Evil Archaeology by Heather Lynn

Author:Heather Lynn
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781633411272
Publisher: Red Wheel Weiser

· CHAPTER 7 ·

What an Excellent Day for an Exorcism

Through his profanity-laden rant, Ronnie struggled to break free from the clutches of the hulking red demon. Smaller, more menacing demons danced around his feet as he struggled to not slip on their glistening trails of slime. The demon tried to force him nearly two thousand feet down into a fiery pit. During his struggle, deep scratches appeared on his limp body; one spelled “Hell,” and the other resembled a figure with webbed wings like a bat. In all capitalized letters, the word EXIT etched itself on the boy's chest. Maybe Ronnie should never have played with that Ouija board.

Months ago, Ronnie's aunt, described as a spiritualist, came for a visit and brought with her a Ouija board. Little did she know this would be the beginning of a nightmarish experience for her nephew. She would never find out either, as she died shortly after her visit. The death of his favorite aunt was perhaps more than the Ronnie could handle. Or maybe he suffered from undiagnosed temporal lobe epilepsy, which is known to cause violent convulsions and a fixation on religious or philosophical ideas, as well as religious hallucinations (Dewhurst and Beard, 1970). As previously discussed, epilepsy is still mistaken for demonic possession in some cultures today. We may never know for sure, but on Friday, August 20, 1949, the Washington Post published Ronnie's story in what they dubbed “one of the most remarkable experiences of its kind in recent religious history” (Brinkley, 1949). This fourteen-year-old boy was possessed by a demon that even his Evangelical Lutheran pastor couldn't expel. After counseling the boy's parents, the pastor told them they need the help of a Catholic priest. During a marathon exorcism by the Catholics, it was reported by a Protestant minister that he personally witnessed that a “heavy armchair in which the boy was sitting with his knees drawn under his chin tilted slowly to one side and fell over, throwing the boy on the floor” (ibid.).

Ronnie's account was the real-life story behind the 1971 novel The Exorcist. The details were changed from a fourteen-year-old boy to a thirteen-year-old girl in order to protect the boy's identity. The book inspired a film by the same name, directed by William Friedkin. A number of people who worked on the production claimed that the movie itself was cursed. Even William Peter Blatty, author of the original book, said that strange things happened during the making of the film, including a studio fire that destroyed all the interior sets of the house, except for the bedroom of the main character, Regan (Burstyn, 2006). Additionally, Linda Blair, who played Regan, had her back broken during an exorcism scene. Burstyn, who played Regan's mother, also broke her back during filming. It got so bad on the set, that the director had Reverend Bermingham, the priest who consulted on the film, bless the set and comfort the cast and crew.

The stereotypical depiction of a Catholic exorcism is now firmly entrenched in popular culture, ever since the release of The Exorcist.

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