Watseka Wonder
Encyclopedia
Watseka Wonder is the name given to the alleged spiritual possession
of fourteen-year-old Lurancy Vennum of Watseka, Illinois
in the late 19th century.
, had seen angels, and had visited her younger brother and sister who had died before her. As Vennum's fits became more frequent, physicians declared they could do nothing for her, and by January 1878 it was decided she should be placed in an insane asylum. A neighbor and devout Spiritist Asa B. Roff convinced Vennum's parents not to commit her, and instead to call in a physician who was himself a Spiritist, E. Winchester Stevens.
of Asa Roff's deceased daughter, Mary Roff. Psychic researcher Richard Hodgson of the American Society for Psychical Research
was also convinced that Vennum was possessed by Roff's spirit.
According to Stevens and Hodgson, Vennum allowed Mary Roff to possess her body for about fifteen weeks during which time she could allegedly recognize all Roff's friends and relatives, was familiar with all of the objects in the Roff home, and could retell incidents and stories from Roff's childhood and her past life. Convinced that Vennum was a reincarnation of their daughter, the Roff family allowed the girl to live with them for several weeks. Stevens wrote that when Vennum later married, Roff's spirit supposedly inhabited Vennum, resulting in a painless childbirth for her.
characterized Vennum as "unduly suggestible", saying that "it may safely be declared that the phenomena manifested through Lurancy Vennum were not a whit more other-worldly than the phenomena produced by tricksters whom Hodgson himself so skillfully and mercifully exposed." Bruce wrote that recurrences of the "Mary personality" developed only when the Roff's paid her visits, and that they ceased entirely upon her marriage to a man not interested in spiritism and her removal to a distant part of the country.
, was produced according to the story of the Watseka case by Spooked Television.
Spiritual possession
Spirit possession is a paranormal or supernatural event in which it is said that spirits, gods, demons, animas, extraterrestrials, or other disincarnate or extraterrestrial entities take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in health and behaviour...
of fourteen-year-old Lurancy Vennum of Watseka, Illinois
Watseka, Illinois
Watseka is a city in and the county seat of Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately west of the Illinois-Indiana state line on U.S...
in the late 19th century.
Lurancy Vennum
Mary Lurancy Vennum was born in 1864 near Watseka, Illinois. In the summer of 1877 she suffered a series of epileptic fits, often lapsing into unconsciousness. After awakening, she told her family that she had been to heavenHeaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, had seen angels, and had visited her younger brother and sister who had died before her. As Vennum's fits became more frequent, physicians declared they could do nothing for her, and by January 1878 it was decided she should be placed in an insane asylum. A neighbor and devout Spiritist Asa B. Roff convinced Vennum's parents not to commit her, and instead to call in a physician who was himself a Spiritist, E. Winchester Stevens.
Spiritist investigation
In 1878, physician and Spiritist E. Winchester Stevens examined Vennum. Stevens accounts were published in the leading Spiritist organs of the time, The Religio-Philosophical Journal, and later in an 1887 book entitled "The Watseka Wonder" in which he described Vennum as "the most remarkable case of spirit return and manifestation ever recorded in history." According to Stevens, Vennum's character would change suddenly, from morose and sullen, to "mystic and imaginary trances" in which she described joyous trips to heaven and visits with angels. According to Stevens, Vennum often spoke in different voices and became several different people, including an old woman named Katrina Hogan and a young man named Willie Canning. Stevens claims she remembered the names of several people who had died and had possessed her body, and later chose to be possessed by the soulSpirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
of Asa Roff's deceased daughter, Mary Roff. Psychic researcher Richard Hodgson of the American Society for Psychical Research
Society for Psychical Research
The Society for Psychical Research is a non-profit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand "events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal by promoting and supporting important research in this area" and to "examine allegedly paranormal phenomena...
was also convinced that Vennum was possessed by Roff's spirit.
According to Stevens and Hodgson, Vennum allowed Mary Roff to possess her body for about fifteen weeks during which time she could allegedly recognize all Roff's friends and relatives, was familiar with all of the objects in the Roff home, and could retell incidents and stories from Roff's childhood and her past life. Convinced that Vennum was a reincarnation of their daughter, the Roff family allowed the girl to live with them for several weeks. Stevens wrote that when Vennum later married, Roff's spirit supposedly inhabited Vennum, resulting in a painless childbirth for her.
Critics
Upon reviewing the case, psychologist Frank Sargent Hoffman regarded Vennum as "a typical case of hysterical impersonation" and wrote that there was no evidence Vennum had knowledge she could not have obtained by normal means. Hoffman wrote that the grieving Roff family "did everything in their power" to encourage Vennum "that she was their Mary." Journalist Henry Addington BruceAddington Bruce
Henry Addington Bayley Bruce was an American journalist and author, born in Toronto, Canada, and educated at Upper Canada College and Trinity College, Toronto...
characterized Vennum as "unduly suggestible", saying that "it may safely be declared that the phenomena manifested through Lurancy Vennum were not a whit more other-worldly than the phenomena produced by tricksters whom Hodgson himself so skillfully and mercifully exposed." Bruce wrote that recurrences of the "Mary personality" developed only when the Roff's paid her visits, and that they ceased entirely upon her marriage to a man not interested in spiritism and her removal to a distant part of the country.
Film adaptation
A 2009 movie, The PossessedThe Possessed (2009 film)
The Possessed is a 2009 documentary style horror film which was released to DVD in May 2009 and had its television debut in October that same year on SyFy.-Background:The movie is based upon the events surrounding what became known as the 'Watseka Wonder'...
, was produced according to the story of the Watseka case by Spooked Television.
Further reading
- St. Clair, David. Watseka. (Fiction). Chicago, Playboy Press. 1977.
- St. Clair, David. Child Possessed. (Fiction) London, Corgi. 1979.
- Edwards, Frank. Strange People, London, Pan Books Ltd, 1966. pp126–133.
- Myers, F.W.H. Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death, New York, University Books, 1961 (1903). pp66–72
