Happy Holidays 2017

Happy Holidays

The holiday season goes by many names depending largely on one's faith and knowledge of history, but it is a celebration of the Winter Solstice during which charity and kindness toward one's fellow man is central.

Instead of delving into the controversial history of the Christmas season, we decided to share some heartwarming stories we hope will lift your spirits this holiday.

Enjoy!

Alan Bresloff: Jewish faith spurs his volunteerism — as Santa Claus

Hanukkah is not the Jewish Christmas—but they are cousins.

Saturnalia: Celebration, Sacrifice, and its Influence on Christmas

Mince Pie and a Chat for the Lonely

Festivus Web - Official Site

Experts believe they have found tomb of Santa in Turkey

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

© The Weirding, 2017

Protestant Puritans Outlawed Christmas

The Examination and Tryal of Father Christmas, 1686

Parliament, ruled by the Protestants, outlawed Christmas throughout England in 1644, specifically citing the Christmas tree as a pagan symbol, and the associated drinking as sinful.  It was demonized as being godless and Catholic.  The concept spread Across the Pond, and was embraced in New England.

Puritans in Boston and the Plymouth colony outlawed the celebration of Christmas in 1659, and the law stayed on the books for over 20 years (until 1681).  A five-shilling fine was to be levied against anyone "found observing, by abstinence from labor, feasting or any other way, any such days as Christmas."  Town criers in some areas were said to walk the streets on Christmas Eve shouting, "No Christmas! No Christmas!"

The laws against Christmas in England were lifted in 1660, but it did not become an official holiday until 1856.  Schools continued holding class on December 25^th until 1870.

© The Weirding, 2016

More Friday the 13th Church Stuff

Yesterday, we discussed a little about why Friday the 13^th is considered unlucky by some. My takeaway is that it specifically has to do with the ascendancy of the "Antipope" on Thursday the 12^th, but it is also interesting to note that it was on this day in 1981 that Pope John Paul II was shot in St. Petersburg Square.

It seems certain that the would-be assassin knew his Catholic History and planned the attempt to accord with the dates, but the [Roman-]Catholic Church has made its share of enemies throughout the centuries, so it cannot be certain that he acted alone.

Years later, the Catholic Church would find itself in yet another bad position as it faced numerous claims of child molestation and abuse from across the world. While this has little to nothing to do with Friday the 13^th, it may have factored into the attempted assassination.

© The Weirding, 2016

The Cathars and the Knights Templar - Friday the 13th

Aurora

If you have ever wondered why Friday the 13^th is considered unlucky, it dates back to long before any of us were even thought of and, as is often the case, involves the Romans and Judaeo-Christian religious beliefs (at least, according to my limited research and memory):

According to some, the Cathars held secret religious beliefs Christians and similarly-aligned religious despots believed heretical. The Cathars, so it is said, thought themselves to be the good guys -- as those with deeply-held religious beliefs often do -- opposed to the evil god of the material world, who the Christians worshiped. Some say the Cathars Perfecti were vegetarian celibates whose initiates were allowed to eat fish. Some of their beliefs may have been Islamic in nature, suggesting to some scholars that they were converts to Islam.

If all of this sounds strangely familiar, it's because a lot of this appears to have been taken -- possibly confused with, or possibly presented as counter-intelligence -- from the history of the [then Roman-]Catholic Church. In fact, Rome is said to have been the most stringent opponents of Catharism. There was also a small congregation of vegetarian women in England known as The Shakers who remained celibate (and their cult is said to have died because of this).

Some time in the mid 13^th-Century, the last remaining stronghold of the Cathars was felled. Some of them were said to have absconded with a secret treasure the Knights Templar (and others) believed to have been The Holy Grail -- or a mummified cockatrice known as "Baphomet," which the Knights Templar were later said to have worshiped. Discrepancies as to where the word "Baphomet" comes from remain, but the mummified remains could have been dinosaur bones, and the remains of animals not native to Europe, that scholars of the day pieced together incorrectly, basing their assumptions on their provincial knowledge. The Cathars who survived the night are said to have surrendered the following day and they were immediately burned at the stake.

The Knights Templar may or may not have been the very force which drove the Cathars from their roost, and continued to pursue them to retrieve their secrets and treasure, but the two cults were almost certain to have had some contact during their eras of activity. In fact, following the Cathars' fall, many may have become Knights Templar, as some scholars say the Cathars had been entirely eliminated by the end of the 13^th-Century, while the Knights Templar are said to have persisted until the early 1300s. There seems to be little information regarding the Knights Templar prior to the Cathars, and either may have been converts to Islam.

In the early 14^th-Century, the King declared the Knights Templar heretical and killed them all, as well, after torturing them into "Confessing" to alleged crimes they may or may not have committed. At any rate, the date on which the last of the Knights Templar were either first attacked, or finally murdered, is said to have been Friday the 13^th.

The Antipope Nicholas V ascended on Thursday the 12^th, 1328.

Now, all of this is hard to confirm -- especially online -- and I may well have much of it confused, but it is interesting enough to post (as I've been meaning to do many times before). Remember that although I try to research what I can to ensure you are getting plausible information, I do not have all the answers -- nor even the right questions! In fact, this post from the venerable Mental Floss (UK, apparently) sheds more light on this traditionally "unlucky" day which mentions none of this, and may well be correct. 

However, the connection to the ascendancy of the "Antipope" is likely the smoking gun behind this superstition.

© The Weirding, 2016

A Brief History of Witch-Hunting

The Ordeal of Iron

As early as the 12^th-Century, division was made between magic used for good and maleficia, as practiced by witches and sorcerers. Even under Alfonso the Wise (ca. 1275), any person could accuse another of sorcery before a judge and if that party be found guilty, the sentence was death. It was not for a few more centuries that this would erupt into a national fervor, attributed largely to influential clergymen who insisted the guilty be burned in fiery rhetoric and widely-distributed texts such as the Malleus Maleficarum.

Maleficia refers specifically to the Dark Arts - the diabolical and malignant. While the popular modern notion associates witchcraft with spellcasting, amulets, potions, and poisons were witches' stock-in-trade. The mythology that emerged surrounding witches included the ability to fly, enter homes, shapeshift, and kidnap children. This stereotype may have been holdovers of the Grecian Strigae and other mythical figures.

While there were prior Inquisitions, none were as wide-reaching as the Spanish Inquisition of the late Middle Ages. While it is true that many died during this turbulent period, mostly innocents, reliable sources are sparse - there is a reason it is known as the Dark Ages. The accused were predominantly women attributed abilities such as causing disease, interfering in married couples' relationships, and damaging crops or livestock. Many sources suggest a conspiracy amongst the medical community of the time to uproot midwifery but while this may be generally true, it is hardly the whole story. The average layperson believed in magic being used for both beneficial and maleficient purposes; it was amongst the Ecclesiastical elite that all sorcery was considered diabolical and it was they who called for the deaths of those found guilty of such crimes.

Trials by Ordeal were severe and involved some form of torture, such as The Ordeal of Iron, during which the accused was forced to hold red-hot irons while onlookers assessed the severity of the wounds.The most common in America was the Trial by Water, in which the accused was bound and dunked in a body of water. Important to note that, in many places, if a person was found guilty, her possessions were divided amongst her lord and her accuser - so there is no doubt that some of these accusations were financially-motivated.

Witches came to be thought of as a sect - an organized community directly opposing Christianity which gathered by night to worship the Devil. Pope [antipope] Alexander V condemned them as a secret organization which "perverted Christendom" in his 1409 Papal Bull. There had been at least one trial of a witch in the late 14^th-Century but the craze really took off in the 15^th-Century.

© The Weirding, 2015

Navel-Gazing, Religion, and World Politics (2013)

I have been thinking quite a bit about the supernatural, the way of the world, and what it all means, and I've come to no real conclusions.  This is no sermon; I have just been doing a lot of introspection -- not so much soul-searching as navel-gazing without a roadmap. 

So, I read some spiritual texts and found them to be of little help, largely because so many twist their true meaning into something it is not -- or, more specifically, what they want you to hear.  The fact is that many religious texts read as flat-out insanity on the surface and their inscrutability is used to stoke fear, anger, and outrage amongst its listeners.  This conflagration of emotions is then manipulated by those in power to control the listener, reader, or viewer.

The Christian religion, in particular, is one that has been abused and twisted by self-serving churches and demagogues, numerous times throughout history.  I was so pleased to hear the new Pope announce that the true way of Jesus Christ is to be kind, loving, tolerant, and accepting of everyone, regardless of race, creed, sexuality or sexual orientation, and so on -- to help those in need, those who cannot help themselves, and all others great and small.

Unfortunately, there are many who use Scripture to advance their own agenda -- usually one of financial and political gain.  In fact, Jesus was even betrayed by one of his own flock simply for money.  Judas Iscariot later regretted his decision deeply but Jesus stood his ground and even prophesied such betrayal.  Many have asked why Jesus did not simply leave His place, knowing that He had been sold-out and forces were on their way to destroy Him.  My question has always been: Why did those who knew Jesus and His message not stand with, protect, and fight for Him?

Jesus worked amongst the sick, hung out with prostitutes and the disenfranchised, and brought them hope and caring, along with the message that love and understanding conquer all.  Those who claim to be Christians today are far too concerned with judging and controlling others, especially those with whom they disagree.
 
Islam is another religion that is too often exploited by those who wish to cause only harm to others.  More than most religions, it preaches hatred toward, and intolerance of, others.  However, all of the Triumverate have done the same.  Both Christianity and Islam -- the leading religions in the world according to some (probably wrong) sources -- are based on Judaism, the first modern religion in which the singular God appears; almost every other religion suggests there are many gods and goddesses -- a pantheon of deities, many of whom represent one or more closely related ideals.

Many other religions teach not about gods and goddesses but spirits and similar forces we would consider supernatural.  Many of these religions suggest that these forces are not only to be found within but without, and that these spirits can be called upon to help one's own forces or hinder one's opposition.  Like the pantheistic religions above, different spirits are used for different reasons, and called upon by believers to exercise powers according to their spheres of influence.  If this sounds vaguely like Dungeons & Dragons, it's because these gaming conventions are based on real religions and beliefs found around the world throughout history, just as the game itself is based on fantasy literature also found around the world throughout history.

Even these beliefs can be twisted by Evil people and used to nefarious ends.  Which brings one to ask: What use is religion?

Religion today is most often used to manipulate and control large groups of people without the need for a centralized leader or faction -- basically a form of slavery that uses fear of the Unknown to limit and control the individual.  Most especially the individual who speaks out against these institutions.

America, in particular, has allowed too many special interest groups, religions, and corporations to purchase the laws and "freedoms" they then use to enslave and manipulate the free-thinking individual.  They have perverted the true beauty of these wonderful things by manipulating believers into doing their bidding, holding them hostage with religious and political beliefs that have been twisted from their true meaning. 

The Holy Bible itself is no longer the word of God (if ever it was) but a deeply twisted mockery, changed many times throughout the ages.  It was, in fact, based on works that have been lost to antiquity and much of it is actually the history of the world, which missionaries subsumed in order to indoctrinate others into the fold.  Christmas, Easter, even marriage, are holidays and institutions originating from pagan cultures that have been incorporated into Christian religion in order to convert the populace.

The Church is just another corporation -- an international business machine, to quote Clutch -- and these corporations and special interest groups have been given free reign to control the individual.  Technology and the media have also been used, often illegally, to further these goals.  Gone are the concepts of integrity and honor, replaced instead by less virtuous ideals such as fame, power, and money.

The Greek government has taken to extracting money from its own citizens' banks to pay the debts their government elite have incurred through lavish spending.  America threatens its population with a non-existent debt ceiling, raising taxes on the middle-class and cutting billions from welfare, social security, education, and other national programs meant to uplift the individual and create a stronger nation.  Instead, we have kept the right to bear arms while hundreds die in gangland shootings, as well as the right to religious freedoms that seek to silence those who oppose the religious structures that are afforded the same rights as corporations, which are also afforded the same rights as individuals.

Iceland jailed the bankers who subverted their laws and rewrote their own constitution -- which was not covered by the mainstream news here in America (and actually wasn't even covered by online outlets).  The Wall Street bankers who masterminded the housing collapse here in America have not been held accountable.  And those of us who speak out against these injustices have been railroaded and turned into scapegoats.

My mind fluctuates between revolution and peaceful negotiations, yet we individuals have no voice in this process and, when we raise them, our words are used against us.  Artistic and religious freedoms are held on the same ground -- given the same weight -- and money is considered free speech.  Artists and creators are jailed and silenced, our own works used against us by those in power, and everyone suffers.

Our nation is perverted by The Church and Big Business.  Is there any hope for freedom from those who oppress us?  Is war with ourselves the only answer?  Should we just submit and allow ourselves to be controlled by those who hold greater power or should we continue to fight until the bitter end, never knowing for certain just what those ends may be?  Should we be conditioned for peace or prepared for war, and why are our own minds, words, and works used against us?  Are love, peace, and harmony simply forever out of reach? 

And, why are the kindest and most caring always the victims?  And only the blood of the innocent shed?

© C Harris Lynn, 2013

Easter / Ishtar / Oster

For our Christian readers, today is a special holy day.  However, Easter was a holy day long before Christianity.  There was a captioned photo circulating across the Web the other day suggesting that Easter was originally a term for Ishtar, an ancient goddess, but an historian pointed out that Ishtar was not the origin of Easter.  It appears that Ostern is actually the Germanic pronunciation of Easter.

Happy holidays!

© C Harris Lynn, 2013

Camping: End of the World Coming Friday

Harold Camping's first handful of apocalyptic warnings having passed, the controversial Evangelical minister has made a new end-of-the-world prediction... for this Friday.  Camping claims the date was determined using numerous factors from The Holy Bible.

Experts say these Doomsday predictions have increased in recent years, though none have proven true.  Often, when such predictions fail to pass, those who issued them claim they actually did happen, the rest of the world just failed to notice their results -- as is the case with Camping, whose earthquake predictions for January 21^st were changed to say that God had "shaken the world with fear."

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

Digital Dead Sea Scrolls

Now anyone with a computer or mobile phone can see the Dead Sea Scrolls by visiting the Digital Dead Sea Scrolls website, which went online today. A special camera in California is photographing many of the most important scrolls and placing the photos online, where anyone can view them. Visitors can zoom in and out and even translate portions into English.

The Scrolls were originally discovered in clay jars by a shepherd and sold to the Israel Museum by antiques dealers. Many believe them to be the first written documents of the Holy Bible.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

Monk Caught with 'Saint's Skeleton

A Cypriot monk was detained at a Greek airport when a skeleton was discovered in his luggage. The remains were those of a nun who had died four years prior. The monk said she was a saint and he was taking her remains to Cyprus. Remains of saints are often displayed and revered by believers in the Greek Orthodoxy.

However, the nun was considered a saint by neither the Greek nor Cypriot Orthodoxy, proper. A sect may have ordained her so, though. Cyprus' Archbishop said it sounded like "the work of charlatans with a financial interest."

The monk was charged with theft and desecration of the dead, misdemeanors in Greece. He was also suspended from his duties for three months.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

Power of Christ Compels Christian Actor to Chop-Up Mom

Authorities say 31-year-old actor, Michael Brea, has been admitted into psychiatric care after neighbors heard screams emanating from his apartment. When police arrived, Brea was screaming Bible passages at the mutilated corpse of his mother. Cops say Brea stabbed her numerous times and decapitated her. They believe he held her hostage for several hours.

Neighbors reported nothing unusual about the family or actor, calling them "quiet people." Brea appeared in TV sit-coms, movies, and even a Coca-Cola commercial campaign. He also owned a restaurant and was known to participate in charity work. "My parents raised me to always share and to give charity in the name of God!"

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

'Apostle' Decrees USB Satanic

The "Apostle" Welder Saldanha of the Paz do Senhor Amado sect claims USB connections are Satanic because the symbol resembles the trident of Satan. The cult, whose name translates into "Peace of the Beloved Lord," allowed its followers to trade-in their USB cords and connections for those more in-line with the Word of Jesus Christ.

I do not know if said Apostle has heard of FireWire, but I tend to think he wouldn't approve.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Catholic Church Held Exorcist Weekend

The Catholic Church registered well over 100 priests and bishops for a two-day weekend workshop in Baltimore over the November 12^th, 2010 weekend. The workshop was to train the attendees in the ritual of Exorcism.

According to an Illinois Bishop, "a small group of priests" claim to receive requests for exorcisms from across the continental United States, but very few are trained to perform the Exorcism rite. A staple of modern, American, horror cinema (thanks in large part to the Oscar-winning The Exorcist from 1973, based on the book of the same name by William Peter Blatty), Exorcism is a very real and scared Catholic rite.

Though extremely rare, exorcisms do take place in modern America. Most professionals believe victims of "dæmonic possession" to be mentally ill; most consider them "paranoid schizophrenic," a classification some medical communities around the world have since dropped.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Vatican Castigates Opus Angelorum Sect

The Vatican has decreed the Opus Angelorum sect "wayward," and warns anyone who might come into contact with followers to distance themselves. Specifically, the Vatican says it has reason to suspect the Opus Angelorum is distributing propaganda associating itself with traditional Catholicism.

The Vatican basically gave Opus Angelorum a pass, so long as it promised not to distribute or mention information relating to its core sect beliefs, which were formed largely by its founder, Gabriele Bitterlich. One of the most dangerous of which is that women who have had abortions are possessed by demonic entities.

Bitterlich claimed to have been directed by an Archangel with whom she was in contact. This Archangel coached Bitterlich, and she discovered the names of the angels and demons fighting for control of peoples' souls.

The Opus Angelorum operates mostly throughout India, Brazil, and Germanic Europe.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

 

11 Hurt While Fleeing Ol' Scratch

When a 30-year-old, unclothed, African man got up to feed his baby in an apartment just outside of Paris, 11 of the apartment's occupants apparently mistook him for the Devil. The man was stabbed in the hand and forced out of the apartment. As he tried to force his way back inside, the other occupants leapt from the window to avoid him.

Victims include a 4-month-old and 2-year-old, and reports indicate several of the other jumpers were children, as well. They are investigating whether or not the children leapt on their own or were coerced by others.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Google Finds God... FINALLY

Though experts doubt it will stop them from being evil, Google Street View returned a weird image of what appears to be two cloaked figures floating aimlessly over Switzerland. While many are explaining-away the "figures" as anomalies, lens flares, and even gum, others suggest they may well be God and "His only begotten Son," Jesus.

One reader posted a picture that appears to show the "figures" alongside the "decapitated" top portion of a streetlight, suggesting the entire thing was merely an error.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Vatican Astronomer Would Baptize ET

Guy Consolmagno, an astronomer at the Vatican observatory told reporters that, if extraterrestrials exist, and wanted to accept the Lord into their lives, he would be happy to baptize them. However, he said the possibility of finding such intelligent life is "astronomical."

"God is bigger than just humanity," Consolmagno said, "Any entity, no matter how many tentacles it has, has a soul." Former Presbyterian minister and author of the book, The Bible and Flying Saucers, Barry Downing, said, "There's no need to worry about baptizing aliens if they show up," as the commandment is restricted to the nations of the Earth, and "We need to face the possibility that this reality -- whatever it is -- might be millions of years ahead of us? And why would we suppose that they would not already have the Holy Spirit and therefore not need to be baptized by the Church?"

The Vatican's former foremost authority on diabolic possession, Corrado Balducci, maintained to his death (in 2008) that extraterrestrial life was a matter of course, as written in the Holy Bible: "As God's power is limitless, it is not only possible but also likely that inhabited planets exist." Balducci, however, seemed to consider ETs dæmonic in nature, though his statements were sometimes confusing on this point; at the very least, Balducci posited that ET life was Supernatural in nature.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Winds, the Red Sea, Religion, and Science

There have been several stories regarding religion and science lately, from Stephen Hawking's "M-theory" and denial of God, to a study which portends that a high wind could have parted the Red Sea, allowing the Jews to escape Egypt, as told in the Book of Exodus. But the thing which sticks-out most in my mind has nothing to do with the how but the why: The Big Bang and high winds may be the mechanics by which these things occurred, but their timing seems pretty spectacular.

Granted, the Jews trekked through the desert for some 40 years, but it was only when they were trapped between the sea and the Pharaoh's advancing forces that a mysterious high wind rose, blowing throughout the night, to part the waters for their escape. Just as ominously, once the Jews had made their way across, the wind died, and the waters rushed in to kill the pursuing army.

I freely accept that this wind has some rational, scientific explanation; what remains mysterious, to me, is its timing. A wind that arises at just the right time, then disappears at an even more propitious one, seems to defy any scientific rationale. The question then, for me, is one of mind over matter vs. an unseen, guiding force: Did Moses' own desire, perhaps augmented by his followers' same desire, call forth this wind, or did a deity(s) provide it in response?

That it was coincidental is idiotic. The idea that, given a long enough timeline, anything is possible is, in this particular case, even more idiotic. I think of these arguments the way skeptics and atheists think of those who insist, "It was God. The end." And though I do see the formers' point, I find it lazy to simply assume it was one or the other, no middle ground allowed.

Most Occult ideology maintains that the actual forces involved are very natural; it is the Occultist's desire, or communication with unseen forces, that are the catalyst. There is no mere "wishing" things into, or out of, existence. In the story of Moses parting the Red Sea, the wind is how the waters were parted, but the wind would never have blown there, at that time, were it not for Moses' desire for it to do so. Let us not forget that in Moses' time, there were magicians who could rival his "miracles."

Many Occultists have long held that the only difference in Occult "magick" and religious "miracles" is the name, itself. And Christians are the ones who created this separation, just as they absorbed many of the world's religions and superstitions while rejecting their related deities. Along the same lines, many "Spiritualists" maintain that the central figure in almost all of the world's major religions are actually the same deity; Allah is God is the Great Spirit, etc.

While these scientific investigations and hypotheses are always interesting and welcome, science and religion are not mutually exclusive -- except to scientists and zealots -- and that bears mentioning once in a while.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

A Deal with the Devil - Dæmonic Possession

The case of Clara Germana Cele is a bit more specious, yet if the details are to be believed, dæmonic possession is about the only thing that could explain her behavior and, most importantly, the supernatural phenomena which surrounded her at two separate points in her life. You can dismiss all other online accounts of this case (or the majority of them), as they work from one another, and are incorrect at their foundation.

What makes Clara Cele's case less believable from the jump is that she claimed to have made a pact with the Devil - or so she told her confessor, Father Erasmus Horner. Another thing is that the priests and nuns of the Marianhill Order mission school in Umzinto, South Africa¹, which Clara had attended since she was four, always considered her "somewhat erratic." What that means, exactly, is anyone's guess, but for skeptics, these are signs that something else may have been at-play, such as mental illness or simple fraud. Finally, Cele claimed to have actually entered a pact with the Devil, himself.

The phenomena reported is what makes Cele's case striking:

At 16, Cele confessed to Father Erasmus that she had made a pact with the Devil, yet no one apparently thought much of this until a few weeks afterward, when her behavior changed dramatically. On August 20^th, 1906, she began tearing off her clothes, grunting and growling like an animal. Her strength was so great that she broke one of the posts on her bed. She then began conversing aloud with unseen forces.

While this was shocking enough, the sisters were truly alarmed by the sounds she was making. One nun who witnessed at least one of Cele's outbreaks is alleged to have written, "No animal had ever made such sounds. Neither the lions of East Africa nor the angry bulls." In a moment of lucidity, Clara begged them to fetch Father Erasmus: "I must confess everything," she told them, "But quick, quick, or Satan will kill me. He has me in his power! Nothing is blessed with me." She confided in them that she had thrown away all things holy she'd ever been given. Later that day, she cried out, "You have betrayed me! You... promised me days of glory, but now you treat me cruelly."

Over the next several weeks, Cele began showing "classic" signs of dæmonic possession, such as wretching and blaspheming ferociously whenever holy items were present, even if they were heavily concealed. Holy water burned her, but when regular, unblessed, tap water was substituted in attempts to trick her, she merely laughed.

Cele manifested far-reaching clairvoyance, detailing the daily sojourn of one priest through Africa to Rome, naming the addresses at which he stayed along the way. She revealed the scandalous details of one man's life -- down to the names, dates, and times -- to shame him for ridiculing her.

Somewhat similar to the Bruner boys, Clara began contorting her body impossibly without apparent harm, but her contortions took a far more darkly sinister twist: Clara transformed into a serpent-like creature -- her entire body became like rubber and her neck elongated -- and she writhed across the floor. Once in this state, several of the nuns tried to restrain her. Clara darted from the midst of them like lightning, sped across the floor to a nun who was kneeling in front of her, and bit her on the arm. The bitemark is said to have shown the impression of Cele's teeth... and a small, red puncture, like that of a snakebite.

Germana's levitations are among the most frequent and dramatic in the history of dæmonic possession, having occurred numerous times in front of throngs of witnesses, some of whom attempted to hold, or pull, her down -- to no avail. She levitated in church, was seen levitating by "outsiders" (non-Church members, or possibly non-Christians), and levitated several times above her bed. Germana:

Floated often three, four, and up to five feet in the air, sometimes vertically, with her feet downward, and at other times horizontally, with her whole body floating above her bed... in a rigid position. Even her clothing did not fall downward... instead, her dresses remained tightly attached to her body and legs.

Holy water sometimes stopped the phenomena, but on September 10th of that same year, permission was granted to perform an Exorcism. It was a long and grueling effort which lasted at least two days. At some point, whatever was possessing her said it would signal its departure with a levitation.

This levitation occurred in the mission chapel. In front of 170 witnesses.

In 1907, while Father Erasmus was away, Germana was said to have entered a new pact with Satan. Another Exorcism was performed, lasting another two days. Its success, and the departure of the Devil from her body, was marked by an "incomparably foul stench."

Despite the concept of pacts and all else, Clara Germana Cele's case remains one of the strongest in all the recorded accounts of dæmonic possession.

---
¹ - Not St. Michael's, as is stated in several reports across the Web. Many of these same sources report the school to have been located in Natal, which is closer to the truth; Natal is about 20 miles from Umzinto. It is possible that this was intentional misinformation meant to shield Germana Cele from further questioning, ridicule, or even ostracism and/or physical harm, but more likely the fault of the authors'.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Teens 'Fake' Christians

In her new book, Almost Christian, United Methodist Church minister, Kenda Creasy Dean, says teenagers today are less likely to be passionate about religion, are inarticulate about religion and faith, and are likely following a "mutant" form of Christianity, which youth pastors and parents have presented to them. This form of Christianity designates God as a sort of "therapist" who only wants to boost their self-esteem, see them do well, and ensure they treat others kindly. Dean calls this an "impostor" faith and claims it is to blame for more teenagers leaving the church.

Dean participated in a controversial study which interviewed 3,300 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17. It is largely from this study that she drew her conclusions. She says parents are the primary influence on these kids, and it is the parents' own religious apathy which has created what the researchers involved in the study call ""moralistic therapeutic deism."

© C Harris Lynn, 2010