‘Transitions’ – article by Ross Freake published Monday, October 23rd, 2006 in
The Daily Courier (Kelowna, Canada).
Each Walk is Unique
Joshua Ruan was baptized, anointed and given first communion by Pope John Paul II, but he isn’t a typical Catholic.
"It’s part of my spirituality, but my belief systems and spirituality don’t fall into an institutionalized
framework."
At the Vatican, the spiritual healer and medical intuitive also taught catechism to families of the Swiss Guards and worked
on the Interdisciplinary Dictionary of Science and Faith.
That’s just part of the long journey of the boy from Winnipeg.
When he was four, Ruan developed what doctors thought was cystic fibrosis, and he spent a lot of time in oxygen tents,
hospitals and clinics. Many of the children he befriended there died.
"Those were spiritual awakenings, and I began thinking about what happened when you passed."
After numerous tests and being treated as human pincushion for years, doctors concluded it wasn’t CF, but a severe
allergic reaction to a dust particle.
When he was 12, his parents moved back to England, and when he grew up, he went to the University of Sussex, where he studied
biology with John Maynard Smith.
"He was a great man, a pioneering figure in evolutionary theory."
Smith encouraged interdisciplinary study and, at his urging, Ruan went into music. He was working as a music teacher and
composer in London when the universe came knocking.
"In 1997, I had a temperature of 105 for a number of days. I had lost a lot of weight and had problems with my lungs. I
went to the doctor, and she said ‘I don’t think you’re going to last that long.’"
One night, thinking he was going to die in his sleep, he had a chat with the universal force. "I said I don’t know
what you are, but I believe you are a creative force. I believe I’m here for a reason. I haven’t found that reason.
"If I’m to pass on, fine, but if you want me to continue, at least show me something. I fell asleep, and I felt the
presence of a powerful force and heard this gorgeous music.
"I woke up with no temperature. My lungs were pretty much clear. The terrible throat I’d had for a week was gone.
That day, the phone rang, and it was an offer for work in Rome.
"I interpreted that as a sign. From that point forward, I put my life completely in divine hands."
In Rome, he was befriended by the Princess Gonzaga, who introduced him to Padre Nino, a famous spiritual healer and mystic.
"He talked to me about converting to Catholicism, and I was introduced to Padre Stefano Canuto, who subsequently became
a good friend. I studied spirituality with him, as well as with Nino.
"When it came time to be baptized, the Princess Gonzaga said I have a gift for you. ‘You’re going to be baptized
by the pope.’"
After the ceremony, which he has on tape, he chatted with the pope.
"He had great presence; an electrical charisma. You knew you were in the presence of someone wonderful. He said he loved
Canada."
A year later, when Ruan married, he and his wife, Simona, were blessed by the pope.
Soon after, Ruan started post-graduate work in spirituality at the Angelicum Pontifical University. In addition to working
in the Vatican, Ruan often worked as an intuitive.
"I had grown up having psychic abilities. Over there, they call it intuitive. Very often, Stefan introduced me to people
and asked me what I thought of them. Princess Gonzaga had quite high-profile people for dinner and would ask what I thought
of them. I did a lot of that kind of work."
Ruan said there is part of Catholicism in which mystical healing is regarded as perfectly normal, and he heard about many
healers, not only saints of the past, but present day ones, the most famous being Padre Pio, who was canonized a few years
ago.
"Mystical healing had to be within it if the religion was founded on the teachings of Jesus. Jesus was a preacher and a
teacher, but he was also a great healer, and the physical healing was a reflection of the spiritual healing he was seeking
to bring about."
The universe still had lessons to teach him, and one was about relationships and divorce.
"I learned from it and learned to appreciate my contact with the divine and to put my faith and my life in God’s
hands, and it takes me where it does."
It took him to Kelowna as an energy healer.
"Energy work for me is spiritual healing. I put my hands on your feet and run the energy up and down to balance and harmonize
your energy field and work with you on various emotion, physical and psychological ailments that you might have.
"My perception of the world changed after ’97. Things I had taken for granted before had meaning and weight. I don’t
believe in chance occurrence anymore. When I met someone, I knew they were there for a reason, and I wanted to know what it
was.
"I believe that the universe was created for a purpose. I think part of our walk in life is to figure out what the purpose
is and how we fit into it, and each walk is unique."