A Documentary by the Booth Brothers
This was a fascinating documentary of a case I would have otherwise not known about. I may have read about it before, I can’t be sure but I certainly wasn’t too familiar with the case. This is the true story of a child of 14, Lurancy or Rancy for short, who seemed to be possessed by the spirit of a young woman, Mary, who had died 12 or so years prior to the incident. I recommend that you read about this case for yourself and come up with your own conclusions. Here is a link to access the book/ pamphlet written of the incident by Dr E.W. Stevens, a doctor who attended Rancy during her “Possession”.
http://www.roffhome.com/pdfs/The_Watseka_wonder.pdf
Here is a brief summary of the incident talked about in The Possessed;
The sensation that would come to be known as the Watseka Wonder had its beginnings there in July of 1877. It involves 2 girls and 2 families. The first family is the Roffs. They had a daughter, Mary, who died mysteriously when she was 18 years old. 12 years later in 1877, Lurancy Venum, a girl who was 14 years old and lived on the other side of town and who was only 2 years old when Mary Roth died, began to have her own series of fits and seizures along the same line as Mary had experienced. At one point Lurancy told the people she was communicating with that there was a spirit who wanted to come into her body. This spirit knew someone who lived in the same town. When the spirit came into her body, within a few days, Lurancy Venum or Lurancy under the power of Mary Roth had convinced the Roth Family that she was indeed their dead daughter. After 3 months and 10 days, Mary Roff left and Lurancy took control of her own body and lived out the rest of her days without reoccurrence. Many call Mary an Angel who helped Lurancy heal from her illness that caused the seizures. It also seems to have given Mary a chance to see her family again and forgive them for placing her in an asylum.
I really enjoyed this documentary! I even had some fellow paranormal Meet-up friends over to watch it and discuss it after!
I'm not sure how to interpret the incident... if you accept it all as fact then it seems to me to be possession but when you think of possession you think of the demonic which doesn't seem to be the case here.
I do have to admit however that, this case having happened so long ago, at a time when nothing could be recorded other than on paper with a pen, it seems difficult to believe. I haven't heard of anything like that happening recently or in the years were technology would allow us to examine more closely. Until this documentary, I'd never heard of someone "possessed" by a "spirit". The facts stated in Dr E.W. Stevens' book seem so unbelievable that it brings to question the entire incident. I would like to think that this was an opportunity for a restless spirit to help a young girl, to forgive and tell her family how much she loved them-perhaps it's the part of me who loves happy endings. I can't however squelch the logical and scientific part of me from questioning the entire case. There really does seem to be psychological issues for both girls. I would love to have a psychologist or psychiatrist to review the details and give their opinion!
One thing that I did learn about and want to further study is the atrocious way psychiatric patents were treated! It all sounds more like torture than treatment!! What was the reasoning behind hot and cold bath treatments that lasted ridiculous amounts of time!?!
I would love to get feedback on this subject! What do YOU think of "The Watseka Wonder"??
