Do You Believe in Voodoo?

Do You Believe in Voodoo?

In Alabama one evening, Vance Vaders got into an argument with a local witch doctor in the town’s cemetery. The witch doctor became agitated and waved a strange smelling substance in front of Vance’s nose and told him he was going to die and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Vaders became ill and deteriorated quickly, after a few weeks and nearing death his wife contacted a local doctor in desperation and told him of the spell.

Luckily doctor Drayton Doherty was aware of this phenomena, so he planned a way to lift the hex. He told Vance and his wife that he had found the witch doctor and strangled him until he admitted that he had rubbed a lizard’s egg on his stomach causing a lizard to grow inside him and eat him from the inside out.

The doctor injected Vance with a substance to cause him to vomit violently, then took a lizard he had stored in his bag with the dexterity of a magician and seemed to produce this from Vader’s vomit. Vance seemed to go into shock when he saw the lizard and whilst in this state of suggestibility Doherty said “Look what has come out of you Vance, the voodoo curse is lifted!”.

Vaders was clearly shocked and fell into a deep sleep, he woke the next day with a raging hunger, recovered quickly and was discharged after a week.

This story was corroborated by four independent medical health professionals.

Another example is Sam Shoeman who was misdiagnosed with terminal liver cancer in the 1970’s and given a few months to live. Shoeman did die within the predicted timescale, however his autopsy showed that not only was the tumour a lot smaller than he had been diagnosed with, but it was tiny and had not spread at all. Clifton Meador, a doctor at Vanderbilt School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee who has documented many cases like this said "He didn't die from cancer, but from believing he was dying of cancer," says Meador. "If everyone treats you as if you are dying, you buy into it. Everything in your whole being becomes about dying."

This is what’s known as the “Nocebo Effect”, the term “Nocebo” which means “I will harm” a negative suggestion which gives rise to an expectation of a certain result.

A funny looking chap dressed in a robe with a necklace made of Aligator teeth, chanting incantations may not spook you into believing his suggestions. But imagine a Doctor with his white coat, stethoscope, certificates of qualification on his wall telling you have a certain condition, would you question it or take it as written in stone?


Our beliefs are very important to the creation of our future.


Most of us are all aware how the “Placebo Effect” works.

When trialing new drugs, they are tested against a control group who are given a substance that has no effect on their health. In all cases some of the control group are shown to make an improvement in whatever condition is being treated.

I am even aware of one person who asked to be kept on the placebo pills as they helped improve his Parkinsons.


So our own beliefs and expectations shape the outcomes we experience in life.


What would it be like if you could consistently think about positive outcomes?


Have a great day!

Nick