HAVE A GANDER at Braco the Gazer
Thousands of people flood into an auditorium, many looking ill, some hobbling, others in wheelchairs, ready to open their pocketbooks in return for a few miracles. They’ve come to see Braco the Gazer.
What a clever scheme! There’s no overt deception. You don’t claim to be able to do anything. You don’t preach. You don’t offer any sort of philosophy. In fact, you don’t even talk. You don’t touch anyone. You don’t sell any potions. You don’t use any sleight of hand tricks. You don’t use any sort of equipment. You don’t wear strange clothes. However, you do grow your hair to project an image of a certain biblical figure associated with healing. But you don’t call yourself a healer, although you do not object if others do. In fact, you do nothing but promise to gaze at people for about seven minutes if they plunk down $8. You are “Braco the Gazer.” And you are a phenomenon!
Picture this. Thousands of people flood into an auditorium, many looking ill, some hobbling with canes, others in wheelchairs, reminiscent of crowds that flock to faith healers, ready to open up their pocketbooks in return for a few miracles. But in this case there are no promises of miracles. Not directly anyway. The proceedings begin with the session’s host welcoming everyone to the meeting with “the healer who doesn’t call himself a healer.” A nice little legalistic “out.” Everyone’s experience will be different, the audience is told, and “skeptics will become believers.” “There should be no specific expectations.” But of course there are. People have heard that Braco’s silent holistic gift can clarify the mind, vanish pain and wither tumours. It can also repair stalled cars and stop cats from vomiting.
There are a few instructions before the holy man, who does not claim to be one, appears. Cellphones and other electronic devices must be turned off because they may disrupt Braco’s “energy,” despite the fact that he himself makes no claim to projecting any such thing. Then a warning. The session is only for people over the age of 18, because for youngsters the gazing energy is too powerful. Ditto for women who are more than one trimester along in their pregnancy. That’s a curious one, because developmental problems are most likely to be initiated in the first trimester. An exception is made on Nov. 23, Braco’s birthday, when families can bring children. Perhaps on that day he tunes down the energy he makes no claim to have.
The host’s introductory remarks are followed by a video of an unfortunate skeptic who had been diagnosed with “Agent Orange cancer virus” (a befuddling term) and had attended a previous event with the healer who does not claim to be a healer. The skeptic went home, his idea that this was all bunk confirmed. But two days later, a blood test declared him to be cured! Must be some blood test, capable of detecting a nonexistent virus. After a few more words about the importance of being skeptical, and instructions to hold up photos or X-rays of sick people to be cured in absentia by the man who claims no healing ability, the time arrives for the “Silent Gaze.”
Braco, the Croatian nonhealing healer has been enthralling massive audiences in Europe for some 18 years, but only in 2010 did he discover the greenback pastures of America. In Europe, he usually limits himself to just one gazing session per day, but everything is bigger in America. Here visitors can cycle through the lines of “Braco Gazing” all day long, as long as they pay their entry fee each time. And for this all they get to do is gaze at the gazer. Braco struts onto the stage, long hair flowing, face expressionless. You wouldn’t be surprised to hear “Jesus Christ Superstar” bursting from the loudspeakers, but all you hear is some New Age music. Body almost motionless, he … well … gazes. That’s what gazers do. They gaze. And gaze. Some of the “gazees” snicker, others revel in rapture, curiously with their eyes closed. Maybe the magical gaze penetrates eyelids.
After about seven minutes, it’s over. He glides off the stage, the room empties, ready to be refilled by a new throng, along with some repeaters who feel they need another dose of healing energy from the man who makes no claim to have any. In the lobby, there are testimonials galore about toothaches disappearing, back problems vanishing and bodies being filled with intense heat. But those who came in wheelchairs leave in them. One lady claims to have been overcome by a “big bubble of love.” It is not exactly clear what this means, but she seems to have been “satisfied.” There are books and DVDS to buy, as well as jewellery that features a 13-pronged star. Again, no claims are made other than that the Sun is the symbol of life and the Sun is the source, which gives us life, light and energy. Can’t argue with that.
Of course, not everyone can get to one of Braco’s events. That’s no problem, though, because thanks to modern technology you can experience the gaze through live streaming. At $3 per session it seems a bargain. That’s a lot less than what one might spend on various dietary supplements, magnets, crystals, pendulums, power bracelets, aerobic oxygen solutions or homeopathic preparations that are marketed with testimonials virtually identical to those heard from people who have been gazed at by Braco.
I thought I’d give the silent gazer a look. He is a good gazer, I’ll give him that. But there was no heat, no infusion of vitality, no sensations of inner peace, no awakenings of consciousness, just some thoughts about what he was thinking about as his gaze delivered its dose of placebo. Maybe I should have stuck with it for the full 20 minutes I paid for. Maybe it’s a dose dependent thing. I can’t complain though. Unlike detox foot pads, Kangen water, or zero energy healing wands that do not live up to their lofty promises, Braco gives you exactly what you paid for. He will gaze at you for the period of time you purchased. A clever man. A lot more clever than the folks he gazes at.