The Original Sexy Nun: Your Halloween Costume Has Nothing on This

Emergency Exorcisms Call for Holy Water Enemas

in 1627, Jeanna de Agnes was appointed Mother Superior at the new Ursuline convent at Loudon in France.

It didn't take long before Jeanne became sexually enamored with the parish priest, Father Urbain Grandier, who had a history of adultery and scandal.

Perhaps that is why it came as no surprise when Jeanne began claiming that Grandier's spectral image was appearing in her dreams, seducing her and robbing her of her sacred vow to Jesus Christ.

Not long after, the other nuns in the convent started to complain that Grandier was possessing them as well. Of course, none of them were quite as afflicted as Jeanne, who hosted a whopping seven demons.

Exorcisms were performed for years. These spectacles were described to be very sexually-charged, including performing enemas with holy water, and nuns exposing themselves in fits of convulsions.

Grandier was charged with the crime of sorcery and initially acquitted. After the Chief Minister of France ordered a new trial, however, Grandier was burned at the stake; even after Jeanne and the other sisters had recounted their allegations.

Rhoda Wakeman: Heaven Hath No Fury

A Near-Death Experience Leads Woman to Form Murderous Cult

Rhoda Sly was only 13 years old in 1800 when she married Ira Wakeman.

A man ten years her senior, Ira would beat Rhoda throughout the entirety of their nearly 30 year long marriage.

In a drunken rage one night, Ira tied Rhoda to a chair and set fire beneath her. He proceeded to stab her with a piece of burning wood.

After this experience, Rhoda claimed to have died and to have risen up to heaven, only to be granted life again and returned to earth as a prophet of God.

And thus, the Wakemanite movement was born.

Rhoda gained a large following of Wakemanites after preaching to the inhabitants of Connecticut and convincing them that her husband had made a pact with the devil. This lead to the Wakemanites' brutal assault of Ira. His consequential death was dismissed as simply a result of being in league with Satan himself.

Anyone who dared to challenge the word of Rhoda Wakeman would be called out as a Satanic heretic.

After taking a bribe from one of her followers, Rhoda decided that accepting a payout from a "man of sin" put herself and the rest of the Wakemanites in a bad place with God, and insisted that the group offer up a living sacrifice. Follower Justus Matthews was chosen to be this sacrifice.

Rhoda convinced her band of followers that Justus had been possessed by the Devil. The exorcism began with praying and shouting, but ultimately ended with his murder.

The court found the Wakemanites, including Rhoda, as not-guilty by reason of insanity. They were sent to live out their days at the Insane Retreat in Hartford.

The Copenhagen Witch Trials: You Can Guess How This One Ends

King James VI Brings a Macabre Fad Back to Scotland

in 1560 a ravenous coastal storm forced sea-traveling King James VI of Scotland to take refuge in Norway for weeks.

The King was was en route to marry Princess Anne of Denmark in Copenhagen. Heavily influenced by the ongoing Trier Witch Trials in neighboring Germany, Copenhagen was experiencing a witch frenzy of its own.

Anna Koldings was the first Danish woman to be accused of sorcery.

After being tortured for a time, Anna admitted to summoning the storms that had ravaged the seaway of King James' voyage. She said she bade devils to climb up the keels of the ships. Koldings also named several other women before eventually being burned at the stake.

King James VI was fascinated with the idea of black magic being blamed for nature's blunders. After marrying Anne in Norway, he brought the concept of witch trials back to Scotland where it quickly become just as trendy.

The resulting North Berwick witch trials in Scotland lasted from 1590-1592 and claimed an estimated 3,000-4,000 lives.