Nicolai or Nikolai Levashov (; February 8, 1961June 11, 2012) was a Russian

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

ist and psychic healer who wrote several books on life in the universe, Slavic history, the origin of mankind on Earth and other topics. From 1991 to 2005 he was known in the United States for several ''causes célèbres'' involving his patients.

Unsolved Mysteries ''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television series, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Kar ...

, Season 11
Episode 2 (#444)
, April 9, 1999 One of his books is classified as

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and extreme and banned in Russia. He was a leader of a public organisation "''Renaissance. The Golden Age''" which is considered a destructive cult by the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

Biography

Nicolai Levashov was born in 1961 in

Kislovodsk Kislovodsk (; ; ) is a spa city in Stavropol Krai, in the North Caucasus region of Russia which is located between the Black and Caspian Seas. It is part of the Caucasian Mineral Waters region. Demographics Population: Etymology The Rus ...

. After his graduation from the department of theoretical radiophysics,

University of Kharkiv The V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (), also known as Kharkiv National University or Karazin University, is a public university in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It was founded in 1804 through the efforts of Vasily Karazin, becoming the second old ...

, he spent a couple of years in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

. Toward the end of 1980s Levashov started his public activities. According to his autobiography "''The mirror of my soul''", by the summer of 1988 he had begun practicing healing. Having married for a second time, to a

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

, Mzia, he assisted in her stage performances of

mentalism Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Mentalists perform a theatrical act that includes special effects that may appear to employ ...

and

hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychological ...

. With Allan Chumak and other healers, Levashov was trying to establish a state-run ''Foundation of Alternative Medicine'' asking the Soviet Ministry of Navy for support.N. Levashov, ''The mirror of my soul'', 2010 At the same time Levashov propagated his ideas in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. Scott Shane, an American journalist with ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'' in Russia, writesS. Shane, ''Dismantling Utopia: How Information Ended the Soviet Union'', 1994. that Levashov claimed he could speak with dolphins, clean polluted city air by his mental power, heal by phone, see internal organs through the skin etc. Shane met Levashov at a briefing in the Ministry concerning the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...

, although "''Nikolai Levashov modestly explained that he knew nothing about international relations''". Scott Shane believes that the proliferation of pseudoscientists such as Chumak and Levashov was a negative underside of the relaxation of

censorship in the Soviet Union Censorship in the Soviet Union was pervasive and strictly enforced. Censorship was performed in two main directions: * State secrets were handled by the General Directorate for the Protection of State Secrets in the Press (also known as Glav ...

. In July 1990

Soviet Central Television The Central Television of the USSR (; abbreviated CT USSR, SCTV ">/nowiki>/nowiki>) was the state television broadcaster of the Soviet Union. Like much of the Soviet media, CT USSR regularly promoted the agendas of the Communist Party. Initi ...

broadcast a film about the Levashov couple. It was based on assertions by Mzia and Nicolai and on a trial involving four journalists. The trial was carried out in the Institute of Human Brain, a scientific organization, but controversial for its interest in

extrasensory perception Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was ad ...

. Among the four people tested, M. Dekhta was a friend of Levashov, and Ruben Isahakyan was another healer who later founded an

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

company, ''Altimed''. The story of the Levashovs was published in the magazine ''Television and Radio'' as well. By the time of the broadcast, Nicolai and Mzia were already divorced. In 1990—1991 Levashov performed on tour in Russian cities, practicing faith healing.

In the United States

In 1991 Nicolai Levashov and his third wife Svetlana (née Serëgina or Žymantienė) visited the United States and settled in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

for 15 years. Nicolai started his healing practice in the ''American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine'', which consisted of two employees in three rooms. He made acquaintance with an Armenian family of Soviet descent, the Orbelians. George Orbelian and his wife Marcia Paulsen-Orbelian supported Levashov, spoke about him on the local TV and translated his books from Russian into English. Levashov was also broadcast on ''Russian Voice Radio'' (

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

). Levashov is mentioned in books and articles by

astrologer Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

Jeanne Avery, "distance healer" Robert Ginsburg, Reichian therapist Richard Blasband and his

clinic ''Center For Functional Research'', and "healer" Todd Telford. Barbara Koopman (M.D., Ph.D. in

geriatrics Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on addressing the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατρός ''iatros'' mean ...

), who studies mental healing phenomenon, says that Levashov considers understanding the

anisotropy Anisotropy () is the structural property of non-uniformity in different directions, as opposed to isotropy. An anisotropic object or pattern has properties that differ according to direction of measurement. For example, many materials exhibit ve ...

of the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

necessary for creation or dissolution of matter for healing purposes.B. G. Koopman
Psychic Healing and the Anisotropic Universe
Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 14(2), 2005, and other papers, listed in the bibliography of the former article

Scientific skeptic Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

s have written about Levashov and his healing practice.

Michael Shermer Michael Brant Shermer (born September 8, 1954) is an American science writer, historian of science, executive director of The Skeptics Society, and founding publisher of '' Skeptic'' magazine, a publication focused on investigating pseudoscientif ...

published an article in ''

Skeptic Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

'' M. Shermer
Another Alt Med Tragedy
, Skeptic Mag Hotline, 01 Feb 1999 saying that B. Koopman trusted Levashov because he allegedly cured her friend, actress

Susan Strasberg Susan Elizabeth Strasberg (May 22, 1938 – January 21, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actress. Thought to be the next Audrey Hepburn, Hepburn-type Ingénue, ingenue, she was nominated for a Tony Award at age 18, playing the ti ...

, who had

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. Nonetheless, in January 1999 Strasberg died of cancer. Another case is that of Elisabeth Targ's death. A well-known psychologist who believed in psychics, she was diagnosed with

glioblastoma multiforme Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive and most common type of cancer that originates in the brain, and has a very poor prognosis for survival. Initial signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nons ...

in her 40s;

radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a therapy, treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of treatment of cancer, cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignancy, malignant cell (biology), ...

was prescribed. Targ consulted practitioners of

including Levashov. As

Po Bronson Po Bronson (born March 14, 1964) is an American journalist and author who lives in San Francisco. Early life and education Bronson was born in Seattle, Washington. After attending Lakeside School in Seattle, he graduated from Stanford Univers ...

writes,

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

A Prayer Before Dying
10.12, 2002, pp. 175—223 “''her bedroom turned into a circus. Healers from everywhere showed up… There was a Lakota sun dancer who burned sage; Nicolai Levashov, a Russian psychic who waved his hands; an acupuncturist with rare Chinese herbs; an energy worker who used methods of the Miwok peoples''”. Levashov claimed he cured the cancer and persuaded Targ to stop radiation therapy. She became worse, but Levashov insisted it was not the cancer but some necrotic tissues. In three weeks Targ died from glioblastoma. This story was published in ''

'' and was used in an article by Vic Stenger for the ''

Skeptical Briefs The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "p ...

''. Yet another case, which drew a wide response, was that of 13-year-old Isabelle Prichard, who in 2007 also had

. After several healing sessions (some of them conducted by phone) Levashov stated he had stopped the cancer, and persuaded Prichard's parents to reject an operation, against the advice of doctors. The

Oregon Department of Human Services The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) is the principal human services agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. DHS provides services to more than 1 million Oregonians each year. History 1971: The Oregon Legislature cre ...

said that the parents had the right to refuse treatment for religious reasons and blamed by

Steven Novella Steven Paul Novella (born July 29, 1964) is an American neurology, clinical neurologist and Professors in the United States#Associate Professor, associate professor at Yale University School of Medicine. Novella is best known for his involvement ...

. There was a sustained remission which led Barbara Koopman to write articles praising the "miraculous healing", and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

broadcast an episode in ''

'' The decision of parents was criticized in ''

The Skeptic's Dictionary ''The Skeptic's Dictionary'' is a collection of cross-referenced skeptical essays by Robert Todd Carroll, published on his website skepdic.com and in a printed book. The skepdic.com site was launched in 1994 and the book was published in 2003 ...

'' and in a book of T. Riniolo.

Return to Russia

In 2006, Levashov returned to Russia, where he increased his public activity: he published many books and was invited on TV and radio, including REN TV, Channel One, TV-3,

Russia 1 Russia-1 () is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship channel of the All-Russia ...

and others. One of his most common claims was that the 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer

heat waves "Heat Waves" is a song by British indie rock band Glass Animals released as a single from their third studio album ''Dreamland (Glass Animals album), Dreamland'' on 29 June 2020. A sleeper hit, it is the band's signature song and biggest hit sing ...

were the result of a US "Climate Change Weapon", and he said he saved Russia from that weapon. Levashov was a supporter of the HAARP conspiracy theory. He supported the authenticity of the

Book of Veles The Book of Veles (also called the Veles Book, Vles book, Vlesbook or Isenbeck's Planks; ) is a literary forgery purporting to be a text of ancient Slavic religion and history supposedly written on wooden planks. It contains what purport to be ...

, the extraterrestrial colonization of Earth, a

pseudohistorical Pseudohistory is a form of pseudoscholarship that attempts to distort or misrepresent the historical record, often by employing methods resembling those used in scholarly historical research. The related term cryptohistory is applied to pseudoh ...

theory close to the New Chronology (although Levashov does not mention

Anatoly Fomenko Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko (; born 13 March 1945 in Stalino, USSR) is a Soviet and Russian professor of Mathematics at Moscow State University. He is well-known as a topologist and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is a painter and il ...

), and the existence of the "vanished continent" of

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

. Some of his statements are similar to ideas from the ''Slavic-Arian Vedas'' (a hoax book of

Slavic Neopaganism The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnovery and sometimes as Slavic Neopaganism, is a modern Paganism, modern Pagan religion. Classified as a new religious movement, its practitioners hearken back to the Slavic paganism, historica ...

). He opposed vaccination and

genetically modified foods Genetically modified foods (GM foods), also known as genetically engineered foods (GE foods), or bioengineered foods are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using various methods of genetic engineering. G ...

. Levashov was an atheist, and aggressively objected to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, although his views were far from

materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...

. Some television hosts and newspapers presented Levashov as a professional physicist or meteorologist while others criticize him and call him a " pseudoscientist". Столица (Stolitsa, a Moscow TV channel), "''Разговор с Александром Мягченковым''" (''Talk with Alexander Myagchenkov''), Jul 20, 2011 Levashov wrote some half dozen books available in print and online; 50,000 copies have been printed. One of the books, the

"''Russian History Viewed through Distorted Mirrors''", was prohibited from being published or distributed in Russia by the Court of Kaluga Region due to its

extremism Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied sha ...

Federal List of Extremist Materials Federal List of Extremist Materials (, ''Federal'nyy spisok ekstremistskikh matyerialov'') is a list of works that are banned in the Russian Federation, primarily based on the Russian Internet Restriction Bill. It is compiled by the Ministry of ...

published
by the Russian Ministry of Justice Well-known Russian

illusionist Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of close-up magic, parlor magic, and stage magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural me ...

Yuri Gorny (a former psychic who is now a devoted skeptic) says Levashov picks only the most suggestible people from the audience for his psychic tricks. In May 2007 Levashov founded a public organization "''Renaissance. The Golden Age''" () which is considered a destructive cult by the

, St. Irenaeus Center for problems of modern religious movements, sects and cults (headed by Prof. Alexander Dvorkin, Ph.D.)
Article
reprinted from ''Православие на Северной земле'' The organization has headquarters in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, 18 branches in Russia, and four branches abroad, in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, Chişinău,

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, and

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

. It is not registered with the Ministry of Justice. The members of "''Renaissance. The Golden Age''" disseminate Levashov's statements. They organize rallies supporting Levashov and opposing genetically modified foods and vaccination in many Russian cities, advertise Levashov's books on the Internet and in the press. They conduct seminars in schools and universities popularizing ideas of Levashov and other pseudoscientific theories such as

telegony The ''Telegony'' () is a lost epic poem of Ancient Greek literature. It is named after Telegonus, the son of Odysseus by Circe, whose name ("born far away") is indicative of his birth on Aeaea, far from Odysseus' home of Ithaca. It was part o ...

. In

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It is located in the Far East of the country and lies along the coast of Avacha Bay by the Pacific Ocean, nearby Khalaktyrskoye Lake. As of the 202 ...

they converted a schoolteacher, O. Shepetovskaya, to their organization; Levashov's ideas were then taught at her school #45.''Вечерние вести Петропавловска'' (Evening News of Petropavlovsk)
На Камчатке школьники будут раздавать в магазинах листовки об опасности ГМО-продуктов
(''

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

pupils to hand out flyers on GMO danger''), May 25, 2011

Bibliography

* ''Россия в кривых зеркалах'' (Russian History Viewed through Distorted Mirrors), 2007 (banned in Russia for

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

) * ''Последнее обращение к человечеству…'' (The Final Appeal to Mankind), М.: Русский терем, 1997. — 336 pages. . 9000 printed copies. * ''Неоднородная Вселенная'' (The Anisotropic Universe), Архангельск: Правда севера, 2006, — 396 pages. . 5000 printed copies. * ''Возможности Разума. Сборник статей'' (Spirit and Mind; Abilities of Mind), Архангельск: Правда Севера, 2006, — 278 pages. . 2000 printed copies. ** 2nd edition, М.: Издатель И. В. Балабанов, 2008, — 208 pages. . 5000 printed copies. ** 3rd edition, СПб: Издательство Митраков, 2011, — 304 pages. . 5000 printed copies. * ''Зеркало моей души'', т.1 (The mirror of my soul, vol. 1), СПб: Издательство Митраков, 2010, — 528 pages. . 5000 printed copies. * ''Зеркало моей души'', т.2 (The mirror of my soul, vol. 2), СПб: Издательство Митраков, 2011, — 544 pages. . 5000 printed copies. * ''Сказ о Ясном Соколе. Прошлое и настоящее'', СПб: Издательство Митраков, 2011 — 192 pages. . 7000 printed copies. One book by Levashov's wife Svetlana Levashova was published: * ''Откровение'' (Revelation), СПб: Издательство Митраков, 2011. (in two volumes). 7000 printed copies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levashov, Nikolai Folk healers Pseudohistorians Atlantis proponents Ancient astronauts proponents Far-right modern pagans Proponents of alternative chronologies Modern pagan writers Modern pagan religious leaders Russian modern pagans 1961 births 2012 deaths National University of Kharkiv alumni