable thing. When they set the ankle and put pins in my bones they set the ankle-bone too far forward. When they took the plaster off and discovered it, they made arrangements for me to be operated on in April 1955 so that they could try and correct it. I told Mr. Chapman about it when he came the next time...

'While we were talking, he changed in his chair and Dr. Lang came through. Almost immediately he started operating on my ankle, moving his hands and fingers and talking, and truly I could feel things being done. As soon as he finished, I could see that the ankle-bone had been moved into its proper place. Before he left, he told Jeff to 'phone the hospital in four days' time and tell them that the proposed operation was no longer necessary. Well, Jeff did as Dr. Lang had asked, but the hospital didn't take much notice of what he had said. They insisted that I come in for the operation, but when they examined my ankle, they were speechless. They said they just couldn't understand how my ankle-bone could have gone back into its right position without an operation or treatment. And they said that they wouldn't need to have me in to do anything on my ankle at all.'

When the Aston Martin tore into Mrs. James and did its grisly job on her body, it did not neglect her face. Her features were ripped and crosshatched by scars. When she was strong enough she was sent to the famous Stoke Mandeville Hospital for plastic surgery. This is what she told me about that episode in her life:

'Having had all those operations at the Buckinghamshire Hospital, I was frightened of what lay in store for me again, and the next time Mr. Chapman came I told him about it. To cut a very long story short, Dr. Lang performed a plastic surgery operation on my face. When he finished he wanted to know exactly when I had to go to hospital, and I told him that it was to be in a fortnight's time. He then said: "Oh, by then it'll be cleared up. Don't forget to bring that to the doctor's notice, and ask whether you can have your name taken off the list." Well, I did, because my face became as it is now -- with powder on you can't see a thing -- and when the lady doctor from the Stoke Mandeville Hospital examined me she was stunned. She couldn't understand it. She said there was no need for plastic surgery now. Once again Dr. Lang had performed a miracle.'  

[Healing Hands, 1978 revised edition, pp. 64-68]

Comments

[Michael H]

. . . someone said you were living in a trailer, and I had visions of you lying there undiscovered...

I've been living in my RV for about a year and a half - and may never move back inside a permanent box! :-)

Sri Aurobindo's book "The Life Divine" has a chapter called "The Origin of Ignorance" (Book II, Part I Chapter 12).

FYI - Almost all of Aurobindo's writings, including The Life Divine are available as PDF downloads from the http://www.sriaurobindoashram.org/ashram/sriauro/writings.php>ashram.

[Teri]

"I've been living in my RV for about a year and a half - and may never move back inside a permanent box!"

How does that work -do you rent a place on a site or do you have to move around? Is this for the purposes of spiritual retreat?
(I'm nosey)

[Michael H]

How does that work -do you rent a place on a site or do you have to move around? Is this for the purposes of spiritual retreat?

I'm currently staying month-to-month at an RV park, but might decide to move on at any moment. (That's the cool part!) It's remarkable how many people I've met that RV full time - (not just retirees, either) - most will spend a few months at any given stop and then move on.

I'm not sure that I'd say my intent is spiritual retreat, though I will say that it's good for the spirit to live closer to nature. I'm much more cognizant of the movements of the sun and moon over the seasons, for example, and falling asleep with the coyotes howling in the distance is pretty cool, too. The long term plan is to find a community in which to settle again, but I'm in no hurry, and it may be that business opportunities that have presented themselves might make this lifestyle highly advantageous for the next few years. Time will tell.