Demons, as our Bookburners know, come in all shapes and sizes. Like death, they are a universal equalizer - no prejudice or preference is show in who they maim, kill, or possess. As we look forward to the upcoming premier of Season 2 (June 22!) we wanted to reacquaint ourselves with just what is out there - so join us for a history lesson on five famous exorcisms and don't forget to tune in to Bookburners Season 2!
1. Robbie Mannheim, more commonly known as “Roland Doe”
Roland Doe’s exorcism was one of the most famous exorcisms ever performed, eventually transformed into the Hollywood box office hit The Exorcist. To protect the fourteen year-old boy’s identity, the priests involved in his exorcism referred to him by the pseudonym Roland Doe.In preparation for her imminent death, Roland’s aunt encouraged him to contact her using a Ouija board post-mortem. After her death, he followed this advice, opening a door to the world of the living for demons who eventually possessed him.During his possession, it is said that numerous religious artifacts flew off the walls, often accompanied by unexplained noises, heavy footsteps, and disconcerting sounds of scratching. Eventually, the possession became so severe that the boy’s speech began to change--from his mouth came the language of tongues spoken in gritty, guttural voice, quite unlike anything Roland had uttered before. He levitated in the air, writhing whilst deep scratches, words and claw marks appeared on the boy’s skin.
Anneliese Michel was a sixteen year-old girl with a history of epilepsy and mental illness, for which she had been receiving treatment at a local psychiatric hospital. In 1973, she started to lose her grip on reality and became suicidal, refused to touch religious artifacts, and even began to hear voices. Anneliese underwent roughly seventy exorcisms over ten months, ultimately dying in 1976 after almost a year of exorcism rites-based starvation. She was believed to have been possessed by approximately six demons, one of whom was said to have been Hitler.
3. Anna Ecklund: The Earling Possession
Anna Ecklund began displaying signs of demonic possession at the age of fourteen. While she was raised a devout Catholic, her father and aunt practiced witchcraft, cursing the girl daily and using herbs to taint her food. Eventually, the curses began to take hold of her: she became physically unable to enter churches and grew highly averse to religious artifacts.After a supposedly successful exorcism in 1912, it is said that Ecklund’s father and aunt prayed to Satan for her continued suffering. Within a year, she became possessed by multiple demons and entities, the very spirits who were believed to have possessed Anneliese Michel.In 1928, she was placed in a convent and her behavior drastically became worse. Anna would often throw her food on the floor, sensing that it had been blessed by the nuns who were cared for her. She was also seen levitating, vomiting in the presence of priests, and speaking foreign languages fluently, despite never having heard them before. After twenty-three days of suffering and three exorcisms, she was finally declared free from the demonic entities who had possessed her.
4. Unknown Boy
In May 2013, the newly-elected Pope Francis performed a short exorcism on a boy whose identity remains guarded. While performing blessings in St. Peter’s Square after the Mass of Pentecost, Pope Francis stopped in front of a boy in a wheelchair. After the Pontiff grasped by the boy’s head, the boy gasped and went limp. Caught on video, the moment went viral, and the recording was later analyzed by a team of exorcists who stated that it was an authentic, bona fide exorcism.
It was said that in 1906, 16 year-old Clara Germana Cele, a Christian student in South America, made a pact with Satan. Days after making this pact, Clara began to experience the typical signs of demonic possession. She grew physically repulsed by the sight of religious artifacts, soon developed violent convulsions, spoke in languages she had never studied, and even knew information about her caretakers that was impossible to explain.Two priests attempted to perform an exorcism on her -- one of whom she killed by strangulation. During her exorcism, one hundred and seventy people witnessed her levitating while the aforementioned priests read aloud passages from scripture.
