About this episode
According to the late Father Gabrielle Amorth, co-founder of the International Association of Exorcists, Hitler, Stalin, ISIS, Harry Potter and Yoga were all, in one way or another, touched by demonic influence, This does perhaps go some way towards explaining how he managed to rack up over 150,000 exorcisms throughout his long life. Of all of these cases, however, he admitted openly that only a small minority had been true, legitimate cases of demonic possession. Despite this, exorcism remains more popular today than in any other time in history, where it has existed as a long running ritual spanning centuries, continents and cultures. From personal demons to group possessions, humans battle with the Devil is a long, winding history of violence, perversion and projectile vomit. SOURCES St. Louis Globe Democrat (1949) Priest Frees Boy Reported To Be Possessed By Devil . St. Louis Globe Democrat, Sat, 20 Aug 1949, p.3. USA. Laycock, Joseph P. (2020) The Penguin Book of Exorcisms . Penguin Random House, UK. Foys, Martin, et al., eds. (2022) Old English Poetry in Facsimile 2.0 (Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2019-): https://oepoetryfacsimile.org . The University of Edinburgh School of History, Classics and Archaeology (2017) The Role of Psychological Distress and Social Contagion in Demonic Possession in Early Modern England. The University of Edinburgh, UK. Baker, Ernest Edward, ed. (2009) A True And Most Dreadful Discourse Of A Woman Possessed With The Devil: At Dichet, In Sommersetshire. Kessinger Publishing, UK. Rev. Father Sinistrari (2019) Demoniality: Incubi & Succubi. Quick Time Press, UK. Goldsmid, Edmund (2018) The History of the Devils of Loudun. Read Books Ltd., UK Evans, Hilary & Bartholomew, Robert (2009) Outbreak: The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social behaviour. Anomalist Books, USA. Reis, Elizabeth, ed. (1998) Spellbound: Women & Witchcraft in America . SR Books, USA. Pitkin, Joseph (1740) The Diary of Joseph Pitkin. Connecticut State Library, USA. Marianhill Mission Society (1927) Are There Devils Today? An Authentic Report on Two Cases of Exorcism Performed in Recent Years . Marianhill Mission Society, USA. ---------- For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at darkhistories.com Support the show by using our link when you sign up to Audible: http://audibletrial.com/darkhistories or visit our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: http://author.to/darkhistories Dark Histories merch is available here: https://bit.ly/3GChjk9 Connect with us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast Or find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/darkhistories & Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/ Or you can contact us directly via email at contact@darkhistories.com or join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices