The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund

The following episode contains depictions of suicide, abuse and sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. If we were to do a deep dive into every horror movie ever created, what is something a majority of them would have in common? Did you ever sit there and think to yourself, Hey, didn't they use this in the last movie? Well, after watching what I consider a wide variety of these films, I began to notice a pattern that many followed. It seems that writers just love to add a friendly possession and exorcism into their story like sprinkles on ice cream. This seemed to pop up in almost every movie that came around the corner, and it appears like audiences can never get enough of this theme. Perhaps there is a reason, though, as a process of an exorcism is most definitely not as sweet as the analogy I used earlier. With the graphic visuals and terrifying performances put on by extremely incredible actors, it's no wonder people just seem to be coming back for more, and this includes myself, as I for one am not immune to these tactics. But after witnessing so many different depictions of possessions and exorcisms, I decided that I wanted to find out for myself just what the big deal really was. I thought that there had to be a very distinct line between what's real and what's dramatized for audiences. The more I researched, and the deeper I dove into the black hole that is the Internet, I discovered that not only was the line between fiction and reality very thin, it may as well have been nearly invisible. I jumped around from one creepy case to the next until I found her. Let me tell you, you will not believe what I stumbled upon. Now it's no secret that I come across some pretty disturbing things on this show, but this just left me at a loss for words. Allow me to introduce you to the Exorcism of Anna Ecklund. My name is Edwin, and here it's a dark memory. In order for you to understand what happened to this girl, first, I need to tell you who she was. You may recognize her name thanks to the twenty sixteen British horror film The Curse of Anna Eckland, but the identity of the possessed girl was kept secret until much later, when historians pieced together what they thought was a good guess had her true identity. In order to protect her privacy, everyone involved in the case used the name Anna Ecklund, but with research, it is believed that her real identity was that of Emma Schmith. Born to German immigrants in March twenty third, eighteen eighty two in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Emma was raised as a devout Catholic who would regularly attend church services. Unfortunately, her life became significantly more difficult after her mother supposedly died in eighteen ninety, leaving Emma in the care of her alcoholic and abusive father. Aside from the antics of any normal teenager, Emma was a dedicated and religious child, well at least until she was around fourteen years old. While digging around, I found out that around this time became nearly impossible for her to go to church, and due to this, she became very isolated and depressed. But you're probably wondering what could possibly be the cause and why was it so bad that she had to stop doing what she loved. Well, let's go over the entire list I compiled and see if you would be able to continue instead. According to Emma, as soon as she would enter her church, disturbing and violent thoughts started to raise through her mind. And trust me, this list does not get any better. From wanting to smash the Holy Water funds to desecrating consecrated items and wanting to harm priests, the poor girl couldn't even take communion without vomiting. One other thing that witnesses say changed about Emma was the fact that she began taking part in what they called quote sexual acts of intense nature. Obviously, in this time period, that could mean many different things, given that a lot of subjects were seen as inappropriate ord taboo back then. But for my own sanity, I chose not to look into that allegation any more than I had to. Although after finding this out, I was curious about how it all started. I mean, there had to be some reason for her behavior to change so drastically. Well, apparently the locals had their own ideas. You see, there was a woman in town that the locals all thought was a witch, who also happened to be having an affair with them. As father, she was none other than her aunt. Maybe he was out a jealousy or just pure spite. But once the news of the disturbances in the Schmidt house spread throughout the community. Everyone when in their fingers at Aunt Mina. Since they already thought she was a witch, it was logical in their eyes that Emma was cursed by her aunt. With everything that was happening to Emma, and those were just reported occurrences, she soon enough found herself living in a nightmare. Let's take a look at what really happened during the exorcisms that have tainted our history for nearly a century. With rumor spreading and the increasingly disturbing behavior that Emma exhibited, she was very quickly put into contact with a cabution priest from Bavaria, Germany, father Theophilus Reisinger. Much like Emma's family, father, Reisinger was also an immigrant who was serving as a monk at Saint Anthony's in Marathon, Wisconsin. Despite his profession, the priest was initially skeptical of the claims that they were making, which is why he took it upon himself to test her. Now you're probably thinking, how is he supposed to test her? Well, let me tell you, this guy was prepared. Apparently, when someone is possessed by an unholy entity, their body will reject the touch of anything holy or consecrated, for example, across the Bible, communion, or in this case, holy water. But Father Reisinger had a more creative plan. While he was indeed carrying holy water, he carried two bottles labeled holy water and only one was real. That's right, he made sure to carry fake holy water for situations just like this. Knowing what to expect when sprinkling a possessed person with holy water, he took a bottle out in front of her and sprinkled the fake one just to see if she would react, and much to his surprise, she passed a test. Emma showed no reaction to the fake water at all. Unfortunately, there was little documented on this very first exorcism that Emma went through, possibly having something to do with her father who wanted to keep her experience under the radar, or else people may have probed more into her homeland, and that meant his very questionable parenting would be brought into the light. What little we do know about the initial exorcism is that it was successful to the point where she was able to live a relatively normal life for nearly two decades. Now. During these years, something happened that changed the game. Both her father and her aunt Mina died, and you would think that she would have a much easier life after that, but you would be wrong. Apparently, once they died, it meant that they would now be able to torture poor Emma from beyond the grave. With her behavior once again becoming a erratic and violent, Emma took it upon herself to once again contact Father Riisinger to help her, but this time he wanted to perform the exorcism more seclude, more secretly, afraid that he may not be able to handle the demon on his own. This time, the priest contacted a well trusted friend, Father Joseph Steiger of Irling, Iowa, who suggested that the take her to a convent owned by Franciscan sisters in Earling. August seventeenth, nineteen twenty eight. Emma is taken to the convent, all the while exhibiting numerous symptoms that seem to be getting worse by the day. According to sources, when they try to secretly sprinkle her food with holy water, she would burst into a fit of rage. She even hissed like a cat when she became agitated. The next day the priest officially started the exorcism. Multiple sessions laid ahead in their future, though they didn't know it yet. But this first one, this one haunts me. You take a deep breath and make a sign of the cross and begin to pray. You and your fellow sisters follow slowly behind the two priests, ready for whatever lies on the other side of the door. You heard the rumors, whispers among the sisters about the girl touched by the devil. But it can't be that bad, right, If only you had better prepared yourself for what you saw when the fathers opened the door. The sound of the door creaking open makes her heart beat faster and faster until you see her, a woman, hair matted on her head, sweat causing her robes to stick to her chest. Of course, the sisters were over exaggerating, She's just a person. You let a sense of calm wash over you, but the feeling is fleeting, because the next thing you hear is Mother of God. You quickly make another side of the cross when you realize where the growling is coming from. This woman really was touched by the devil. An eerie smile appears on her face. It's A slow, guttural laugh escapes her lips when she sees you approaching. Remembering what you were tasked to do, you go to your designated spot and hold her left arm down while the others go to their spots. The laughter continues until Father Riisinger approaches and lays his cross down on her. Suddenly, the laughter ceased, and what followed was much worse. Allowed how years is your ears, almost causing you to bring your hands to your head. You remember your one job, so you keep praying and use all of your strength to hold her arm down. The howling continues as the Father starts the prayer, becoming more violent by the minutes. You don't know how much longer you'll be able to hold her. Just as he goes to sprinkle the holy water on her, it happens you lose your grip. One by one, each of your sisters failed to hold, and your mouth gapes as her body slowly lifts into the air, higher and higher she levitates above her bed. The scream escapes your lips as you try to put as much space between you and that bed put her down. You hear Father rising your yell, once again, sprinkling her with holy water. By the power of God, I command you to put her down you want as she freezes and in an instant, flies across the room and lands on the frame of the doorway. Seeing is all he did was anger it, forgetting the reason you're there. All you can think of doing is closing your eyes and praying for it to be over, if only it would just be over. The first session that you experience lasted from August eighteenth all the way until August twenty sixth. However unpleasant it seems to you, I am sure that it was much worse for Emma. Not only did she undergo that session, she went through another one that lasted from September thirteenth until twentieth. All of these continuous exorcisms were extremely hard on Emma's body. Most of the time that she was at the convent, she would refuse to eat, and whatever she did eat, she would vomit a majority of it. If you looked at her, you would notice that her head, face, and lips were very swollen. This could possibly have been from being hit or the force of her own body hitting the floor or headboard. According to the priests and nuns present, she would suddenly be able to speak multiple different languages that she had no prior knowledge of, and when the holy water touched her skin, it would reportedly sizzle and give her burns. The events that occurred were so violent that many nuns in the convent asked to be relocated. Apparently, when Father Risinger asked who was possessing her in a high falsetto voice her with four different names, one Bilsibud, the deadly sin of gluttony, two Judas, the man who betrayed Jesus, three Jacob, her father, and four Mina, her aunt. The presence of Judas was there to influence her to commit suicide. Her father supposedly wanted revenge because Emma refused his incestuous sexual advances toward her as a child, and the spirit of her aunt claimed that her father helped put a curse on her. Now, when I tell you that it gets weirder, would you believe me? I didn't think it could until I found out that during the exorcisms, Father Steiger was threatened by the demon to seize the exorcism or all something terrible would happen to him, just empty threads right, well to be wrong. A few days later, he crashed his car into the railing of a bridge, barely managing to escape with his life. After living in hell, everything finally came to an end. On December twenty third, nineteen twenty eight. Father Riisinger commanded the demons to leave, quote the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, through intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary, to depart to Hell. Collapsing on the bed and a Shriet Bilsie Judas Jacob mina Hell Hell Hell. Opening her eyes for the first time in months, her own voice came out, my Jesus Mercy praised to be Jesus Christ. With the exorcism finally successful, everyone asked Emma what she saw what she was possessed, and she answered, while possessed, she saw visions of spirits battling each other, good and evil. After her nightmare, she went on to live a quiet and peaceful life. On July twenty third, nineteen forty one, and my Amid passed away cause of death. Unknown. Exorcisms go way back in time, and I have more of that up next. With everything that we've discussed so far, you've probably realized that we've yet to go over a key factor in her case, and that's a story of exorcisms across the world. When I scoured the Internet searching for answers to cure my own curiosity, I discovered that exorcisms have been around longer than many of us can even comprehend. Ancient Egyptians would document the casting out of evil spirits. The Gospel of Mark, written around seventy a d. Mentions how Jesus would routinely cast out evil from those who came to him. They have practically always been around, but many people didn't speak of it, as it brought shame upon their families. In the eighteen hundreds, evangelicalism rose in popularity. It is a broad term for Protestant groups that believe in strict adherence to the Bible, including being born again, needing to convert others, and the crucifixion of Jesus will lead to the salvation of humanity. The Pentecostal movement rose among evangelicals in the early nineteen hundreds. Now this is relevant because Pentecostalism was about the Holy Spirit, and it included supernatural components and therefore exorcisms. All the while, the Catholic Church never stopped its practice of exorcisms. One of the earlier documentations of exorcisms comes from a Spanish missionary named Juan to Leedo. In January of seventeen sixty four, in a letter he wrote to the governor of New Mexico, which was a Spanish colony at the time, he described a series of exorcisms he performed on local residents. The first one he described in depth was in November of seventeen sixty three, involving a woman named Maria Trujillo. In the letter, he said she was quote given to great sadness of an extreme nature. Keep in mind that she had just given birth and quote she could not be amused by the diversions of the fiesta end quote. If this woman was brought to a professional in this day and age, it would be obvious that she was most likely suffering from postpartum depression. But that didn't stop one. He said, she quote remained in her state of melancholy end quote until mid December, fainting after prayers, waking up, and then proceeding to exhaust herself with unnatural strength. He performed her extracism on December eighteenth of seventeen sixty three. Another residence he interpreted as someone suffering from possession was Francisca Barrella. The symptoms she exhibited were as follows, hearing pig noises but seeing no pigs, assorted shutters, tingling sensations, seizures, and experiencing an overwhelming sense of dread. When members of the community took her to local mission. When she caught sight of Juan, she became violent, turned gray, and mimicked quote the sound of pigs, cows, horned and spotted owls, and other animals. During her exorcism, she was constantly insulting him and his lineage, howling, and at one point she even threw a shoe at someone. At the end of the outbreak he believed was caused by witchcraft, he had exercised a total of five women and one man, when realistically these poor people were probably struggling with other disorders. Due to the history of abuse in exorcisms when the people were most likely struggling with mental health issues such as schizophrenia, the church has had to adapt their policies. Doctors may actually sometimes recommend an exorcism for their patient, but it has nothing to do with the supernatural. The idea is that the placebo effect will well take effect. If the patient thinks that they needed and then they get it, then they will think that they are better and actually end up getting better. But mostly exorcisms are seen as a last resort. Even the Roman Catholic Church says that only one in five thousand cases are the results of an actual demonic possession. Because of this statistic, there are certain rules exorcists must follow and requirements that they must fulfill in order to become one. Only a few priests have the qualifications to become an exorcist, many haven't even seen one in person. When training, they must study past cases, and they absolutely must learn how to discern between mental illness and actual spiritual issues. And the priests must fast before an exorcism in order to be pure of both body and mind. The most important thing is that an exorcism must never, and guys, I mean never be performed by some one who isn't qualified. You can assist, but even if you want to assist, you must be religious, devout and have received all of your sacraments. According to Catholicism, the priest needs to dress in your surplus and purple stole, and there are stages that the right can be broken into through their process. It usually starts with the imploring formula, in which the exorcists ask God to free the subject from the devil, and then it flows into imperative formula, where he demands in the name of God, that the devil leaves a person's body. While he is going through these prayers. He must sprinkle holy water on everyone present, lay his hands on the subject, and make the sign of the Cross on himself and the subject, touching them with the Catholic relic, usually an object associated with a saint. If you were to be present in the room, which I hope you never have to be, because they are dangerous for everyone involved, you will probably observe these four stages. Stage one pretense, the demon tries to hide its true identity from the exorcist. Stage two breakpoint, the demon is forced to reveal itself. When you know its name, the more power you have over it. Stage three clash. The exorcists and the demon then fight for the soul of the possessed person, and last, but probably the best, stage expulsion. If the exorcist is successful, the demon is forced out of the body and back to Hell. So after everything you've learned, I think it's time to discuss what exactly are we supposed to do if we think someone is possessed. Looking over many different sources, I think it's safe to say the first thing you should do is make sure that the person isn't sick. Look to see if they are using different voices, their personality changes, they suddenly have new abilities that they didn't have before, and do they start to use plural pronouns when referencing themselves. If worst comes to worse and they seem to fit all of these characteristics, then I definitely think it's worth contacting either the local church or a local paranormal investigative team. You see, in order for the Catholic Church to actually get involved and even be willing to perform an exorcism, they need to have documented evidence that the person is actually experiencing a possession. This is due to pass controversies that they have been tangled in. The last thing they want is to be mixed up in another hoax. Our world is full of many evil things. The case of Anna Ecklund is just one of the many bone chilling examples of two things. What can happen when mental health isn't taken seriously and what can happen when two worlds collide, the world of the living and the world of the dead. She was lucky to get away, because when a demon wants a soul, it will stop at nothing to collect what it came for. So please just be careful, live by the few rules my parents taught me. Never let your guard down, never touch a wigi born, and never taunt evil. The demon wants her soul and won't go back to hell without it. This episode of A Dark Memory was written and researched by madel Inguera and produced by me Edwin Coarrus. Up next, check out one of the other shows from Scary FM, like Scary Story Podcast, Short original creepy Tails. Have an idea for an upcoming episode, let me know through a DM or by visiting the website Dark Memory dot com. For ad free listening, join the rest of us on scary Plus, where you can listen to bonus content, early released episodes, and more. Just go to scaryplus dot com, or if you're listening on Apple podcasts, just take a look at our show page and click the button to try it out for free. Until next time. Thank you very much for listening