Arigo–The Surgeon with the Rusty Knife

“In this story, so strange, so incredible, there are un-disputed facts, facts that cannot be denied, cannot be altered even by the most obdurate skeptic. It is an established fact that Ze Arigo, the peasant Brazilian surgeon-healer, could cut through the flesh and viscera with an unclean kitchen-or pocket knife and there would be no pain, no hemostasis-the tying off of blood vessels and no need for stitches. It is a fact that he could stop the flow of blood with a sharp verbal command. It is a fact that there would be no ensuing infection, even though no antiseptic was used. It is a fact that he could write swiftly some of the most sophisticated prescriptions in modern pharmacology,yet he never went beyond third grade and never studied the subject. It is a fact that he could almost instantly make clear, accurate, and confirmable diagnoses or blood pressure readings with scarcely  a glance at  the patient.It Is a fact that both Brazilian and American doctors have verified Arigo's healings and have taken explicit color motion pictures of his work and operations. It is a fact that Arigo treated over three hundred patients a day for nearly two decades and never charged for his  services. It is a fact that among his patients were leading executives, statesmen ,lawyers ,scientists, doctors, aristocrats from many countries,as well as the poor and desolate.It is a fact that Brazil's former President ,Juscelino Kubitschek,the  creator of the capital city of Brasilia and himself a physician, brought  his daughter to Arigo for successful treatment.It is a fact that Arigo also brought about medically confirmed cures in cases of different fatal diseases that had been given up as hopeless by leading doctors and hospitals in some of the most advanced countries in the Western world. But none of these facts, all carefully brought together and examined, can add up to an explanation. And it is for this reason that this story is so difficult  to write.” This is an excerpt from “Arigo: Surgeon of the Rusty Knife” by John G Fuller Now, this was a long ass explanation and you might be wondering why. This post deals with a miracle surgeon who was supposedly an expert in the art of Psychic Surgery.
José Pedro de Freitas (Zé Arigó ) was a psychic surgeon. He performed psychic surgery with his hands or simple kitchen utensils (knife being his preferred tool) while in a mediunic trance, channeling the spirit of the “hypothetical’ German Surgeon Dr. Adolf Fritz.
There is no evidence to prove the existence of a doctor of that name, however many mediums have claimed to be channeling his spirit. Arigó was the first to do so.


BIOGRAPHY(18 October 1921 – 1 November 1971)
Zé Arigó was born José Pedro de Freitas on a farm located 6 kilometers from Congonhas, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. His family was very poor and he could only study up to the third grade of school.
As per his autobiography, Arigó began suffering from severe migraine, insomnia and hallucinations at the age of 29. One day he felt that the voice that had been pursuing him took over his body, and he had a vision of a bald man, dressed in a white apron and supervising a team of doctors and nurses in an enormous operating room. This entity identified itself as "Dr. Fritz."
After claiming to have channeled Dr. Fritz, Arigó began to perform operations using scalpels and needles. His reputation soared and spread throughout Brazil after it was alleged that he had removed a cancerous tumor from the lung of a well-known Brazilian senator. Over the next twenty years, thousands of people who mistrusted traditional medicine, or had not found help in it, came to Congonhas in search of a cure. However, there is no substantial evidence that he ever healed anyone.
In 1956 Arigó was convicted of illegally practicing medicine. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, but was pardoned by President Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira. In 1962 he was arrested and held for seven months for practicing medicine without a license. However, he was allowed to continue treating people while held in jail. Despite the problems with the authorities, his fame Arigó died in 1971, in an automobile accident.

MIRACLE SURGERIES

Claiming to be guided by the wise voice of a long-deceased physician whom he had never known personally,the uneducated healer saw as many as 300 patients a day,diagnosing and treating them in minutes.He treated almost every known ailment, and most of his patients not only survived but actually improved or recovered.
He gained a cult following in his homeland and was considered as a miracle worker able to cure any disease. That he was performing his treatment with crude and presumably unhygienic tools, did not deter patients.
Arigo’s specialty was surgery. He has allegedly performed numerous surgeries for ailments ranging from cataract to malignant tumors – all with the help of his rusty knife.
Arigo’s “hospital was a dilapidated old church where patients would line up in a queue along the wall. The doctor would start with a prayer and then preach about the ill effects of drinking and smoking to all those who were gathered. Once this was done, he would call each patient into a cubicle where subsequent diagnose and treatment would be administered.

DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE
in the year 1970, renowned parapsychologist Dr. Andrija Puharich, shot 8 silent movies of Arigo in action while he was on his Brazilian expedition. One of the videos is included here

SCIENTIFIC PREMISES These miraculous acts perpetrated by Arigo may not be so far fetched after all because, the concept of “psychic surgery” is seemingly a perfect platform for them. Psychic surgery involves making incisions and surgeries with bare hands or cruse tools and their subsequent healing at an exponential rate.

 PERSECUTION & DEMISE
Despite his demi-god status, Arigo was persecuted by both the government and the Church. The government pressed charges on him for illegal practice of medicine. The church on the other hand, branded Arigo a Heretic and accused him of being a witch doctor performing with craft.
Arigo was convicted of illegally practicing medicine and sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was pardoned by the President himself
Arigo passed away in the yea 1971 in an automobile accident – without any fuss. However, he was very quickly forgotten by the people as well.

CONCLUSION
Despite the magnitude of his skills and fame in Brazil, it never made it to the world at large, probably because of the communication channels back then or lack thereof. A large number of psychologists and people in general are still very skeptic about Arigo and his skills. Whatever they may say, they cannot contradict the hundreds of patients who claim to have been cured by Arigo. Hoax or not, Arigo has provided the world with the precious few evidence we have for Psychic Surgery. If he were alive for a while longer, we may have known the story in its entirety.
As a final note, I would like to mention a movie that is being made around the story of Arigo. The link for that is provided here as well
http://www.arigothemovie.com/