Are demons real? Though evil spirits possessing the body of a
hapless human victim seems like the stuff of science fiction, the
possibility of being possessed by demons is, in fact, a common belief
held by religions around the world. Even the Christian Bible alludes to
demonic possession more than thirty times, including several cases of
Jesus "casting out demons" from people. Most religions offer prayers,
spells, or incantations that are used to remove these invading spirits
via exorcism rituals.
As hard as it may be to believe, countless
accounts by victims and witnesses dating back to ancient times are hard
to ignore. Let's explore ten cases of truly scary and, by all accounts,
real demonic possession.
Note: For most of these cases, there are
no photographs for us to share with you here. We have used images from
movies and other sources to illustrate this post.
Clara Germana Cele
In 1906, Clara Germana Cele was a Christian student at St. Michael's
Mission in Natal, South Africa. For some reason, Cele prayed and made a
pact with Satan when she was sixteen years-old, and just days later,
Cele was overtaken by strange impulses. She was repulsed by religious
artifacts like crucifixes, she could speak and understand several
languages of which she had no previous knowledge, and she became
clairvoyant regarding the thoughts and histories of the people around
her.
Nuns who attended to Cele reported that she produced
horrible, animalistic sounds; she also levitated up to five feet in the
air. Eventually, two priests were brought in to perform an exorcism.
Cele tried to strangle one of the priests with his stole, and over one
hundred and seventy people witnessed her levitating as the priests read
Scripture. Over the course of two days, the rites of exorcism
successfully drove the dark spirits from her body.
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Anneliese Michel
Anneliese Michel is a controversial case, as well as the subject of many
fictional accounts of her tragic story, most notably the 2005 courtroom
drama
The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Sixteen year-old Anneliese
Michel had a history of epilepsy and mental illness, for which she had
often been treated at a psychiatric hospital. However, in 1973 Michel
become suicidal, spurned all religious artifacts, drank her own urine,
and began to hear voices. Medicine did nothing to help the girl, who
begged her family to bring in a priest because she believed that she was
possessed by demons. Though her request was rejected, two local
priests secretly began treating her with exorcism rites. Meanwhile, her
parents stopped treating her epilepsy and mental disorders. She was
dead within a year.
Michel had almost seventy exorcisms performed
on her over the course of ten months. She refused to eat, and often
talked of dying as a martyr. Many of the attempted exorcisms were
recorded:
Anneliese
Michel died from emaciation and starvation. Consequently, her parents
and the priests responsible were charged with negligent homicide.
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"Roland Doe"/"Robbie Mannheim"
Known as the "real" story behind the novel and Hollywood movie
The Exorcist,
the tale of fourteen year-old Roland Doe is one of the most notorious
stories of demonic possession. In fact, Roland Doe is not his real
name; it is a pseudonym assigned to him by the Catholic church in order
to preserve the boy's privacy. In the late 1940s, Doe's aunt encouraged
him to use a Ouija board, and many speculate that after her death the
boy attempted to contact his aunt with the Ouija board, an act which
opened the door for the demons who wished to possess him.
The
possession started with strange sounds, like dripping water, that no one
could place. Eventually, religious artifacts began to quake and fly
off the walls, and unexplained footsteps and scratching noises could be
heard around the home. Scratches began to appear on the boy's body,
including words that seemed to have been carved into his flesh by unseen
claws. The boy spoke in tongues in a guttural voice and levitated in
the air, with his body contorted in pain.
His family brought in a
Catholic priest, who determined that the boy was possessed by evil
spirits and needed an exorcism. The exorcism ritual was performed over
thirty times, with the boy injuring the priest many times throughout.
When, at last, the rite was successful, the entire hospital heard Doe's
cries of bestial anguish and reported a horrible sulfuric odor hanging
in the air.
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"Julia"
In 2008, Dr. Richard E. Gallagher, a board-certified psychiatrist and
associate professor of clinical psychiatry at New York Medical College,
documented the case of a patient nicknamed "Julia" whom he deduced was
indeed possessed by demons. It's rare that a scientist and psychiatrist
would acknowledge the possibility of possession; typically doctors
think that possession is either fraudulent or a result of mental
illness.
Dr. Gallagher personally observed items flying around
the room, Julia levitating off the bed, speaking in tongues, and knowing
things about people around her that she could not possibly have known.
Here is an excerpt from Gallagher's statement:
“Periodically, in
our presence, Julia would go into a trance state of a recurring
nature,” writes Gallagher. “Mentally troubled individuals often
‘dissociate,' but Julia's trances were accompanied by an unusual
phenomenon: Out of her mouth would come various threats, taunts and
scatological language, phrases like ‘Leave her alone, you idiot,' ‘She's
ours,' ‘Leave, you imbecile priest,' or just ‘Leave.' The tone of this
voice differed markedly from Julia's own, and it varied, sometimes
sounding guttural and vaguely masculine, at other points high pitched.
Most of her comments during these ‘trances,' or at the subsequent
exorcisms, displayed a marked contempt for anything religious or
sacred.”
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Arne Cheyenne Johnson
Known as the "Demon Murder Trial," the case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson is
the first known court case in the United States during which the defense
attempted to prove that the defendant was not guilty by reason of
possession.
In 1981, Arne Cheyenne Johnson murdered his
landlord, Alan Bono, in Connecticut. Johnson's attorneys argued that
his actions indicated a pattern of erratic behavior that had begun when
Johnson was just a child. Johnson's family had even consulted with
"demonologists" Ed and Lorraine Warren, saying that the child had been
taunted and harassed by unknown entities for most of his life. They
also asserted that his evil-doings resulted not from a psychological
disorder, but from demonic possession.
Ultimately, the judge
ruled that demonic possession was not a valid defense against
first-degree murder. Johnson was convicted and served a mere five years
of his ten to twenty year sentence.
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David Berkowitz, AKA "Son of Sam"
In 1976, the people of New York City were terrorized by a serial killer
known as the "Son of Sam," or the ".44 Caliber Killer." For more than a
year, the killer lead police on a wild goose chase, leaving behind
taunting notes at the crime scenes. Six people were killed and seven
others severely wounded in the "Summer of Sam."
When the killer
was finally apprehended, he was identified as David Berkowitz.
Berkowitz confessed to all of the shootings and claimed that he was
commanded to kill by a demon. Berkowitz did not claim to be possessed
himself, however; he claimed that his neighbor's dog was possessed, and
the dog had ordered him to perform the killings. Berkowitz was
sentenced to six life sentences, and in the mid-1990s he issued an
amendment to his confession, claiming that he had indeed been a member
of a Satanic cult that had orchestrated the incidents as part of a
ritual murder.
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Michael Taylor
Michael Taylor and his wife, Christine, lived in a small town in Great
Britain called Ossett. The couple was very religious, and had joined a
Christian prayer group lead by Marie Robinson. At one meeting in 1974,
Christine Taylor accused her husband and Robinson of having an affair,
which both people hotly denied. Michael Taylor then spewed obscenities
and began acting extremely erratic and out of character, leading
witnesses to think that he seemed possessed by evil.
After months
of crazy behavior, Taylor eventually consulted with clergy who
performed an exorcism. The exorcism lasted for well over twenty-four
hours, and the priests involved claimed to have removed forty demons
from the man's body. However, before he left, the priests warned him
that the demon of murder remained dormant in his soul.
As soon as
Taylor arrived home, he brutally murdered his wife and their dog. He
was later found wandering the streets, covered in blood. At his trial,
he was acquitted by reason of insanity.
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George Lukins
In 1778, English tailor George Lukins claimed to be possessed. The man
would often sing in a voice and language that was not his own, and
finally neighbors, concerned by his increasingly frightening behavior,
reached out to the church to help the man.
Lukins was sent to a
hospital for over twenty months, but doctors could not help him. His
caregivers discharged him, even more convinced that his affliction was
demonic in nature. During his possession, a very violent Lukins
reportedly claimed that he was the devil, barked like a dog, and sang
hymns backward. In 1778, after Lukins claimed to be possessed by seven
demons that could only be driven out by seven clergymen, the church got
involved. Seven priests assembled at Temple Church, where they
performed an exorcism. When the ceremony was over, priests claimed that
the man had been delivered from the demons who possessed him, and
George Lukins exclaimed, "Blessed Jesus!" Lukins then praised God,
recited the Lord's prayer, and thanked the priests.
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Anna Ecklund: The Earling Possession
By the time she was just fourteen years-old, a girl from Earling, Iowa
named Anna Ecklund began showing signs of demonic possession. The girl
had been raised a devout Catholic, however her father and aunt, who
practiced witchcraft, allegedly cursed the girl routinely and used herbs
to taint her food. Soon, she could not tolerate religious artifacts,
became sexually depraved, and could not enter a church. In 1912, the
girl underwent a successful exorcism, but after being "cured" of her
possession, her father and aunt prayed to Satan for her to suffer even
more, and within a year the girl had become possessed by multiple
entities, many of whom are said to be the same spirits who possessed
Annaliese Michel.
In 1928, Ecklund again sought help from the
church. She was placed in a convent where her exorcism would take
place, and the girl's behavior worsened while in the care of the nuns.
When the nuns would bless her food before entering her room, Ecklund
could sense the blessing. She would hiss at the nuns and throw the food
on the floor. She would tolerate food that had not been blessed.
Witnesses testified to seeing the girl speak and understand foreign
languages she'd never heard before. They also claimed that she defied
gravity by levitating and clinging to the wall. The girl was
clairvoyant and often vomited and spit at the priests. Her eyes bulged
and her body was so bloated and heavy that she nearly broke the iron bed
on which she lay.
After twenty-three days and three complete
exorcism rituals, the clergymen finally declared her free from the
demons who had possessed her.
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Pope Francis Exorcises Boy
The Catholic church performs thousands of exorcisms each year, and Pope
Francis has said that he believes that Satan is real, and that the
battle against evil is one that he must fight every day. In May of
2013, the newly-elected Pope allegedly performed a brief exorcism live
on camera. As he was moving down the line of disabled people, offering
blessings, the Pontiff paused before a boy in a wheelchair. Grasping
the boy by the head, the boy shuddered and gasped before going limp.
See the moment yourself:
