Amulets & Talismans Part XVII Smudging was practiced by many different peoples and cultures, including the Native Americans, and is still utilised by some tribes today (e.g. the Lakota) in ceremonial, purifying rituals. The smoke-cleansing aspect of it is used today by modern witches and feng shui experts. But what is it, and how doesContinue reading “The Art of Smudging”
Tag Archives: exorcism
The Chaldeans and their Magic Circles
Part XVI of Amulets & Talismans The Chaldeans were an ancient race who migrated from the Levant into Assyrian lands in 940 – 855 BC, and are famous for their contributions to writing, mathematics, and astronomy. They were the first to have a seven-day week and introduced the concept of there being 60 seconds inContinue reading “The Chaldeans and their Magic Circles”
A Demonic Possession in the 1980s
Part XIII of The Possession Diaries “The Devil Made Me Do It” court case was the first court case in American history where the defendant tried to claim innocence by saying he was demonically possessed. Arne Cheyenne Johnson somehow managed to make himself the host to a demon that “escaped” during the exorcism of aContinue reading “A Demonic Possession in the 1980s”
The Butcher Murderer of Ossett
Part XII of The Possession Diaries TRIGGER WARNING: Contains graphic descriptions of violence, murder, insanity. Michael Taylor was born on September the 21st, 1944, in Ossett, West Yorkshire, England. He worked as a butcher and was a member of a Christian Fellowship Group along with his wife, Christine. According to Christine, Michael was having aContinue reading “The Butcher Murderer of Ossett”
The lady behind “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”: Anneliese Michel
The Possession Diaries Part XI In 1976, a German Catholic woman died of malnutrition and dehydration after a series of sixty-seven exorcism rites. Her name was Anna Elisabeth “Anneliese” Michel, born in September 1952. Anneliese and her three sisters were raised by their strictly religious parents, Joseph and Anna. Anneliese went to Mass twice aContinue reading “The lady behind “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”: Anneliese Michel”
The Boy Behind William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist”
The Possession Diaries Part X In mid-1949, newspaper articles ran anonymous stories about the alleged possession and exorcism of “Roland Doe” or “Robbie Mannheim,” a 14 year old boy born to a German family living in Cottage City, Maryland, in the US. Their source was perhaps the former pastor of the child’s family, Luther MilesContinue reading “The Boy Behind William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist””
Clara Germana Cele, the girl who hurled nuns
The Possession Diaries Part IX One day in 1906, at Marianhill mission school in Umzinto, South Africa, a man named Father Erasmus Horner received a confession from one of the young Catholic girls in the school. Her name was Clara Germana Cele and she claimed to have entered into a deal with the Devil. SheContinue reading “Clara Germana Cele, the girl who hurled nuns”
The Case of Gottliebin Dittus & the demon Isacaron
Part VIII of the Possession Diaries In 1842, a girl in Mottlingen, Gottliebin Dittus, was possessed by a few different demons along with the ghost of a widow who had murdered two children and buried them in a field. Johann Christoph Blumhardt, a German theologian, penned a book concerning her two-years-long possession, in which he onlyContinue reading “The Case of Gottliebin Dittus & the demon Isacaron”
The Not-So Secret Possession of George Lukins
The Possession Diaries Part VII The year was 1788, the place was Yatton village, in Mendip, county Somerset, England. Sarah Barber was travelling through the village and discovered George Lukins, a tailor and courier who was afflicted by a strange illness. On the 31st of May she sent word to Reverend Joseph Easterbrook, asking himContinue reading “The Not-So Secret Possession of George Lukins”
Whatever Happened To Elizabeth Knapp?
The Possession Diaries Part VI The case of Elizabeth Knapp’s possession was unusual in the sense that it was recorded and analysed from a more scientific point of view. Elizabeth was a servant in Reverend Samuel Willard’s household and the daughter of a farmer. Reverend Willard was a well-known preacher in the church of Groton, a PuritanContinue reading “Whatever Happened To Elizabeth Knapp?”
The Signs of Being Possessed, Magdelaine Bavent, and the Louviers Convent (The Possession Diaries Part V)
Magdelaine (or Madeleine) Bavent, born in 1607 in Rouen, was an orphan. Aged 12, she became apprenticed to a linenworker, who depended on the custom of the Church. According to a historian (Jules Michelet), the confessor of the establishment likely drugged his apprentices with a herb akin to atropa belladonna and made them believe he had taken themContinue reading “The Signs of Being Possessed, Magdelaine Bavent, and the Louviers Convent (The Possession Diaries Part V)”
The Book of Dom Calmet
The Abbot Antoine Augustin Calmet, a Benedictine monk and Lorraine scholar in the 18th century, published two volumes of a book, “Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits, and on Vampires or Revenants of Hungary, Moravia, et al.” The book was about extensive investigations into the occult, angels, demons, and other types of spiritual entities. OriginallyContinue reading “The Book of Dom Calmet”
The Possession of Lady Elisabeth de Ranfaing – The Possession Diaries part IV
Mademoiselle de Ranfaing was perhaps the first person to be considered “truly” possessed by something, and her predicament was all seemingly caused by love potions. Her story was investigated and included in the book “Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants of Hungary, Moravia, et al” by an Abbot named AntoineContinue reading “The Possession of Lady Elisabeth de Ranfaing – The Possession Diaries part IV”
The Possession Diaries III: The Loudun Possessions
In 1634, a convent of Ursuline nuns in the French kingdom of Loudun claimed they had been visited and possessed by demons. After an investigation by the Catholic church, a priest named Father Urbain Grandier was accused of summoning the demons and sentenced to be burned to death at the stake. This case “rhymes” withContinue reading “The Possession Diaries III: The Loudun Possessions”
The Possession Diaries Part II: The Aix-en-Provence possessions
Welcome to part two of The Possession Diaries. You can find part one here The Aix-en-Provence possessions were a series of alleged demonic possessions amongst the Ursuline (the Order or Company of Saint Ursula) nuns of Aix-en-Provence, in South France in the year 1611. Father Louis Gaufridi was blamed and accused of causing the possessionsContinue reading “The Possession Diaries Part II: The Aix-en-Provence possessions”
Nightwalks 