The Darkness within- Possession case studies (part 2)

Let us continue if you will

BEATING THE DEVIL

After a 20-year process which ended on 26 January, 1999, the Vatican has produced an updated rite of exorcism, according to the International Association of Exorcists.

In a statement made by Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments,
in announcing the revisions,

“
We know there are Catholics who have not received good formation and doubt the existence of the devil, but this is an article of faith and part of the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Whoever says the devil does not exist is no longer a believer.
“

The new text was described as an outgrowth of the old, with more temperate language and giving the priest greater flexibility in the choice of prayers to use.

Written in 1614, the previous ritual combined prayers and gestures in keeping with the Middle Ages. Certain aspects of the ritual were more dramatic than liturgical, said the association.

Although the theology of the Church on exorcism remains unaltered, what is new is the simplification of external aspects and the presentation of the texts, written in light of Biblical texts. The premises have also been revised: Specific canonical norms are established to respond to any eventual abuses.

Before using the Rite of Exorcisms, the priest must have “moral certainty” that the person involved is truly possessed or obsessed and not suffering from a psychological or physical illness.

The rite is performed in the name of Jesus and calls on the power he gave to his disciples and their successors to cast out evil spirits.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states,

“
Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority, which Jesus entrusted to his Church.

“

In the ritual, the evil spirit is commanded in the name of God and of the Church to depart. The ritual also includes a sprinkling with holy water, the recitation of a litany of the saints, the Lord’s Prayer and a creed, a Gospel reading and the Sign of the Cross.

A simple form of exorcism, not changed by the new ritual, is part of the Catholic Church’s baptism rites; in it, the Church prays that the one about to be baptized will be protected from evil and from Satan’s temptation.

In a series of 1986 audience talks about angels and the devil, Pope John Paul II said Satan has been defeated by Christ’s death and resurrection, but he continues to try to win over people.

“It cannot be excluded that in certain cases the Evil Spirit tries to exercise his influence not only on material things, but also on the human body, for which one speaks of diabolical possession:”

the Pope said during an audience talk.

“It is not always easy to discern that which happens preternaturally in these cases, nor does the Church easily yield to or support the tendency to attribute many occurrences to the intervention of the demon,”

he said. At the same time, the Pope said,

“one cannot deny that in his desire to harm and to lead toward evil, Satan can reach this extreme manifestation”

of his power.

 Yet if we look at how the early Church developed its own exorcism rituals embellished by certain procedures such as prayers, recitations, signs of the cross and personal preparation by fasting and of course the Association of Exorcists use of the word “dramatic” when describing the process. It could quite possibly be said that much of the intent of this elaboration was to impress; that is to say to garner new recruits to the new religion (of Christianity) for many self-styled clergy saw the new religion as a gateway to control of others – and to gain power for themselves. It is not to say that thee were not those who were saintly and wanted the best for humanity and did not believe in the teaching of Jesus Christ.

SIGNS OF THE DEVIL

The views today of the two major Christian Churches still differ, insofar as the Catholic stance is that the Devil and demons have a real existence, especially in the possession of mankind. The opposing viewpoint holds that the devil should not be named but that a belief in forces of evil should be adhered to. The Exeter Commission which attempted to introduce a rational approach to the subject is an example of this. The Report reiterates belief in “non-human power of evil” and emphasised that “demonic interference” was possible. For the Protestant Church, exorcism is the “binding of evil powers” rather than as with the Roman Catholic Church the expelling of diabolic influences, i.e. infestation by the Devil or his demons.

Catholic exorcists differentiate between “ordinary” demonic activity or influence (mundane everyday temptations) and

diabolical demonic activity, which can take six different forms, ranging from complete control by Satan or some demon(s) to voluntary submission.

As I have said before not all cases of possession are full cases of possession. There are cases of demonic oppression, obsession and depression and infestation which can all be very painful and very distressing.

Possession, in which Satan or some demon(s) takes full possession of a person’s body without their knowledge or consent, so the victim is therefore morally blameless.

Obsessionis when the devil attacks the body of a human being from the outside, we call this obsession.

Which includes sudden attacks of irrationally obsessive thoughts, usually culminating in suicidal ideation; this is a medical term for though

s about or an unusual preoccupation with suicide. The range of suicidal ideation can vary greatly from fleeting to detailed planning,

role playing, and unsuccessful attempts, which may be

deliberately constructed to fail or be discovered, or may be fully intended to result in death

and can typically influences dreams.

Oppression, in which there is no loss of consciousness or involuntary action. A person is plagued by an unusual string of “bad luck” which causes undue strain mentally, emotionally and physically.

External physical pain caused by Satan or some demon(s).

Infestation, which affects houses, things, or animals. In that there are strange sounds or occurrences and animals in the area of the occurrences begin to act out of the ordinary. Items such as dolls might appear to move under their own volition.

Subjugation, in which a person voluntarily submits to Satan or some demon(s).

If the above is read carefully it may seem as if the same idea is repeated more than once in just a slightly different way but that is because one runs into the other and there is overlapping. The below more detailed text reiterates this more clearly.

The following is taken from Fr. Gabriele Amorth’s second book “An Exorcist More Stories.” Fr. Amorth’s book is published by IGNATIUS released in 2002. Fr. Amorth is a member of the

Vatican II Sect.

4. External Pain – deals strictly with physical suffering. This includes the beatings, scourging, and injuries caused by inexplicable pushing, falling objects, and so on, that we read about in the lives of many saints, such as the Curé of Ars. Saint Paul of the Cross, and Padre Pio. These occurrences are not as rare as we may think, and the demon’s activity is usually confined to external activity; internal activity, if any, is only temporary and limited to the duration of a particular disturbance.

1. Diabolic Possession – is the gravest form of demonic activity, which allows a continuing presence of a demon in a human body. The evil symptoms do not have to be continuous but can alternate between periods of crisis and periods of rest. Possession implies intervals of temporary suspension of mental, intellectual, affective, and volitive faculties. Symptoms can include the knowledge of languages unknown to the victim, superhuman strength, and the ability to know the occult or someone else’s thoughts. Typically, there is an aversion to anything sacred, often in conjunction with blasphemy. There are also frauds who pose as demoniac; therefore, we need to be extremely wary.

3. Diabolic Oppression – is a ransom discomfort. We must remember that symptoms and gravity differ greatly case by case. This oppression can strike health, job, affections, relationship with others, and so on. Its symptoms include unexplainable rages and a tendency to complete isolation. Oppression can affect both individual and groups (even very large groups).

2. Diabolic Obsession – causes an almost split personality. Our will remains free, but it is oppressed by obsessive thoughts. The victim experiences thoughts that may be rationally absurd but of such a nature that he is unable to free himself. The obsessed person lives in a perpetual state of prostration, with persistent temptations to suicide. We must be aware that the temptation to commit suicide is also present in diabolic possession and diabolic oppression.

5. Diabolic Infestation – In this case, the malefic activity is directed toward places (houses, offices, stores, fields), objects (cars, pillows, mattresses, dolls) and animals, therefore it only indirectly affects man. Origen tells us that the early Christians resorted to exorcisms in these situations.

6. Diabolic Subjugation – The term indicates a voluntary pact–implicit or explicit—with Satan, by which we submit to the lordship of the demon. There are also involuntary times with the evil one; these cases fall into the preceding categories, especially the most severe: possession.

Vatican guidelines say that some of the additional signs that a person may be possessed — when all medical explanations have been ruled out — include:

1.      speaking in unknown languages,

2.      revealing things that are far away or hidden (or)

3.      demonstrating a physical strength not conforming to one’s age or health status (sometimes I would think gender would also be taken into account here).

At the same time, it is cautioned that “these signs are only an indication” and may not be the work of the devil.

Other manifestations, frequently of a moral and spiritual order are often present and may include:

1.      aversion to God,

2.      to the name of Jesus, of Mary and of the saints,

3.      to the Scripture,

4.      and to sacramental rites and sacred images.

There are a number of writings about true possessions by those such as Douglas Howell-Everson, Anthony Finlay,

Thomas .B. Allen; T. K Oesterreich; Dom Robert Petitpierre

; Adam Karl August von Eschenmayer. These writers have noted a number of things that many cases have in common as well as in some cases these are noted from personal experience.

Noted and documented cases of possessionin chronological order:

Aix-en-Provence possessions

Loudun possessions

Louviers possessions

The Possession of Elizabeth Knapp

George Lukins

Antoine Gay

Johann Blumhardt

Clara Germana Cele

Exorcism of Roland Doe (“Robbie Mannheim”)

Michael Taylor (Ossett)

Anneliese Michel



POLTERGEIST PHENOMENA

It often seems as if one characteristic of the presentation that possession exhibits, be it of persons or places (but more frequently of places) that has not changed much over the years is poltergeist phenomena. These phenomena can be or are ultimately vanquished, but they can be a disturbing not to say frightening aspect of the exorcism scene. The difficulty is that one is not by any means certain of their cause.

One of the most recent thoughts behind this phenomena might be psychokinetic energy which might emanate from a person (the suffer) but it may be demonic in origin. Psychokinesis

(from the Greek ψυχή, “psyche”, meaning mind, soul, spirit, heart, or breath; and κίνησις, “kinesis”, meaning

motion, movement; literally “mind-movement”)also referred to as

telekinesis (Greek τῆλε + κίνησις, literally “distant-movement”) used in respect to strictly describing mental movement or motion of solid matter, is a term coined by publisher

Henry Holt.It refers to the direct influence of mind on a

physical system that cannot be entirely accounted for by the mediation of any known

physical energy. Examples of psychokinesis could include distorting or moving an object, and influencing the output of a

random number generator.

Those who have been in the presence of the phenomenon have stated that it is by far mystifying. Poltergeist activity is accepted by some as proof of diabolical presence. It can be one of the “signs” of possession.

Disturbances of some nature are often a feature of exorcistic situations. These disturbances do differ in their virulence and variety from the physical violent movement of objects to the comparatively gentle motion imparted to books or pictures. Either way they are unsettling. There appears from observation to be two main kinds of “movement”: that thought to be created by poltergeist activity and that caused by departed spirits.

Knockings and rappings seemingly on walls are a common feature of poltergeist activity, usually interpreted as attempts to communicate with the living – but who really knows? These may be and are generally thought to be caused (if not by psychokinetic energy) by departed spirits as although bewildering they are not violent. In the same category are the inexplicable resitings of small objects

: parcels, plates and so forth. Often these weird motions take place in open view of victim and bystanders; sometimes the movements have ostensibly happened when nobody was present.

It does appear that “disturbances” shall we call them, happen at or in places where disharmony or worse has occurred in the past – or even at the moment. Houses can be vulnerable to these tensions when domestic or social upheaval is or was present; so too can churches, disused or not and other erstwhile revered places. It does appear as if sin lay behind many instances of disturbed behaviour. As the “Report” on exorcism says, “Human sin opens the door for other [diabolic] forces to enter in”. Devotion to occult practices has also been frequently mentioned to lead to situations where matters have got out of control. In such cases the occult has become a substitute religion, but the human mind or emotion has not the capacity to deal with it. Sites of pagan worship in ancient times, or other religious places that have been desecrated are not infrequently plagued by psychic or spiritual disturbance.

“Exorcism alone cannot control poltergeist activity generated by human beings” – a concise summary of the situation an exorcist often finds himself in. However, as Petitpierre states in EXORCISING DEVILS, because of its bizarre nature, poltergeist activity often needs the ministrations of the Church’s deliverance and healing activity (See his chapter ten, “Poltergeist Phenomena”). A direct quote from this chapter of Petitpierre, is illuminating:

“Poltergeist phenomena …are not due to external influence from the unseeen world. They are the manifestations of paranormal powers NOT possessed by the majority of human beings but are, nevertheless, fairly common.

“ (p. 107).

Included in the list of other signs or symptoms for declaring demonic possession are: the practice of lewd and obscene acts, or even sexual thoughts; horrible smells of bodily odours or of sulphur, associated with hell; distended stomachs; rapid weight loss where death seems inevitable; changes in the voice to a deep, rasping, menacing, guttural croak. Occasionally there may be signs of automatic writing or

levitation. self-mutilation; superhuman abilities such as psychic abilities, abnormal strength, or an ability to perform acts out of the realm of human possibility such as levitation; cessation of normal bodily functions for periods of time, including breathing and heart beat; and a pronounced revulsion to symbols, places, people, objects, and ceremonies having any religious context. Other phenomena associated with the presence of a demon include an acrid stench; marked decrease in the temperature of the room which a possessed individual occupies; writing appearing out of nowhere; sounds and voices arising from nowhere; and objects moving on

The “signs” said to be exhibited by such persons have been described for hundreds of years, and codified by the Catholic Church as infallible guides to cases of true possession. All exorcists have them in the forefront of their minds. They are important and by no means fanciful even though most of them (as signs) originated in antiquity.

their own and destruction of objects in the room, without anyone having laid a hand upon them.

According to ancient authority, as stated many times above, an evil spirit was in possession if it departed at the sign of the cross or was confronted by anything holy; execrated the Church; affected the mind of the victim to such an extent that he displayed exaggerated emotion, especially that of pride or vanity(this is means beyond what would be considered normal or outside of reason); avoided the subject of the devil or possession when a priest was trying to help him; appeared with a loathsome expression or departed accompanied by noise or smell; left the victim desolate and dejected.

The most noticeable in full demonic possessions is often erased memories or personalities,

convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying. Access to hidden knowledge is termed as gnosis; which is

the commonGreek noun forknowledge (in thenominative caseγνῶσις f.). In the context of the

English languagegnosisgenerally refers to the word’s meaning within the spheres of

Christian mysticism, Mystery religionsandGnosticismwhere it signifies a “spiritual knowledge” or

religion of knowledge, in the sense ofmystical enlightenmentor “insight”, this is knowledge that was also said to be possessed by the ancient Gnostics obtained through mysticism. Yet those who are possessed seem to be able to, quite willingly in fact, demonstrate knowledge of others. Knowledge about persons or events that would be impossible for them to have knowledge of.

Then there is the knowledge of foreign languages which is mentioned quite often when dealing with the possessed,

xenoglossia/ xenoglossy,thisis the acknowledgedparanormal

phenomenon in which a person is able to speak or write a language he or she could not have acquired by natural means. What this means is that, a person who speaks

German fluently, but who is not a native German speaker(not native to Germany or of German decent), has never studied German, never been to a German-speaking country, and never associated with German speakers or had any other source of exposure to the German language, would be said to exhibit xenoglossy

. Also noted is drastic changes in

vocal intonation, this is the variation of tone used when speaking. In most cases of possession it has been recorded that the possessed person’s voice tone drops dramatically, also speaking in two voice tones at once.

Facial structure has also been seen to change, the sudden appearance of injuries

(scratches, bite marks) or lesions; especially if these cannot be self inflicted, and

superhuman strength.

Such people for example cannot retain food; they vomit constantly; they experience internal pains; the body becomes visibly weaker and their limbs seem constricted; they experience the greatest difficulty in communicating by speech; they have an unnatural skin colour; they experience extreme fears and terrors; they are not responsive to medications. With this as a basis, various other “signs”, also stated in the list above, were added right up to modern times: indifference to spiritual influence; anti-Christian ideas; continuous lying; depression; a feeling that they are possessed. The victim: will burst into sudden fits of fury and defiance; will curse aloud and seems always to be motivated by spite and enmity; will lash out at bystanders including the exorcising minister; will exhibit sexual behaviour or longings for intoxicants or drugs; will try to (and often does) mutilate his own body; will find it impossible to say the word “Jesus” but may frequently call upon Satan. He will be unable to pray and on the contrary is blasphemous; he will switch the tenor of talk which apparently troubles him. He feels unable to repent or show remorse; he appears uncomfortable in the presence of Christian objects or people; unable to enter a church without a show of irreverence; he is unable to maintain any form of concentration; if conscious of his inner distortion he will be utterly bewildered as to why he is exhibiting such behaviour.

One of the most obvious signs of serious malaise is of course the appearance of the afflicted, an evil or frightening expression being adopted, which has also been noted and observed by Anthony Finlay. Facial distortions are par for the course. The change in voice, intonation, itself is frequently unnatural, generally gruff and harsh. This applies to female victims as well, when the phenomenon is more mystifying than ever. It is possible in some cases, for the exorcist, to speak in a foreign dialect, as

xenoglossia

often occurs in the form of Latin and apparently to be understood by the sufferer and REPLIED TO in that tongue in which he/she (the exorcist) has never been schooled. At the point of exorcism, the person often experiences (it seems) visions or impressions of some threatening figure or figures. All of this may be accompanied by poltergeist activity of the type adumbrated above.

An exorcist is always conscious of the fact that if the ceremony “fails” the victim may be left worse off than before. This beneficial caution has haunted the practitioners down the years; but is unfortunately as true now as it ever was. The afflicted person may be left with an overwhelming sense of disappointment, distress even which may be injurious to whatever faith (in religion, God, Jesus) he has. Therefore is the discharge of the ritual doubly hazardous.

Anthony states that the schizophrenic patient, those who are not possessed but suffer mentally, is particularly hard to deal with, notwithstanding the fact that there are symptoms (signs) which are intended to guide the exorcist. Howell-Everson in his HANDBOOK FOR CHRISTIAN EXORCISTS gives a succinct list (p.53) Not all of which are necessarily true or hold for all experiences:

·         The “patient” exists in a different world from ours and tends to have little consciousness of his own condition.

·         He is subject to strange mood swings, often very inappropriate to the circumstance.

·         His behaviour is in all respects very puzzling.

·         His thinking is in all respects very puzzling.

·         His attempts at converse are jumbled and mostly incoherent; it appears as if he does not comprehend even the simplest of matters.

·         He hallucinates and has delusions.

DIFFERENTIATION

Differentiating between the above symptoms and those shown by the “possessed” is not easy. There are differences in the manifestation; however, as I hope may be deduced when you compare the lists. In a case of possession, it is as Oesterreich puts it in his book, POSSESSION, as if another soul “

had entered into the body and subsisted there, in place of or side by side with the normal subject

“. This generally produces the illusion of a double personality manifested most visibly in appearance; tone of voice and of course in speech. There are many descriptions of possessed people transformed out of all recognition. Some of the most vivid tell of the victims in the celebrated Loudon epidemic.

“Asmodeus [a demon] shook the girl backwards and forwards a number of times…her face became completely unrecognizable, her glance furious, her tongue prodigiously large, long, and hanging down out of her mouth, livid and dry…the demons came come into her face making it very hideous…” (Eschenmayer, KONFLIKT. (p. 18)

With regard to voice, though not always, that the voice, as Oesterreich observes, did not speak according to the spirit of the normal personality but that of the new one.

Eschenmayer in his study of possession, KONFLIKT, in describing one of his patients, writes of “insults” being spoken, “abuse” being hurled, “threats” and “outbursts” – from a person who from all accounts was polite and moderate. Sudden and rapid movement was almost always a sign of deep malaise. This could have been feigned but as Oesterreich points out so appropriately, “

contortions…in the most impossible directions – the body bent back like a bow…they [the movements] are not due to simulation or voluntary action as the contortions cannot be executed voluntarily

“. (p. 23)

However, it is important to state that the Catholic Church holds that sickness does not exclude demonic action, as Jean Vichon in his perceptive article “Aspects of Possession” points out (in the SATAN compendium, p. 205) This of course adds to the difficulties! An aspect of possession mentioned by Vichon as well as by others, is that of a feeling of cold which is typical of the ritual involving both person and place. Whether it really is so or whether it is the oppressive atmosphere of fear and danger, we cannot be truly sure. The of there is the greatly and often described aspect of levitation . Much has been written on this subject from the angle of the mystery of the giant constructions of the ancient world, to present day “levitations” occurring in seances and the like. It is possible to imagine this phenomenon in highly charged situations such as in exorcistic rituals, especially when the

officiant is familiar with the theory as he must be, from his reading and exchange of conversation with others. What I am trying to say is that imagination, as we all know, can play tricks. But ARE they tricks?



These guides to detection of possession were originally written when the witchcraft mania ravaged Europe, that is to say about the fifteenth century so it is not surprising that sufferers were alluded to as “bewitched”.

OBSESSION AND THE SUFFERING OF THE VICTIM

Vichon has a paragraph of importance

“We can distinguish two fundamental obsessions of the possessed. There is the obsession of moral solitude to which is joined the obsession of inferiority, frequent with [the unmarried] with widows, with people who live on the fringe of life, having neither family or home; with certain religious ill-adapted to the religious life, who have entered not by vocation but as a result of some disappointment. Obsessions of solitude and inferiority prepare the ground for possession. Obsessions of guilt often determine it…

“

(p. 208)

The story of Pere Surin, one of the protagonists in the Loudon episode, is an example of the obsession of guilt. From his own writings it is clear that Surin’s guilt feelings (misplaced) led him to think he was damned which itself led on to attempts at self-punishment, and attempted suicide. Periods of frenzy alternated with periods of calm. Surin came to the Ursuline convent of Loudon to exorcise the demons, the Prioress, a Sister (or Soeur) Jeanne des Ange, who was guilt obsessed, considering herself to be possessed by devils.

Pere Surin’s

“impulsions arose from obsessions of contrariety which forced him into actions entirely against his will…” as Vichon so accurately states in his article. In his summing-up of the Surin and des Ange cases, he writes of the two as representing types of possession “which …are found to have the same orgin in guilt-obsessions, split personality, spirit of contrariety and [emotional] ambivalence

“. (p.210)

Demons which haunt Man and always have, represent a dangerous form of evil; they appear to be comfortable with the estate of Man and as such will be formidable opponents for the foreseeable future of humanity.

Possession as not only been limited to a single person as has been referred to a number of instances at various point above.

Mass Possession

In 1632, documented in 1634, one of the most infamous cases of mass possession was recorded, and became known as the

‘Loudun Possessions’.

Sister Jeanne des Agnes and sixteen nuns, of the Ursuline Convent in Loudun Francewho, were visited and possessed by demons.

Urbain Grandier who had been appointed parish priest of St-Pierre-du-Marche in Loudun, France, in 1617 was accused of making a pact with the devil which caused the possession of the sisters at the nunnery to take place. Two stories exist about what happened. Either the Bishop of Poitiers approached Father Mignon, confessor to the Ursuline nuns, and a plan was made to persuade a few of the sisters to feign possession and denounce Grandier, or Father Mignon was approached by the Mother Superior Jeanne des Anges (Joan of the Angels) for help.

According to the first story, Father Mignon readily persuaded the Mother Superior, Jeanne des Anges, and another nun to comply. They would claim that Father Grandier had bewitched them, falling into fits and convulsions, often holding their breath and speaking in tongues.

The second story claims that Jeanne had illicit dreams about Father Grandier, who appeared to her as a radiant angel. As an angel, he enticed her to sexual acts, causing her to rave loudly at night and as a result she sought help as even after repenting the experience continued. Either way the possession was used as an excuse to not only remove Father Grandier but arrest, tri, convict him of witchcraft and burn him to death.

A number of public exorcisms were held (as was not unusual at the time) of which some 7000 people witnessed the acts. Even after Father Grandier’s death the possessions did not cease. Several of the nuns, including Jeanne des Anges, suffered violent convulsions during the procedure, shrieking and making sexual motions toward the priests. Following the lead of Jeanne des Anges, many of the nuns reported illicit dreams. The accusers would suddenly bark, scream, blaspheme, and contort their bodies. During the exorcisms, Jeanne swore that she and the other nuns were possessed by two demons named

Asmodeus and Zabulon. These demons were sent to the nuns when Father Grandier tossed a bouquet of roses over the convent walls.

Those performing the exorcisms where Capuchin Father Tranquille, Franciscan

Father Lactance, and Jesuit Father Jean-Joseph Suri. When the demons were exorcised, they took possession of the exorciser, Father Jean-Joseph Surin, who inflicted harm on himself and attempted suicide. Later Surin claimed to have no memory of the event. In all, Jeanne and the other nuns claimed to be possessed by a multitude of demons:

Asmodeus, Zabulon, Isacaaron, Astaroth, Gresil, Amand, Leviatom, Behemot, Beherie, Easas, Celsus, Acaos, Cedon, Alex, Naphthalim, Cham, Ureil and Achas.

In 1634, Des Niau wrote the following description in his The History of the Devils of Loudun:



[The nuns] struck their chests and backs with their heads, as if they had their necks broken, and with inconceivable rapidity; They twisted their arms at the joints of the shoulder, the elbow, or the wrist, two or three times around. Lying on their stomachs, they joined the palms of their hands to the soles of their feet; their faces became so frightful one could not bear to look at them; their eyes remained open without winking. Their tongues issued suddenly from their mouths, horribly swollen, black, hard, and covered with pimples, and yet while in this state they spoke distinctly. They threw themselves back till their heads touched their feet, and walked in this position with wonderful rapidity, and for a long time. They uttered cries so horrible and so loud that nothing like it was ever heard before. They made use of expressions so indecent as to shame the most debauched of men, while their acts, both in exposing themselves and inviting lewd behavior from those present would have astonished the inmates of the lowest brothels in the country.

Aix-en-Provence; earlier in 1611 among the Ursulinenuns of Aix-en-Provence (South of France), there were alleged cases of demonic possession occurring. Here also Father Louis Gaufridi was accused and convicted of causing the possession by a pact with the devil, and he was executed by being burned at the stake

. Signs of a demon invasion were believed to appear at Aix-en-Provence during the year 1609 through the victim Madeleine de Demandolx de la Palud. Madeleine, a 17-year-old Ursuline nun with a history of emotional instability, was returned often to the care of her parents to recover from attacks of depression. Father Louis Gaufridi was a friend of Madeleine’s family and it is believed that he and Madeleine became lovers.

This rumor reached the ears of Sister Catherine de Gaumer, head of the Ursulineconvent at

Marseilles. She passed the rumor on to Madeleine’s mother, and words were conveyed to Father Gaufridi that his attentions should cease immediately.

It was then that Madeleine was admitted to the Ursuline convent at Marseilles, under the direct supervision of Mother de Gaumer. To de Gaumer, Madeleine revealed the full story of her relations with Father Gaufridi. In order to prevent further damage and to halt any association with Father Gaufridi, Madeleine was transferred to the distant convent at Aix. Two years later, at the age of 19, Madeleine fell victim to what those around her considered to be unmistakable

 demonic possession; her body was contorted, and in a fit of rage she destroyed a

 crucifix.

Common convent practice at the time prescribed an exorcism. Not only were the first attempts futile, but further attempts brought damning accusations that Father Gaufridi was a devil worshipperthat had copulated with her since she was 17. Three more nuns were soon found to be possessed by demons, and by the end of the year that number had risen to eight. Sister Louise Capeau was considered to be the most extremely afflicted; her ravings and bodily contortions were more hideous than Madeleine’s.

With the situation at the Ursuline convent getting out of control, Father Romillon enlisted the aid of the GrandInquisitor

Sebastien Michaelis. A Flemish exorcist, Father Domptius, was called upon to continue attempts at removing the demons from the possessed nuns.

After Vérin, a demon possessing Madeleine, accused Father Gaufridi of causing the possession, reporting to the amazed exorcist Father Domptius that 666 demons were in possession of Madeleine’s body, Gaufridi was summoned from his parish to exorcise Sister Louise Capeau. For his efforts, the priest was denounced as asorcerer and cannibal. To the dangerous accusation, Gaufridi replied, “If I were a witch, I would certainly give my soul to a thousand devils.” Taken by the inquisitors as a confession of guilt, Gaufridi was taken immediately to prison.

During this time, the possessed Sister Louise Capeau insisted loudly that Gaufridi had committed every imaginable form of

sexual perversion, alarming authorities into searching the priest’s rooms for magical books or objects. They found nothing incriminating, and were told by his parish that he was a well regarded man.

After being released to his parish, Father Gaufridi demanded his name be cleared and that his accusers be punished. The Grand Inquisitor remained determined that he would bring Gaufridi to trial. In 1611 Gaufridi was brought before a court in Aix.

Twice, Madeleine attemptedsuicideafter the courts found the

Devil’s Markon her body.

After a series of physical and mentaltorture inflicted during his time in prison Father Gaufridi entered the courtroom. His body had been shaved in a search for the Devil’s Mark, three of which were found and used as evidence against him. A

pact with the Devil

was also produced in court, allegedly signed in Gaufridi’s own blood. A confession was produced, which Gaufridi had signed in prison, extracted under torture. Included in the confession was an admission of celebrating a

Black Mass in order to gain power over women. Although

he strongly recanted the confession extracted from him by torture. In the eyes of the court and 17th century Christians, the protest was useless. April 30, 1611,

with head and feet bare, a rope around his neck, Gaufridi officially asked pardon of God and was handed over to torturers. Still alive after the torture of

strappado and squassation, Gaufridi was escorted by archers while dragged through the streets of Aix for five hours before arriving at the place of execution. The priest was granted the mercy ofstrangulationbefore his body was burned to ashes.

Sister Madeleine Demandolx de la Palud renounced God and the saints before the church, going so far as to renounce allprayers ever said on her behalf and immediately following Gaufridi’s execution was suddenly free of all possession. Her fellow demoniac, Sister Louise Capeau, was possessed until she died. Both of the sisters were banished from the convent, but Madeleine remained under the watch of the Inquisition. She was charged with witchcraft in 1642 and again in 1652. During her second trial, Madeleine was again found to have the Devil’s mark and was sentenced to imprisonment. At an advanced age, she was released to the custody of a relative and died in 1670 at the age of 77.

The Aix case was the first in which the testimony of an allegedly possessed person was taken into account. Prior to the 17th century, a demonically possessed (demoniac) person was considered unreliable when they laid accusations because most clerics believed that any words spoken by the demoniac were from the mouth of “

the father of lies” (John 8:44). By its very nature, the utterances of a demoniac was not considered able to stand up as evidence. In fact this case seem to echo the case of

Father Grandier 20 years later, and did set the precedent.

A case similar case occurred at another nunnery in 1625, in Louviers Normandy, France

Cases of Single person Possession

Dittus Gottliebin,1842/43, a resident in the small village of Mottlingen, Germany – located in an isolated section of the Black Forest – 28-year-old Gottliebin Dittus was born to deeply religious and superstitious parents and raised in strict adherence to the Lutheran faith. Though her mother and father both died when she was a child, Gottliebin continued to live with her three older siblings and practice at the local church run by Reverend Johann Christoph Blumhardt – a pastor whose belief in the power of the devil was strong.

Neighbors of the Dittus family began reporting eerie noises emanating from within the home during the night, which prompted a local doctor and several other villagers to stay there over the course of an evening. All came away from the experience claiming that the home was “haunted” after reportedly witnessing strange phenomena there. Around the same time Gottliebin began reporting visions of a woman holding a baby in her arms, and later fell into an inexplicable coma for an entire day, prompting Reverend Blumhardt to visit the home. After observing the now-conscious young woman he suggested she be taken to stay at the nearby home of a cousin, as it appeared the bizarre happenings were affecting her worse than the other siblings. As soon as she left, the “hauntings” at the Dittus home allegedly ceased, but Gottliebin continued to be plagued by strange phenomena. It was then determined that she was possessed by a demon.

Blumhardt began visiting Gottliebin on a regular basis, with Gottliebin claiming that shortly after her birth, evil spirits had tried to steal her away before her mother invoked the name of Jesus. In addition, she claimed that her aunt was a witch who had tried to indoctrinate her when she was a child. Blumhardt also witnessed in Gottliebin what he claimed were clear symptoms of possession: speaking in different voices; suffering from violent convulsions; hurling blasphemies; and violently attacking her siblings, among other things. At one point she began speaking in the voice of the dead woman she’d earlier claimed to have visions of, telling the pastor that during her lifetime she had murdered two children and was now in the grip of the devil himself.

Blumhardt soon began the process of carrying out the exorcism, praying over the young woman and fasting in an attempt to cast the evil spirit out. Soon Gottliebin was claiming possession by several demons, and the number continued to grow through the following weeks and months – first three, then seven, then fourteen, and soon enough numbering into the hundreds and later thousands. The once-pious woman became increasingly violent and blasphemous, and she began vomiting up objects such as sand, glass, and nails and losing large amounts of blood. Several of the spirits who had allegedly taken control of her body spoke through the young woman, some of whom reported that they were in fact victims of the possessing demons. In a moment of lucidity Gottliebin reported that she’d recently had a vision in which her soul flew around the earth and witnessed these demons causing a catastrophic earthquake someplace far away. Only a few days later, news of a terrible earthquake in the West Indies reached the village of Mottlingen, seemingly validating the young woman’s possession. Through it all the entire village paid close attention to developments in the case and became deeply invested in the young woman’s deliverance.

The exorcism continued for nearly two years, at which point the hold of the demons over Gottliebin finally seemed to be loosening. On Christmas 1843, the possessing spirits – as if sensing their imminent eradication – made one last attempt at maintaining their control in the earthly sphere when they allegedly made a spiritual attack on Gottliebin’s brother and sister. While the brother recovered quickly, the sister Katharina soon began exhibiting many of the same symptoms as Gottliebin, and Blumhardt proceeded to turn his attentions on her, as this occurrence seemed to lessen Gottliebin’s own torment. Three days of exorcisms later, Katharina let out one final, terrible scream before proclaiming, “Jesus is victor!” and coming to rest. It was then that both Katharina and Gottliebin were announced to be cleared of demonic influence. Following the ordeal, Blumhardt become something of a celebrity in Mottlingen and nearby communities, with hundreds of parishioners from all around flocking to him in the hopes of being cured of their myriad afflictions. In fact, Gottliebin herself soon moved into the Reverend’s home to assist him in “curing” others long-term.



Clara Germana Cele was a Christian woman, who in 1906, was said to be possessed by a demon when she was a sixteen year old school girl at St. Michael’s Mission in Natal, South Africa. The girl was an orphan of black origin and was baptised as an infant. At the age of sixteen it is said that the girl made a pact with Satan and this is said to have been the cause of her demonic possession. This information was stated to have later been revealed by Clara to her confessor, Father Hörner Erasmus.In an account written by a nun, Clara was said to be able to speak languages of which she had no previous knowledge. This fact was also witnessed by others, who recorded that she:



“
understood Polish, German, French and all other languages.“



A nun reported that Clara demonstrated clairvoyance by revealing the most intimate secrets and transgressions of people with whom she had no initial contact.Moreover, Clara could not bear the presence of blessed objects and seemed imbued with extraordinary strength and ferocity, often hurling nuns about the convent rooms and beating them. The nun reported that the girl’s cries had a savage bestiality that astonished those around her.In regards to her voice, an attending nun went so far as to write:



“
No animal had ever made such sounds. Neither the lions of East Africa nor the angry bulls. At times, it sounded like a veritable herd of wild beasts orchestrated by Satan had formed a hellish choir

.”

Clara, according to some, was said to have levitated five feet (1.5 m) in the air, sometimes vertically and sometimes horizontally; when sprinkled with holy water, the girl is purported to have come out of this state of her satanic possession. According to a

LutheranPastoral Handbook, one possessing these symptoms is an indication that an individual is truly possessed, rather than suffering from a mental illness. Consequently, two Roman Catholic priests, Rev. Mansueti (Director of the St. Michael’s Mission) and Rev. Erasmus (her confessor), were appointed to perform an exorcism on Clara Germana Cele; this deliverance lasted for two days. During the exorcism, Clara’s first action was to knock the Holy Bible from the priest’s hands and grab his stole in an attempt to choke him with it. At the end of the exorcism, it was said that the demon was forced out and she was healed. According to the Christian argument, while most psychologists would like to dismiss this case as that of mental illness, they cannot fully explain why she never had a relapse, as it is well known that most mental disorders such as

schizophrenia and other dissociative disorders require a life time of not only

Michael Taylor, from the British town of Ossett, suffered an alleged demonic possession. Christine Taylor, the wife of Michael Taylor, expressed to the Christian Fellowship Group, of which Michael was a part, that his relationship with the lay leader of the group, Marie Robinson, was more carnal than it at first seemed. Michael Taylor admitted that he felt evil within him and eventually attacked Robinson verbally, who screamed back at him. During the next meeting, Michael Taylor received an absolution, but nevertheless, his behaviour continued to become more erratic. As a result, the local vicar called in other ministers experienced in deliverance in preparation to cast out the demons residing within the man. The exorcism, which occurred on 5–6 October 1974 at St. Thames Church in Barnsley, was headed by Father Peter Vincent (I wonder how many this name would have had double checking), an Anglican priest of St. Thomas’s in Gawber and was aided by a Methodist clergyman, Rev. Raymond Smith. In an all-night ceremony, the group invoked and cast out at least forty demons, including those of incest, bestiality, blasphemy, and lewdness. At the end, exhauseted, they allowed Taylor to go home, although they felt that at least three demons–insanity, murder, and violence–were still left in him.

— Dr. Bill Ellis, The Pennsylvania State University

The exorcism rite, which lasted until 6 A.M. exhausted the priests, who allowed the man to return home. Nevertheless, they cautioned that although they had cast out forty spirits from Michael Taylor, a few remained, including the demon of murder. While at home Michael Taylor brutally murdered his wife, Christine, and strangled their poodle. He was found by a policeman, naked in the street, covered with blood. At his trial in March, he was acquitted on the grounds of insanity. This case became highly

popularised as the “Ossett murder case of 1974.

Most Famous Possessions

Then of course there are the two most famous cases of possessions in the world although most don’t

realise it. They are also the most well documented, as the church has become more careful about keeping record of such things.

Much of what is noted in these occurrences is very unsettling.

The Exorcist

Robbie Mannheim (also known as Roland Doe; born 1 June 1935) is the pseudonym given by historian

Thomas B. Allen to an anonymous young person most notably known for being

possessed and later exorcised during his childhood in the late 1940s. The events which were reported in the media of the time and the subsequent claims surrounding those events went on to inspire the 1971 novel

The Exorcistby William Peter Blattyand the 1973 film of the same name, as well as Thomas B. Allen’s own 1993 book

Possessedand the following 2000 TV film by the same name.

For the purpose of this piece we will refer to the person in question as Robbie, his parents as Karl and Phyllis Mannheim and we will refer to his grandmother as Grandmother Wagner.

I would like to share some of Blatty’s comments at this point, It would be helpful if we looked at it in his account of taking his novel to film (ScreenPress Books, 1998, p 47)

“Is Satan a single personal intelligence? Or a horde of evil entities? We have no reliable data that link him [as Satan] to possession. Even in terms of my novel, I never knew the demon’s identity. I doubt he [was] Satan and a spirit of the dead. Perhaps he is/was the spirit of the south-west wind, Pazuzu…I know only that he is real and powerful and evil and one of many – and aligned with whatever is opposed to love.

”

Thomas Allen’s 1993 book POSSESSED gives what purports to be “the true story” of this most famous exorcism, (allegedly) based on a discovered diary belonging to one of the priests involved.

Allen tells of the preliminary attempts to communicate on a “normal” level with the disturbed person [here known as Robbie]. The initial attempt to get the sufferer to examine his conscience and to make an act of contrition is par for the course. This seemed to be successful. Both priests (the protagonists in the drama) were carrying copies of the ROMAN. Bowdern (the name given here), the (chief) exorcist, decided to stick to the letter of the Manual, appropriate in his judgement to the circumstances. Bowdern began his readings in Latin from the gospels, psalms and other prayers. Calls on Christ to aid were (and are) followed by summoning the help of the angels and saints. Calls for deliverance by the exorcist by the power of the Lord are refrained by the others present: “

O Lord deliver us“.

Around the time of the events that took place there were several newspaper articles printed attributed to anonymous reports which were later sourced back to be that of the family’s clergyman, Reverend Luther Miles Schulze. As well as another article written on the subject in the January 1975 edition of

Fate magazinetitled “The Truth Behind The Exorcist,”

.This article alleges to reveal previously unknown details from a diary kept by one of the priests involved in the exorcism.

I mention the diary now as we will deal with some extracts later on.

Two other main sources were obtained roughly 50 years after the events by the investigation of Thomas B. Allen and form the basis for his book on the subject,

Possessed. One is the testimony ofRev. Walter H. Halloran, at the time one of the last surviving eyewitnesses of the events. According to Rev. Walter H. Halloran, streaks and arrows and words such as “hell” appeared on the boy’s skin.

 The other is a diary which was kept at the time of the events by aRev. Raymond J. Bishop, another clergyman which became involved in the events after March 9, 1949, several months after it is claimed the initial symptoms occurred. The same diary used by the 1975

Fatearticle.

Another author, Mark Opsasnick, has also claimed to have independently investigated these events and spoken to people involved in the case, including several people close to Mannheim and his family, other priests in their parish, a source at the hospital mentioned in the claims and even Allen and Halloran.

Father William. S. Bowdern never publicaly admitted to performing the exorcism in 1949 up until his death in 1983, he also refused to co-operate Blatty but apparently did discuss it with other Jesuit priests.

  Father Walter H. Halloranwas the last surviving Jesuit involved in a 1949 exorcism, who died at age 83 1 March 2005. He only recorded the events that took place in a diary but never offered his opinion as to whether the boy was possessed or not as he stated that he was not studied the phenomenon there for he did not feel qualified to make an observation. Blatty is said to have obtained a copy of the dairy and this was the basis of his book.

The true identity of Mannheim has never been revealed however it is reported that he has no memory of being possessed. Most of the information regarding him and the events surrounding his possession and exorcism comes fromsecondaryandtertiary sources. His home became the scene of many alarming events. Whenever he was home, unexplained noises would reverberate from the attic, furniture would move of its own accord; objects flew, and witnesses reported the sound of marching feet. Fourty-eight (

48) witnesses later came forward to later substantiate this case and the strange, unbelievable incidents that occurred and surrounded the boy. He was examined by many, both medical and psychiatric doctors. They could offer no valid explanation for these disturbing events.

Mannheim was an only child born into a German Lutheran Christian family and that during the 1940s they lived in the American city of Mt. Rainier,

Maryland.

Since Robbie was an only child, he depended upon adults in his household for playmates, namely his Aunt Harriet, who treated Robbie more like a special friend than a nephew. She adored her nephew and he her. Robbie loved to play board games and

Harriet responded to Robbie’s interest by introducing him to one – the Ouija board. The boy did express interest in the Quija board and as Aunt Harriet was a Spiritualist, she saw it as a way to make contact between this world and the next. For a Spiritualist like her, attempts to deal with the dead were neither pagan nor dangerous. The planchette, she explained to Robbie, would sometimes move in response to answers given by the spirits of the dead. That they communicated by entering the consciousness of people at the board. The spirits, Aunt Harriet said, produced impulses that traveled through the medium to the planchette, which moved obediently to spell out words or point to “Yes” or “No.” She had an exotic quality, especially with her talk about Spiritualism. Between visits, Robbie sometimes played at the Ouija board himself.

Nonetheless, Robbie was your average boy – he played, read comic books, and listened to the

 radio.

January 15, Saturday, 1949, Karl and Phyllis Mannheim went out for the evening, leaving Robbie and Grandmother Wagner alone in the house; shortly afterwards

Grandmother Wagner heard a dripping sound.She and Robbie checked every faucet in the neat house, yet they could not find the source of the dripping. Finally they decided that the dripping must be coming from Grandmother Wagner’s bedroom under the sloping ceiling of the second floor. They entered the room while the

dripping sound ensued and

saw a painting of Christ, that was on the wall in the room begin to shake, as if some-body were bumping the wall behind it

.

Later, by the time Robbie’s parents arrived home, the dripping activity had ceased, and new noises in the form of raps and scratches were heard

, as if claws were scraping across wood. Karl smiled and said a mouse or rat had decided to come in from the winter. For the next several nights, 10, beginning from, 15 January, 1949, the scratching sound continued, beginning at around seven o’clock in the evening and fading around mid-night. Outwardly, everyone agreed with Karl: a rat or mouse was making the noise. Still, there was some form of desperation when Karl began his search as he tore up floorboards and ripped down wall panels in search of the rodent. There were 3 days of silence

, which must have been a relief to the family but then Robbie reported the sound of “squeaking shoes” on his bed. This continued for 6 consecutive nights. (In one account Robbie was 13 when these occurrences began, in others 14)

On 26 January, 1949, eleven days after the beginning of the scratching sounds, Robbie’s aunt died in St. Louis, at the age of 54 from multiple sclerosis. This devastated Robbie; the boy consequently tried to contact his deceased aunt via the Ouija board, as he had been taught

(It is this attempt that is said to have led to hisdemonic possession.)



According to the Anglican Communion, the Church of England holds the view that possession does not happen of its own accord. One cannot catch demons like one catches the common cold. A person has to be in vulnerable position or put himself at risk in order to become possessed. The greatest risk comes from inviting a spirit into one’s body. And in view of the fact that Robbie lost someone to whom he was deeply connected would have, in my opinion, left him open to outside influences through his emotional turmoil.

A view of Robbie Mannheim’s dabbling with Ouija presented by Arlindo de Oliveira, a formerwitch doctor, states that

“occultspiritsdesire to possess human bodies because that gives them a physical apparatus with which to act and speak in a physical world

.”

According to those involved in the case and also reported by the media, around the time of Aunt Harriet’s death, the scratching noise in Grandmother Wagner’s room ceased; yet, new kinds of

poltergeist activity commenced. These strange happenings included the sound of squeaky shoes and marching feet, amongst other strange noises, furniture moved on its own accord, and ordinary objects, including a vase flew or levitated. But these events where not confirmed to Robbie’s home.

It seems from reports that Mrs. Mannheim alternated between thoughts that it might be Aunt Harriet seeking to communicate to something more malevolence. At some point during these happening she enquired that if it was Aunt Harriet that it should knock 3 times. In answer waves of air struck Grandmother Wagner, Mrs. Mannheim and Robbie followed by 3 knocks on the floor. She again asked that if it was the aunt that the spirit should knock 4 times, this second request was followed by 4 knows and scratching on Robbie’s mattress.

(it was reported in The Evening Star, a Washington D.C. newspaper that numerous doctors had examined the boy due to events)

The frightened family eventually turned to their Lutheran clergyman, Rev. Luther Miles Schulze

, for aid, who arranged for the boy to spend the night of February 17 in his home in order to observe him. The boy slept nearby to the minister in a twin bed and the minister reported that in the dark he heard vibrating sounds from the bed and scratching sounds on the wall. During the rest of the night he witnessed some strange events—a heavy armchair in which the boy sat seemingly tilted on its own and tipped over and a pallet of blankets on which the sleeping boy lay inexplicably moved around the room.

In light of his observations, Rev. Luther Miles Schulze concluded that there was

evilat work in young Robbie.

It is said that he advised the Mannheim’s that their best solution would be to seek the help of a Catholic Priest. They were referred to Father Edward Albert Hughes

who served as an assistant pastor from June 16, 1948 to June 18, 1960 at St. James Church in Mt. Rainier, Maryland. It is stated that, he at first suggested to Robbie’s parents to use blessed candles; holy water near Robbie and special prayers until he could be examined. It is said that a bottle of holy water sailed clear across the room.

After examining the boy at St. James Church, he arranged for a room Georgetown University Hospital

, aJesuitinstitution where he proceeded to conduct anexorcism after received reluctant approval from the Archbishop

. Robbie’s hands had to be retrained and tied to the hospital bed’s mattress springs, as he was enormously strong and violent, therefore considered extremely dangerous. Father Hughes began the prayers of exorcism, with in the first five minutes of the ritual Robbie became violent, breaking a steel spring from the bed he swung wildly

severely cutting Father Hughes’ arm from his shoulder to his wrist with the spring causing terrible damage, resulting in over 100 stitches. The exorcism was ended.Hughes stated years later, that the temperature of the room decreased when the boy entered it and that the he growled at him while speaking Latin. Robbie was discharged to be with his family and he returned home.

Once Robbie returned home things became worse very quickly. Chairs moved, in one instance, while the family members were still talking about a flipping chair, one of them pointed to a small table. A vase was slowly rising from the it.



Nor as stated before were these alarming phenomena confined to the Mannheim’s home. The desks at Robbie’s school were movable seat-desk units, with a single arm acting as a writing surface. Several times in January and February Robbie’s desk lurched into the aisle and began skittering about, banging other desks and causing a schoolroom uproar.

As time went by, it became evident that strange occurrences and sounds followed the Robbie everywhere.

“An orange and a pear flew across the entire room where he was standing.”

“The kitchen table was upset without any movement on the boy’s part.”

“Milk and food were thrown off the table and stove.”

“The breadboard was thrown onto the floor.”

“Outside the kitchen a coat on its hanger flew across the room.”

“A Bible was thrown directly at the foot of the boy but did not injure him in any way.”

“His desk at school moved about on the floor similar to the plate on an Ouija board.” This latter evidence of telekinesis forced the boy to quit school because of embarrassment.

“On one occasion the coverlet of the bed was pulled out from under the mattress and the edges stood up above the surface of the bed in a curled form as though held up with starch. When bystanders touched the bedspread, the sides fell back to normal position.” It was also stated that “At first everybody, including the boy, took it as a kind of joke, but it became more than a joke.”

Soon thereafter, one evening screaming was heard from the bathroom his parents rushed in, to find written in deep red welts on the boy’s ribs across his chest the word “

LOUIS”, his mother questioned him, asking if this meant St Louis. The reply, in welts, “

YES”, appeared across his stomach. The Mannheim’s had a large number of family in St. Louis, it had also been the home of Robbie’s favourite Aunt Harriet before her death.

The Mannheim’s desperately moved to St. Louis and lived with relatives. One of Robbie’s cousins, as student at the University of St. Louis, who had witnessed many hor

rible things happen to Robbie spoke to one of their professors,

Rev. Raymond J. Bishop, SJ, who in turn contacted, Rev. William S. Bowdern

, SJan associate of College Church; both these Jesuit institutions . Father Bowdern  was well known for being level headed, well grounded and an unsensational person.

The priests visited Robbie at his relatives home on a few occasions, they witnessed; his revulsion for sacred objects, the vicious vibration of his bed, as well as things flying across the room; a bottle of Holy water was flung from beside Robbie to crash on the floor. The boy also spoke in a deep guttural voice – these where just some of the things that both Bishop and Bowdern observed. Robbie also and an uncanny ability of spitting great distances; directly hitting a priest in the eye. After a number of contacts with the boy it was decided that the priests would speak to the Archbishop about a possible exorcism.

The Diary of events which was recorded according to Fate Magazine as well as other sources is as follows:

15 January 1949. A dripping noise was heard in his grandmother’s bedroom by the boy and his grandmother. A picture of Christ on the wall shook and scratching noises were heard under the floor boards. From that night on scratching was heard every night from 7 p.m. until midnight. This continued for ten consecutive days. After three days of silence, the boy heard nighttime “squeaking shoes” on his bed that continued for six consecutive nights.

(Note that the article and presumably the diary makes no mention as to which family members actually witnessed or were present when these events transpired.)

26 January 1949—“Aunt Harriet,” (referred to as Tillie in the article) who had a deep interest in spiritualism and had introduced Robbie to the Ouija Board, died of multiple sclerosis at the age of 54. Mrs. Mannheim suspected there may have been some connection between her death and the seemingly strange events that continued to take place. At one point during the manifestations Mrs. Mannheim asked, “If you are Harriet, knock three times.” Waves of air began striking the grandmother, Mrs. Mannheim, and Robbie and three knocks were heard on the floor. Mrs. Mannheim again queried, “If you are Harriet, tell me positively by knocking four times.” Four knocks were heard, followed by claw scratchings on Robbie’s mattress.

(At various points throughout this ordeal Mrs. Doe would attempt to verbally communicate with Aunt Harriet, apparently alternating her beliefs that the problems with her son were either the work of the devil or their departed relative.)

17 February 1949. Rev. Schulze had Robbie stay at parsonage. Robbie arrived at 9:20pm and stayed till 9:20am. The Rev witnessed sctraching noises, bed vibrating, a chair in which Robbie sat tripping over and movement of a pallet of blankets on which Robbie sat.



26 February 1949. At night scratches or marking appeared on the boy’s body for 4 consecutive nights. After the forth night words began to appear and seemed scratched on by claws.

(Diary indicated that his mother was present at this time)

the article mentions that Father Albert Hughes of St. James Catholic Church in Mount Rainier was consulted. Hughes suggested the family use blessed candles, holy water, and special prayers.

(The source of this information is not given)

After this the chronology becomes confusing. Between the writer of diary, who was supplied with information by Mrs. Mannheim and the details provided by the unnamed sources, a number of details are alleged. Mrs. Mannheim claims that she was using the blessed candles when a comb flew across the room and extinguished them. A coat and its hanger flew across the room, a Bible landed at Robbie’s feet, and a rocker in which Robbie sat spun around..

The diary is quoted as saying that at one point Mrs. Mannheim took a bottle of holy water and sprinkled it throughout the house. When she placed the bottle on a shelf it flew across the room on its own but did not break. One night she held a lighted candle alongside Robbie and the whole bed, Mrs. Mannheim, and Robbie all began moving back and forth in unison. Attempts were made to baptize Robbie Mannheim (this might be the first attempt at exorcism as this is also used to expel evil spirits) it is said he responded with rage—and a three-and-a-half day stay at Georgetown University Hospital is mentioned. The events continued when the boy was taken to Normandy, Missouri, during the first week of March 1949. Various relatives in Missouri were said to have witnessed the skin brandings

.

9 March 1949. Father Raymond J. Bishop, S.J., of St. Louis University was called in

(for the first time) and witnessed the scratching of the boy’s body and the motion of the mattress.

11 March 1949. Father Bowdern arrived on the scene. After Robbie retired at 11 p.m., Father Bowdern read the Novena prayer of St. Francis Xavier, blessed the boy with a relic

(a piece of bone from the forearm of St. Francis Xavier), and fixed a relic-encrusted crucifix under the boy’s pillow. The relatives left and Father Bowdern and Father Bishop departed. Soon afterward, a loud noise was heard in Robbie’s room, five relatives rushed to the scene. They reportedly found that a large book case had moved about, a bench had been turned over, and the crucifix had been moved to the edge of the bed. The shaking of Robbie’s mattress came to a halt only after the relatives yelled, “Aunt Harriet, stop!”

16 March 1949. Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter gave Father Bowdern permission to begin the formal rite of exorcism. That night, accompanied by Father Bishop and a Jesuit scholastic

(later revealed to be Walter Halloran), Father Bowdern began reciting the ritual prayers of exorcism.

(End of diary information)

The archbishop approved the exorcism of Robbie Mannehim reluctantly with three stipulations:

1.     Rev. William S. Bowdern, would be in charge of performing the exorcism upon Robbie Mannheim himself

2.     Rev. Bowdern was to keep a detailed diary of all actions concerning the exorcism.

3.    Rev. Bowdern was not to disclose his position and the location of the ritual; in essence he was not to tell anyone about the ritual period. Which meant that even though Bowdern could be (would be) up until late working with Robbie he would still have to be up early to able to attend to his normal pastoral duties the next day.

Father Bowdern arranged for Robbie to be admitted to a hospital run by the Alexian Religious order. Before the exorcism ritual began,

Father. Walter Halloran was called to the psychiatric wing of the hospital, where he was asked to assist Father Bowdern.

There where 9 Jesuit priests involved in the exorcism including Rev. William Van Roo. During the exorcism, Robbie spat in the eyes of the priests, despite the fact that his eyes were closed. Father Halloran stated that during this scene of

spiritual warfare, Robbie’s hospital bed shook disturbingly, a vessel of holy water

went soaring through the air, and words such as “evil” and “hell“, along with other various marks (they were scratched or cut into his flesh), appeared on the teenager’s body. Moreover, Robbie broke Father Halloran’s nose during the process. Robbie Mannheim, while being exorcised, also often shouted in an abnormal tone of voice, which was unlike his normal tone of voice. In total, the

exorcism ritualto cast out demons from the boy’s body were performed thirty times over a period of two months.

(continuation of diary information)

Throughout March and into April, Robbie was moved back and forth between the home of his aunt in a nearby rectory, and Alexian Brothers Hospital. The rite was an ongoing process. Instructions in the ritual command the exorcist to “pronounce the exorcism in a commanding and authoritative voice.” The Roman Ritual of Christian Exorcism reads:

“I cast thee out, thou unclean spirit, along with the least encroachment of the wicked enemy and every phantom and diabolical legion. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, depart and vanish from this creature of God….”

Markings appeared on Robbie’s body as these proceedings continued and so did the outbursts: outbursts featuring excessive cursing, vomiting, urinating and the use of Latin phrases. At one point during a round of prayers after Robbie had been instructed into the Catholic faith and had received his first holy communion, a six-inch (15.2 cm) portrait of the devil with its hands held above its head, webs stretching from its hands, and horns protruding from its head appeared in deep red on the boy’s calf (we assume that this was scratched into him. It is not stated who actually witnessed this.) Later, Robbie was transported back to Maryland for a short-lived visit and on one of the train rides he became maniacal, striking Father Bowdern in the testicles and yelling, “That’s a nutcracker for you, isn’t it?”

18 April 1949. As the nighttime ritual continued, Father Bowdern forced Roland to wear a chain of medals and hold a crucifix in his hands. Roland’s demeanor changed and he calmly asked questions about the meanings of certain Latin prayers. Bowdern continued the ritual, demanding to know who the demon was and when he would depart. Roland responded with a tantrum and screamed that he was one of the fallen angels. Bowdern kept reciting until 11:00 p.m. when Roland interrupted. In a new masculine voice Roland said

,

“Satan! Satan! I am St. Michael! I command you, Satan, and the other evil spirits to leave this body, in the name of Dominus, immediately! Now! Now! Now!”

Robbie had one last spasm before falling quiet. “He is gone,” Robbie pronounced, later telling Bowdern he had had a vision of St. Michael holding a flaming sword. Twelve days later he left St. Louie and returned to Maryland.

(end of diary information)

It was later discoved that the source of the additional information came from
Rev. Luther Miles Schulze, the families Lutheran Clergyman.

Father Halloran, who assisted, remembered time periods of exorcism that lasted as short as a few hours or has long as most of the day. Halloran’s recollections of events confirms much of the dairy details, in that he recalls that the bed began to shake violently as holy water was sprinkled on the youth and that at one point a bottle of holy water went sailing in mid-air just missing his head. He also confirmed that he ad a vivid memory of the world “

evil” appearing on the boy’s body during one prayer session, saying that it was a definite word, not some phenomenon open for personal interpretation. The clerics, asked the demons when they would depart, who responded to Father. Bowdern and Father. Halloran that they would depart when Robbie uttered the proper words.

 Eventually, Robbie Mannheim said “Christus, Domini” or “Christ, Lord.” When these words were spoken, there was a sound as a “thunderclap” or “shotgun” throughout the floors of the hospital. After this pandemonium, Robbie Mannheim declared “It’s over. It’s over.” The room in which the deliverance was performed was then sealed off in order that none would be able to re-enter that area.

There are confirming reports by those in the hospital of just such a loud noise as high as the fifth floor by those who had no knowledge of the event taking place. Robbie Mannheim returned home to Maryland with his family. No further disturbances occurred and today he is a family man himself.



Not all cases of exorcism have a happy or succssessful ending.



In Memory of Emily Rose

Anneliese Michel was born in Germany on September 21, 1952. She grew up in a devoutly, somewhat extreme, Catholic family. She was one of four daughters to Josef and Anna. She was deeply

by safesaver” href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anneliese_Michel”>religious

and went for mass twice a week. Pictures of her taken in her childhood show a vibrant, pretty girl on her way to becoming a gorgeous woman. By the time she was 23-years-old, she was emaciated, heavily bruised, scarred and deranged. She was supposedly taken over by demons and fought for nearly eight years before finally losing her battle with evil. Later, her death was labelled negligent homicide, but was there anything anyone could have done for Anneliese Michel?

Four years before Anneliese was born, her mother, Anna Michel gave birth to an illegitimate daughter. This was a source of shame for the Catholic family. As a result, she was forced to wear a black veil on her wedding day. After she married and gave birth to Anneliese, she apparently harbored feelings of guilt about her first daughter. When Anneliese was a child, her mother encouraged her to atone for the sins of illegitimacy through fervent devotion. Unfortunately, Anneliese’s older sister sister Martha died at the age of eight during an operation to remove a kidney tumor. Anneliese already felt the need to attone for the sins of her mother and others and this likely only increased desire to do penance for her mother. As she grew older, Anneliese continued to suffer for the sins of others. When she was a teenager, Anneliese slept on a bare stone floor to atone for the sins of wayward priests and drug addicts, who could be observed sleeping on the hard ground at the local train station. In college at West Germany’s University of Würzburg, she hung pictures of saints on her dorm room walls, kept a holy-water font near the door, and regularly prayed the Rosary.

When Michel was sixteen, she had her first epileptic attack and was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. She was soon in depression and was treated at a psychiatric hospital. Anneliese Michel took medicine for her condition and continued her life to the best of her ability. In 1973 she graduated high school and went on to university, joining the

University of Würzburg, where she began studying to become a teacher. Her classmates later described her as withdrawn and very religious. Apparently, the medication prescribed for her seemed not to be of much help. Her problems worsened and she became suicidal .

In June 1970, Michel suffered a third seizure at the psychiatric hospital where she had been staying. She was prescribed anti-convulsion drugs for the first time, including Dylantin, which did not bring about immediate alleviation. She began talking about seeing “devil faces” at various times of the day. That same month, she was prescribed another drug, Aolept, which is similar to

chlorpromazine and is used in the treatment of various

psychoses including schizophrenia and disturbed behaviour.In depression by 1973, she began hallucinating while praying, and complained about hearing voices telling her that she was “damned” and would “rot in hell”, these voices also apparently have her commandments to follow. Michel’s treatment in a psychiatric hospital did not improve her health and her depression worsened. Long term treatment too, did not help and she grew increasingly frustrated with the medical intervention.

Finally, Anneliese began showing an aversion to religious iconography. An older woman, a friend of the Michel family, noticed this while on a pilgrimage with Anneliese. Michel went to

San Damiano with the family friend who regularly organised such pilgrimages to “holy places”—not officially recognised by the church. She said that Anneliese smelled “hellishly bad” and she was unable to walk past

 a particular image of Jesus, and also refused to drink the water of a holy spring. She took Anneliese to see some priests. Many of them said Anneliese needed a doctor. But an exorcist from a nearby town examined Anneliese and concluded that she was demonically possessed.

Both she and her family became convinced that she was possessed by demons and consulted several priests, asking for an exorcism. The priests declined, recommended the continuation of medical treatment, and informed the family that exorcisms required the bishop’s permission. In the Catholic church, official approval for an exorcism is given when the person strictly meets the set criteria, then they are considered to be suffering from possession (

infestatio) and under demonic control. Intense dislike for religious objects and supernatural powers are some of the first indications. Michel worsened physically and displayed aggression, self-injury, drank her own urine and ate insects. In November 1973, Michel started her treatment with

Tegretol, an anti-seizure drug and mood stabilizer.

In September 1975, Bishop Josef Stangl granted the priest Arnold Renz and Father Ernst Alt permission to exorcise according to the

Rituale Romanum of 1614, which at the time, was still a valid 17th century Cannon Law but ordered total secrecy.Father Arnold Renz had been a former missionary in China, and Pastor Ernst Alt was a pastor in a nearby community.

The priest Ernst Alt, whom they met, on seeing her declared that she didn’t “look like an epileptic” and that he didn’t see her having seizures. Alt believed she was suffering from demonic possession and urged the local bishop to allow an exorcism. In a letter to him in 1975, Michel wrote, “

I am nothing, everything about me is vanity, what should I do, I have to improve, you pray for me

” and also once told him, “I want to suffer for other people…but this is so cruel

“. Renz along with Alt performed the first session on 24 September of that same year.

It is interesting to note that although in 1975, Anneliese Michel and her parents stopped seeking medical advice and gave over Anneliese’s fate to the Roman exorcism ritual she had been prescribed

anti-psychotic drugs during the religious rites, and continued taking these frequently through out right up until shortly before her death.

Anneliese Michel was convinced, believed and said herself that she had been possessed by several demons, including Lucifer, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Cain, Hitler, and Fleischmann, a disgraced Frankish Priest from the 16th century. She also mentioned a few other damned souls who had manifested themselves through.Over the next ten months, Father Arnold Renz and Pastor Ernst Alt performed 67 exorcism sessions, one or two each week, lasting up to four hours, in 1975–1976.

Michel began talking increasingly about “dying to atone for the wayward youth of the day and the apostate priests of the modern church”. Over time the ligaments in her knees ruptured due to the 600 genuflections that the seriously ill Anneliese obsessively performed during each exorcism session. The act of genuflection of an act of reverence either sinking down on one or both knees. Anneliese continually fell onto one or both knees, called a “double genuflection, instead of the gently lowerng herself.

There where a number of highly disturbing actions carried out by Anneliese during her supposed possession. She licked her own urine off the floor. Ate flies, spiders, and coal. She bit off the head of a dead bird. In one instance, she crawled under a table and barked like a dog for two days straight. She could often be heard screaming through the walls for hours. Tearing off her clothes and urinating on the floor became a regular occurrence. and she refused to eat towards the end. According to

The Washington Post, as she grew more convinced that she was possessed, Anneliese began to see the faces of demons on the people and things around her.

The additional strange symptoms she displayed was the temporary adoption of bizarre, rigid body postures (dystonia); the use of the first-person plural pronoun ‘we’ to describe one’s self; the markedly dilated pupils that could not be explained by any external stimuli; full or partial amnesia; the emergence of distinct personalities among the demons and spirits; the pervasive psychoemotional numbness (desensitization); Michel’s feeling as though her body was acting outside her volition (depersonalization); fear or rejection of sexuality; unaccountable fits and seizures; temporary paralysis; emission of overpowering noxious odors; uncanny screams; and the loss of self-control and invasion of the mind and body by demons and spirits.

It is also claimed that she spoke in a large number of other languages, many of which is said she could not have been able to speak. There are a total of 43 typed recordings which hold record of this, along with the guttural sound of Anneliese’s voice that were recoded during the 67 rites of exorcism.

As mentioned above during the actual ritual of exorcism she continued to take anti-psychotic drugs prescribed for her and it is notable the persistence of these symptoms despite medical treatment.

Michel began talking increasingly about “dying to atone for the wayward youth of the day and the apostate priests of the modern church”, and she refused to eat towards the end. She forced herself to fast because she believed that it would rid her of Satan’s influence. On June 30, 1976, during her last rite of exorcism before her death, too weak and emaciated to perform the genuflections on her own, Anneliese’s parents stood and helped carry her through the motions. At this time she weighed approximately 30kg (68lbs). Her convulsions returned with a greater ferocity. No doctors were called, this was around Easter time. One of Anneliese’s sisters explained to the court during the 1978 trial that Anneliese did not want to go to a mental hospital where she would be drugged and forced to eat.

On July 1, 1976 Anneliese Michel died in her sleep. She had predicted that she would be liberated from the demons on this day. At midnight, Anneliese ceased her raging. Exhausted but peaceful, she finally went to sleep. According to the autopsy, Anneliese Michel succumbed to the effects of severe dehydration and malnourishment. At the time of her death, she was also suffering from Pneumonia and a high fever. During the trial, specialists claimed that if she had to have been force feed even a week before her death, then she would still be alive.

It is said weak and on the verge of death, she spoke her last known words on the day before she died. She told her exorcists “Beg for Absolution”. To her mother Anna, she said, “Mother, I’m afraid.”

After she had dies the undertakers where called out and authorise where alerted due to the emaciated state of Anneliese’s body. In 1976, the state charged Michel’s parents and priests Ernst Alt and Arnold Renz with

negligent homicide

.The trial started on 30 March 1978 in the district court and drew intense interest.

Before the court, the doctors testified that Michel was not possessed, stating that this was a psychological effect because of her strict religious upbringing and her epilepsy, but the doctor Richard Roth, who was asked for medical help by Alt, allegedly told her during the exorcism, that “there is no injection against the devil, Anneliese”. The priests were defended by lawyers retained by the Church, and

Erich Schmidt-Leichner, who defended the parents, claimed that the exorcism was legal and that the

German constitution protected citizens in the unrestricted exercise of their religious beliefs. The defence played tapes recorded at the exorcism sessions over the eleven months which lead to her death as well as photos taken during this time period, featuring what was claimed to be “demons arguing”, to assert their claim that Michel was possessed. Both priests insisted on that and claimed there were six demons including

Adolf Hitler, Judas Iscariot and Nero; they further said that she was finally freed because of the exorcism just before her death. During the case Michel’s body was also

exhumed. The state maintained that no involved parties be jailed, instead the recommended sentence for the priests was a fine, and the prosecution said that the parents be excluded from punishment as they had “suffered enough”,which is a criterion in German penal law, cf. § 60

StGB. The bishop said that he was not aware of her alarming health condition when he approved of the exorcism and did not testify. The accused were found guilty of

manslaughter resulting from negligence and were sentenced to six months in jail (which was later suspended) and three years of probation. It was a far lighter sentence than anticipated. The case has been labelled as a misidentification of mental illness, negligence, abuse, and religious

hysteria.

In 2005 Anna Michel said,”I know that we did the right thing because I saw the sign of Christ in her hands. She was bearing stigmata and that was a sign from God that we should exorcise the demons. She died to save other lost souls, to atone for their sins.”

It has been stated that in a lucid moment Anneliese claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary. The message the Virgin had brought to Anneliese was that she could go to heaven straight away, or continue suffering so that others may know, through the demons, that God exists. Anneliese decided to go on suffering.

The number of officially sanctioned exorcisms has decreased in Germany due to this case, in spite of Pope Benedict XVI

support for wider use of it compared to Pope John Paul II, who previously made the rules more strict involving only rare cases in 1999.

The question will always remain were those who were with Anneliese really fighting Satan? Yet it is clear that all the treatment medically given to Anneliese, neither stopped or lessened her affliction. (

continue part 3)