Table of Contents
Foreword ix
Introduction 1
Part 1 From Skeptic to Observer
Chapter 1 Initial Journey 19
The Interested Student
Chapter 2 A Priest Comes Calling 29
Observing External Oppressions
Chapter 3 Julia, the Satanic Queen 43
Her Possession and Her Remarkable Abilities
Part 2 Investigator and Diagnostician
Chapter 4 Troubles of the Spirit 73
Diagnosing the Spectrum of Possessions
Chapter 5 Diagnosing the Variety of Oppressions 91
Chapter 6 Troubles of the Mind 103
False Cases and Other Medical Tasks
Chapter 7 Catherine-Mother, Housewife, and Possessed 131
Her Series of Exorcisms and What the Rituals Are Really Like
Chapter 8 The Serious Investigator 151
Chapter 9 The History of Beliefs in Evil Spirits, the Emergence of the Idea of the Paranormal, and Infestations 159
Chapter 10 Alice 189
A Case of a Successful Exorcism and a Further Word About Causes and Solutions
Part 3 Consultant and Scholar
The Advocacy and Cautions of a Physician
Chapter 11 Barbara and the Wider Satanic Panic 201
True vs. False. Memories
Chapter 12 Final Controversies 231
The Abuse of Exorcisms and a Final Note to Critics, Searchers, and the Media About the Scientific Status of Possessions and the So-Called Paranormal
Epilogue: The Reality Behind These Phenomena 241
Why Demons Attack
Acknowledgments 249
Notes 251