Joralf Gjerstad (11 April 1926 – 18 June 2021) was a Norwegian self-identified psychic and

faith healer Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...

. He was born in

Snåsa Municipality (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ) or ; /ˈsnɔ̯ɑse/ is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherred Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the ...

and was known as "the man with warm hands", "Snåsamannen" ('The Snåsa Man') or locally "Snåsakaill'n". Joralf Gjerstad claimed that his supposed ability to heal people came from his Christian faith, and that he was not the only one in his family with psychic powers. A biography of him by Ingar Sletten Kolloen, published in 2008, became a bestseller in Norway. Gjerstad worked as a control assistant at a dairy farm for 25 years and for the Snåsa church for 16 years. He wrote several local history books together with many biographies. He was also a local politician and served as the deputy mayor for the Labour Party in Snåsa. He was one of the main founders of “Marthe and Joralf’s help fund”, which funds organizations that arrange outdoor events for people with disabilities in

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a counties of Norway, county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Sør-Trøndelag ("South Trøndelag") county as well as the county of Nordl ...

. Gjerstad also researched the emigration from Snåsa to America. The connection between Snåsa and

St. Olaf College St. Olaf College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and th ...

in Minnesota (where one of the founders, Bernt Julius Muus, came from Snåsa) was established through him. He received the King's medal of Merit in silver in 2001 and a documentary ''Kjenner du varmen?'' ('Do you feel the heat?') about his abilities was made by and shown on NRK (

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

) in 2006. In honor of his work, the Gjerstad Foundation decided to renovate his childhood home, and it is now a museum. There is also a museum with information about Joralf and his life at Snåsa Hotel. He refused to be tested by "scientists and other experts". Prominent Norwegian scientists and researchers expressed scepticism over his claims and the uncritical coverage of him in the Norwegian press. Leading sceptic

James Randi James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author, and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.#Rodrigues, Rodrig ...

offered Gjerstad a million dollar prize if he could demonstrate his abilities under controlled conditions. In ‘A Short History of ( Nearly) Everything Paranormal’, Terje G. Simonsen describes how Bjarne Haakon Hansen, the Norwegian Minister for Health, contacted Gjerstad to heal his baby son who had been continuously sick with colic for two months. After two remote healing sessions with Gjerstad, the boy was cured. Gjerstad died in June 2021 at the age of 95.Snåsamannen er død
/ref>

Literature

* Joralf Gjerstad: ''Snåsninger og andre nordmenn i Vesterled'', 1998, * Joralf Gjerstad: ''Det godes vilje: minner fra liv og virke'', 2004, * Joralf Gjerstad: ''Å stå i lyset'', 2006, * Ingar Sletten Kolloen: ''Snåsamannen'', 2008

References

1926 births 2021 deaths Faith healers Norwegian autobiographers Norwegian Christians People from Snåsa {{norway-bio-stub