“The Most Documented Exorcism in U.S. History”: Resurrecting the Real Story Behind ‘The Ritual’

The marketing for The Ritual, the new exorcism film starring Al Pacino and Dan Stevens, is pretty sensational. So is the real-life possession case that the movie is based on; in fact, it’s one of the most infamous in America.

In 1928, a 40-year-old woman was the subject of an exorcism in Earling, Iowa. The event took place at the Convent of the Franciscan Sisters and lasted for approximately 23 days, after which one of the priests involved, Reverend Joseph Steiger, told his first-hand account to Reverend Carl Vogl, who published it in 1935 in a 52-page German-language book entitled Begone Satan! A Soul-Stirring Account of Diabolical Possession*

*An English translation by Reverend Celestine Kapsner is available on the Internet Archive, and was used to inform this piece since there is conflicting evidence on the Wikipedia page.

It is important to note that the woman’s name is never explicitly stated in Vogl’s book, which is why Emma Schmidt (purportedly her real name) and Anna Ecklund (a pseudonym) both turn up in the research. Priests and nuns sought to protect her anonymity in an effort to “to relieve the unfortunate person of her burden without anybody out in the world becoming aware of it.”

By the time the exorcism occurred, Emma Schmidt had been possessed for 26 years. Her symptoms began at age 14, when the girl found herself physically “torn away…by force” from the Church. She began to hear “sinister inner voices that…tried their utmost to arouse thoughts of the most shameful type within her, and tried to induce her to do things unmentionable” such as shatter her holy water font, as well as “consider attacking her spiritual adviser and suffocating him.”

She also seemed uniquely aware of the presence of religious artefacts. In someone approached her with a blessed object, even one hidden out of sight in a pocket, she could sense it and would go on a tirade. Anna was also allegedly highly sensitive to holy water and, on the day before the exorcism, refused to eat a meal that a nun had sprinkled a few blessed drops on.

Anna was able to negotiate these undesirable traits for most of her life, but the “devoutly religious” woman suffered from being kept at arm’s length from her Catholic faith. It is unclear why the exorcism ultimately moved ahead in her fortieth year, but this is when Reverend Steiger sought approval from the Church for the procedure.

Enter Father Theophilus Riesinger. 60 years old, with “a stainless career, as well as successful encounters in numerous possessions,” Riesinger was the perfect choice. The date was selected and Anna was moved to the convent, away from prying eyes.

Almost immediately there were challenges. Things were delayed a day when Father Riesinger suffered car trouble (allegedly the first time he’s ever had an issue with this vehicle), which he attributed to the Devil attempting to prevent his arrival.

The day the exorcism began, Anna was placed on an iron bed with her clothing bound. Each day, when the exorcism began, Anna would immediately sink into unconsciousness, waking only when they stopped for the day. On this first day, though, Anna launched herself through the air and clung to the wall high above the door to the room. She was eventually pried down, but from this point forward, she was restrained more forcefully by the nuns.

There were several common occurrences during the long days. Since Anna was unconscious, she didn’t speak, but the entities in her would loudly, shrilly speak from her body – be it in a demonic voice or what sounded like animals, including lions, hyenas, cats and dogs.

There were also bodily reactions. Up to 10-20 times a day Anna would froth, spit, and/or vomit excrement that “resembled macaroni” or “sliced, chewed tobacco leaves” – despite the fact that the woman was subsisting on limited quantities of clear liquids when she was conscious. Apparently the amount of vomit she expelled could fill a pitcher, in “quantities that were impossible to lodge in a normal being.”

Father Riesinger and Reverend Steiger made virtually no progress in the first two weeks. They cast out minor demons, but were unable to exorcize the main four. These were eventually identified as: Beezelbub and Judas, as well as Anna’s father, Jacob and his lover, Mina (both of whom were apparently in hell).

The revelation that Anna’s father was one of her antagonists explained why she was possessed in the first place. Whereas Anna was a “very pious and respectable person”, her father had led “a frightfully coarse and brutal life, a passionately unchaste and debased life.” Jacob hated her faith and actually attempted to commit incest with his daughter, and when he was unsuccessful, he cursed her. For this he went to hell when he died, along with his “concubine” lover Mina, who had killed four of her children. As noted in Vogl’s book, “even in hell, he [Jacob] was still scheming how to torture and molest his child.”

The exorcism was extremely taxing on everyone, particularly Anna. Her face became distorted, her body disfigured, and her head glowed red like amber. Her eyes protruded, her lips swelled, and her body bloated so big that witnesses were afraid that it might burst. Her abdominal and extremities also became as hard as iron and stone, to such an extent that the iron beams of the bed bent under her weight.

Tensions also swirled between Riesinger and Steiger. The long, arduous days were tiring, and Steiger was still responsible for tending to the daily religious needs of his parish. Anna’s tormentors seemed to delight in targeting Steiger specifically: he often complained about scratching and rustling sounds in the walls of his room when he tried to sleep. These persisted unless he chanted prayers or sprinkled holy water on the offending areas.

Steiger was also involved in a car accident during this time. When he was driving to perform last rites on a parishioner, his vision was obscured by a large black cloud that caused him to crash his car (once again, this accident was attributed to the Devil). Even though his flock took up a collection to buy him a new car, this event and the long drawn-out exorcism eventually caused Reverend Steiger to resent Riesinger and wish that the Father had never been asked to come.

As the weeks wore on, Riesinger’s faith and strength began to waiver (according to Vogl’s book, Riesinger aged 20 years over the course of the event). In one final push, Father Riesinger kept up the exorcism for three consecutive nights and days, with no breaks. As the nuns supported him in rotating shifts, with minor breaks only to change his sweaty shirt, Riesinger ultimately relented in driving out the four demons.

On Sept 23, 1928 the demons gave sign that they were leaving the woman’s body to return to hell. Immediately afterwards, Anna bolted upright on the bed, before falling back with a piercing shriek as voices were heard saying “Beelzebub, Judas, Jacob, Mina,” then “hell-hell-hell.” Anna proceeded to wake up, which had never happened duringthe exorcism, and she thanked Jesus and the Lord.

According to Wikipedia and other sources, Anna was possessed on and off for the rest of her life, though only by minor demons and never to the same extent. Other information about her life – and death – is uncertain, in part thanks to the aforementioned efforts to protect her anonymity.

The case would go on to become infamous. Not only was the possession the subject of Vogl’s 1935 book, it was profiled in Time Magazine in 1936. The exorcism would ultimately go on to become the subject of two films: 2016’s The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund, as well as the 2025 film, The Ritual, starring Pacino as Riesinger and Stevens as Steiger.

Faith will be tested. The Ritual possesses audiences this Friday. Get your tickets and experience it in theaters!

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