Suggested Videos for Use with Chapter 7

Uncle Poison - A healer on healing, medicine & religion...Filmed in the modern city of Caracas, capitol of Venezuela, Uncle Poison is an intimate portrait of a traditional faith healer, set against the backdrop of his community's Easter celebrations. Every day Benito Reyes receives people at his house looking for all sorts of cures. Through his own testimony this documentary looks at the healer's role as mediator between the social, natural and spiritual worlds.
http://www.der.org/films/uncle-poison.html

Quest for Truth - Richard Rossi filmed for the first time documented footage of actual exorcisms and contemporary healing miracles of Biblical proportions in his stunning documentary which first aired on the FOX network. Credible cases and testimonies of ordinary people experiencing extraordinary power include a woman paralyzed thirty years instantly walks, a cancer victim who is cured, a disabled child with a twisted foot miraculously is made whole. The viewer is held on the edge of his seat for the most fascinating documentary on faith healing and exorcism ever done, set to a score of contemporary rock music!
http://www.buyindies.com/listings/1/0/1072247607234.html

Answered Prayers? Investigating the Healing Power of Prayer - Can prayer account for astonishing recoveries that exceed medical expectations? In this program, doctors—including Larry Dossey, author of Healing Words—and people outside the medical profession share their understanding of prayer as a complementary therapy and the different approaches to using it. They also discuss the difference between curing and healing, and whether or not a patient’s death is a failure of prayer. People of different faiths agree that prayers for the ill, whether done as part of a group or alone, vocally or silently, can help provide meaning, hope, and possibly even health for those in need of healing.
http://www.films.com/id/10543

The Power of Belief: Its Impact on Our Minds - Belief is at the heart of the world’s great religions as well as the sustaining power behind the paranormal, supernatural, and occult events that grace America’s tabloids. How can belief be explained, and from what deep well within the human psyche does it spring? In this program, ABC News anchor John Stossel goes to a psychology lab and even walks through fire to investigate the power of belief—as demonstrated by the placebo and "nocebo" effects—and what psychologists call "magical thinking." Mr. Stossel takes a look at a wide range of phenomena that exist beyond the ken of modern science, including astrology, faith healing, voodoo, channeling, and clairvoyance.
http://www.films.com/id/11140

Soul of a Woman: The Life and Times of Mary Baker Eddy - Mark Twain called her “the most interesting woman who ever lived, and the most extraordinary.” Born in New Hampshire in 1821, Mary Baker Eddy was a rebel who sparked a revolution in “spiritual thinking,” teaching healing in what she called “perfect scientific accord with divine law.” By the time she died at age 89, she had become a best-selling author, a shrewd businesswoman, and the founder of The First Church of Christ, Scientist.
https://secure.nhptv.org/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=VIMARYBEDDY&
Category_Code=SP

Miracle Healings from Crosses of Light - Many people who experience the crosses of light receive spiritual, emotional and/or physical healing. This video contains 30 minutes of continuous images of different crosses of light, along with a sound track of beautiful music. It may be used for meditation and spiritual nourishment. While no healing claims are made for this tape, it is sure to lift your spirits and renew your faith in the wonder and power of the Universal Force, by whatever name you call It.
http://www.mcn.org/1/Miracles/videocross.html

Leap of Faith - stars Steve Martin as Jonas Nightengale, a fraudulent faith healer who makes a living visiting small towns and giving hope in the form of prayer. Aided by his no nonsense manager, Jane (Winger), Jonas sets up his tent in a small suburb of Kansas where he soon learns that their hidden mikes, cameras and computers can’t fool the neighborhood sheriff (Neeson). But, when Jonas is touched by a local waitress (Davidovich) and her disabled son Boyd (Haas), he learns something new about truth and what real miracles are made of.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000A2ZNZ/qid=1110751043/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-9034022
-3135344?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846

The Blind and the Dead - call them The blind and the dead. They're today's most popular televangelists and ministers. Practicing their money-making craft with smooth tongues, corrupt personalities, and captivating charm, they have already delivered untold millions of souls into the waiting arms of their master, a rough beast whom the Bible calls Satan, the devil, the adversary, the deceiver.
http://www.conspiracyworld.com/index0021.htm

Marjoe - This amazing documentary on the rise and fall of Marjoe Gortner, the one time child evangelist turned revival tent preacher, turned B-grade movie star, was years ahead of it's time, predating the coming wave of the electric church and modern day healer huckster by 10 years.
http://www.5minutesonline.com/1D/MARJOEPAGE.htm

The Split Horn - he sweeping story of a Hmong shaman and his family living in Appleton, Wisconsin. Documenting the journey of Paja Thao and his family from the mountains of Laos to the heartland of America, this poignant film shows a shaman's struggle to maintain his ancient traditions as his children embrace American culture. America has become the testing ground for the enduring strength of Hmong culture. The evocative narrative captures the daily struggle of Paja Thao's family caught between two worlds. Macumba Trance and Spirit Healing - Filmed primarily in Rio de Janeiro, the film shows the art of trance healing and expresses an Ericksonian approach. In today's stressful world, millions of people turn to spiritism for help. This film shows the roots and beliefs of Afrospirit religions as practiced by the privileged rich as well as the illiterate poor.
http://www.alchemyfilms.com/splithorn/see.html

Jero Tapakan: Balinese Healer - Jero Tapakan, a spirit medium in a small, central Balinese village, consults with a group of clients in her shrinehouse…Jero had a unique opportunity to spontaneously and consciously react to and reflect upon the experience of possession. Her comments provide insight into how she feels while possessed, her understanding of sorcery, and her humility in the presence of the supernatural world.
http://www.der.org/films/jero-tapakan.html

A Curing Ceremony - Sha//ge, a very young woman about to have her first child, falls ill, probably with malaria. /Ti!kay, a relative and healer, enters a mild trance, without the stimulus of dancing, in an attempt to cure her. Sha//ge lives but her baby is born dead.
http://www.der.org/films/curing-ceremony.html

Brujo (Shaman) - Brujo is an exploration of shamanism and curing among the Mazatec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico, and among two groups of Maya Indians in southern Mexico and Guatemala. The film is divided into three sequences. The first, filmed in Chichicastenango (Guatemala), shows Diego, a shaman, cure a woman on whom a spell has been cast. The cure takes place partly in a church and partly in the mountains, where a sacrificed chicken is used to bring back the ailing woman's spirit.
http://www.der.org/films/brujo.html

Legacy of the Spirits - Legacy of the Spirits traces the religion from Africa to Haiti to New York City. It explains the theology of the religion, the meaning of the rituals, the pantheon of spirits, possession, the sacred drawings (called ve-ve), the Catholic influence, the history of persecution and more. This is all explained by priests and priestesses who practice Vodou and who give the film the quality of being both informative, yet personal.
http://www.der.org/films/legacy-of-the-spirits.html

N/Um Tchai: The Ceremonial Dance of the !Kung Bushmen - Tchai is the word used by the !Kung to describe getting together to dance and sing; n/um can be translated as medicine, or supernatural potency. The !Kung gather for "medicine dances" often, usually at night, and sometimes such dances last until dawn.
http://www.der.org/films/num-tchai.html

Wondrous Healing - Why do human beings have the ability to go into a trance state? Is there an evolutionary or genetic component to this ability? What effect does shamanistic ritual have on human health? Should alternative healing practices be subjected to federal law? Through interviews with physicians, patients, and alternative healers, Wondrous Healing explores the relationships among shamanistic ritual, belief, and human health
http://religion.media.psu.edu/moreInfo_03001DVD.html

Trance and Dance in Bali - Records a performance of the Balinese ceremonial kris (dagger) dance-drama, which depicts the never-ending struggle between witch (death-dealing) and dragon (life-protecting), as it was given in the village of Pagoetan in the late 1930s. The dancers experience violent trance seizures, turn their krises against their breasts without injury, and are restored to consciousness with incense and holy water. Narrated by Margaret Mead against a background of Balinese music.
http://music.media.psu.edu/moreInfo_24636VH.html

Macumba, Trance and Spirit Healing - Spiritism is based on the belief that man can communicate with the supernatural world through mediums who act as intermediaries. Grouped commonly under the word "voodoo" or "macumba," these forbidden sects were the targets of police raids. Now some of the techniques of trance healing are used by the medical profession to help individuals achieve personal and social equilibrium. In this film a doctor is seen treating schizophrenics, epileptics and drug addicts with spiritist techniques.
http://www.filmakers.com/indivs/Macumba.htm

What is Reiki? - People can channel and heal by simply placing their hands upon a person. Ian Welch explains about the history of Reiki and how we need to be attuned to Reiki before we can channel it. If you are new to Reiki, this DVD is an excellent starting point.
http://www.newworldmusic.com/us/product.php?xProd=250&xSec=3