Resonating energy

A Croatian man, named Braco (prounounced Brahts-zo), rented four or five conference rooms at the hotel to provide 13 five-to eight-minute non-verbal gazing sessions. About 200-300 people, some in wheelchairs, some with crutches, and some with unseen diseases, sat in rows of about 22 chairs each and waited for Braco, who some call a healer.

Faber resident George Kevin Morrison, a registered nurse with U.Va. Health South in Charlottesville, was among those in the room, only not seated. He was there volunteering his time.

“I’ve been working since October to bring Braco to Virginia,” he said. “To give people an opportunity to come and have an experience of the gazing themselves.

“I volunteer because I believe something’s going on.”

The people who attended the gazings describe that something in many ways.

Kathleen Smith, of Norfolk, said she experienced seeing an aura emanating from Braco, a gold and white light coming from the man.

“I still feel the energy coming from him even now,” she said a half-hour following her gazing session at 11 a.m. Feb. 17.

Smith had come to Richmond with a group of friends to see Braco: James McMillan, also of Norfolk; Emiko Evart, Sokara Kamillisa and Shirley Kitchell, all of Virginia Beach; and Nancy Fortier, of Williamsburg.

Every single person in the group experienced something and all were happily willing to share it with a stranger.

“My eyes were closed during the gazing,” said Fortier. “I decided to send him love and I saw hearts going over to him.” It was her attempt to give back she said.

McMillan saw a bright aura about Braco and other presences in the glow.

“I was just one of many there sharing the energy,” he said. “His aura was so bright, it almost hurt my eyes. We live in a sea of God’s energy, not like the churches would have you believe, but one of a universal mind, energy and love.”

McMillan, a spiritualist for 48 years, said religion makes no difference and indeed, Braco claims his work for no specific religion. McMillan believes that everyone has the desire to return “home” and merge into the cosmic oneness of God.

“It’s all about love and that’s what makes the difference,” he said. “How much you love and can be loved. It’s a love we’ve never really known.”

Kamillisa and Kitchell both experienced that “love” physically they said.

“In the moments just prior to his arrival, my back and arms started tingling,” said Kamillisa, an energy healer and consciousness techniques instructor. “The energy raced up and down my back.”

When Braco did appear, she didn’t see much, she said, “But I felt compassion.” At one point, she felt tearful and thought she also saw tears in his eyes as she thought he was connecting with the people personally on a spiritual energy level.

Kitchell, who suffers with three collapsed vertebrae in her spine, experienced a feeling of her back being stretched.

“I was able to stand there the whole time,” she said, which is something she is unable to do normally due to pain. She also saw three different and separate entities with Braco while he stood on a platform on stage.

Kitchell said she’d be checking things out with her doctor at her next appointment to see if she’d experienced any physical changes.

Another man, from Waynesboro, who wanted to remain nameless, suffers with multiple sclerosis. While Braco was gazing at him, he said he also saw an aura around Braco and wings emanating from behind him.

“My pain was at a 7 on a scale from one-to-ten and afterwards, my pain had lessened to a 3,” he said.

Morrison, volunteering with Braco since October when he traveled to Connecticut, to see for himself, said he’s making an effort to support Braco’s work, because he experienced different things with each gazing he attended.

“I’ve had a major release of fear, doubt, insecurity, frustration and anxiety,” Morrison said. “Those feelings have been replaced with a loving light and joy I’ve never had before. I feel love, peace and comfort and I received the message that, ‘Who you are is OK and to be comfortable with myself.’”

Even his coworkers, he said, told him they noticed a change with him after his return from Connecticut, saying they noticed a “brightness” about him.

The diversity of experiences for visitors is commonplace, Morrison said, and was backed up by Angelika Whitecliff, a promoter of consciousness techniques from Hawaii, who promotes Braco sessions on the U.S. East coast after her experience with him about two years ago.

A friend who had brought her son to a gazing and was supposedly healed of an illness introduced her to his work. When Whitecliff’s friend sent her an e-mail on it, she also included a photo of Braco.

“I immediately felt exhilaration at seeing his picture,” she said.

Her first gazing experience, led her to invite Braco to work in Hawaii also, which then led to an opportunity to spend time with him in Croatia for three weeks, at his spiritual center, traveling with him and among his friends and family. She documented her experiences afterwards in a book.

“In Europe, thousands of people stand in line to see Braco,” she said. “Because there are so many who come, people there can only see him once during a visit. For some people, one time is enough.”

She said that many people often return time and time again because results seem to have accumulative effects.

Still, Braco’s visits are not welcomed everywhere

“In Italy, because he doesn’t choose a religion, there were issues with the Catholic Church,” said Whitecliff. “But he has an open door policy.”

Then there are the naysayers, she said, who believe that Braco’s work is of the devil. “It’s because they’re not open to alternative ideas. We all see what we want to see.”

As for Braco, says nothing. He has been silent in public for eight years since beginning his quiet ministry and only converses now with those around him to keep the work going, except when he is home with his family, said Whitecliff.

“Then he lives a normal integrated life,” she said.

“He knows the energy is in the tools and that he doesn’t put it there, he’s just the conduit for something coming through him. He says he doesn’t own the energy, the energy owns him.”