The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel

Felicitas D. Goodman (1914-2005), an internationally accredited translator and interpreter, was Associate Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. She also authored a number of papers on glossolalia. A religious anthropoligist, she wrote numerous books including How About Demons?; Where the Spirits Ride the Wind; and Ecstasy, Ritual, and Alternate Reality.

In 1976 a young German girl named Anneliese Michel underwent a series of exorcisms. The rites were administered by two priests of the Catholic Church to free Anneliese of the six demons they believed possessed her. Seemingly as a result of the exorcisms the girl died. Worldwide publicity followed when the girl's parents and the two exorcists were brought to trial and convicted of negligent homicide. Here a noted anthropologist offers her own interpretation of the exorcisms of Anneliese Michel. Drawing on interviews with the two exorcists, the girl's parents and friends, transcripts of the trial, and tape recordings made during the exorcisms - as well as studies of religious experience in various cultures - Felicitas Goodman has written a fascinating, compelling book, one that finally tells what happened in this strange case as it delves into the age-old mystery of demonic possession.