The exorcism of Anneliese Michael was far more brutal than the ones shown in the movies. Exorcisms are indeed a popular theme in Hollywood films. Though the image of what American exorcisms appear to be was created by movies, it wasn’t based only on real-life rituals like the one conducted on Anneliese Michel, but rather on recorded cases of possession and exorcism. Such cases caused horror lovers to create beautiful and spine-chilling movies like The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
Where did the Real Event of Exorcism of Anneliese Michael take place?
Birth of Anneliese Michael:
However, this horrible event took place just under 50 years ago, making the narrative of Anneliese Michel seem like something from a pre-modern age like the middle Ages. Anneliese Michel was born in 1952 in Klingender, Bavaria, and tragically died in 1976 at the age of 23. She came from a small village in western Germany. Michael was raised in a strict Catholic household.
Her father told the Telegraph in 2005 that her mother had had a child out of wedlock during the Second World War, causing humiliation to her family so that on the day of her wedding, she was forced to wear black. By the moment Anneliese was born, her mother had gone to considerable lengths to make amends for her sin, rejecting the Vatican II reforms that the Catholic Church had implemented. She had three aunts who were nuns, and her father had contemplated becoming a priest when he was younger.
Mental State of Anneliese Michael:
Due to her inherent empathy, Anneliese Michael felt compelled to atone for the transgressions of those around her, including having a nap in solidarity with drug users who did the same at the railway station and other public places around town. When Anneliese was identified with both physical and mental illnesses as a teenager, this home environment merely served as a springboard for a real-life nightmare.
A report from All That’s Interesting claims that Anneliese first had a blackout in 1968 when she was 16. It was common for her to pee on the bed or wander about in a daze. Within minutes, she was shaking uncontrollably. She was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy, a condition that may cause seizures, memory loss, and hallucinations. She had surgery to remove the tumor. Geschwind syndrome, a condition characterized by overly religious behavior, may also result from it. Epilepsy medication was prescribed and she enrolled in 1973 at the University of Würzburg.
She was depressed and contemplated suicide despite the medication she was getting, but her condition deteriorated. Her ears were filled with voices warning her she was doomed, and her eyes were filled with the devil’s visage. She was certain that she had been possessed by demons at this point.
The Possession and Exorcism of Anneliese Michael:
Others were persuaded by Anneliese Michael was under the control of the devil when she refused to drink holy water and gave off a strong, horrible scent. Anneliese’s possession was verified by an executioner from a neighboring town, but her local priest repeatedly refused to perform an exorcism on her, saying that the bishop had to sanction the ritual. To everyone’s dismay, the bishop and the priests changed their opinions quite quickly.
According to Anneliese’s mother, things went far worse than just being unable to pass a Jesus image or hearing voices. Soon, Anneliese was performing 400 to 600 squats & genuflections a day until she tore the tendons in her knees from her obsessive behavior. Crawling beneath a table, she barked like a dog for two days straight. Spiders, coal, and a dead bird’s head were all she could stomach.
As she screamed for hours at a time through the walls, her urination on the floor was also known to be licked up. Even though her family thought that Anneliese’s conduct was out of the ordinary for an adolescent, she declined psychiatric therapy, pleading instead with God for help. Anneliese’s desire for an exorcist may have been prompted by the enormously popular picture The Exorcist, which had just come out at the time.
Her desire was granted in the year 1975. Her third appeal for help was granted by the local priest, Josef Stangl, who was convinced that Anneliese’s illness was more than seizures and hallucinations. To execute an exorcism ritual from 1614, the bishop appointed Pastor Arnold Renz and Father Alt to operate together in complete secrecy.
On September 24, 1975, Father Renz conducted an exorcism on Anneliese Michel for the first time, but it would not be the last. Anneliese disclosed the names of several of the most prominent demons that possessed her throughout her meetings with the priest. To the damned, her body seemed to be a private club. There was a struggle for supremacy inside her among souls you could have mistaken for evil-doing people rather than true demons.
If you really want to see why people really thought she wasn’t suffering from mental illness but was actually possessed by demons check out this video by BuzzFeed, however, the video might contain disturbing contents which might disturb you, so watch only if you think you can handle it. Find more here.
Many of history’s most heinous criminals have passed through Anneliese’s hands, according to the Washington Post. Anneliese would be a conduit for these demonic spirits, who would impart their nasty knowledge and even smack each other across the face. Since he believed that humans are as dumb as pigs, Hitler—who Anneliese’s mother claims would speak with a convincing Austrian accent—would say that.
As a result, Judas would respond that Hitler would not be a big problem in Hell, despite his public appearances to the contrary. If Judas had an Aramaic accent, that would explain why he was not impressed by Hitler’s antisemitism.
Anneliese’s demons include disgraced priest Valentin Fleischmann, Buzz feed writes, and even though she should have known nothing about him, she nevertheless was able to accurately describe the wicked conduct that resulted in his excommunication.
Anneliese Michel was shackled to a stool for 4 hours 68 times in 9 months so priests could shout at her and pour water on her and so the force of Christ might compel her, but it wasn’t just the exorcist that killed her. The near-constant exorcism ceremonies didn’t put a stop to Anneliese’s feeling of obligation to atone for the crimes of her age, according to the Washington Post.
When Anneliese started her exorcisms, she began discussing the notion of giving her own life in service of the contemporary era’s rebellious youth and wicked priests. In order to atone for the crimes of others, she had decided to stop eating and starving herself to death in order to avoid medical treatment for her seizures any longer.
Anneliese Michael was malnourished and had pneumonia by the spring of 1976, according to the Telegraph. Anneliese Michael died of malnutrition and dehydration on July 1, 1976, at the age of 23, after exhaustion from the exorcism sessions, a fever, and not eating. Although Anneliese’s life ended, the narrative didn’t stop there.
