Holy Spirit Movement
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The Holy Spirit Movement (HSM) is a spiritual/religious movement and Ugandan rebel group centered around founder Alice Lakwena (Auma) and the spirits that possessed her. Alice, an ethnic Acholi, was purportedly directed to form the HSM by Lakwena, one of her spirits, in August 1986. The movement grew to adopt a military wing and waged a major but short-lived rebellion as part of the
war in Uganda (1986–1994) From 1986 to 1994, a variety of rebel groups waged a civil war against the Ugandan government of President Yoweri Museveni. Most of the fighting took place in the country's north and east, although the western and central regions were also affected ...
. It inspired
Joseph Kony Joseph Rao Kony (likely born 1961) is a Ugandan militant who founded the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Christian fundamentalist organization, designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Peacekeepers, the European Union and various ...
to begin his rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Technically, the Holy Spirit Movement was the political wing of Alice's organization and the Holy Spirit Mobile Force (HSMF) was the military wing, but there was no real separation of functions and the titles are used interchangeably.


Growth

Following the collapse of
Tito Okello Tito Lutwa Okello (1914 – 3 June 1996) was a Ugandan military officer and politician. He was the eighth president of Uganda from 29 July 1985 until 26 January 1986. Background Tito Okello was born into an ethnic Acholi family in circa 1914 ...
's
Uganda National Liberation Army The Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) was a political group formed by exiled Ugandans opposed to the rule of Idi Amin with an accompanying military wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). UNLA fought alongside Tanzanian forces in ...
(UNLA), several soldiers left to create a separatist guerilla movement headed by
Odong Latek Justine Odong LatekCommonly referred to simply as Odong Latek. Tim Allen, "Understanding Alice: Uganda's Holy Spirit Movement in Context" Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 61, No. 3, Diviners, Seers and Prophets in Eastern ...
, the
Uganda People's Democratic Army The Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA) was a rebel group operating in northern Uganda from March 1986 to June 1988. In January 1986, the government of Ugandan President Tito Okello was overthrown by the rebel National Resistance Army (NRA) ...
. This army fought for Acholi supremacy over regions historically belonging to the ethnic group. In 1986, Holy Spirit Movement founder Alice Lakwena (at the age of 27) and her supporters were given weapons by former UNLA officers. She thus began commanding her own troops, which she called the Holy Spirit Battalion, one of four rebel groups seeking to gain control over the
Gulu Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District. The coordinates of the city of Gulu are 2°46'54.0"N 32°17'57.0"E. The distance from Gulu to Kampala, Uganda's capital and large ...
and
Kitgum Kitgum is a municipality in Kitgum District in the Northern Region of Uganda. The town is administered by Kitgum Municipality Council, an urban local government. It is the largest metropolitan area in the district and the site of the district ...
districts of Uganda. The Holy Spirit Battalion and the UPDA held a steady alliance until the Battle of Corner Kilak yielded a more contentious relationship. After an independent UPDA attack on Gulu on 20 April 1987, UPDA soldiers grew fearful of the Holy Spirit Battalion, leading to many defecting and joining Lakwena. Independently in April 1987, another 'spiritual medium',
Joseph Kony Joseph Rao Kony (likely born 1961) is a Ugandan militant who founded the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Christian fundamentalist organization, designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Peacekeepers, the European Union and various ...
, held a Holy Spirit Army of his own, consisting of over 5,000 men, including defectors from the UPDA's Black Battalion. While Kony and his Holy Spirit Army was not affiliated with Lakwena and her Holy Spirit Battalion, the former was joined by Lakwena's father, Severino Lukwoya. Lakwena launched an offensive in Southern Uganda in August 1987, as her numbers grew stronger and stronger. Lakwena was known to recruit disillusioned professional soldiers from the UDPA, and coerce young men from local villages to join her by killing their family members. After fighting a fairly successful campaign in Uganda, Lakwena and 118 followers crossed the
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
n border, and were arrested as illegal immigrants, on 26 December 1987. After Lakwena's arrest and detainment in Kenya, several former rebels retook up arms and formed what was known as 'Lakwena Part Two'. 'Lakwena Part Two' was less of a unified rebel movement, and more so a broad term encompassing many different rebel groups that operated under a
spiritual medium Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...
. These mediums never engaged in physical combat, but were instead more influential in strategizing and creating the belief system of their armies.


Beliefs

Alice Lakwena felt she was connected to the spiritual world, and could become
possessed by spirits Spirit possession is an unusual or altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors purportedly caused by the control of a human body by spirits, ghosts, demons, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and reli ...
. Alice was a spiritual medium and healer in her town of Gulu, which was a common role for women to hold. However, Alice claimed to be a ''nebi'', which is the Swahili word for '
prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
' instead of ''ajwaka'', the Swahili word for a normal medium. Alice followed Catholicism, but it is widely unknown if she converted because her spirits instructed her to, or if she converted before becoming 'possessed'. Alice became possessed by spirits in either January or May 1985. According to reports, she grew numb and disappeared into the bush, where she claims she spent 40 days and 40 nights living off of the wilderness. She also claimed to be possessed by several ghosts, including a North Korean,
Miriam Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The Tor ...
, and Medina. Her 'chief spirit' was the one that communicated God's word directly to her. The 'chief spirit' was an Italian man who had died by drowning in the Nile at the age of 95; he was called 'Lakwena' which means 'the messenger' in the Acholi language. Her main reason for violent war efforts was to 'purify the aggrieved Northern Acholi people'. Lakwena was repeatedly cited as telling Alice to cleanse tribes of their sins, and to eradicate "bad people", both within her ranks and outside of them. The men that fought for her were fully convinced they were fighting for God and proper judgement, not against an enemy. As such, she convinced her followers to take up arms against the National Resistance Army (NRA) under
Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
and restore Acholi purity and supremacy. This goal slowly began to become more universal as time progressed, with Alice modifying her goals for Acholi purity to aim more for total African and global purity. Rules for Alice's Holy Spirit Battalion (called Holy Spirit Safety Precautions) were biblical in format and unusual in content. Things such as sexual intercourse, alcohol consumption, tobacco usage, and certain foods were prohibited. It was also prohibited for followers to be angry, to eat food cooked in a saucepan, to have more or less than two testicles, to eat with people not anointed with oils, and to kill snakes. Oftentimes, soldiers would receive odd instructions, like reciting
mantra A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...
-like phrases on the front lines before proceeding into battle, and sprinkling themselves with water before drinking after a battle. After being recruited as a follower, Alice would cleanse a person of their past sins, by placing her hands on their head. This signified her role as a spiritual elder of sorts. In terms of weaponry, Alice Lakwena convinced her soldier followers that she gave them special weaponry that was enhanced by spiritual powers. For example, she told soldiers that rocks she gave them would turn into
grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...
s when thrown, and if they drank water that had been blessed, then they would be immune to gunfire, as any
bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...
s that they came into contact with would immediately turn into water. Alice also created charms and potions with snake-bone and beeswax that followers were told would turn into swarms of animals and insects when thrown at enemy troops. The media (western and local) played a role in reporting about Alice's Holy Spirit Movement. This caused her to create a branch of the movement called the Department of Information and Publicity. This bureaucratic organization worked to create a softer image of the brutal practices of the HSM. Alice and Lakwena also gave an interview in October 1987 to try to clear the air about their motives and goals in fighting.


References

{{Authority control Rebel groups in Uganda Lord's Resistance Army Christian new religious movements Religion in Uganda