Faith Healer

Carol Guzy

The Washington Post

They call him 'extra-sense', 'faith healer', 'magic man'. Skeptics would call him a quack. But the 60 plus people who crammed into a tiny room in a Siberian village one Saturday morning were not skeptics. They were believers who came from far and near for him to heal their ills and mend their souls. Vladimir Merkushev says he inherited his talent from his father when he died 2 years ago. He also proudly displays a certificate from a faith healing institute in the Crimea where he honed his skills. He says he can cure an ailment with words and a special massage cream. People come for the energy the faith healer gives, or the treatment they can find no where else. They just need something to believe in. And for many in these difficult times in the former Soviet Union, 'something to believe in' comes in small doses. Merkushev begins a seance by asking all in the room to close their eyes and raise their arms.

Carol Guzy , "Faith Healer," in POYi Archive, Item #20477, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/20477 (accessed April 20, 2025).