Raymond Francis: The Likes of Him Will Never Be Seen Again

By John Ortiz, edited by Jonathan Atleson

Introduction

Raymond Francis, “Mo” to his friends gathered around his hospital bed, was in a battle for survival. He was suffering from numerous symptoms, including fatigue, dizziness, impaired memory, heart palpitations, diarrhea, numbness, and seizures.

His doctors had diagnosed his ailing body with certain diseases as classified by the medical insurance industry. These included acute chemical hepatitis, chronic fatigue, multiple chemical sensitivities, and several autoimmune syndromes.

Himself a chemist and graduate of MIT, Raymond knew that death was imminent unless he took action. Action took the form of doing his own research, and what he would discover would be a profound realignment of his previous assumptions. It would also lead to his recovery, leading him to believe that almost all diseases could be not only reversed, but prevented in the first place.

His first book, Never Be Sick Again, was originally published in 2002 and has had 13 editions. In this seminal work, he presents a revolutionary theory of health:

1. There is only one disease: malfunctioning cells

2. There are only two causes of disease:

   1. Deficiency

   2. Toxicity

3. There are six pathways to health and disease:

   1. Nutritional

   2. Toxic

   3. Psychological

   4. Physical

   5. Genetic

   6. Medical

This remarkable book answers fundamental questions such as: What is health? What is disease? Why do people get sick? How can disease be prevented? How can it be reversed? It teaches readers an entirely new way to look at health and disease—an approach that is easy to understand yet so powerful that they may, indeed, never have to be sick again.

Mathilda

My journey with Raymond Francis started in 2011. At the time, I was doing Pranic Healing under the two redwood trees in the back of Unity of Walnut Creek.

A patient battling cancer, let’s call her “Mathilda”, approached me and asked if I could help her. I said, “Well, we’ll see what we can do.” By God's Grace and Guidance, Mathilda actually got better—so much better that she told me, “John, I want to do you a favor. I want to take you and your family to the opera.”

That was a rare and unexpected gesture, so I agreed to go.

But this wasn’t just a night at the San Francisco Opera. It was the full VIP experience—you went three hours before the show, and enjoyed a five-course meal, dining like royalty. The possibilities danced through my mind like a parade of dancing dollar signs. I thought to myself, Maybe this wealthy woman will help me build an alternative cancer center!

About a week later, she confided in me that she had a problem. She had assumed she was going to die, so she maxed out her credit cards, thinking, What the heck, you can’t take it with you. That’s how she paid for that extravagant event. But now, since she was convinced she was going to live longer, she had to figure out how to pay off those credit cards.

Despite all this, Mathilda offered me yet another favor. “I want you to come to my birthday party because there are people I want you to meet in San Francisco.” After feeling out of place at the opera, my first reaction was one of reluctance. But immediately, Spirit told me, This is something you should go to.

I agreed and asked where she lived. She said, “Piedmont.” I had no idea where that was.

She said, “You know, through the tunnel.”

“What tunnel?”, I asked, blankly.

She laughed, “Okay, are you familiar with BART?”

“I don’t know Bart — I’ve never met him.”

By now she realized that I was new to the Bay Area and explained that BART was the Bay Area Rapid Transit.

Since I wasn’t sure about navigating public transit that I previously didn’t even know existed, I borrowed someone’s car and drove to the birthday party, from Walnut Creek through the tunnel to Piedmont.

When I walked in, I saw an incredible spread of food—enough to feed a king. But at the time, I was a strict vegetarian, so when I asked what was vegetarian, I ended up with a plate of carrot sticks, celery sticks, and a little bit of dressing. I was eating like a rabbit and thought, Well, I’m clearly not here for the food—who am I supposed to meet?

At that moment, a man walked in carrying a book. I could see the title: Never Fear Cancer Again.

I thought, Oh, that looks interesting!

I went up and introduced myself, but the man backed away. “No, no, stand back—I have a cold. I’m not even sure if I should be at this party. I just want to drop off this gift for the patient.”

I laughed.

He asked, “What’s so funny?”

I said, “Well, there are only two possibilities: Either I have a strong immune system and won’t be affected by your cold, or my immune system is compromised, and I need to find out. Either way, I’m not afraid.”

Then I gave him a hug.

He said, “My God, you’re fearless.”

I replied, “No, I’m afraid of some things, but not about catching a cold from giving someone a hug.”

He then asked, “Do you know Raymond Francis? You remind me of him.”

I said, “No, I don’t know him.”

He explained that Raymond Francis was once a local celebrity in the Bay Area. He had written a series of books before moving to Florida. That caught my attention because, at the time, I was from Florida, visiting California. I decided to look him up when I got back home.

Later in the evening, I saw that the birthday woman received the book as a gift but wasn’t particularly interested in it.

I approached her and said, “That book looks interesting.”

She asked, “Oh, do you know Raymond Francis?”

I said, “No, I don’t, but that book looks intriguing.”

She responded, “Raymond would be very upset with me.”

I asked, “Why?”

She explained, “He’s a good friend of mine, and he told me I shouldn’t do chemo. But I decided to do it anyway, and he wouldn’t be happy about that.”

I told her, “Well, ultimately, this is your journey. You drive the bus. You decide what you’re going to do and what you’re not going to do. My point is, you pray, meditate, study, make your decision, and then you don’t look back.”

She smiled and said, “That’s the best answer I’ve ever heard.”

She handed me the book and said, “Take your time with it.”

But I knew if I spilled coffee on it, I’d have to buy it—so I read it quickly and carefully.

The book’s core message aligned with my beliefs:

• One cause of disease: malfunctioning cells

• Two main issues: toxicity and deficiency

I returned the book to her, thinking it was interesting but not life-changing.

Dr. Jain

Some time in the future, I was working at Mount Diablo Integrative Wellness Center. Having an office of my own WAS something of an upgrade, what with being indoors and all. However, it didn’t have any windows, and so was a step down in terms of tree-hugging and the majesty of nature and that sort of thing.

I was talking with Dr. Jain in her office when I started scanning the bookshelves. A person’s book collection provides a window into what they consider important, what interests them. She noticed and said, "I see you're looking at my bookshelf. Does anything look interesting?"

"Well," I said, "there's this book by Raymond Francis."

"Oh, you know Raymond?" she asked.

"No, no, I don’t—although everybody else seems to.”

"He's a really good friend of mine. Would you like to call him right now and talk to him?" she offered.

I hesitated. "No, no, I don’t want to call him. But would you mind if I borrowed that book, Never Be Sick Again? It looks like it might an older book by Raymond Francis.”

Reading the older book allowed me to see how Raymond’s ideas had evolved between 2002 and 2011.

At that moment, I had an epiphany—since Raymond was a local celebrity, maybe his books were in the Walnut Creek Library. Sure enough, I found all three: two I had read and one I hadn’t, Never Be Fat Again, published in 2007.

Now that I had read all three of his books, I went back to Dr. Jain and said, “Okay, I have some questions. I’d like to talk to Raymond Francis. I’ll take you up on your offer to call him.”

She explained, “Raymond is one of those guys who never has his phone on him. You call, leave a message, and he usually returns the call the next day.”

I said, “Alright, let’s leave a message.”

But when we called, to our surprise, he immediately picked up.

“Hey, you know what? I was just about to call you guys,” he said.

It was a synchronistic moment—one of those instances where two seemingly random events connect in a meaningful way. I thought, That’s interesting, where is this heading?

We started talking, and Dr. Jain introduced me: “I want to introduce you to my energy healer, John Ortiz. He has some questions for you.”

Raymond responded, “Well, I have some questions for him. What’s an energy healer?”

I laughed and said, “I’m still trying to figure that out. I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”

He laughed and said, “Ah, self-deprecating humor—I like that.”

Then I asked, “Out of curiosity, why were you calling us?”

He replied, “I just wrote a brand-new book called Never Feel Old Again, and I want to come out and promote it.”

“So, you want to come to California?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said.

I told him, “If that’s the case, I’d much rather have this conversation in person than over the phone.”

He agreed. “Sounds good. Make the arrangements with Dr. Jain, and when I come out to promote the book, we’ll have our discussion.”

Feeling bold, I added, “Would you mind sending me a copy of your new book? That way, I can read it before we meet.”

Then he shocked both me and Dr. Jain by saying, “I’ll send you two boxes today.”

I said, “I don’t need two boxes—I just need one book.”

“Nope. Two boxes are on the way, no charge.”

After we hung up, Dr. Jane looked at me in amazement and asked, “How did you do that?”

I shrugged. “I just asked for one book. Maybe for every step you take toward Raymond Francis, Raymond Francis takes 100 steps toward you.”

Meeting Raymond

A couple of months later, Raymond came to promote his book. By then, I had gained a certain degree of local fame at MDI. People had been reading his books and attending my healing sessions.

The night of his lecture, I was running late and tried to sneak into the back of the room without disturbing him. There were about forty people in the audience. But as soon as I entered, someone shouted, “Hey, look, it’s John Ortiz!”

Suddenly, the whole room turned, and I felt like a rock star walking in. It completely interrupted his talk, and I felt terrible.

People started calling out, “Come sit with me! No, sit over here!” Six different groups were inviting me over, and I had to make a split-second decision.

I told them, “I really appreciate it, but I might have to leave early, so I’ll just sit in the back.”

I crash Raymond’s book talk and steal his thunder!

I ended up sitting next to a gentleman I had met at Mathilda’s birthday party. He recognized me and said, “Oh, you’re the energy healer from Florida.”

I replied, “And you’re the guy who goes to parties while sick, trying not to spread it around.”

He laughed and asked, “How do you do energy healing?”

I said, “We could have a discussion, but after this lecture, I’m going out with Raymond to talk.”

He said, “No, no—when Raymond comes to town, he stays with me. I’m one of the guys who edits his books, so I’m part of that dinner.”

I laughed. “Well, I guess we’ll have our discussion then.”

Raymond gave a great talk, and afterward, we went out to dinner. There were five of us: Raymond, Dr. Jain, the editor, a wealthy Chinese woman, and me.

From the moment we sat down, I knew who was going to pay the bill—she radiated power and money. Unfortunately, I never got her name.

The conversation revolved around my journey to California and how I became an energy healer. But I was also waiting for my moment.

Finally, I said, “Raymond, I’ve been waiting months for this conversation. I have two questions.”

“Okay, go ahead,” he said.

I explained how I had read all his books. He looked surprised and said, “Wait—you’re one of the few people who have read all my books?”

“Yes,” I said.

“And you never bought a single one?”

I paused and thought about it. “No, I guess I haven’t. I borrowed one from the library.”

He burst out laughing. “I can’t believe I’ve met someone who’s read all my books and never bought a single one!”

I said, “Well, if I really want a book, sometimes I have to buy it. But if a higher power wants me to read it, it just gets given to me.”

He found that hilarious.

Then I said, “I have two questions: the hundred-thousand-dollar question and the million-dollar question.”

He was intrigued. “Alright, what’s the hundred-thousand-dollar question?”

“Why does the body hyper-calcify soft tissue?”

Raymond gave a detailed, ten-minute answer about calcium metabolism, vitamin K2, and where calcium deposits end up. It was insightful, but I was still deep in thought.

He noticed and asked, “Okay, John, what’s on your mind?”

I said, “I can’t help but think the body is far wiser than we are. So at some level, hyper-calcification must serve a purpose.”

He was skeptical. “Why would that be?”

I explained how dental plaque turns into tartar—how the body immobilizes bacteria by turning them into calcified deposits. He found my theory fascinating.

I explained that it all started when I was in graduate school at Arizona State studying exercise physiology. We were discussing the importance of stretching and flexibility—how being flexible reduces the risk of injury. So I asked the professor, ‘What causes inflexibility?’ He said, “We don’t know.”

“That really stuck with me. If flexibility is the ideal state, shouldn’t we understand what causes inflexibility? That question stayed with me for over 20 years. And now, in this context, I started thinking about hyper-calcification of soft tissue.”

As we continued our discussion, Raymond got excited. “Maybe I should move back to the Bay Area,” he mused.

I immediately said, “Yes, you should! I’d love to work with you.”

Then he said, “Wait a minute—that’s the hundred-thousand-dollar question. What’s the million-dollar question?”

I replied, “The million-dollar question is this: If hyper-calcification plays a role in virtually every chronic disease—arthritis, atherosclerosis, dementia, Alzheimer’s—then how do we reverse it? Because if we can reverse the calcification of soft tissue, then we have found the key to the Fountain of Youth.”

Raymond became even more animated, and we had a deep, charged discussion.

Earlier in the day, he had told me, “This is the last book I’m ever going to write.”

I confronted him on that. “No, no — you’re going to write another book.”

“Why do you think that?” he asked.

“Well, first of all, you haven’t really delved into the mental-emotional component of the healing journey. You’ve touched on it, but you haven’t really explored it in depth. Second, you haven’t discussed the spiritual or religious aspects of healing. And third, you have strong opinions on the healthcare system and what’s wrong with it, and I think you need to express those ideas. If people don’t hear about these things, how can anything change?”

Raymond looked me in the eye and said, “You know what? You’re right. I am going to write that book.”

I looked right back at him and said, “I’ll help you if you want.”

That evening, I left feeling like something truly magical had just happened.

Later, Raymond spoke with a doctor I had met at the birthday party. He told him, “I’m ready to move back. I’m going to start looking for houses.”

I was ecstatic. We’re going to build a center, we’re going to work together, this is going to happen!

Raymond gave me his personal number. “Call me anytime,” he said. “Though I usually don’t have my phone on.”

I laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard.”

An Unexpected Turn

A couple of months later, I felt a strong intuition to call him.

Again, he picked up immediately and said, “I was just about to call you.”

For the second time, we had this uncanny synchronicity.

I asked, “Why were you calling me?”

“Well,” he said, “I got a really interesting job offer.”

“Oh yeah? What is it?”

“The royal family of Qatar in the Middle East has invited me to develop a single vitamin pill for worldwide distribution.”

I told him, “You have to do it! You could make a real impact on the world. They have all the money you’ll need, and they’ll treat you like royalty while you’re there. But—you’ll be back.”

He laughed. “Why do you think that?”

“Because if you think Florida summers are hot, wait until you experience a Qatari summer. With your fair skin, you’re going to shrivel up like the lizard in Rango.”

He burst out laughing. “You’re probably right.”

So he left for Qatar, and we lost touch.

At the time, Donald Trump had just become president, and there were geopolitical tensions in the Middle East—Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and a discussion about Qatar’s position in the region. I think Raymond saw enough instability to decide it was time to leave, and he returned to Florida.

By then, I had parted ways with Dr. Jain and was working with different physicians.

The Mocebo Effect

A few years later, a friend told me that Raymond was coming back to promote his newest book, The Great American Health Hoax.

I thought, Oh, he finally wrote that book! I’m really excited to see it.

I went to MDI for his lecture, and Dr. Jain greeted me warmly. I wasn’t sure how she would react, given that we had parted ways, but she welcomed me as if no time had passed.

She then invited me to dinner with Raymond. I was thrilled, eagerly anticipating our conversation.

But when we met, something was different. He wasn’t the same vibrant, energized man I had met before.

At the table, he pulled out 20 different supplements and started taking them, one by one.

I asked, “Raymond, what are all these?”

He replied, “This is half of my daily supply.”

I was shocked. “So you take 40 supplements every day?”

“Yep,” he confirmed.

The “Mocebo” trap.

And at that moment, I thought to myself, He’s fallen into the “Mocebo” trap.

There’s a point where the belief that more is better becomes counterproductive. Like it’s cousin, the Placebo Effect, what I call the Mocebo Effect is something that can render otherwise healthy things into toxic behavior, by “takin’ mo’ of ‘em.”

I flipped through his book but didn’t buy it. I was disappointed. He had written chapters on mental-emotional healing, on spirituality, and a critique of the healthcare system—all the things I had urged him to include. But there was nothing about reversing hyper-calcification.

The Final Chapter?

Years passed. Along the way, some of my clients and friends passed away, and for some reason, they willed their book collections to me.

One friend left me about 50 books—so many that it felt like drinking from a fire hydrant. Among them, I found The Great American Health Hoax.

I thought, Oh, I’ve finally been given this book again. I guess I’m supposed to read it.

Then another friend passed away, leaving me about 100 books. Again, The Great American Health Hoax was among them.

Over time, I just assumed I had already read it. Then, while writing this Substack with Jonathan, my ghostwriter, I started thinking, Wait — have I actually read that book?

I searched my library but couldn’t find either of my two copies.

I thought, This is ironic—when I actually want to read it, I can’t find it.

So I ordered a copy. When it arrived, I realized—I had never read it before.

And in reading it, I saw that it was truly Raymond’s magnum opus—a culmination of all his previous books.

The chapter on mental-emotional healing was beautifully written, as though authored by a psychologist or psychiatrist.

But I was still disappointed. He didn’t offer solutions to the problems in the healthcare system. And he still didn’t address hyper-calcification—what I believed to be the key to aging and disease reversal.

By this time, it was early 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I looked him up and found out that Raymond had passed away in April 2020.

His obituary stated that he had not died of COVID, which I found interesting given the timing.

I started thinking, What would Raymond have said about COVID?

Based on what I knew of his philosophy, I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

For any of his followers reading this, I believe there needs to be an addendum to his book—one that covers what happened to Raymond between 2014 and 2020. And perhaps, what he would have said about COVID.

Maybe we’re the ones to write that, given that I may be one of the few living people to have read all his books, and to have engaged in deep conversation with Raymond. In addition, I have spent some forty years chasing the mystery of hyper-calcification.