With the support of the Kairos Foundation of Wilmette, Illinois, a Sufi practitioner (J.H.) was invited from the Middle East to a local radiology facility in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 1, 1999. He had permission from the shaikh of the Kasnazaniyah Sufi School to perform a demonstration of rapid wound healing after insertion of an unsterilized metal skewer, 0.38 cm (5 32 inch) thick and approximately 13 cm (51 6 inch) long, while being videotaped by a film crew in the presence of scientists and health care professionals (Hall et al, 2001). This was apparently the first demonstration by a practitioner from this Sufi school in the United States. The practitioner consented to sign a release of liability for the medical facility and personnel against claims from possible injuries. Emergency medical technicians were present. The major goal of this demonstration was to observe the authenticity of rapid wound healing following a deliberately caused injury within a medical setting. The demonstration was also conducted with radiological, immunological, and EEG evaluations, as well as a Zener noise diode random event generator (REG), similar to equipment employed at Princeton University by Dr. Robert Jahn and colleagues. Based on previous studies in Brazil with healer–mediums engaged in quasisurgical practices, it was hypothesized that DCBD healing would be accompanied by alterations in brain waves and effects on REGs. The alterations in brain waves found in the Brazilian healer–mediums showed statistically significant enhancement of broadband 40-Hz brain rhythms (Don & Moura, 2000). A statistically significant deviation from random behavior in REGs was found in a test run covertly, while the Brazilian healer–mediums were in a trance. This methodology was developed by Robert Jahn and associates at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Laboratory (Nelson et al, 1996, 1998). Such energy fields have been considered to be theoretically associated with rapid wound healing (Don & Moura, 2000).
Nineteen-channel EEGs were recorded during baseline resting conditions, while the dervish inserted the skewer through his cheek and immediately after removal of the instrument. An REG, plugged into the serial port of a computer, was run in the background without informing the dervish. The distribution of binary digits was tested for possible significant deviations from random behavior. Data were acquired before and after the self-insertion, as well as during the self-insertion. Before insertion of the skewer and about one hour after the piercing, blood was collected from the practitioner and from three volunteers (used as control subjects) for an immunological analysis of the percent change in white blood cell CD4, CD8, and total T-cell counts.