Belitionlee: Paranormal / Spiritual News - Historical Exorcisms, Defending Vodou and Facebook Curse

The Exorcism of Clara Germana Cele

Young people are some of the most vulnerable candidates for demon possession, and most of the infamous cases deal with teenagers and young adults. In this article, you will encounter the details of Clara Germana Cele from South Africa, who was in need of an exorcism.

A Christian woman named Clara Germana Cele was deemed possessed by a demon at the age of 16 years old. Cele was attending school at St. Michael's Mission in Natal, South Africa during 1906. She was an orphan when she was baptized as an infant. When she was 16, it is said that the girl made a pact with Satan, which was the cause of her demonic possession. This information is said to have been later revealed to her confessor, Father Horner Erasmus.

A nun wrote an account that stated Cele was able to speak languages of which she had no previous knowledge. Others witnessed this skill. It was recorded that she understood German, Polish, French, and other languages. The nun documented that Cele had clairvoyance powers that she demonstrated by telling intimate secrets about people she had never met before. She could also reveal the sins of complete strangers.

A disturbing habit of Cele was that she could not stand to be in the presence of blessed objects. When she was, the girl displayed great power and intensity. It is said that she could hurl nuns across convent rooms and often beat them up. When the girl cried, one nun likened it to a "savage bestiality." The nun said that she hadn’t even heard an animal make such sounds. The attending nun at St. Michael's Mission said, "No animal had ever made such sounds. Neither the lions of East Africa nor the angry bulls. At times, it sounded like a veritable herd of wild beasts orchestrated by Satan had formed a hellish choir."

Some people reported that the girl had levitated five feet into the air – both vertically and horizontally. If she was sprinkled with holy water, it was said that she would come out of her state of satanic possession. This was stated as a sign of true possession and not that the subject was suffering from a mental illness.

It is said that Cele's exorcism took two days to complete. During this time, the girl's first reaction was to knock the Holy Bible from the hands of the priest and grab his stole in an attempt to choke him with it. At the end of the exorcism, it was said that the demon was forced out of her body and she was healed. - Unexplainable.net

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Priest Defends Vodou

stuff - Vodou isn't about sticking pins in dolls, sacrificing chickens or casting black magic, says New Zealand's highest ranked Hatian Vodou priest.

But it does involve daily rituals, secret ceremonies and spirits possessing humans.

"There are no vodou dolls, there are no pins, Vodou doesn't do zombies," says Palmerston North's Liam Richard-Howes.

"We do use magic and we have spiritual work that we can do to improve your situation. You want more money? There are things we can do. You want a new lover? There are things that we can do."

There are several forms of Vodou, the most famous being New Orleans Voodoo.

Various forms are still practised in Africa, where it originated.

Mr Richard-Howes was ordained a senior priest, known as a Houngan Assogue, in February last year, just after the devastating earthquake struck Haiti.

"The streets of Port-au-Prince when we arrived reeked of death. It was heartbreaking, the level of destruction that was there."

But he was inspired by the way Hatians got on with life, he said while holding an asson, a gourd draped in beads, used to call spirits.

"It's a powerful tool and probably the most sacred object we have."

It takes more than a week of ceremonies to become a senior priest.

A two-day ceremony full of singing and dancing determined what spirits were with him. Then he went into seclusion, but he can't divulge details.

"What happens in that week is a secret. It's a series of life-changing experiences."

Speaking to the Manawatu Standard yesterday, Mr Richard-Howes was dressed in white and wearing a string of beads, called a kolye, over his shoulder. The beads represent all the spirits and can only be worn by priests.

A room in his Palmerston North home has been converted into a temple, full of figurines representing the 401 spirits.

He has just returned from a three-week stint in the Caribbean nation where he attended fellow Vodou priest ordination ceremonies and a memorial service for earthquake victims.

The lack of progress in rebuilding the country was shocking, he said.

Rubble had been pushed from streets on to footpaths to enable aid agencies to drive brand new vehicles on the road, he said.

"It was so disappointing."

Mr Richard-Howes began practising vodou in 2006 after a "spiritual journey" which saw him dabble in a number of religions including Paganism and Buddhism.

"I also personally needed a religion that wasn't fatalistic because what's the point if everything is predestined."

He originally wanted to be a Catholic priest but his decade-long journey led him to the often misunderstood and largely unknown Vodou faith.

However, he still acknowledges God and goes to church on Sundays.

"We acknowledge all spirits, the saints, Buddha, everyone because you can't be a spiritual person and ignore them."

Mr Richard-Howes now runs a business from his home via www.kiwimojo.com and has clients all over the world.

He conducts workshops, spiritual baths and communicates with spirits who possess.

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Facebook curse on politician gets Nigerian man arrested

guardian - A man who used Facebook to put a curse on a Nigerian politician has been jailed, raising fears of a crackdown on freedom of speech ahead of crucial elections.

Moukhtar Ibrahim Aminu was arrested in the northern state of Jigawa for being a public nuisance, police spokesman Abdul Jinjiri said.

Aminu was held in prison for several days before appearing in a local court, where he was charged with defamation and sent back to jail pending trial.

Jinjiri said Aminu's crime stemmed from a comment he posted on Facebook on 18 January. Writing in the local Hausa language, Aminu asked that divine punishment be levelled against Sule Lamido, the governor of Jigawa and a co-founder of the ruling People's Democratic party.

"Allah curse Sule Lamido and all his useless friends," the posting said. "Allah make Sule Lamido and his friend useless."

Such curses can carry tremendous importance in Nigeria, a nation of 150m people where animist beliefs mix with Christianity and Islam. Some believe the curses can damage them for life, while others take them as an insult.

The case has prompted furious comments on governor Lamido's Facebook wall. One protester, Gerald C Azike, posted: "Your excellency, if what I read about your detention of a young man was because of what he said on your face book [sic], then that is being so callous. How can you arrogate such a power to yourself in this present world? It is only because it is in Nigeria where anything goes that you can do that."

Aminu's arrest came despite laws protecting freedom of speech. Femi Falana, a lawyer and civil rights activist, cited a 1983 court decision clearly showing that politicians and others cannot demand the arrest of individuals who slander, libel or defame them.

But he added: "In Nigeria, a lot of illegalities are committed by the government."

Umar Kyari, a spokesman for Lamido, insisted the governor's office had no hand in the arrest. "This story is between the police and the boy. This story is not between the governor and the boy per se. It is left to the legal system to either free or detain him," he told the Associated Press

The Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, who is bidding for re-election in April, announced his candidacy on Facebook and has made great play of using it to connect with young voters. He has more than 450,000 fans on the social networking site.

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Paranormal / Spiritual Links

Exorcism Cases: 1778 England & a Saint

What is an Exorcism? Part I and Part II

The Rhine Research Center

Ghost of Les Paul Haunts Pete Townsend of The Who

The Battery Carriage Inn

Yeddyurappa fears Opposition witchcraft

The Little Boy in my House

Spiritual belief, practices differ in religion

Inmates still haunt old jail, paranormal probers say

Going Bump

Speak of the Devil -- Having the 'Rite' Take on the Demonic

Physicists have 'solved' mystery of levitation

Salisbury group isn't spooked by eerie events

Woman claims literal witch hunt in dead cats case

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