The Voodoo Prophecies and the Original Sinner

By Chris Lunda

1632 –The mass possessions of Loudun, France signal the beginning of hell’s revenge. Pope Urban VIII orders construction of the Capuchin Crypt, to hold a small congregation of survivors, known simply as - The Eight of Loudun. Forged from the skeletal remains of thousands of perished monks, the grotesque structure allows the Church to observe the afflicted souls like demonic laboratory animals.

The survivors, a Capuchin priest and seven Ursuline nuns, are intriguing to the Church. Unaffected by the holy rite of exorcism their souls instead have been altered by a book of conjures ascribed to King Solomon. The book allows them a strange power over the fiends that still inhabit their bodies. It is as if the priest and the nuns have themselves possessed the demons.

The Bishop of Cremona has ordained capable caretakers for these eight. The Vampiri De Croce, known to very few are an order of six holy vampires that provide for the most unusual sustenance needs shared by the nuns and priest.

Struggling to perfect their gifts, these odd servants of the Church remain hidden away until that day in February of 1727, when the immortal alchemist Count St. Germain visits the crypt. He alerts the Catholics to a prophecy predicting the return of Satan’s first-born son in the new world.

The West African prophecy of 141 A.D. also foretold by the apostle Paul is sacred to the Church but remains cloaked in secrecy. Together Count St. Germain, the Eight of Loudun and their caretakers voyage to New Orleans, the capital of French Louisiana to join Voodoo seers and the six young chosen ones. Their predestined clash with a dark sorceress and malevolent demons is only the beginning of their apocalyptic journey to fulfill the Voodoo Prophecies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris Lunda
• Release date: Aug 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476140698

Chris Lunda

Charles Christopher Lunda was born on June 24th, 1963 in Houston Texas, the first child of Charles and Patsy Lunda. Growing up in the suburbs of New Orleans from the age of one through high school, he later attended Baylor University where he studied Theater, Journalism and English Literature. Following Baylor he continued his studies at North Texas State University where he focused on the study of playwriting and screenwriting collaborating on several stage adaptations. It is this training that makes his novels intensely cinematic.After university he served in the United States Coast Guard aboard a 378 foot high endurance cutter spending time in the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and the South Pacific. Having developed a love for the sea, his corporate life was spent as a marine surveyor which afforded him the opportunity to travel extensively visiting 26 countries. He has lived in New Orleans, Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Singapore. Now residing in the small beach community of Gulf Shores, Alabama with his wife Christina Kourt, he has ventured away from his playwriting past and ventured into the wonderful world of novels. Represented by an agent and published by the independent imprint East Village Press his current project The Voodoo Prophecies has been well received and he is currently working on Book 2 of the trilogy 'The Voodoo Prophecies and the Rise of the Nephilim.' - written by Joyce Howard

Book preview

Loudun, France

May 1st 1632- Parish of St-Pierre-du-Marche

"The centuries of man are but moments to demons."

The convent had become a prison of sorts and the Mother Superior sat awake staring into the darkness as the other women slept. She had been fighting the entity within her for days and felt she would soon fall victim to the control of the demon. A light tap on the small shuttered window caught her attention and as she slowly opened it, she was met with the figure of a man standing in the shadows who whispered, Sister this is all I can offer to aid you. Study the marked leaves of this book and do so tonight. It can be your salvation.

The shadowy figure then handed her a small beeswax altar candle and leather bound book. As he raised them both through the window, the candle’s flame shone brightly on the book's crimson cover. In the flickering light she could distinguish a fearsome dragon sitting atop a more familiar emblem, the triple crown and crossed keys of the Pope.

Bless you sister and God be with you, was all the man said as he quietly shrunk away into the darkness.

Sitting nearby in the cold of a sparsely furnished rectory, the three men of God were huddled together near a dying fire and struggling with their task at hand.

Fathers Tranquille, Lactance and Surin – of the Capuchin, Franciscan and Jesuit orders respectively, each an expert in exorcism, now comprised the trinity of hope that had been assembled by the Cardinal to rid the village of its demons and to investigate the claims made against their fellow priest, Father Grandier.

There must be a way to stop this now Father Tranquille. We cannot wait much longer. The sisters are severely afflicted and seem to have lost all control of their senses. The possessions grow more acute by the hour so pray tell me what the Cardinal has decided, demanded a distressed Father Lactance.

It is true my brother; we must do something and do so quickly. The Cardinal has approved the exorcisms but sends a message that we must perform them publicly, Tranquille replied.

Father, the Mother Superior seems to be possessed by a demon that is the leader of the others, and while she is battling in a most righteous way to control the depravity, might I suggest that we begin with her, added Father Surin as he placed a log on the dwindling flames causing a small eruption and a shower of embers that briefly illuminated the troubled face of Father Tranquille.

The priests had been observing the bedeviled women in their confinement for three days, periodically bringing them into the chapel and learning as much as they could about their calamity. For each of those long days of demonic observation they had eagerly awaited the blessing of the Cardinal to perform the rites. The demons would now be exorcised and that was welcome news, though none of the holy men would have ever chosen to do it publicly.

A spectacle was the last thing needed in Loudun, a troubled town already on the threshold of satanic hysteria. However, it was not their place to question the Cardinal but only to do as he instructed. There was no time to waste and so for the remainder of the night they conferred and orchestrated how they would each play their own specific roles in the public exorcism of the Mother Superior Jeanne des Agnes and the sixteen nuns that must be performed the very next day.

The town of Loudun had been rampant with tales of the devil and demons for several weeks even before the nuns were sequestered. The nuns now restricted to the living area of the convent were safely locked behind a door to which only the convent caretaker and Father Tranquille held a key. The sisters were allowed in the chapel once a day and only one troubled soul was granted admittance at a time. It was in this chapel that the nuns received their holy examinations and treatments offered by the three visiting exorcists while they had awaited further instructions from Rome.

Keeping the outlandish acts that the nuns now performed on a regular basis hidden away from the frenzied villagers was certainly what Father Tranquille held first in his mind when he had ordered their seclusion. That was why the insistence of a public exorcism by the Cardinal was so disturbing and considered by all three priests to be a horrible misgiving on the part of His Eminence. But there was no time for delay.

The priests agreed that if they could perform the exorcisms in the town square as soon as possible and without an official announcement it might limit the number of curious onlookers. While they must of course send urgent messages to other church officials in the area, their task would be easier with fewer townspeople in attendance and they would still be honoring the wishes of the Cardinal to conduct the rites in public.

In a town such as Loudun however one could hide away a secret for only so long. The caretaker of the convent had overheard the priests as they talked in the rectory and stopped to listen as they contemplated their strategy.

Leaving the convent with his work day complete the caretaker hurried to his own personal sanctuary. After all it was his normal hiatus before continuing home to his good wife. Carrying with him a vicious thirst and the word of the church’s intentions to exorcise the nuns, he reached the crowded tavern to share a few pints of ale with his friends.

The people of Loudun had been waiting for such news and within two hours’ time, word of the upcoming spectacle had spread faster than the worst of plagues through the uneasy moonlit village and its neighboring hamlets.

Chapter 2 - The Exorcism at St. Croix

Loudun, France May 2nd 1632 - The Public Square

The bell tower sounded at ten o’clock the next morning, and like an alarm announced the coming spiritual struggle. In a most unnerving way, the bell tolled and echoed through the summer rain summoning more than 9,000 people who gathered anxiously to watch as the group of nuns, tied together by light cloth bindings, was lead into the public square of St. Croix, named so in honor of the holy cross.

The gathering crowd consisted mainly of peasants and farm laborers who had made their way into the heart of the town hoping in a strange way to see someone in a plight more dire than their own, as if that would somehow bring a comfort to their adversity laden existence.

Some carried effigies of the devil while still others carried whatever religious symbols they could find. Crosses, rosary beads, and other icons were spread throughout the crowd, but the most common piece of holy assurance seen that day was the medal bearing the likeness of Saint Amabilis of Riom, the French patron Saint who protected man against demonic possession.

The village tinsmith had profited handsomely by fashioning as many of the medals as he could for the spectacle and his daughter sold them at the front of his shop to anxious townsfolk who begged for them and waited nervously, clamoring for his most recent creation even as the metal was still cooling.

The crowd, silent in anticipation until now, watched as the three priests approached from the other side of the square which had become an evanescent theater of the unearthly. The onlookers began buzzing with activity; the older amongst them prayed while others pointed; mothers covered their children’s eyes. The crowd gathered very closely to one another, and not to capture a prime viewing spot but solely to be nearer another believer as they formed a human cloak of security waiting to feed their rabid curiosity.

Many stood hand in hand staring upon the holy women of the Ursuline, those of whom so much talk and dark rumor had been spread. The governor of the town and castle sat high atop a stage which had been hastily constructed in the middle of the night and completed just an hour before by the local gallows maker. Sitting with him were all of the royalty of the church who resided near enough to Loudun to attend, along with his village administrator and the famed local astronomer Ismaël Bullialdus. The governor not believing in such nonsense as the spectacle unfolding before him secretly hoped the craze would generate more travelers’ tax revenues for the struggling town.

One man stood away from the crowd perched alone, high above the throngs, hidden away at the top of the bell tower silently looking down upon the restless masses. Dressed in a fine slashed doublet, silk lace collar and short cape, the Count calmly twisted the signet ring on his left ring finger ever so slowly, intently watching as the priests approached the nuns, ready to undertake the labor for which they had been commissioned.

The ring given to him in Africa almost 1500 years before glowed ever so slightly. He only thought of one thing. He hoped and prayed that Jeanne des Agnes had studiously examined the book he had given her the night before.

The group of nuns stood there quietly in their soiled robes. Noticeably absent were any of their usual head coverings. Their disheveled hair and sullen faces made the women appear as though they were half dead, as did the bluish tint to their skin. They wore no shoes and looked void of any spirit, good or evil, until you looked into their eyes. A pulsating blackness caused their pupils so enlarged to completely cover the iris.

This was not the case with the Mother Superior Jeanne Des Agnes. She stood there in a sacred posture, dressed in her perfectly manicured tunic and scapula complete with her veil of authority. She was seemingly undisturbed by the incidents of the preceding days but was bound with the other members of the order all the same.

Then without warning the Mother Superior leapt forward from the rest of the nuns straining her bindings, and in a sudden rage destroyed the image of amity she had just seconds ago displayed. Speaking in a horrible echoing voice that rose above the crowd in a commanding and bellowing crescendo, the spirit within her shouted.

I am the great Asmodeus prince of the demons and ruler of the nine hells. These women are now taken from you. Their souls belong to our master, the father of all evil and the ruler of this pitiful world. Bow down before our great power!

As the demon finished speaking the entire flock of nuns began flailing and twisting their spines as if they had no backbone at all. They slung their necks about so ferociously and so violently that their heads hit both their backs and their chest and then moved sideways, invisibly shaken from one shoulder to another as if they had become totally disjointed.

Their contortions then as if in rehearsed unison changed to that of an unbecoming nature, one so shocking and inappropriate for servants of the Lord that the crowd shuddered and withdrew as if they were a common body that had experienced a depraved chill.

One of the Ursuline sisters screamed out, Father Grandier has been with us all. He is the reason we have fallen to the dark ones.

As their undulations continued, the bindings which held the nuns together began to loosen and one by one each possessed soul broke free of their restraints. Eyes bulging, bloody sweat dripping from their foreheads staining their tunics; together they moved towards the three priests who stood their ground steadfastly firm in their beliefs.

You will stop! You will bow down before the word of God our Father, commanded Father Tranquille as he raised an old wooden cross above his head, one that had been taken from the church’s altar just two hours before.

Eight of the nuns immediately collapsed to the ground and lay motionless while eight remained standing, staring at the three learned priests. The ravenous group of nuns suddenly dropped to the ground on all fours, arched their backs in an extreme manner and began slowly crawling about as if stalking prey.

Lowering their heads below their shoulders the eight sisters resembled more a pack of wolves approaching their next victim than a group of pious women who had devoted their lives to their religion. They encircled the priests, gnashing their teeth, growling like dogs and flicking their tongues like evil flames that wished to taste of the priests flesh.

One of the nuns, a sister Lavey, stood again and shrieked out, We have all known Father Grandier and he has known us all, as we have all known his bed.

Her obscene gestures further horrified the crowd causing them in concert to step back once more, gripped by the intense and profound fear that was beginning to smother the town square.

This is not true. These are all lies and a rebellious act against our church! declared a voice from the crowd.

It was Father Grandier the same man being accused by the nuns of these immoral acts. He broke through their evil writhing circle and stood side by side with the three exorcists.

If you are truly demons then you can certainly speak and understand other tongues, can you not? he shouted towards the nuns. Steadfastly advancing towards the disordered group the good father spoke to them all in Greek saying, Show your true self now by speaking in this tongue you horrid demons, you who are forever to be cursed to the fires of hell.

No answer came from the group of nuns and the convulsions subsided while a spectral silence fell upon the crowd until the Mother Superior, still standing tall like a demonic shepherd possessed by the spirit within her answered; first in Greek and then in the native tongue You are a weak man father. It is you who will burn.

The crowded erupted with shrieks and gasps and many began to back further away with only the most curious and brave of onlookers making their way to the front of the assembled villagers.

Father Tranquille continued towards the Mother Superior and began to read from the rites of exorcism.

God, the Father in heaven. God, the Son, Redeemer of the world. God, the Holy Spirit. Holy Trinity, the one God, and the three priests behind him including Father Grandier though now on his knees exhausted from the week's events, responded in unanimity Have mercy on us.

Tranquille continued the ritual saying In the name and authority of the Lord our God and his son who died for you I command you to leave this place.

Father Tranquille walked towards the Mother Superior holding a St. Michael's medal in his right hand and a bottle of holy water in his left. He placed the medal on her forehead which like a heavy weight placed upon a burdened scale caused her to lower and kneel before him.

In Latin the priest recited "I exorcise thee, unclean spirit, the embodiment of our enemy, the entire specter, the whole legion, in the name of the Eddiet, to get out from this creature of God. He the Lord God commands thee.

He who has ordered those cast down from heaven to the depths of the earth even unto hell itself. He who commands the sun on the skies and the winds and waters of the earth commands thee. He who was born of the Virgin Mary mother of God commands thee. Jesus of Nazareth commands thee!

The Mother Superior, pushing down upon her own thigh with one hand, and lifting herself upwards struggled to touch the bottle of holy water with the other hand. When it was finally within her reach, she snatched it from the priest, held it firmly in her grasp, placed it high above her head and began pouring its blessed contents all over her body.

A loud roar came from deep within her, and as she cried out in that excruciating groan, she was lifted from the ground by an invisible force. Drifting there with outstretched arms and closed eyes, she hovered before the stunned town folk. Some of the villagers ran from the square while others fainted; but most were frozen in their stead by the unholy presence.

Floating two feet above the ground and as the remaining crowd looked on in horror she began smiling, opened her eyes and spoke to Father Tranquille.

Asmodeus does not like water of any sort Father. It reminds him of his hated adversary, St. John the Baptist. He has gone and will not return, at least not for now.

She then turned still suspended in the air towards the other nuns and gently floated back towards the ground reciting what she had read and memorized from the book the night before, finishing just as her feet touched the ground.

I have looked into the abyss. I have seen the chambers of torture and disease. I have heard the anguish of your souls. You are not forever lost. These words and the knowledge of Solomon will cause you a righteous servitude and provide for your salvation. I possess that knowledge.

And upon saying those words she produced from her tunic the book that she had received the night before, placed it near her heart and next to the crucifix around her neck. As she did so some in the crowd murmured as they saw the great dragon on the book's cover glow ever so slightly.

Suddenly two of the nuns began screaming and writhing, falling as some of the others had, to the ground in a heap. Of the sixteen nuns who had begun the unhallowed day bound to one another, only six remained standing before the Mother Superior. They quietly, and with heads bowed walked towards Jeanne de Agnes and kneeled before her.

The Mother Superior then turned to the three exorcists and Father Grandier.

There is much fasting to do and we must become enflamed with prayer. We must return to the convent fathers. The evil has been weakened but the task is not yet complete.

She began walking across the square and as she did so the six nuns rose and followed closely after her. Having taken ten paces she stopped and turned once again to the priests who remained affixed exactly to the spots where they had been standing throughout the entirety of the supernatural event.

It is doubtful I can do this alone fathers. They are the demons of all religions. They are the jinn and the succubus, the druids and the shedim. They seek the wanderer, the child of the devil himself. They are a legion and we have much work to do.

The four priests having never seen such a mystical occurrence as a nun, who had exorcised herself and placed other demons under her control, silently followed the good sister towards the convent. As the Mother Superior turned away to walk from the square a glimmer caught her eye, a reflection from above, and she paused.

She looked upwards and her attention turned towards the man in the bell tower whose ring glistened in the sunlight. The two made eye contact for a brief moment and the Count simply bowed his head in her direction and disappeared into the hollows of the tower. As he descended the stairs he said aloud and to himself; It has begun.

When the priests moving in quick step behind the nuns passed the gallows maker’s viewing stand, Father Tranquille took notice that the disbelieving Governor of Loudun was nowhere to be seen.

Chapter 3 - Immortal St. Germain

Versailles, France 1723 Palace of King Louis XV

91 years after the Loudun Possessions

"Welcome to Versailles Count and thank you for being our guest during the celebration of this majority, the coming of age of our beloved King Louis XV," said the Bishop de Fleur.

Thank you, your Excellency; firstly, for reading my letter and for graciously taking the time to hear me on this important matter, replied the Count. He then gave an appreciative bow before continuing.

A great king and friend left us not long ago and it is an honor to attend here with you as another great king has come of age. I approach you now not only because you are Bishop of Frejus, but also because you are sure to be the true Chief Minister to his Highness. I am here to humbly seek your counsel and assistance for the city in the New World named after our departed Philippe, Duke of Orléans.

Ah, la Nouvelle-Orléans … But, my son, I am an old man, with some in the court even referring to me as an ancient ecclesiastic. I know little of the New World matters, but do know of you and have often wondered about your tutelage. People say you speak of past events with a detail that could only be known to those who have lived them. I have long wanted to speak with you regarding these matters. So as you see my son, I also have a personal interest in meeting with you Count, the man whom some say never ages.

Your Excellency I have always been a man of the good, a seeker and bearer of the truth. My work is often carried out within the courts of Kings and the walls of the Church. It is quite unfortunate that people are known to exaggerate my status. It is, I believe, many times the instance where I am confused with an ancestor of mine, or another man who is similar in appearance.

I see, my son, and exactly why do you approach me this day? the Bishop asked with a wry smile.

I come to you now regarding the attacks upon the Church, both of recent times and the last century. Those messengers of evil that have manifested themselves here in France will, I say to you most assuredly, continue their demonic and unholy works in the capital of French Louisiana. It is from this new city that they will endanger the whole of the Church.

With a quizzical look the Bishop responded Hmmm… I see, please continue.

"Only the special enlightenment gained by certain orders of the Church here in France will insure the future of the light and the suppression of the darkness.

La Nouvelle-Orléans is in dire need of those gifts gained and perfected here in France, your Excellency. Those talents that successfully defended the Church and mankind at Loudun must be used to protect the Church in French Louisiana, the Count advised.

It would seem, my son that you know of things that only contemporaries of the time would know, as some of those incidents you mention occurred almost a century ago. How pray tell would you know of any unusual skills gained by the Church at Loudun?

Dearest Bishop, we have been very close with the Church throughout generations of my family by way of our friendship with the House of Medici in Italy. We have learned many things through our associations. I come to you personally today for only you can influence and suggest to Rome that two specific orders of God’s servants be sent to help, heal and care for the dying colony of New Orleans.

Here the Bishop interrupted.

And save the whole of the Church, my son; should I mention that to the Cardinal?

Perhaps the obvious needs of the colony are enough to be discussed with the Cardinal for now, as I am certain that you yourself will soon be appointed to that position.

The Count paused a moment and then in a more serious tone continued, I wish to accompany the Ursulines and Capuchins to Louisiana. There is an ancient evil that has found its way there and it must be stopped. In this vital matter, I believe I may be of assistance. I can certainly write to your Excellency and keep you informed of the colony’s development.

How might this venture be of benefit to France, dear Count? As you are aware, I do tutor and sometimes quietly advise our King and this might be of some interest to his Highness. And to be certain, just what is this evil you speak of, my son?

The Count replied without hesitation.

"As to the benefit of France, I will assist the Crown in the pursuit of any knowledge it seeks and will be its obedient servant. I will become the truest friend to the court and warn of any matters that might threaten the kingdom, this I solemnly promise.

The evil I speak of and that which I beseech your assistance to contain is the prophesied return of ‘The Acquirer’.

But the Acquirer was exiled long ago by the Lord Our Father to the land of wandering, the Land of Nod. Certainly you must know of this, insisted the Bishop.

"I believe that he is returning. I know that many in authority within the Church have secretly believed that St. Paul in fact prophesied his return. I know too Your Excellency that several of our Popes have shared this belief based on the writings of the Sumerians who long ago described the evil man, his punishment and his prophesied return in their ancient texts.

"His return is also prophesied in another strange African religion; just as it is… well... more secretly in ours. I believe the Africans speak of the same thing our Apostle Paul did Your Excellency.

The man of sin, the persecutor, the malicious murderer, is returning to our world. These… the Count said as he handed forth the letter, …are the names of two people I must humbly request go with me to the colony.

Hmmm… the Bishop pondered "… our secret beliefs intertwined with African mystics...I must admit I find this curious. Africa is a treacherous, untamed, distant land that few are able to journey to. The