Carol Everett, psychic healer

[AUTHOR’S NOTE: Several years ago, while writing for the now defunct Examiner.com website as the Atlanta Creationism Examiner, I learned of credible (and incredible) claims about the healing power of the human mind that practically defy the human imagination, and wrote about the allegedly amazing accomplishments of psychic healers such as Geoff Boltwood and Henry Rucker.  One of the psychic healers I wrote about was a woman named Carol Everett. In the spirit of full disclosure,  before I re-publish my original article or write anything more, I need to share some information with readers:

First, I have corresponded with Ms. Everett several times, but we have never met. I have not been offered any financial incentives to intentionally deceive anyone to her benefit.

Second, what attracted me to this original story I wrote several years ago was the fact that a respected medical doctor had been willing to put his reputation on the line to scientifically test Carol’s reported psychic healing ability. One of the most frequent criticisms my atheist friends offer in regard to my personal beliefs is the purported lack of scientific evidence.

Third, and perhaps most important of all, is that the reader should be aware that I’m inclined to believe that Carol’s reported abilities are legitimate. For the same reason I’m willing to risk scorn and ridicule for writing about what I honestly believe to be real based on what I’ve learned from interviews with the people involved. Neither the doctors, patients allegedly cured, nor I have motive to lie on Carol’s behalf. I wouldn’t write this article if I didn’t believe the information is true. I have a powerful motive to revisit this story at this particular time that will be fully explained when the articles to follow about Carol are published. This first article explains how Carol and I initially connected several years ago.

It was originally published as part 4 of a 5 part series titled “Miracle Workers.”]

Well known in England,  psychic/healer Carol Everett claims to be able to detect tumors and cysts in people, and she helps them heal themselves using the power of her mind.

Carol attributes her gift to NDE-like experiences that began when she was seven years old.  She frequently envisioned herself traveling down a tunnel toward a bright light, where she met very kind people with helpful knowledge at the other end and received her “special abilities” as a result.

Dr. Yoshio Machi of Tokyo Denki University decided to put Carol’s rather audacious claims to the test via scientific experiment.  He persuaded Carol to participate in testing her ability to see if she could successfully diagnose and treat a patient with a cancerous tumor. According to Dr. Machi, the patient was medically diagnosed with an ovarian tumor using thermography prior to Carol’s physical examination.  She was not informed of the imaging results.

Carol was wired with sensors that allowed a team of researchers to monitor her alpha and beta brain wave activity while she “examined” and successfully diagnosed the patient. A room full of scientists monitored a bank of computers attached to Carol’s sensors were able to observe as she used her right brain to generate alpha waves that located the tumor.

More amazingly, within a span of eight minutes, Carol emitted a second burst of alpha brain wave activity while appearing to meditate after finding the cancer. Not coincidentally, the thermography equipment allowed them to watch as the tumor shrank drastically when Carol focused all of her concentration on it.

While this information presents some semblance of scientific evidence to support the idea that some psychics actually have a genuine ability to heal people, it does not automatically constitute irrefutable proof of a supernatural creator God.

But what it should accomplish is to give the reader pause to consider: if science can confirm that this power exists, from where does it come?

If you consider yourself Christian, even if you believe the healing is a false sign from Satan and not a genuine healing, does not evidence for Satan give credibility to the argument that God must also exist or else pure evil would rule the world?  (It seems to be making progress in that direction on a daily basis.) And if the reader happens to be an atheist, should not evidence that scientists endeavor to produce be given consideration beyond a cursory dismissal?

If you follow the link above, you can read a translation of part of Machi’s paper on Carol Everett’s website.  A video interview with Dr. Machi includes footage showing the thermographs of Carol’s brain produced by the bathing cap full of sensors that she wore for the experiment. It provides some rather powerful evidence indicating that some people have a supernatural ability to naturally tap into the right frontal lobe of their brain in order to produce extraordinary results.

My article tomorrow will talk about a more recent scientific experiment where another team of doctors tested Carol’s ability to help people heal themselves, and the article to follow that will explain in detail why I suddenly decide to write about Carol again.