Witchcraft in Early North America - Alison Games [106]
At the words of the Holy Gospel, her body made wild movements, she shouted and shrieked, which ceased immediately once I grabbed the book of exorcisms. She began to make insolent remarks to me: that I was a kid goat mulatto, and that she did not fear me nor what I intended to accomplish. When I began the exorcism, she cursed me and tried to interrupt and impeded the exorcism with great shouts, disgraces, and extreme shaking. By the time she appeared to be secured, the four men who held her were exhausted. She wanted to escape from their hands, arching her body upward, then to one side, and at an instant of the men’s weakness, she kicked off one of her shoes with such violence that those who had her secured were unable to avoid the shoe. She continued in this manner during the night of the same day until daybreak. As she rested, she was thrown onto the floor, howling in a very loud voice like the Indians of this land are accustomed to do. . . .
[On December 19, a twelve-year-old girl named María de Chavez started to show the signs of possession.]
At the start of the Introit, the afflicted women fell to the floor at the same time, beginning to exasperate and exhaust themselves so that people went to their aid to hold them and, upon realizing they had been seized, they let out Indian war howls of the type which the Indians are accustomed to giving when they grind corn. After making motions with their hands of that exercise, and when they finished with the manic behavior, they sang like an owl, a fox, a pig, a cow, etc. They then were raised up high and fell without being assisted by those who held them. The disturbance in the temple was so great that one was unable to hear the chorus of the singers, nor the minister at the altar. The other energumens, having quieted for a while, began the uproar once more. Francisca Barela continued in her insolence and loud shouts when she was seated. It became necessary to order her to be removed from the church, which caused the others who remained in the church to scream and move about as they had done at the start of the mass, though they were tolerable, as this happened every once in a while, and they did not disturb the congregation. When the mass was over, I performed the exorcism of the evil spirit which the devil felt a great