The mysterious 14-line message in the photo above was written in 1676 by a nun who claimed she was possessed by the devil. She didn’t know what the message said and neither did anyone else for centuries. Now thanks to a digital transcription software the message was finally unraveled…and indeed it is devilish.
On Aug. 11, 1676, Sister Maria Crocifissa della Concezione was found on the floor of her cell, her face covered with ink, holding a note written in an incomprehensible mix of archaic letters and symbols. The 31-year-old nun was living at the convent of Palma di Montechiaro in Sicily. She had been a nun since age 15.
In translating the message, researchers first tested their software with some standard shorthand symbols from different languages. They found that the nun’s letter contained a mix of words from ancient alphabets such as Greek, Latin, Runic and Arabic.
“We analyzed how the syllables and graphisms [or thoughts depicted as symbols] repeated in the letter in order to locate vowels, and we ended up with a refined decryption algorithm,” Daniele Abate, director of the team of researchers, told Live Science.
He said the team did not have great expectations for the outcome. “We thought we could just come out with a few words making sense. But the nun had a good command of languages,” he said, adding “the message was more complete than expected.”
The message describes God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as “dead weights,” the researcher said. The message goes on to say that “God thinks he can free mortals … The system works for no one … Perhaps now, Styx is certain.”
In Greek and Roman mythology, Styx is the river separating the netherworld from the world of the living.
Abete said the letter suggests that Sister Maria suffered from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. “The image of the devil is often present in these disorders. We learned from historical records that every night she screamed and fought against the devil,” Abate said.
For the church of that time, the letter was instead considered the outcome of her struggle against “innumerable evil spirits,” according to a written account about the occurrence by Abbess Maria Serafica.
According to Serafica’s account of the nun’s behavior written shortly after the incident, the devil would have forced Sister Maria (who was later blessed) to sign the letter. She heroically opposed the demand by writing, “Ohimé” (oh me), which is the only comprehensible word in the letter, Serafica wrote.
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The researcher expresses certain assumptions, in our opinion, that may not be true. Apparently, there is no record that the nun spoke or understood numerous languages. From Abate’s mainstream scientific perspective, such knowledge would be required to write the message.
From our own research in the realm of the mystical underground, we know that it is possible that she was possessed by a demonic being that ‘dictated’ the note. So we are more inclined to agree with the Abbess Maria Serafica than the software guy.
The other bias is the assumption that the nun must’ve had a mental disorder. Again, that’s not necessarily the case as there are no shortage of examples of people who are possessed voluntarily as practitioners of Santeria, Voodum, shamanism, and more. While some might be mentally unstable, others–including some we’ve written about–are not.
The entire article in Live Science can be found here.
To some extent mediums are often voluntarilly, and with support and a spiritual system in place, “possessed” in order to allow the disembodied to communicate messages. And plenty of books (some marvelous, some incomprehensible) were “chanelled” at the height of New Age. It’s hard to say sometimes, I think, where the line between schizophrenia and interfering earthbound spirits happens. I once had a medium tell me that she didn’t like to go to bars because she saw spirits of former alcoholics jumping in and out of drinkers bodies! I don’t believe in the devil, but perhaps it’s possible that this poor young woman had a negative, opportunistic spirit attached to her…..as well as a mental illness?
It sounds similar to what Susan Yantorno is experiencing – she’s on a couple of our podcasts. Her story is chilling.
Nun and devil, two archetypes. This is definitely heretical but there’s no mention of anyone being cursed or tortured by the devil, which you would expect. It seems more like commentary, which is odd for that time.
Good point!!
Fascinating article and image. I am inclined to think that any young girl of 15 confined to a nunnery that anything is possible here. Perhaps she was killed. There is no way of proving anything. I have further thoughts but dare not put them online. Thanks for posting.
Would love to hear your thoughts, Adele!