The Roman Catholic church has
performed countless exorcisms, but they’re not the only faith where
religious figures battle demonic possession. Are these stories tales of human madness,
fraud, or something genuinely supernatural? These are ten of the creepiest exorcisms
ever performed outside the Catholic Church. #10. An Ancient Ritual Exorcisms are rare in Judaism, and are even more
rarely performed in the modern day. But that doesn’t mean Jewish people don’t have their
own spirits to fear. Dybbuks aren’t demons, but they are chaotic spirits that are notorious
for causing trouble - throwing objects around the home and haunting people’s dreams. They
rarely enter people’s bodies and possess them - but a manuscript fragment dating
back to the 1800s indicates that if the dybbuks start to get a taste for possession,
the Jewish religious authorities are prepared. It all started with a death. A woman named Qamar living in the middle
east had lost her husband several years back, but the widow had found love again and was ready
to move on. But her late husband wasn’t. According to the manuscript, he had become a dybbuk
and possessed her. Her terrified groom-to-be brought her to the temple, where the Rabbi used
a rarely-seen prayer to bless the new family, expel the ghost, and grant protection from it in
the future. How often is this ritual used? It’s a rare occurrence - but Rabbis apparently have
some demon-banishing skills in their back pocket. But not every exorcist is on the level. #9. A Twisted Rite Islam has long had exorcism in its traditions,
dating back to the early days of the faith. The rituals pioneered by Mohammed included
expelling demons and curing the possessed. Common techniques involve a sheikh placing
a hand on the possessed, reciting a prayer, and sprinkling holy water. But some radical
members practice more extreme members, and they preyed upon one desperate woman in
2004. Latifa Hachmi, a young Belgian woman, was desperate to have a baby and couldn’t
solve her infertility. She met a group of exorcists who convinced her she was possessed
and needed the demons driven out of her. But they had far worse intentions. The exorcists, Hachmi’s husband,
and three women who were brought in to assist in the ritual proceeded to
put Hachmi through months of rituals, including forcing her to drink holy water. It
didn’t cure her infertility - but the forced hydration filled her lungs with water
and she became ill. When she was found, she had passed away - her lungs incapable
of taking in air and her body covered in bruises. All the people who participated in the
exorcism were arrested and charged with murder, as religious authorities warned not to be
taken in by self-proclaimed miracle workers. But other places still revere their
exorcists - especially after tragedy. #8. A Haunted Town The town of Ishinomaki, Japan was devastated in
the 2011 tsunami that was one of the country’s worst disasters. And in the aftermath, people
believed something terrible was happening. Ghosts were everywhere. Traumatized
survivors suffered from horrible visions, seeing ghosts missing their heads wandering
around town. Taxi drivers became superstitious, refusing to pick up passengers in haunted
areas. And many people believed their own home was haunted by spirits - often of loved ones
who died in the tsunami but was unable to move on. And one woman claimed she could help. Kansho Aizawa had been performing exorcisms
for years, but her services were more in demand than ever. She was contacted by a
man named Shinichi Yamada who had survived, but was now experiencing disturbing things in
his home. His children were ill. He was lying in bed and felt a supernatural force
stepping on his chest. Aizawa advised him to find a proper shrine for two Buddhist
statues he had rescued during the tsunami, and the supernatural events stopped after
he relocated them. Is Aizawa truly banishing spirits from Ishinomaki? No one can say
for sure, but the locals swear by her help. But much further south, an attempted
exorcism went horribly wrong. #7. New Zealand Horror Janet Moses was troubled. The young Maori
woman had recently lost her grandmother and had relationship problems with her partner.
Her family wondered if there was something deeper going on here - and if it had to do
with a petty crime they’d committed. Some family members had stolen a lion statue from a
nearby hotel, and a local Maori elder advised them that they should return the statue and
help her heal. Her family took that to mean they should perform a Makutu lifting, a Maori
exorcism ritual. There was only one problem. None of the family members had any experience
in this ancient spirit-banishing ritual. While the elder had blessed her, he
soon left and the family performed an improvised ritual that involved far too
much water. The carpet became soaked, family members injured Janet as they
attempted to pick the demons out of her, and eventually she died from drowning - leading
to the arrest of nine members of Moses’ family. A teenage family member was also injured in the
ritual, and the trial lasted twenty-nine days and led to much debate over the religious
rite - but ultimately no one went to jail, with the coroners stating that only trained
elders should perform Makutu liftings. #6. The Hidden Temple In the Hindu faith, exorcisms
are an ancient tradition - and one journalist got to see them in person. When Krzysztof Iwanek traveled to the Balaji
temple in 2018, he wasn’t sure what to expect. The famous center of Hindu exorcisms was located two
hundred kilometers from Delhi and is named after a local deity famous for banishing spirits. Known as
“bhuts”, these beings can supposedly enter humans and put them into trances. But as he entered
the temple, without a camera and staying in the shadows, Iwanek discovered that what was going
on inside was both fascinating - and disturbing. He would see things that would stay
with him for the rest of his life. Those brought to the Balaji temple believed
themselves to be possessed. Some were in trances, while others were chained up. Iwanek was
shocked to find a group of people chained to the temple’s back wall. He saw a woman slide down
the stairs like a snake, springing up without a bruise. The priests and the crowd watching
them performed rituals in song and dance, and the possessed individuals joined in -
occasionally reacting violently as if something was pulling them back. Eventually, the woman
seemed to be free of whatever was possessing her and was released. Iwanek was puzzled, not
quite understanding what he had seen - but the lure of the Balaji temple continues to
bring the supposedly possessed to its door. While most exorcisms are
Christian, not all are Catholic. #5. Depression or Demons? Nurse Amy Stamatis had been troubled for a while,
having dark thoughts urging her to do harm to herself. It culminated when she fell out of a
window at her home, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down - and leaving many people wondering if
she had jumped. She denied it, but wondered if she was going through a mental breakdown. She received
visits from religious leaders in the community - and one claimed she had another explanation for
Stamatis’ disturbed thoughts and erratic behavior. She saw the presence of demons in Amy Stamatis. Cindy Lawson was a Pentacostal evangelist who was
known for her demon-castings, and claimed to have banished ten demons from worshippers. She visited
Stamatis - and claimed to immediately be able to see the demons surrounding her. After anointing
the injured woman with oil and saying a prayer, Lawson claimed that the demons were gone
- and Stamatis agreed. While she has no memory of the exorcism, she claims that the
thoughts that were plaguing her are now gone. Many doctors and psychologists believe
this was psychological influence rather than the supernatural, but Lawson and
Stamatis remain staunch believers. But half a world away, an
exorcism took a horrible twist. #4. The Tanacu Exorcism In the aftermath of the collapse of the communist
government in Romania, the Romanian Orthodox church had made a comeback. But one nun who
joined the monastery in Tanacu would soon become famous - for all the wrong reasons. Maricica
Irina Cornici had a hard life before she joined, spending time in an orphanage after her
father’s death. But she behaved oddly, giggling uncontrollably during mass. She was
diagnosed with schizophrenia and returned to the monastery - but her brother had another theory. He
claimed that he had seen Satan enter his sister. He chose to report this to
the priest - a tragic mistake. Daniel Petre Corogeanu had a checkered past
of his own, turning to the Priesthood when he didn’t gain admission to law school. He had
frequent conflicts with the local diocese, and saw the exorcism as a chance to make a name
for himself. He ordered his nuns to bind Cornici’s feet and hands and lock her in her room. They
would later drag her into church tied to a cross and leave her there for three days, with a
towel in her mouth to keep her from screaming. They claimed to cure her - but shortly
after they brought her back to her room, she fainted and died from dehydration and
exhaustion. Corogeanu and the nuns who helped him were all arrested, with the Priest
eventually being sentenced to seven years. One of the most terrifying exorcism stores
ever traces back to 19th century Germany. #3. Terror in the Village Gottleibin Dittus was an unassuming young
German woman in 1842, but villagers soon noticed her behaving oddly. She started
by claiming that her house was haunted, and later fell into strange trances. It would
be the start of a descent into madness for the German woman, and it would attract the attention
of one of the most famous religious scholars of the era - the Lutheran theologist Johann
Blumhardt. The fast-rising writer would visit the town and begin the process of exorcising
Dittus - but it wouldn’t be an easy fight. In fact, the affair would become
known as Blumhardt’s Battle. Dittus became violent as
soon as Blumhardt arrived, having to be restrained. It would be two years of
Blumhardt performing different exorcism rituals, which led to horrific reactions. Blumhardt’s
writings would later claim that Dittus vomited objects including glass and nails. But
eventually, the demon cried “Jesus is the victor” and was gone. Did this all happen
as claimed? No one is sure, but Blumhardt’s followers believed - and it led to him starting
a new branch of Christianity. His parish grew, as did his territory, and his mission adopted
the demon’s last cry as its iconic motto. One British case asked...was
it murder, or possession? #2. The Strange Case of Michael Taylor In 1974, Michael Taylor worked as a butcher - but
the quiet West Yorkshire man had a dark side. He had an affair with the leader of a local Christian
Fellowship group, and later admitted that he felt as if there was evil in him. The local Anglican
priest watched as Taylor became more erratic, and gathered other priests to lead an exorcism.
It was an all-night ceremony, and the priests believed that they had successfully banished
over forty demons from the man - including those driving him to blasphemy, lewdness, and adultery.
Taylor was allowed to go home, supposedly cured. But not all his demons were gone. Not long after the exorcism, Taylor turned on
his wife Christine and brutally killed her. He was later seen wandering the streets, covered
with blood, and quickly arrested. But everyone knew about the exorcisms that had come before.
Was Taylor truly a killer - or had something evil been left in him? That question confused
the jury so much, they found him not guilty by reason of insanity. The possibly possessed
killer spent only four years locked up, and was released - where he’s been behaving
erratically for almost fifty years since. But once case fascinates
exorcism aficionados to this day. #1. The Yatton Daemoniac It was 1778 when Joseph Easterbrook,
the Anglican vicar of Temple Church, was summoned to the small village of Yatton.
The subject was a tailor named George Lukins, who many in the village believed was possessed.
The humble man had begun singing and screaming in ways that didn’t sound human. While he had
previously been a church-going man, he had since begun acting in disturbing ways. Doctors were
unable to diagnose him, so the town had turned to the Church. And when Easterbrook questioned
Lukins, the man made a frightening claim. He said there were seven demons inside him. Lukins had issued a challenge. The seven demons
could only be banished by seven clergymen, and Easterbrook gathered many of his fellow Anglican
friars. Through a night of intense prayer and rituals, the clergy claimed to have banished the
demons and Lukins himself boasted he was cured. The aftermath saw the case become one of the
most documented and studied incidents of demonic possession ever - and led to much debate. Was
George Lukin a true possession case, a lunatic, or a fraud? Those who believe in demonic possessions
are still trying to find the answer to this day. For more on the ultimate evil, check out “How the
Devil was Born” or watch “The Demonic Possession of the Nuns of Loudon” for a famous case that
pitted the Catholic Church against demons.
