CW: Contains discussion of colonial racism, religious trauma, and descriptions of alleged possession phenomena

In 1906, a 16-year-old orphan in South Africa shocked missionaries with violent fits, inhuman cries, and even a confession of a pact with the devil. Known as the possession of Clara Germana Cele, her story includes levitation, exorcism, and colonial propaganda about “dark Africa.” Was she truly possessed, or was her trauma misread through a supernatural lens?

Resource List:

• Haunted Minds: The Psychology of Possession– Journal of Religion & Health
• Michael Cuneo– American Exorcism (2001).
• Brian Levack– The Devil Within: Possession & Exorcism in the Christian West (2013). Parallels to Salem and colonial Africa.
• Historical records from Marianhill Mission, Natal (South Africa, 1906).
• Case overview: Clara Germana Cele entries on Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology and The Possession Files.
• Wikipedia.
• Medium: The Haunting Case of Clara Germana Cele: A Tale of Demonic Possession.