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Psychic surgeon or misguided Messiah?
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UNITED KINGDOM. What are we to make of Stephen Turoff – a man who began as a psychic reader, developed into a “psychic surgeon” and is now apparently evolving into a Messiah before our very eyes?
Unfortunately, a BBC 2 television documentary about his claims, shown on 15 January 2007 as part of the fascinating series Trust Me I’m A Healer, failed to come up with answers. But it revealed that he seems to be winning converts in Europe’s eastern bloc countries, while closer to home there seems to be doubt from an unlikely source.
Hopelessly sick people from around the world flock to Turoff’s healing clinic in Chelmsford, Essex, in the hope of finding a cure. He sees an average of 50 a day, five days a week, throughout the year. His wife deals with bookings, advising enquirers that there is no guarantee of a result.
 Even so, several satisfied patients were prepared to testify on camera that Turoff – or, to be more precise, Dr Joseph Khan, a spirit doctor who works through him – is responsible for curing their incurable conditions, notably cancer.
One woman described how Turoff had opened her up, laid two ribs on her stomach, and removed a large mass of glutinous material.
An impressive testimony. So it was disappointing, to say the least, that the BBC cameras did not get an opportunity to film such psychic surgery. All we saw was Turoff putting his hands on a couple of patients and speaking to them in what sounded like his normal voice: no sign of him being controlled by Dr Khan. And when he was asked if he would allow a cancer specialist to come and watch him carry out psychic operations on patients, he flatly refused.
Instead, the programme focused on Turoff’s growing interest in promoting himself as far more than a healer. In his introduction to the 2004 edition of his book Stephen Turoff Psychic Surgeon, author Grant Solomon describes him as “a contemporary healer, teacher, priest, philosopher, knight, philanthropist and mystic”.
So it should have come as no surprise to find Turoff, on a visit to Slovenia followed by the BBC 2 film crew, donning a white robe and descending into a cave that has been converted into a church, to bless it and energise it. He spoke in reverential terms about himself – “when a man such as I comes among you” – and made the sign of the cross in the best papal tradition.
Back home in Essex, he had many strange photos to show, which appeared to indicate strange occurrences and transfigurations. Most, if not all, could easily be dismissed as double exposures or blurred images caused by taking photographs in low light. He pointed to one which appeared to show a face of the Virgin Mary on a cross. How did that get there? Easy! It was there already – clearly visible in the film as an ornate feature of a cross standing on the altar in front of him.
 But these images were enough to freak out his wife, who found it all very disturbing. She was, in fact, the star of the documentary, closing her eyes to a squint and pulling a face whenever his claims became too preposterous. The interviewer asked her what it was like “living with God”. Her unspoken response suggested that he was fast becoming Mr Turnoff.
Though the style of the documentary was as open-minded as it could be, under the circumstances, the BBC 2 website seems to take a different view. It says this about Trust Me I’m A Healer:
“This eye-opening series delves into the world of fake psychics and peddlers of miracle cures and follows some of the self-proclaimed healers as they tout their dubious talent.” One wonders whether the participants realised they were going to be portrayed in such a way.
Next week (22 January) another English “spiritual surgeon” – Ray Brown – will be featured, together with his guide Paul – not just any Paul, but Paul of Tarsus, founder of the Christian religion.
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Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Category: Mediumship
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