The Encyclopedia Of Demons And Demonology

Aix-en-Provence Possessions 5
RUDOLF STEINER, the founder of anthroposophy, said
Ahrimanic forces are intelligent, clever spirits that seek
to keep people mired in materialism.
FURTHER READING:
Hyatt, Victoria, and Joseph W. Charles. The Book of Demons.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.
Mack, Carol K., and Dinah Mack. A Field Guide to Demons:
Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits. New
York: Owl Books/Henry Holt, 1998.
Aim (Aini) FALLEN ANGEL and 23rd of the 72 SPIRITS OF
SOLOMON. In HELL Aim is a strong duke. He appears as a
handsome man with three heads: a SERPENT, a man with
two stars on his forehead, and a cat. He rides on a viper
and carries a blazing firebrand, with which he spreads
much destruction and fire. He imparts cunning and gives
true answers to questions about “private matters.” He
governs 26 LEGIONs of DEMONs.
Aiwass
See CROWLEY, ALEISTER.
Aix-en-Provence Possessions (1609–1611) Sensational
case of possessed Ursuline nuns, alleged immoral sex, and
a PACT with the DEVIL, which led to the torture and execution
of a priest. The Aix-en-Provence case is one of the first
in France to produce a conviction based on the testimony of
a DEMONIAC. Prior to the 17th century in France, accusations
from a demoniac were considered unreliable, since
most clerics believed that any words spoken by one possessed
by the Devil were utterances from “the father of lies”
(John 8:44) and would not stand up to accepted rules of evidence.
As with the LOUDUN POSSESSIONS, sexual themes
dominated the manifestations of the nuns’ POSSESSION.
The central figure—and perpetrator—of the case
was Sister Madeleine de Demandolx de la Palud, a highstrung,
vain girl from a wealthy and aristocratic Provençal
family. Deeply religious from childhood, she was sent
in 1605, at age 12, to the new Ursuline convent in Aix-en-
Provence. There she was one of only six nuns, all of them
from wealthy families. Their spiritual director was Father
Jean-Baptiste Romillon.
After about two years, Madeleine became severely
depressed and was sent home. There she was visited by
a family friend who sought to help her, Father Louis
Gaufridi, a handsome priest 20 years her senior. Gaufridi
had a much lower class background but was popular
among the wealthy. He was personable and entertaining,
and his good looks appealed to women.
Thus it was no surprise that 14-year-old Madeleine
fell violently in love with him. He visited often, and gossip
flew when he once spent an hour and a half with her
without her family present. Warnings about this inappropriate
behavior were issued to Gaufridi and to Madeleine’s
mother by the head of the Ursuline convent in
Marseilles, Mother Catherine de Gaumer. Still, in 17thcentury
France, loose behavior by clergy was tolerated,
unless WITCHCRAFT was suspected.
In 1607, Madeleine went to the convent in Marseille as
a novice. She confessed to Mother Catherine that she had
been intimate with Gaufridi. Mother Catherine sent her
back to Aix-en-Provence, which was more remote, and
where Gaufridi could not visit her.
Nothing happened for nearly two years, and then
Madeleine began suffering convulsions, shaking fits, and
visions of DEMONs. Before Christmas 1609, she smashed
a crucifix during confession. Father Romillon tried to exorcise
Madeleine, without success. Meanwhile, her possession
infected three other nuns, who began having the
same symptoms and lost their speech.
By Easter 1610, the nuns were still afflicted. Father
Romillon confronted Gaufridi in June about his affair
with Madeleine, which the priest denied. Madeleine,
however, had become quite vocal about their indiscretions
during her fits. She accused Gaufridi of denying
God, giving her a green devil for a FAMILIAR, and having
sex with her since she had been 13 (later, she said she
was nine when they began their affair). She claimed he
gave her a special powder to drink that would cause any
babies she bore not to look like him, so he would not fall
under suspicion.
Romillon conducted secret EXORCISMs on Madeleine.
Five more nuns became infected. One of them, Louise
Capeau, became her rival in performance. Exasperated,
Romillon took the two young women to see the grand
inquisitor in Avignon, Sebastian Michaelis, a man who
had gotten on in years but was quite feared: He had sent
18 witches to their death at the stake in Avignon. He was
a most determined inquisitor.
Michaelis’ approach was a public exorcism of the nuns
at the shrine of St. Mary Magdalene in the grotto at Ste-
Baume. It failed.
Madeleine and Louise were then sent to another EX-
ORCIST, François Domptius, a Flemish Dominican priest
at the Royal Convent of St. Maximin. Louise stole center
stage. Three demons who possessed her, Verin, Gresil, and
Sonnillon, spoke through her in a deep bass voice. They
taunted Madeleine with possession by BEELZEBUB, LEVIA-
THAN, BAALBERITH, ASMODEUS, and ASTAROTH—all important
in HELL—plus 6,661 other demons, for a grand total
of 6,666. In response, Madeleine screamed obscenities.
The witnesses, including the exorcists, were convinced
beyond doubt that the women were genuinely possessed.
On December 15, Verin, speaking again through Louise,
identified Gaufridi as the cause of Madeleine’s possession.
Michaelis sent for Gaufridi, intending that he perform
an exorcism, but without explanation to the priest.
Gaufridi had no knowledge of exorcisms, and the two
nuns mocked him, calling him a magician. He retorted,
“If I were a witch, I would certainly give my soul to a
thousand devils!”
Michaelis pounced on this and had Gaufridi arrested
and jailed in the grotto. While he languished in jail, his
quarters were searched for evidence of witchcraft, but
nothing was found. Madeleine, not to be outdone by Lou-