The Possession of Clara Germana Cele

In 1906, Clara, a 16-year-old orphan at St. Michaels Mission in Natal, South Africa, began exhibiting strange behaviors. Initially kind and devout, she started talking to unseen entities, claiming she had made a deal with Satan. Her behavior escalated to tearing at her clothes, growling, and speaking in languages she had never learned.

Clara also demonstrated clairvoyance, revealing private information about the nuns and other students. Most alarmingly, she was observed levitating up to five feet in the air.

As Clara’s condition worsened, displaying inhuman strength and violent outbursts, the church decided to perform an exorcism. Rev. Mansueti and Father Erasmus Horner conducted the ritual over two grueling days in front of 170 witnesses.

During the exorcism, Clara exhibited supernatural abilities, including body contortions and snake-like transformations. The demon possessing her claimed to be Satan himself, summoned by Clara’s dark purpose. The exorcism concluded with Clara levitating one final time before the demon departed, leaving behind a foul stench.

Although Clara initially recovered and seemed to return to normal, signs of possession resurfaced in 1907. Nuns observed her making strange noises and levitating again. Father Erasmus returned to perform a second exorcism, which lasted 10 days.

During this time, Clara violently attacked Father Mansueti, nearly choking him. Eventually, the evil presence left Clara’s body, once again leaving behind the smell of rotting meat. After this second exorcism, Clara finally returned to her normal self.

Is it possible for someone to levitate?

What happened in the South African Saint Missions Church in 1906?

Is it possible to invite demonic beings into your body?

What is up, Bizarros?! This week, we are diving into the Demonic Possession of Clara Germana Cele. 

Before we dive into one of the craziest true stories of demonic possession, let’s take a look at the different levels of possession that people can experience.

Levels of Possession 

Infestation. This is “haunted house” type of stuff: footsteps, voices, apparitions, furniture or other objects moving without human agency, odors with no discernible source. Rather than directly affecting people, infestations affect only property, objects, or even animals.

Oppression. Activity steps up with physical attacks, sleep disturbances including regular nightmares, frequent and severe illnesses, major depression or anxiety, severe financial or employment problems, and relationship troubles. While these things happen in the normal course of life, all of them happening at once or in rapid succession could be a sign of demonic presence.

Obsession. As the name implies, at this stage, the afflicted person has a hard time functioning, being constantly preoccupied with thoughts of the demonic activity commandeering his or her life and frequently with thoughts of suicide as well. Sleep becomes nearly impossible.

Possession. Contrary to popular belief, possession is not demons entering a person’s body and taking over his or her soul. A person’s free will is never removed, only severely compromised. In possession, a person is so physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually broken down by going through the other three stages that demonic spirits are able to seize occasional control over that person’s actions.

Who Was Clara Germana Cele?

Clara Germana Cele was a young South African woman who lived in the early 1900s. Orphaned as a child, she found a home at St. Michael’s Mission in Natal, South Africa, under the care of Catholic missionaries.

St. Michael’s, established in 1871, was more than just a convent. It served as a hub for Catholic education and outreach in the region. This is where Clara spent her formative years, surrounded by the routines and teachings of the Church.

Growing up in such an environment surely left its mark on Clara. The mission’s strong religious atmosphere likely shaped her worldview and sense of faith.

Interestingly, it was within these holy walls that Clara reportedly experienced something out of the ordinary – events that some called a case of possession. This turn of events transformed St. Michael’s Mission from Clara’s simple home into the center of a compelling and controversial story.

The Possession of Clara Germana Cele

This possession case is fairly well recorded for it taking place in the early 20th century.

The majority of the sourcing we used came from journals and diary entries from nuns and priests at the church.

This story takes place in (Natal), South Africa, in 1906.

Clara was a very religious 16-year-old girl. She was a devout Christian.

Clara went to school at St. Michael’s Mission and was an orphan. But, she was baptized as an infant and grew up in the church.

Essentially, she was raised by the church’s nuns. St. Michael’s Mission had a kitchen, dormitory, school, farm, and clinic.

For the majority of her life up until 1906, people would describe Clara as kind, generous, and friendly. She abided by the Church’s doctrine and never caused any issues.

Nothing seemed strange or off about her at all.

This is why, when she started developing peculiar behavior, a lot of friends started taking notice.

What Kind Of Behavior Did Clara Germana Cele Exhibit?

Clara started acting out a bit. Just causing some distractions and tantrums that seemed out of the ordinary.

Then, her peers noticed her talking to entities that no one else could see.

They were whispered hushed discussions. But nonetheless, it was very strange and left Clara’s peers and the nuns a bit confused.

When confronted about these behaviors, Clara adamantly stated that she had tried to make a deal with Satan.

The nuns originally brushed the behavior of the 16-year-old catholic girl off. They thought it might be her acting out, but her erratic and strange behavior only intensified.

The Possession Of Clara Germana Cele

Her behavior came to a head on August 20th when, in addition to acting out and talking to unseen entities, Clara began tearing at her clothes and growling like an animal.

It was reported as incredibly bizarre and so unlike Clara’s typical demeanor.

As her behavior became more unhinged, Clara’s desperation for help intensified.

That day, Clara was tearing at her shirt and speaking to the corner of the room. A nun walked in, and Clara made eye contact with her.

At that moment, Clara seemed to transition back to her normal self. In a quiet voice, Clara said the following:

“Sister, please call Father Erasmus; I must confess and tell everything. But quick, quick, or Satan will kill me; he has me in his power! Nothing is blessed with me; I have thrown away all of the medals you gave me.”

Startled, the nun walked off to alert Father Erasmus.

As she was walking, the Nun heard Clara shrieking despite no one else having been in the room.

She heard Clara yell:…you have betrayed me; you have promised me days of glory, but now you treat me cruelly.”

One Nun at the church wrote the following about Clara’s behavior:

“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.”

As fear began rising in students at the church, they began believing that this unseen entity that Clara was speaking to was Satan himself.

Clara would end up coming forward and telling Father Erasmus that she was arguing with the demon inside of her.

Father Erasmus himself believed that Clara did appear differently and felt a heavy presence with them in the room.

This behavior lasted about a week or so. 

Clara’s outbursts and strange behavior continued. Clara continued trying to convince other students and nuns that she had something demonic inside of her.

A couple of nuns reported that, while humoring her claims, they attempted to put some holy water on Clara.

They were shocked to discover that her skin would literally burn as soon as the water touched it.

She also violently lashed out when she came across bibles, crosses, or any other sacred objects.

According to reports, she was physically revolted by the sight or feel of anything the church had blessed.

Other students claimed that when Clara went into a crazed possession trance, the only thing they could do to snap her out of it was to spritz her with holy water – which, again, would burn her.

To avoid these physical outbursts, the nuns were instructed to conceal these sacred objects and items from her sight.

There were 3 more very strange behaviors that Clara seemed to adopt during this time.

Three new abilities, you might be able to say.

The first ability was speaking in new languages. Languages that made no sense for Clara to be able to both learn, practice, and perfect in such a short period of time.

And it’s not like the stereotypical Latin, you might say. She started speaking in tongues or doing things like that.

But, she started speaking natively in all of the following languages:

Polish, German, French, and Norwegian. All seemingly out of nowhere.

Another strange ability that Clara seemed to attain was clairvoyance.

Just as a refresher, clairvoyance is defined as the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or “sixth sense.”

According to the nuns, Clara began to detail aspects of their personal lives.

Things that she had no business knowing or memories that the nuns themselves had never even shared.

As Clara began revealing private and embarrassing transgressions of people around her, this just pushed everyone in the church further to believe that potentially she really did cross some bad juju.

She looked at one nun and twisted into a Hellish grin.

She told one nun that she knew the nun had a child back where she was from in Germany and that she was a whore and would certainly find herself in Hell for abandoning her child.

She told another Nun that she was a thief and was stealing from the Church’s treasury. Initially, the Nun denied these accusations, but when others checked, Clara had been telling the truth.

Clara would bounce back and forth between her normal self, concerned for her life, and this violent and sinister personality.

Her final ability was the last straw.

And the clairvoyance is certainly strange, especially when you have people saying that the personal stories she was revealing had never been spoken about in the church.

But this last ability was the one that knew some action had to change.

Clara began to levitate.

And not once randomly or anything like that.

One nun reported that Clara completely defied the laws of gravity and floated five feet above her bed.

Her clothes apparently stuck to her body as she lifted, rather than drooping down, and she rose in the air.

Father Erasmus Hörner, one of the priests who later performed her exorcism, recalled, “Germana often floated three, four, and up to five feet in the air, sometimes vertically… and at other times horizontal.”

This became a daily occurrence.

There was no explanation. It couldn’t be simply acting out or any level of mental illness.

And along with everything else that was happening, it was clear that something needed to be done.

It was now believed that truly Clara was possessed.

The Extensive Exorcism Of Clara

At this point, the priests and nuns began deliberating on having an exorcism held.

The urgency was of the utmost priority because it had been weeks of strange behavior from Clara, and her visibility was deteriorating.

Beyond acting out and having strange abilities, Clara grew more violent.

As time went on, Clara also began possessing what was considered inhuman strength, overpowering even the strongest priest when they attempted to hold her back during these outbursts.

Clara was restrained to a bed, contorting in different ways. Father Erasmus approached Clara and asked her what entity was inside of her.

In a guttural, deep voice that Father Erasmus could not believe would belong to sweet Clara, she exclaimed:

“I am Satan. Our king is Lucifer. His power is great. He has countless subjects in his service; you see one here before you. We were rushed from Heaven to Hell that our sins would not have been as huge as those of many men, his fire does not admit light, does not look in any way to you fire. Despite the darkness, we see each other. Many spirits roam around the world to seduce men. We believe in God… and we hate him.”

The church decided enough was enough, and it was time to take action.

Two Roman Catholic priests, Rev. Mansueti (man-sweat) who was the Director of the St. Michael’s Mission) and Father Erasmus Horner, the individual she confessed to, was appointed to perform an exorcism on Clara.

The exorcism began on September 10th and lasted a grueling 2 days. They lasted from Dawn until late in the evening.

On the first day, Reverend Mansueti and Father Erasmus made confessions and purged their sins. Then they stood before Clara and recited the litanies of the Saints the Lord prayer and Salm 53.

According to reports, the exorcism took place in front of 170 people, with the priests starting in the morning and stopping only for brief lunch breaks before they returned to the hard work of expelling a demon from the girl’s body.

When asked explicitly who was residing in Clara’s body by Father Erasmus, Clara bared her teeth and shouted:

“The girl made a deal with me. I am Satan, and this girl called me forth from Hell to serve her dark purpose.”

Holy water was used as a temporary solution to diminish the outbursts, but the minute another biblical artifact or item was placed near her, the rage instantaneously came back.

One witness claimed that during the exorcism, Clara’s body lost all its rigidity and became “rubbery” like a serpent.

It almost seemed to slither as she tried to wiggle her way out of the restraints.

In fact, they claimed that her neck elongated and her spine bent in ways that they thought for sure it would snap.

During an altercation when. The nun tried to feed Clara just a tiny bit while restrained; Clara lunged her head and bit the Nun on her arm.

The nun yelped and looked down at her arm.

The teeth marks that were left resembled those of a snake’s fangs.

Another witness said when Clara was approached with a cross, it flew across the room, smacked into the wall, and shattered into tiny wooden fragments.

On the second next morning, the rites were given again, with the possessing demon departing Clara’s body after telling the priests that he would signify his exit with an act of levitation.

Clara rose five feet into the air as she had before.

Just as a reminder – this amazing act, the 5-foot or so levitation, took place in front of all 170 witnesses who were watching in the chapel.

As she fell back down, her body seemed to finally lose tension.

Limbs eased down and looked to finally rest as her chest, which had been violently breathing and jerking slowly, slowly rose and fell with each gentle breath.

Witnesses also reported a foul stench in the chapel as this concluded.

The priests then said that Clara had been cleared of the Devil’s influence.

In the aftermath, witnesses claimed that after Clara’s possession, she was still able to converse in and understand multiple languages..

Clara was incredibly embarrassed about her behavior, but she took all of it head-on.

Rather than shying away, she actively sought forgiveness and dedicated her life to humble pursuits.

While she never went into details about the deal she made, she completed every task asked of her, helped the younger kids with their school work, and was always polite.

A few months later, Father Erasmus left the Mission to travel elsewhere in South Africa but would return shortly.

Around this time, Clara was right back in good spirits. And seemed very healthy.

Although, it almost seemed too healthy. Healthier and more vibrant than she ever had in her life. She was gleeful.

This was actually received very well by the Nuns and Priests until one night in 1907, a Nun caught something.

It seemed small, so small that the Nun wondered whether it even happened.

But, she heard a small scream escape Clara’s lips. It was incredibly faint, but it was alarming and strange.

The Nuns were hesitant to jump right back to possession, but they kept a close eye on Clara.

Then, a Nun caught Clara making an animalistic grunt when Clara had thought no one was watching.

A few nights later, a nun entered Clara’s room and found her levitating. Her head was thrown back, and her limbs and neck appeared elongated, and her veins were popping.

Clara looked over and grinned at the nun.

Immediately, the nuns reached out to Father Erasmus.

As soon as he could, he arrived back at St Micheal’s Mission so that he and Rev. Mansweat could perform another exorcism.

Clara smiled up at Father Mansweat encouragingly.

Father Mansweat took this as some semblance of Clara still existing in the body, and he smiled and reached to touch her shoulder.

In a flash, Clara’s face contorted, and she reached up and grabbed his stole, the fabric around his neck.

She twisted it and began to choke him.

Her laughs rang out through the chapel as Father Mansweat struggled to breathe and break her grasp.

His face turned blue, and he sank to his feet.

Then, Father Erasmus ran over and dumped a container of Holy Water on Clara.

Clara screamed and let go of Father Mansweat.

For 10 days, Father Mansweat, Father Erasmus, and the nuns prayed over Clara’s body.

Finally, the evil inside of Clara relinquished her body and left, leaving the same stench of rotting meat behind.

Slowly, Clara became her normal self again.

Unfortunately, Clara died from heart failure 6 years later in 1912.

Did Satan possess Clara Germana Cele? 

 What do you think, Bizarros? 

Was this ordinary girl possessed by Satan?

Is this a real case of possession or an exaggerated story of a sixteen-year-old school girl acting out?

Let us know what you think in the comments!

Sources used for the possession of Clara Germana Cele:

US Ghost Adventures, Ranker, New Port Tai, All That’s Interesting, Demonicpedia,