Fraudulent faith healer jailed for 10 years

[cbayer]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/30/fraudulent-faith-healer-jailed-10-years

Juliette D'Souza masqueraded as a shaman for more than 12 years, persuading people to hand over thousands of pounds

theguardian.com, Friday 30 May 2014 08.44 EDT

Juliette D'Souza, who told clients she was hanging their money from a sacred tree in the Amazonian rainforest. Photograph: Hannah McKay/National Pictures

A woman who posed as a faith healer to con vulnerable victims out of almost £1m has been jailed for 10 years.

Juliette D'Souza masqueraded as a shaman for more than 12 years to convince 11 of her clients to hand over thousands of pounds to solve issues such as illness, redundancy, or problems conceiving a baby.

The 59-year-old, from Hampstead, north London, told her victims the money was a "sacrifice" which would be used as a spiritual offering at a sacred tree in the Amazonian rainforest. There, two other shamans would perform rituals around the money before it was sent back, and their problems would be resolved, she claimed.

In fact she used the proceeds to fund an extravagant lifestyle including designer handbags, luxury holidays and antique furniture.

more at link

[CBGLuthier]

1. 99.999999 percent of the time calling a faith healer fraudulent is redundant.

masqueraded as a shaman is fraud because real shamans can......??? do what exactly?

[trotsky]

2. I was gonna say.. what, there's a non-fraudulent kind? n/t

[cleanhippie]

19. When I hear "shaman", I think "guide" or "medicine man".

Faith healer is a whole other level of BS, IMO.

FWIW, I've used a person I consider a shaman when journeying on DMT or LSD. I've found the experience to be more fulfilling and rewarding than when used recreationally (as in a party drug). YMMV.

[cbayer]

3. Shamanism is a religion practiced in some indigenous cultures

in good faith and not necessarily a fraudulent.

Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you, but there are those that do.

Masquerading as a shaman or any other kind of spiritual leader is what this is about.

[CBGLuthier]

4. Yes, i am quite aware of the claims of shamanism. I stand by MY claim.

a fake shaman is no more fraudulent than a real shaman.

[trotsky]

5. Careful, you're on thin ice now.

Because, you see, if you can't *prove* shamanism is false, then you aren't allowed to make claims like that. Or so say some, at least.

[cbayer]

8. There is the issue of intent. Does that not make a difference?

[trotsky]

9. Can a non-fraudulent shaman heal someone? n/t

[Dorian Gray]

26. I don't know that non-fraudulent shaman

would claim to be able to heal someone.

[AtheistCrusader]

6. How does one 'masquerade' as a 'shaman'?

The only litmus test that comes to mind is someone hearing her admit that she's nothing of the kind.

Edit: I guess another would be to prove she never sent the money to the tree thing.

[cbayer]

7. By pretending to be one and not actually believing that you are.

It's being intentionally fraudulent.

I've known some shamans in New Orleans. Whether I believe that they can do what they say they can do is not the issue, they do. However, I do have one experience that I will never be able to fully explain and that I will never fully speak of.

Anyway, it's about intent. Religion is ripe for fraud, but it's clearly not the only area. Medicine is also rife with fraud and those masquerading as something they are not.

[Act_of_Reparation]

10. "Medicine is also rife with fraud and those masquerading as something they are not."

The difference is that if you give poor healthcare decisions as a licensed professional, you put yourself in a very actionable position. Are there exceptions? Certainly (The Brezinsky Clinic springs to mind).

But if you're Benny Hinn or Peter Popoff, you get to keep making gazillions of tax-free dollars as your "patients" drop like flies.

[cbayer]

11. I am not talking about licensed professionals in medicine.

I'm talking about frauds selling snake oil and doing "studies" that are bogus.

It's the same thing as a fraud in religion.

I want to be the next person who comes up with a disease that everyone has, so I can make a gazillion dollars.

Are you denying that this kind of fraud exists outside religion?

[Act_of_Reparation]

12. Not denying it all

I'm saying I don't make a distinction between people hawking cures they know don't work and people hawking cures they think work but really don't.

[cbayer]

13. Agree with you.

The crux is "but really don't".

When it comes to medicine, it's often not that difficult to often show that something doesn't work.

But when things start to get more complex, it becomes harder.

And, without evidence of something not working and particularly without evidence of something doing harm, I am much more reluctant to dismiss it.

As I noted below, I had an explicable experience involving a shaman in New Orleans at one point. I know she believed, but I didn't. However, the outcome in this particular episode was, as I said, inexplicable to me.

So, while I agree that may be little difference between hawking a cure you know doesn't work and one that is known not to work, I think there is a big difference when it is not known.

The scientist in me says it has to do with belief and faith and other powerful states that we don't understand very well. But there is no doubt that it is often genuine and, indeed, powerful.

[Act_of_Reparation]

14. It depends on the claim being made

If the folk-healer in question makes it perfectly clear the patient should also be seeking evidence-based, mainstream medicinal therapies; that they should not simply rely on faith-based alternatives, then the harm is largely mitigated. If you've got cancer and want to go to a Shaman, that's fine... but cover your damned bases and take the chemo, too.

If the folk-healer claims they can, by spiritual powers alone, cure diseases, then that's fraud. Unintentional fraud if the "healer" really believes they have powers, but fraud all the same.

[cbayer]

15. Again agree.

When there is evidence that the claim being made is not accurate, as you outline, and the practitioner dismisses that or, even worse, says it's not true, that's a problem.

I probably would use another word than fraud because fraud implies that the practitioner has the aim of basically robbing the target, which appears to be the case in this story, but that's not always the intent.

But that a small point not worth quibbling about. I think we are essentially on the same page.

[okasha]

16. The first sign that there was a problem here

should have been that she is a white European who presented herself as somehow working in cooperation with a group of indigenous shamans. All those books about how Mary Smith or John Jones got "adopted" into a Native American nation , given an unlikely Native name and accepted by a powerful shaman as an apprentice--sorry, folks. That just doesn't happen. The exorbitant fees are another red flag. Someone who goes to consult a genuine shaman should bring a small gift--a pouch of tobacco, a dozen eggs. something on that scale. My grandfather treated people and animals without any other charge. He made his living as a farmer.

[cbayer]

17. No kidding. It's really sad that she preyed on these people.

But I'm very glad that she got nailed.

[okasha]

18. It's a shame

they didn't get her sooner. She took advantage of the fact that her clients didn't have the first clue about shamanism or how to distinguish between a trained practicioner and a fraud.

[skepticscott]

20. The kind of persistent belief in

mystical woo woo that religion has made endemic in society may have had something to do with it. If people weren't being constantly encouraged to believe in silliness, just because it might save them or make them feel better, people like this would have a much tougher time making a living.

[Brettongarcia]

21. The case against a Shaman could be used as precedent to prosecute all faith-healers: Christians

Pat Robertson and his son come to mind here. There are many exposes of Benny Hinn too. Though perhaps nearly all priests and ministers could be prosecuted here too.

These cases could be adjudged on the basis of simple, straightforward medical investigation: 1) the healer prayed, and promised that God would heal you; but then, 2) did it work in the majority of cases? Did it work in your case?

3) If not, then you have grounds for a civil suit. And grounds for the prosecution of the faith-healer/preacher, for simple fraud.


[By the way? Here's a link to a just-published academic article linking Christianity, Jesus, to Shamanism. It calls Jesus the "Galilean Shaman": http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/17455197-01103007;jsessionid=10yuog9gfu2sr.x-brill-live-02]

[pokerfan]

24. But those guys are big-time operators/grifters

Steal a little and they throw you in jail,
Steal a lot and they make you king.
(Bob Dylan)

[cleanhippie]

22. When it comes to shamanism, how DOES one distinguish between a trained practicioner and a fraud?

[Starboard Tack]

31. Drop a tab of acid and check out their aura. How else?

[deafskeptic]

27. Exactly. You don't need to pay to pray.

http://altreligion.about.com/od/controversymisconception/a/Plastic-Shamans.htm

The term plastic shamans is used to describe those people – most commonly white people – who describe themselves as shamans and workers of Native American practices without having the long training and experience required for such roles within Native culture.

In fact, most Native Americans do not even use the term shaman, but as terminology varies from tribe to tribe I shall continue to use the term here for the sake of simplicity.

Ignorance and Misrepresentation of Information

Plastic shamans frequently have very little experience with any one Native tribe. Instead, they take a variety of beliefs from different tribes and present them to others as "Native practices" as if all Native Americans perform the same rituals and have the same beliefs, which they most certainly do not.
In addition, their information often comes from books, the internet or other non-Native sources. While some of these sources are reputable, others most certainly are not, providing readers with stereotyped displays of Native culture rather than actual, specific Native practices.

Claims to the Tribe

Shamans are tribe specific, interacting with the spirits who are specific to the tribe. To claim to be working their rituals, and particularly to working with their spirits, frequently is tantamount to claiming membership within a specific tribe, which they do not possess.
This issue is not limited to just self-described shamans. Some new agers and neopagans are just as guilty of this offense. While their intentions may be good, wishing to honor the spirits of the land on which they live, they nevertheless become involved with tribal spirits specific to a certain group of people. Moreover, in claiming that they spirits are generic spirits for anyone to honor, they deny the traditional nature of such spirits.

Lacking Basic and Inherent Qualities of a Shaman

Plastic shamans often claim to reach the spirit world through simple trancework, meditation or application of hallucinogens (such as peyote), and they may teach these practices to others. In fact, for many groups one cannot even begin shamanic training unless they have had a near-death experience that gave them a glimpse of the spirit world.
After many years of training, these new shamans are allowed to willingly cross between the physical and spirituals worlds, which is fraught with danger and which often causes the shaman significant physical and mental distress.

Role of Shamans in a Community

Shamanism is not a hobby, nor is it a personal spiritual pursuit. Shamans provide a vital role within a community. They generally do not make their journeys into the spirit world for themselves, but rather for the community, either as a whole or in part, dealing with issues that cannot be addressed by anyone else in that community.
The idea of a single shaman working on his own is completely contradictory to basic understandings of traditional shamanistic practices. These people have significant responsibilities that come along with such practices. To claim the practices without the ties of responsibility can be highly offensive.

Commercialization

The worst plastic shamans are those who sell their training and services to others. Natives do not sell these practices, and it is obvious that these plastic shamans are primarily interested in money rather than in education or real spirituality.
In their rush to provide their services to more people and, thus, bring in more money, rituals are often significantly approximated, and basic safety standards may be ignored. The result is something that only vaguely resembles a traditional practice and which may endanger customers through its basic lack of respect shown toward everyone involved: the customers, the spirits, and the people who developed these practices.

A Western comparison might be a lay person selling Catholic communion wine to individuals with promises that it will bring them closer to God. In order for it to be truly communion wine, it must receive the blessing of a priest. The wine is then given, not sold, and it is only given to members of the Catholic faith. Claims of it working any other way are blatantly contradictory to common practice and tradition.

For the record, I am not a Native American. I remembering googling New Age Native Americans because I wanted to know what they thought about the whole new age thing. It was an real eye opener because that's how I learned about Plastic Shamans. I was very angry when I learned about these frauds.

[okasha]

28. Spot on. Thank you.

And you have also answered the question in post 22.

[pinto]

23. I view this woman as an aggressive scam artist, pure and simple.

The shaman ruse was her twist on a confidence scam, imo. Could have been a pyramid scheme, home repair fraud, etc, etc. She preyed (no pun intended) on the vulnerable. Like most confidence schemes, the shamanism ruse was a means to an end. Money. Glad they finally caught up with her.

[cbayer]

25. Exactly.

Glad they finally got her, too. These predators are despicable. I don't know how they sleep at night.

[LeftishBrit]

29. Serve her right; but how does her behaviour really differ from that of many televangelists who get

away with it; e.g. Todd Coontz? Well, hopefully they wouldn't in the UK either.

[okasha]

30. It doesn't.

NT

[cbayer]

32. I don't think it does.

Would like to see them charged and sentenced as well.

[Starboard Tack]

33. Doesn't. They should all be in the slammer.

Remember Jim and Tammy Fay Bakker?