Protection from, and exorcism of, supernatural evil in Germany (medieval to 19th century)

[malymin]

Hello!

Writing a fanfiction taking place inside of a fairy-tale kingdom. In-universe, the fairy-tale is a literary fairy tale (aka has a singular author, not a true folk tale), written by a German author, some time in the 18th century at earliest and the 19th century at latest. The author character lived and died in a fictional town heavily based on the real world town of Nördlingen. I'm writing a scene where a character from the fairy-tale setting is feeling guilt about having been "weak" against a supernatural, corrupting force, and is scared that force is still possessing or influencing him.

Most of the information I can find on the topic of exorcism, prayers against demonic/bewitching/etc influence, repentance for having practiced witchcraft, renouncing demonic temptation, etc I can find on my own are specifically resources aimed at modern-day Catholics living in English-speaking countries. (That is, when they're even remotely in the ballpark of what I'm looking for... new-age and non-Christian solutions, while interesting, are not helpful for what I'm writing.) However, I know that a large percentage of Christians in Germany are some flavor of Protestant. Even when it comes to Catholic-majority regions like Bavaria, there might be things that have been done there in the past that would not be recorded on an English-language website for English-speaking Catholics - especially folk beliefs and traditions not officially condoned by religious authorities.

Region:

• Least specifically looking for stuff from German speaking countries in Europe
• Most specifically: looking for things from the Swabia region of Germany, within the state of Bavaria

Religion:

• Christianity mainly, maybe some Germanic pagan stuff if I branch out.
• Protestant or Catholic
• Not just solutions ideally condoned by local religious authorities, but folk beliefs and practices

Historical Placement:

• Ideally, not newer than the 19th century. If people didn't believe it prior to, idk, 1925 or something, it's not as useful to me.
• Must have been practiced at some point after the Christianization of the region, at absolute earliest.
• However! Customs and beliefs that are not strongly attested to in reality, but that appear in fictional and folkloric depictions of the past or present written (or transcribed from oral tradition) within the "target range" (such as "pre-christian times" as they'd be seen in Wagnerian operas, or "feudal society" as depicted in both the feudal period's own courtly literature and later literature), are also helpful, as the fic I'm writing is set within an author-created world that would be influenced by such pre-existing and contemporaneous fiction's distortions of reality.

I hope this isn't too specific. If you know something in this ballpark but don't think it's "good enough" for my nitpicky criteria, please share anyways so I can learn something new! ^_^;

Comments

[oldshrewsburyian]

Okay! So then it sounds to me as though you don't want anything medieval. But there are plenty of published sources from early modern Germany. If you don't know Daniel Kehlmann's Tyll, you might find it interesting.

[malymin]

(Sorry for the late reply. I've been going through the backlog of replies to threads I've been in, but wasn't in the headspace to answer at the time.)

I looked that book up, and found a historical fiction novel - an interesting sounding one, for sure! However, I honestly find it easier to make time for picking up and putting down nonfiction than fiction these days. (Some of my favorite books of all time, from childhood through teens and twenties, have included The Lore of the Unicorn by Odell Shephard, Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich, and Periodic Tales by Hugh Aldersey-Williams.) Do you have any suggestions for nonfiction reading on folk beliefs about magic (and adjacent topics)¹ early modern Germany?

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_{1: Occult beliefs and practices outside of folk traditions, and concepts of magic and supernatural evil etc as described in fiction written during the period, are probably both distinct topics - but both of some additional interest for the specifics of what I'm writing, and in retrospect are just as relevant as what I initially asked for, if not moreso. Currently for that last thing I've only dipped my toe into it by reading a translation of The Devil's Elixirs by ETA Hoffman. So, the main fiction (as opposed to nonfiction) suggestions I'm interested in using for research are for works regarding the supernatural written during the early modern period.}

[oldshrewsburyian]

I do! The Bedevilment of Elizabeth Lorentz is about a young woman who believed herself to be tormented by the Devil: https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781442634916. The Trial of Tempel Anneke, meanwhile, is about a woman who appears to have been a sometimes-annoying and sometimes-useful neighbor, and definitely sometimes threatened people for fun: https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781442634879