Do you believe in demons? In the Roman Catholic Church, the rite of exorcism is a restricted practice with strict guidelines for what can qualify. Anneliese Michel was a student who started to experience symptoms of epilepsy as a teenager, but every medical treatment she tried seemed to fail and she proceeded to get worse. Having grown up in an extremely devout Catholic family, those around her began to suspect her symptoms weren't related to mental or physical illness at all, but of demonic possession. After repeated appeals to bishops in the provincial, local area of southern German, one bishop finally approved the request which led deadly consequences. Join us for our season finale as Briana takes us through the ins and outs of this tragic case and we discuss some of the issues with balancing faith and religion with modern medicine.
Special thank you to our sponsor for this episode:
Podcast Calendars - Pre-order your 2023 True Crime Podcast Calendar today to get 10% off your order and use our code WICKED for an additional $5 off!
Sources we used for this episode:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11381816/anneliese-michel
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/temporal-lobe-seizure/symptoms-causes/syc-20378214
https://medium.com/history-of-yesterday/the-criminal-exorcism-of-anneliese-michel-c75c23a28869
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090200559_3.html
https://www.historicmysteries.com/anneliese-michel-exorcism/
https://www.abendzeitung-muenchen.de/bayern/zum-gruseln-abgebrannt-das-exorzisten-haus-art-195825
Beware of the Other Side(s): Multiple Personality Disorder and Dissociative Identity Disorder in American Fiction by Heike Schwarz