Watseka Possession and Exorcism : David St Clair 1977 [ Playboy Press ]
$120
Out of stock
Description
Scarce in-depth analysis by David St Clair of the so-called Watseka Wonder possession case of Mary Lurancy Vennum who believed herself to be the late Mary Roff
St Clair, David. Watseka : America’s Most Extraordinary Case of Possession and Exorcism. Playboy Press : [Chicago]. 1977. First Edition.
An engaging history and analysis of an understudied story of American Spiritualism by former California Psychical Research Association president David St Clair, Watseka examines the strange case of 14-year-old Mary Lurancy Vennum. In 1878, her family was set to place her in a mental institution over her reported visions of angels, ghosts, and spirit journeys when their neighbor, devoted Spiritist Asa Roff, claimed she was possessed by his late daughter Mary. Convincing to locals and some early members of the American Psychical Research Association, Vennum spent several weeks living alongside the Roff family supposedly demonstrating otherwise impossible knowledge from Mary’s life.
A believer’s examination similar to St Clair’s other works on Quimbanda and psychic phenomena, the text offers an intriguing and well-documented example of the so-called “Walk In” phenomenon.
8vo, 130pp, brown faux leathered paper boards with gilt decor to front and spine. Bottom edge and corners rubbed, losses to the latter. Bookseller’s sticker to gutter of first free endpaper. Minor spotting to bookblock. Pages clean. Good condition. White pictorial price-clipped dust jacket with some wear to edges. Tape repairs to front and black flap lower edges and top spine interior. Some rubbing with soiling to hinges. Good condition.
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