Thread by @FearCatalogue

The spirits, demons and creatures from The Conjuring Universe and their origin in real life: a thread

This is a deep dive into each spiritual and demonic entity referenced in the films that are part of The Conjuring’s franchise, in chronological order. We will present information about the entity’s origin, mythology, adaptation for the films and their meaning today.

Let’s begin.

The Nun (2018)

The first entry (chronologically) in the CU is set in 1952, but to fully explain the origin of the demonic spirit the film revolves around, we must journey back further to the Middle Ages, when a demon-worshipping duke built an abbey in the Romanian wilderness.

The duke created the abbey to carry out demonic rituals. Once the Catholic Church learned of this, they intervened and claimed the abbey as their own, naming it Cârța Monastery. However, bombing during WW2 awakened the evil which the duke had originally summoned.

The most notable spirit being Valak (also known as Valac, Ualac or Valu). Valak takes the form of a nun, which in later CU sequels, the character Lorraine Warren assumes is a way for the demon to mock her crisis of faith. This is clearly untrue; the form occurring years earlier.

Valak’s depiction as a nun in the film was pure invention on the part of the director of The Conjuring 2 (2016) — James Wan.

“I had a strong outlook on the whole movie, but the one thing I wasn’t quite sure of [was the design of the demon character],” Wan said in 2016.

According to Wan, the real Lorraine Warren had told him about a “spectral entity” that appeared as a “swirling tornado vortex with this hooded figure.”

Wan then decided to have the figure don the costume of a nun to put it more directly in conflict with Warren’s Catholic faith.

Let's talk more about the setting of the story.

The abbey in the film does not exist, instead in is an invention of the writers, taking the name ‘Cârța Monastery’ from the real haunted abbey in Transylvania, which is the oldest gothic, fortified church within Eastern Europe.

Worn over time and now peacefully crumbling in the tranquility of the Transylvania countryside rests the ruins of the Abbey of Carta. Though most people make the journey to take in the abbey's breathtaking architecture, the abbey has a darker lesser-known history.

The ruins of the church are believed to be one of the most haunted places in the whole of Romania.

After being founded in the early 1200s, it became clear what an incredibly tough place it was to inhabit for the monks, many only reaching a life expectancy of 40 years.

They would arise each day around 3am to intense physical labour throughout the daylight hours, with scarce food and cramped living quarters.

This way of life for the monks led to many deaths within the confines of the Cârța Monastery, birthing its most famous ghost story.

To this day many of the monks' bodies remain within the monastery, having been buried in the courtyard of the abbey alongside soldiers from WWI.

The most common paranormal sightings include apparitions of spectral monks wearing white robes.

During a recent archaeological survey inside a cellar in the abbey, two unmarked graves were uncovered.

The graves were found to contain two bodies that would have stood at 6.5 feet tall, leading researchers to believe these people were brought to the abbey on purpose.

During medieval times, the average height of the population was much shorter than 6.5 feet, and due to this, it was highly likely these individuals were ostracised within their communities and sent away to work at the abbey and be hidden within its walls.

Since the bodies were uncovered, more paranormal events began to occur within the monastery.

It is said that the walls within the cellar will aggressively vibrate at times, without explanation, and chairs have been dragged across the church floor by unseen forces.

Now, let's speak more about Valak's history within the real world, and how the demon came to exist within lore.

Valac—whose name is ‘Valak’ only in the CU—is a demon described as ‘an angelically winged boy riding a two-headed dragon, attributed with the power of finding treasures.’

Valac was first described in the goetic grimoires ‘The Lesser Key of Solomon’, a spell book on demonology.

The book was compiled in the mid-17th century, mostly from materials a couple of centuries older. It is divided into five books—the Ars Goetia, Ars Theurgia-Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel, and Ars Notoria.

Goetia / Goëtia is a practice that includes the conjuration of demons.

University of Hertfordshire Professor Owen Davies, an expert of the history of ghosts and witchcraft, describes grimoires as “books that contain a mix of spells, conjurations, natural secrets and ancient wisdom.”

Pictured: an 18th-century German grimoire

The Solomon referenced in the grimoire’s title in this thread is the same King Solomon of the Old Testament.

He was renowned for his wisdom and, at some point around the second century B.C., it spread that the king's knowledge also incl. certain secrets of astrology and magic.

The grimoire bearing Solomon's name lists the 72 demons that the king supposedly vanquished during his reign, providing readers with their names and instructions for expelling them.

Valac is the 62nd spirit listed in Solomon's grimoire. Pictured below is the Valac's seal.

Valac's special power, according to the text, is finding snakes & hidden treasure while commanding an army of 30 demons.

While Valac taking the form of a nun in the CU is complete fiction, his ability to lead an army of demons is reflected in the spirits' power within the CU.

The Bible contains no reference to Solomon’s 72 demons, but Solomon was actually listed in the Vatican’s 'Index librorum prohibitorum', or the List of Prohibited Books, which the Church continuously updated until scrapping it in 1966.

The Church considered the text heretical.

Let’s move on to the entities seen within the next film in The Conjuring franchise — Annabelle: Creation (2017)

This film is a prequel to Annabelle (2014), which itself is a prequel to The Conjuring (2013).

It expands on the *screen* origins of the doll, beginning with a car accident in 1943, before then moving to an orphanage in 1955, set in rural South California.

In the overall series of films it is established that the Annabelle doll is inhabited by a powerful demonic entity that, despite being able to exist independently, frequently latches onto a porcelain doll to torment those who own it.

Unlike the creepy porcelain doll in the CU, the real life Annabelle is a 'Raggedy Ann' doll—a popular child's toy created by American writer Johnny Gruelle in 1915.

The toy sold well throughout most of the 20th century, pausing production during The Great Depression.

While the film and real life do bear some similarities in Annabelle's creation, the first doll was not in fact the same doll that became inhabited by a demonic entity.

The similarity being that both in the film and in real life, the creator's daughter passed away suddenly.

In the film, the doll-maker and his family pause by the side of the road while making their way home from church, in order to repair a punctured tire.

It is at this time, while holding the doll, that Samuel's daughter, Bee, runs into the road and is killed by an oncoming car.

However, in reality, Johnny Gruelle's daughter was not killed in an automobile accident.

Instead, his daughter—Marcella—died after being injected with an infected vaccination. She died aged 13. It is a myth that Gruelle created the doll as a tribute to his daughter's death.

On June 17, 1915, shortly after submitting his patent application for the doll's design, Johnny Gruelle applied for a registered trademark for the Raggedy Ann name, which he created by combining words from two of James Riley poems, "The Raggedy Man" and "Little Orphant Annie".

In the film, Annabelle's origin is seen to derive from pure grief, as the doll-maker and his wife mourn the loss of their daughter.

The Mullins couple prayed to anything that could bring their daughter back. As a result, they unknowingly summoned a demon.

The demonic entity masqueraded as Bee's spirit, and requested permission to transfer its essence into one of Samuel's porcelain dolls, in order to use it as a temporary vessel.

This is not reflected in Annabelle's real life origin, so let's dig into that.

The origin of the real doll is much simpler. It was gifted by a mother to her daughter, Donna, a nursing student in Connecticut.

Purchased in 1970 from a hobby store, it was most likely bought new since that particular style, with the calico dress, does not predate the 1970s.

According to the Warrens', Donna, who shared a tiny apartment with her roommate Angie—a fellow nurse—would come home to find that the doll had shifted positions.

At first, its movements were subtle and confined to the bed where Donna had left the doll.

However, in time, the movements became more noticeable.

Donna and Angie began to discover the doll in different rooms than they had left it. It would even appear back in Donna’s room with the door shut.

Sometimes they found the doll with its legs crossed and its arms folded.

It was also found kneeling on a chair, which was strange as Donna reported that if they tried to make the doll kneel on its own, it would fall over. It couldn’t kneel due to its top-heavy anatomy.

Strange activity involving the real doll had been going on for about a year before paranormal researchers Ed and Lorraine Warren became involved in the case and eventually took the doll into their possession.

During the period that Donna was still in possession of Annabelle, she reported receiving penciled messages written in childlike writing on parchment paper.

The messages read “Help Us” and “Help Lou” (Lou was Donna’s roommate Angie’s fiancé and had been staying with them).

Donna came home from work once to find what looked like blood on the back of the doll’s hand and drops of blood on its chest. There was no explanation for how the red substance had gotten there.

This event is what prompted the doll’s owner, Donna, to contact a medium for help.

The medium became involved 4-6 weeks after the paranormal activity first began.

During a séance, the medium told them that the spirit inhabiting the doll was a 6-year-old girl named Annabelle who had died in an automobile accident outside Donna and Angie's apartment.

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@remindmetweets After Donna and Angie had conducted a séance with the medium, and they were told about the origin of the spirit of 6-year-old Annabelle inhabiting the doll, out of compassion they decided to permit the spirit to stay with them and possess the doll fully.

@remindmetweets During an unspecified period of time after the séance but before the Warrens' took the doll for safekeeping, Angie's fiancé—Lou—began experiencing physical harm he believed was being inflicted upon him by the doll.

@remindmetweets Lou had been staying with the women since the doll arrived, and wasn’t fond of it at all. Donna recalled that Lou had described the doll as “evil”.

One night, Lou awoke suddenly from a deep sleep and realised that he was unable to move. He saw the Annabelle doll at his feet.

@remindmetweets Lou recalled slowly gliding up his leg and over his chest. Before he knew it, the doll had begun to strangle him until he blacked out. He woke up the next morning certain that his experience wasn't a dream.

Many skeptics have reduced this to nothing more than 'sleep paralysis'.

@remindmetweets While an episode of sleep paralysis could explain Lou's inability to move and fight off the doll, it does not explain his further experiences with Annabelle inflicting physical harm upon him, which brings us to the next instance: the scratches.

@remindmetweets On a later occasion, Lou and Angie were studying maps to prepare for a trip Lou was embarking on the next day, when they heard rustling noises coming from Donna's room.

Lou approached the closed door and waited for the noises to stop before entering.

@remindmetweets He turned on the light and saw Annabelle laying on the floor in a corner. He walked over to the doll, but as he did, he began to sense that someone was behind him.

He spun around but no one was there.

@remindmetweets He found himself doubled over, grabbing his chest, which now appeared to be bleeding. Upon later inspection, he discovered seven claw-like scratches on his chest (four horizontal and three vertical) that were hot like burns.

The scratches healed rapidly and were gone in 2 days.

@remindmetweets Lou was not harmed any further after these incidents, but paranormal research Ed Warren believed that Annabelle had been responsible for at least one death, “a young man who came in here one time, who challenged the doll to do its worst and it did.”

@remindmetweets The infamous story is of a man who had apparently come to The Occult Museum on his motorcycle with his girlfriend for a tour.

As Ed was giving the tour, the man started to mock the doll and while doing so, ran up and began tapping on the glass of the case the doll is kept in.

@remindmetweets He challenged the doll to scratch him like it had supposedly done in the past. Ed kicked the man out of the museum.

Three hours later, the man died when he lost control of his motorcycle and hit a tree. His girlfriend survived but remained hospitalised for over a year.

@remindmetweets Whether or not this is true is questionable. During my research I have found no newspaper articles online or witnesses to the incident.

Let's dig further into the rumoured demonic entity inhabiting Annabelle and their supposed powers.

@remindmetweets When questioned about the existence of a little girl named Annabelle inhabiting the doll, Ed replied, “There was such a child, but God does not allow a child’s spirit to go into a doll. This was a devil, a demon, inside the doll, which was impersonating the spirit of a child.”

@remindmetweets And so we are presented with the theory that there was more going on with Annabelle than the medium had said.

Due to Annabelle's frequent bouts of movement by an unseen force, this leads us to believe that she is being controlled by either a poltergeist, or a demonic entity.

@remindmetweets In ghostlore, a poltergeist (German for "noisy ghost") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed.

They are purportedly capable of pinching, biting, hitting, and tripping people.

@remindmetweets This definition, on the face of it, fits with Annabelle's past during her time spent at Donna's apartment — particularly her movement and physical attacks upon Lou.

However, according to the Warrens' it isn't so simple: they believe that Annabelle is possessed by a demon.

@remindmetweets Prior to their deaths, Ed and Lorraine Warren both believed that Annabelle was possessed by a demonic entity who wanted to exert its evil influence upon Donna, and eventually possess her instead of merely possessing the doll.

@remindmetweets While the Warrens' have never posited the real name of the demon which is currently possessing the doll, here are a few from history that may fit the bill:

Phenex — (also Pheynix, Phoenix, Phoeniex) is a Great Marquis of Hell and has twenty legions of demons under his command.

@remindmetweets He is depicted as a phoenix that sings sweet notes with the voice of a child, but the conjurer must warn his companions not to hear them, or he will ask to be put into human shape.

Pictured below is his seal:

@remindmetweets Another possible name for the demon inside the doll is Amdusias (Amduscias, Amdukias or Ambduscias), often depicted as a human with claws, the head of a unicorn, and a trumpet to symbolise his powerful voice.

Amdusias is said to command 29 legions of demons and spirits.

@remindmetweets The presence of claws ties directly with Lou's experience of 'claw-like' scratches on his body, which he believed were from Annabelle.

Amdusias' seal can be seen below:

@remindmetweets However, having explored names of demons that may be possessing the doll, it is also worth noting that a 'demonic' possession does not necessarily have to involve an actual demon.

It is possible for something 'demonic' to simply be a spirit with the intention of doing harm.

@remindmetweets And on that note, I will say goodnight.

Tomorrow I'll begin diving into the lore tied to the next film in the timeline, which is Annabelle Comes Home (2019), one filled with many entities. I'll also touch more on Annabelle (2014) and the cult elements of the film.

@remindmetweets To catch up with the thread from right here in 24 hours time, just tweet:

[@]remindmetweets in 24 hours

Happy Threading! I'm already planning the next one. 👻

@remindmetweets Hello, good morning, afternoon or evening! Welcome back everyone.

Today I’ll be exploring the rest of the spirits, demons and creatures present in the other films within The Conjuring franchise.

So let us begin.

@remindmetweets Before proceeding to the next film in the timeline, and since we have already covered Annabelle’s *screen* origin story by exploring the imagery and themes within Annabelle: Creation (2017), I would like to briefly touch on some elements present in Annabelle (2014).

@remindmetweets In Annabelle (2014), the first origin of the doll—before we know anything about it being manufactured by Samuel Mullins—is shown to be of a husband gifting it to his pregnant wife as part of her doll collection in the late 1960s. This scene is set in Santa Monica, California.

@remindmetweets It isn’t until later in the film we see two devil-worshipping cult members break into the house next-door and murder the neighbours.

We later learn in Annabelle: Creation (2017) that the female member is actually the possessed little girl—Janice—from that film.

@remindmetweets And that after growing up, still possessed, Janice joins a satanic cult and returns home one summer evening to brutally murder her parents.

This is the scene we see presented at the beginning of Annabelle (2014).

@remindmetweets A distracted Mia doesn’t notice that Janice has broken into her home and is now holding the doll.

After a brief fracas, the male assailant is shot dead by police, as Janice hides inside the nursery. She ultimately commits suicide holding the doll by slitting her own throat.

@remindmetweets During this scene, as the deceased corpse of Janice holds the doll, blood can be seen dripping from her wound into the doll’s eye socket. This, at this point in the first film, is how the audience assumes that the doll became possessed.

We learn in the sequel this is untrue.

@remindmetweets It is quite clear that the writers of Annabelle (2014) picked and chose only certain elements from the real life story of the doll as inspiration for the film.

@remindmetweets Unlike in the film, the doll was never owned by or came into contact with any devil-worshipping cult members.

This is pure fiction, and likely was added to the film to build on the sensationalised ‘Manson Family Murders’ which took place in California in August of 1969.

@remindmetweets The expanded origin of Annabelle in the films—beyond that of it being gifted to Donna—is completely fictional.

The style of doll from the real life case does not predate the 1970s, and it is said to have been purchased ‘as new’ from a store in 1970.

@remindmetweets Now that we know about Annabelle’s screen origin, as well as the real life doll’s beginnings, let’s move onto the next film in the timeline — Annabelle Comes Home (2019), a film that takes place circa 1970.

@remindmetweets This is a film that explicitly mentions many other spirits and entities, other than just that of the one inside Annabelle.

The filmmakers made the decision to centre the story around the Warrens' home and their Occult Museum, which was heavily referenced during marketing.

@remindmetweets So let's dive right in.

Here are the spirits referenced in the film, in no particular order, beginning with The Bride.

@remindmetweets In the film, The Bride is revealed to be a spirit that inhabits a pristine, white wedding dress.

The entity prays on young brides-to-be, luring them in using its beauty, and once the dress is bought, it possesses them and drives them to brutally stab their grooms to death.

@remindmetweets Tony Spera—the real life Occult Museum curator and son-in-law of the Warren's—debunked the film origins of the dress as "100 percent fictional".

The official story behind the white gown that the museum claims to be true is that of the White Lady of Union Graveyard, Connecticut.

@remindmetweets According to Spera, one of the supposed witnesses of the White Lady was a young man named Rod Vescey.

Read the full story below:

@remindmetweets The White Lady's presence in real life is a stark contrast from The Bride portrayed in the film.

The spirit is not known to have attacked or physically harmed anyone, instead it seems to simply wander near the cemetery on Stepney Road in Easton, Connecticut.

@remindmetweets In one scene the character Daniela puts on the mourning bracelet she finds within the Occult Museum. She does this in an attempt to contact her late father.

She places a photo of her father into the bracelet, and asks to speak to him, disobeying the "no touching" policy.

@remindmetweets Spera confirms there is no such item in the museum, although he suspects that the object is likely inspired by the museum's 'pearls of death'.

@remindmetweets In the Occult Museum, there is a real set of pearls that a woman was given.

When she placed the pearls on her neck, she claimed to feel as though she was being strangled to death. People around her had to yank the pearls off of the woman to save her.

@remindmetweets Spera explains that, just as a priest can bless a holy relic, so too can a satanic worshipper or black magic practitioner curse a belonging, just like the pearls.

@remindmetweets Before pushing on further, I'd like to jump back to The White Lady and offer a possible demonic connection to that entity.

Furfur (also Furtur) is a powerful Great Earl of Hell, who commands 26 legions of demons. He is known to be a liar and to speak with a rough voice.

@remindmetweets Furfur causes love between a man and a woman, creates storms and whips up tempests. It is considered that the name originated from "fur", Latin for "thief".

He is most often depicted as a deer, a winged deer, or as an angel.

Furfur's seal is pictured below:

@remindmetweets The reason why I suggest this particular demon is down to his abilities and the similarities between him and The Bride.

The Bride seems to be a vengeful spirit who uses a knife to murder her victims. This could be considered a phallic symbol, specifically the deer's antlers.

@remindmetweets As Furfur is a known liar and trickster—telling the truth only when confined to a magic triangle—it is not too far to consider that this is a male demonic spirit posing as a "bride" in order to indulge its own sick and demented leanings.

Pictured below is a Triangle of Solomon:

@remindmetweets I'm going to take a short intermission before resuming the in-depth research of the other entities referenced in Annabelle Comes Home (2019), and further films within The Conjuring franchise.

Remember to check back in a few hours.

@remindmetweets Let’s pick up where we left off: examining the imagery of allegedly possessed items seen within the Warrens’ Occult Museum in Annabelle Comes Home (2019).

The next item seen in the film is the board game ‘Feeley Meeley’, which is a real game created by Milton Bradley in 1967.

@remindmetweets While there is no actual Feeley Meeley game kept in the real Occult Museum (nor, is there a samurai suit).

Spera believes that the addition of the game in the film could be reminiscent of the classic Ouija board, since both games involve using one’s hands.

@remindmetweets I see the inclusion of this board game in the film as a metaphor for the characters in the film growing up and exploring the world as young adults, hoping to find positivity and opportunity.

Something that was very much expected of young adults during this era.

@remindmetweets Instead, the characters have darkness thrust upon them by the surrounding spirits.

They are quite literally confined to a box of artefacts that are out to harm them, similar to how the items inside the Feeley Meeley box are stuck in darkness waiting to be grabbed.

@remindmetweets Following the board game is an item called The Mirror, one that is not present in the film in its real life form, but is instead represented by an old TV set that shows you the future when you look into it.

Spera says that this TV set was completely fabricated for the film.

@remindmetweets In reality, The Mirror is reportedly used for conjuring spirits through its reflection.

With this object, it is said that a man in New Jersey sat in front of the wall-mounted mirror for hours on end, continuously asking to summon his deceased family members.

@remindmetweets He sat in darkness with nothing but the glow of red light bathing over him. The man beckoned the looking glass for a fortnight, and eventually “ugly monstrosities’ faces appeared on the mirror’s surface”.

The faces were so diabolical that they drove the man to a mental asylum.

@remindmetweets Spera points out that this type of conjuring is known as crystalmancy.

“Crystalmancy is when a spirit is able to present itself on a shiny object such as a TV, a mirror, a plate, glass window, a bumper of a car, etc.”

@remindmetweets In the Warrens’ Occult Museum within the film, a severed werewolf paw can also be seen resting on a shelf.

Later in the film, after the scene where Mary is being serenaded by her love-interest, a living, breathing werewolf can be seen lurking around the chicken coop.

@remindmetweets According to Spera, no such werewolf paw exists in the museum, however the werewolf paw was likely invented as a nod to a British case Ed and Lorraine worked on, and even penned a book about.

The book is titled “Werewolf: A True Story of Demonic Possession.”

@remindmetweets “There was a case in London where a man would turn into a werewolf,” Spera claims.

“He didn’t become a werewolf like in the movies, but he would act like a werewolf. The man would growl, turn his fingers into claws, and attack people on the streets of London.”

@remindmetweets “It was the Werewolf of London Case, and the man who was afflicted was William (a.k.a. Bill) Ramsey.” said Spera.

Spera says that the Warrens believed that Ramsey was possessed by the spirit that causes lycanthropy (the supernatural transformation of a human into a wolf).

@remindmetweets To save Ramsey’s soul, Ed and Lorraine brought him all the way to the US from London to have Bishop Robert McKenna perform an exorcism on him and free him of the evil force.

Below is Ramsey being exorcised by the Bishop in Fairfield County, Connecticut on July 28, 1989.

@remindmetweets After the exorcism was carried out, Bill Ramsey said he was free from the evil that was in him. He returned to his former self and went on to live out a normal life.

@remindmetweets In the scene where Daniela enters the Occult Museum on her own, she touches many artefacts within, one in particular being The Organ.

She presses her fingers down on the keys and their tune rings out.

@remindmetweets As in the filmic depiction, Spera claims that there is in fact an organ in the Occult Museum and that it belonged to Ed Warren, who obtained it after authorities cleaned out a haunted house owned by Reverend Eliakim Phelps in Stratford, Connecticut.

@remindmetweets After some time, the house burned down, but fortunately (or not) before the walls crumbled it was emptied of its furniture.

Someone of authority from the city council reached out to Ed and asked if he would be interested in housing the organ at his own home.

@remindmetweets “Ed heard the strains of the organ playing at night, so he thought to himself, ‘Someone must’ve broken into the museum.”

“Ed would jet down the stairs to check. Of course nothing was amiss. As soon as he’d get to the museum, the organ stopped playing. This happened 3 times.”

@remindmetweets The organ finally quieted after a priest came to bless the museum, as is done on a regular basis.

Spera says that “a Catholic priest comes in every two or three months to bless the entire museum, and all of the objects.”

@remindmetweets In an interview with USA Today, Lorraine Warren once said that the prayers work to “bind the evil — much like an electric fence for a dog.”

@remindmetweets Finally, we come to the last, most mysterious spirit present in Annabelle Comes Home (2019) — The Ferryman.

But there is a lot to cover, so before we dive into his mythology, I will say goodnight and greet you all with a fresh mind tomorrow.

@remindmetweets If you are enjoying the thread so far, let me know!

And don't forget to reply "[@]remindmetweets in 24 hours" to catch up with the end of the thread at this time tomorrow.

🖤