The Possession of Joseph and Theolbald Bruner

Most cases of possession can ultimately be explained by medical and psychological causes, but in some cases there is no easy medical answer and the supernatural is the only reasonable answer.  The case of Joseph and Theobald Bruner was a a tragic one that baffled all the medical professionals of the time.   Their case is one of the most striking and violent cases of demonic possession ever recorded.  The records of the local priest say that the possession began when both boys began drawing pictures of devils and demons on the walls in their bedroom.  They would whisper to the demons at night and treat them as friends.   Shortly after, the boys began going through terrible physical contortions.  Their limbs would lock together in unnatural positions and they couldn't be unlocked.   They would arch their backs backward in impossible positions and speak in languages they had never heard.

The symptoms became worse with time and eventually their bodies would begin to bloat.   Shortly after the bloating, the boys would vomit a lovely mixture of foam, feathers, and seaweed.   They vomited all manner of things they had never eaten and many of the objects they vomited weren't even available at the house they lived in.  The boys were constantly covered in seaweed and feathers and vomit no matter how often they were cleaned. Their beds levitated and objects in the room around them were flung about inexplicably.  The boys also gained psychic abilities and were able to predict the deaths of people in the village.  The boys parents eventually sent the boys away for the exorcism ritual and spent the rest of their lives at the St. Charles Orphanage.  During their stay at the orphanage they told the nuns that they were "The Lord of Darkness."  It took four years to exorcise the boys, during which time they lived in constant torment

Even after the exorcism, there was no happy ending for the two cursed children.  One boy died shortly after the exorcism at the age of 16 and the other boy died at 25.   The case of the Bruner boys still baffles people to this day.   Assuming that the priests and witnesses weren't lying, no natural explanation for what happened to the Bruners has been found.  If their case wasn't an elaborate hoax perpetrated by an entire village, orphanage, and the clergy,  it is one of the most conclusive cases of possession.

A Story of Exorcism

Father Gabriele Amorth is the chief exorcist of Rome.  He has a very uncommon job in the church and a very uncommon gift.  He is a real person.  His stories are not fictional nor are they derived from the imagination of Holywood or a writer.  He has performed hundreds of exorcisms and he has also written a book called An Exorcist Tells His Tale.  Unless you have been raised Catholic, which I have been, this is a difficult book to read, because Father Gabriel is a Catholic Priest above all else and his writing is deeply religious.    However, if you want to learn about real cases of demon possession, he is one of the few experts in the world.

I have read several bloggers lately comment that possession is often confused with mental illness and that people of science would never accept possession as real.  One of the most interesting things reading about Father Gabriel does is negate this belief.  He describes many of the cases  he has worked with in his book and in almost all of them the people he exorcises go the doctors and psychologists and psychiatrists first.  They go through years of medication and electroshock therapy and none of it helps, but after the exorcism their torment ends.   The psychiatrists and psychologists in many cases have given up. 

One of the Father Gabriel's most interesting cases is the case of a man called G.M.  G.M describes being heavily involved with two women who practiced the dark arts.   Following these relationships,  he began to have symptoms which were physical at first.  He was tired and weak and sick all of the time.  He had chronic headaches.  He also suffered from severe depression and thought of suicide. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Rome and he found no help there.  He sought help at medical hospitals as he was also running a constant fever and for a while none would even admit or treat him as they could find nothing wrong with him.  Finally,  he was admitted and discharged and again no on could find anything wrong with him.  He was overtaken by vomiting fits and shortly after this the demon was able to take his body. During these periods, G.M. describes himself as being in hell.   During one of his rare lucid moments,  he finally sought the help of his parents.  G.M. still believed he was probably suffering from a fugue state or other psychiatric condition.  He thought that he probably had schizophrenia and epilepsy as he had also started having seizures.   He had studied psychology in college and he was not a man to believe in demons first.  

Finally, G.M. talked to a Friar about his problems.  The Friar told him that someone had cast a spell on him and that had caused his symptoms.  G.M. was astounded.  One of his witchy ex's had cursed him when he dumped her.  Of course,  he hadn't thought anything of it, what rational person would?  But the Friar knew this without him even really knowing it himself and the Friar sent him to Father Gabriele. After a simple exorcism,  Father Gabriele was quickly able to drive the demon out and G.M. has never had any of the many symptoms that tormented hims since that day.

There are many stories like this in the good Father's book, but this is the only story written by the possessed.  It is difficult to read at times, because it is so terrifying, but in the end finding the Father set him free.