Martina Castro, Part 1 - Psychic Surgeries & John of God's Spiritual Celebrity

Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture, True Crime, Comedy

4.5 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2026

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week’s guest is Martina Castro, creator of podcast Two Faced: John of God, Exactly Right’s new podcast series about John of God, the Brazilian self-proclaimed healer and “psychic surgeon.” In part one, Martina explains John of God’s history and mythology, how he became internationally famous for his alleged healings (amplified by celebrities like Oprah), and the carefully primed environment he created called “the Casa.” Everyone dressed in white! Crystals! Waterfalls! And of course, lines of pilgrims watching him channel “doctor spirits” to supposedly heal the town's many visitors.

They discuss how his “free healings” weren’t as free as promised, his so-called “invisible surgeries” that supposedly worked from across the globe, and the in-person healings he did that involved putting objects up uncomfortably far up people’s nasal cavities. And next week, we’ll get into the explosive allegations that came out during the #MeToo movement.

SOURCES
Two-Faced: John of God
Dos Caras: Juan de Dios

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is exactly right.
0:07.1	Trust me.
0:08.4	Do you trust me?
0:10.2	Would I ever lead you astray?
0:11.7	Trust me.
0:12.6	This is the truth.
0:13.8	The only truth.
0:15.2	If anybody ever tells you to just trust them, don't.
0:19.0	Welcome to Trust Me, the podcast about cults extreme belief and manipulation from two
0:23.9	doctor spirits who've actually experienced it.
0:26.2	I am Lola Blanc.
0:27.9	Two doctor spirits?
0:29.5	I'm Megan Elizabeth.
0:31.5	Today our guest is Martina Castro, part one with her.
0:35.5	She's the creator of New Exactly Right podcast Two-Faced John of God,
0:39.7	a series about John of God, the Brazilian self-proclaimed healer and psychic surgeon. In part one today,
0:46.0	she's going to talk to us about John of God's history and mythology, how he became internationally
0:50.3	famous for his alleged healings, amplified by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey,
0:54.8	and the carefully primed environment called the Casa, where visitors would come with everyone
0:59.0	dressed in white, crystals and waterfalls, and people lining up to watch John of God channel
1:04.5	spirits to supposedly heal people. Indeed, we'll discuss how his free healings weren't as free as promised, his so-called invisible
1:14.2	surgeries that supposedly worked from across the globe, and the in-person healings he did that
	...

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