Demon possessions have existed in every known culture and religion since the beginning of time, but science still rejects them as real. Today we have 10 real demonic possession cases and real life exorcisms for you. Also included are the exorcism rituals during the Anneliese Michel demonic possession case. We also have the real demon case that inspired The Exorcist movie among many other great cases. Real demonic possession is hard to prove but make no doubt about it… demons are real!

1. Anneliese Michel

The demonic possession of Anneliese Michel is probably the most known case of demonic possession. Anneliese Michel was a sixteen-year-old who had a history of epilepsy and mental illness. She often received treatment at a psychiatric hospital. In 1973, everything changed when Anneliese Michel became suicidal, became angry in the presence of religious artifacts, started drinking her urine and began to hear voices. The medicine treatments did not help her, and she begged her parents to bring a priest because she felt that this was the work of demonic forces, she believed herself possessed by demons. Officially, her pleas for a demon exorcism by the church were denied but two priests secretly performed demon exorcism rites on her.

Anneliese Michel’s Demon Exorcism Recordings

During the exorcism rites, Anneliese Michel’s parents stopped treating her medically for her epilepsy and mental disorders. Anneliese Michel had almost seventy exorcisms performed on her deteriorating body within ten months. Within a year, Anneliese Michel was dead from emaciation and starvation. Her parents and the priests were found guilty of negligent homicide.

This case is the inspiration for the demon possession movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005).

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2. Clara Germana Cele

There is no photo for the demon possession of Clara Germana Cele because this case took place in 1906. Clara Germana Cele, sixteen years old, was a Christian student at St. Michael’s Mission in Natal, South Africa. For unknown reasons, Clara prayed to the Devil and made a pact with the evil entity. Within days, Cele was displaying many popular signs of possession. Clara became angered by religious artifacts, displayed mastery of several languages that were previously unknown and had clairvoyant knowledge of thoughts and background history of everyone around her. Clara created horrific animalistic sounds, and she levitated five feet in the air, as reported by attending nuns.

Finally, two priests were brought in to perform the exorcism. Clara tried to strangle one of the priests with his stole (the strip of fabric worn by priests worn on the shoulders and hangs down to the knees or lower). During the exorcism over one hundred and seventy people witnessed her levitating while the priests read Scripture from the Bible. The exorcism of Clara Germana Cele lasted for two days, and the rites of exorcism ended in success.

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3. Arne Cheyenne Johnson

The demonic possession case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, AKA the "Demon m**der Trial." What makes this case in particular special is that it was the first court case in the United States that the defense attempted to prove the innocence of the defendant by reason of demon possession.

In Connecticut 1981, Arne Cheyenne Johnson m**dered his landlord, Alan Bono. Ed and Lorrain Warren, popular demonologists, were consulted during this case to bring credit to the demon possession claim. The Warrens claimed that Johnson was afflicted by evil spirits for most of his life and that this was the cause of the m**der and not any psychological disorder.

The judge listened to all sides of the case, and the resulting verdict is possession is not a valid cause of first-degree murder. Johnson was convicted of first-degree m**der and served five years of his ten to twenty-year, sentence.

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4. Michael Taylor

The case of Michael Taylor is one that ended tragically. Michael Taylor and his wife Christine were attending a Christian prayer group ran by Marie Robinson. During a meeting in 1974, in Osset, Great Britain, Christine accused here husband of an affair with Robinson, which both parties quickly denied. After the accusation, Michael Taylor began saying obscenities and was totally out of character and acting erratically.

After months of such behavior, Michael Taylor was granted an exorcism that lasted over twenty-four hours long. The priests involved in the exorcism claimed that over forty demons were removed from the man’s body. However, they could not remove the demon of m**der from his soul.

Michael Taylor left the exorcism and arrived home. Later, Michael Taylor brutally m**dered his wife and dog. Taylor was found wandering the streets soaked in bl**d. His trial found him acquitted of m**der by reason of insanity.

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5. Anna Ecklund: The Earling Possession

A girl from Earling, Iowa named Anna Ecklund began showing signs of demonic possession. Anna Ecklund’s possession was the result of cursing/witchcraft. Although Anna Ecklund was a devote Catholic, her father and aunt who actively practiced witchcraft and allegedly cursed the girl routinely and tainted her food with herbs. After some time, the curses began showing signs of demon possession. Anna Ecklund could not tolerate religious artifacts, became erratic in her s**uality and could not enter a church.

In 1912, Ecklund was successfully cured of all signs of demon possession. However, her father and aunt prayed to Satan to curse her again with more powerful demons. The curses resulted in Anna Ecklund becoming possessed by multiple demon entities. It is claimed that these demons were the same demons who possessed Annaliese Michel.

In 1928, the possession became worse, and she was moved to a convent awaiting her rite of exorcism. Symptoms became worse while in the convent. Nuns would bless her food and Ecklund sensed this. When she sensed her food was blessed, she would throw the food on the floor and hiss at the nuns. She would eat food only that was not blessed and only small portions. Ecklund would understand foreign languages fluently. Levitation and clinging to walls were also witnessed. She would disrespect priest by either vomiting or spitting on them. Reportedly, Anna Ecklund was extremely bloated with eyes bulging and nearly broke her iron bed with the heaviness.

The outcome, after twenty-three days and undergoing three complete exorcism rituals, Anna Ecklund was finally proclaimed free of all demons.

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6. "Roland Doe"/"Robbie Mannheim"

The Roland Doe possession story is one of the most famous stories of possession from the 1940’s which also inspired demon movie classic The Exorcist (1973). Roland Doe is actually a pseudonym assigned to the boy by the Catholic church in order to preserve the fourteen-year-old boy’s identity. This is yet another tale where the Ouija board is the origin of the possession. The little boy played on the Ouija board after his aunt encouraged him to do so. She later died and it is speculated that the little boy played the Ouija board again in hopes of contacting her. This act invited demons to actively possess the boy.

The demons crossing over into this world started slowly with a dripping sound that no one could place the origin. This then led to religious artifacts quaking and flying off walls. Unexplained footsteps and scratching were soon heard throughout the house without an origin. Scratches began appearing on the boy’s skin which also including words carved into the boy’s skin by unseen claws. The boy spoke in tongues in a guttural voice, his body levitated in the air, and his body contorted in pain.

Roland Doe’s family eventually brought in a priest who confirmed the boy was indeed possessed by evil spirits and needed an exorcism. The priest conducted the exorcism ritual over thirty times at great physical danger to himself. When the exorcism rite was successful, the entire hospital heard the boy’s guttural screams and a horrible sulfuric odor hung in the air.

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7. Pope Francis Boy Exorcism

In May 2013, newly appointed Pope Francis was blessing many disabled people in succession until he came upon a single boy. Pope Francis paused and laid hands on the boy who shuddered and gasped before going limp. Pope Francis has said that Satan is real and the battle against evil must be done every day.

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8. "Julia"

In 2008, Dr. Richard E. Gallagher, a board-certified psychiatrist, and associate professor of clinical psychiatry at New York Medical College deduced that his patient nicknamed "Julia" must be possessed by demons. Dr. Gallagher witnessed objects flying around the room, "Julia" would levitate in the air off her bed, speak in tongues, and knew things about people around her that she should not have known.

Dr. 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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9. George Lukins

In 1778, an English tailor named George Lukins proclaimed himself possessed. What is different about this case is that George Lukins would sing in a voice and language not his own. George Lukins would also bark like a dog, claimed to be possessed by the devil, and would sing church hymns backward. After increasingly alarming behavior, neighbors contacted the church about helping the man.

Lukins was not immediately helped by the church but was first sent to a hospital for over twenty months. George Lukins was discharged from the hospital because they felt that he must be demonic possessed because they could not help him. Besides already claiming to be possessed by the devil, George Lukins then claimed to be possessed by seven demons that only seven clergymen could drive out. The church assembled seven priests at Temple Church to perform the exorcism. The exorcism of George Lukins was successful.

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10. David Berkowitz, AKA "Son of Sam"

In 1976, the serial ki**er David Berkowitz, AKA "Son of Sam", AKA ".44 Caliber Killer" terrorized New York City. Berkowitz’s reign of terror lasted over a year. The "Summer of Sam" left six people killed, and seven others severely wounded.

David Berkowitz was caught and confessed to the m**ders but stated that a demon commanded him to kill. He did not claim to be possessed but rather that his neighbors dog was possessed by the demon and would tell him to kill. David Berkowitz was sentenced to six life sentences. In mid-1990’s, David Berkowitz added an amendment to his earlier confession stating that he was in fact a member of a Satanic cult that orchestrated the m**ders as part of a ritual murder.

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