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{{Short description|Ugandan militant religious group}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

The '''Holy Spirit Movement''' ('''HSM''') was a [[Christianity in Uganda|Ugandan]] [[religious syncretism|religiously syncretic]] [[Christianity|Christian]] militant rebel organization centered upon its founder, self-declared [[spirit medium]] and [[prophetess]] [[Alice Lakwena|Alice Lakwena (Auma)]]. Alice, an ethnic [[Acholi people|Acholi]],<ref name="loc-uganda-countryguide">{{cite book|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html|title=Uganda: A Country Study|publisher=The US Library of Congress}}</ref> 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)|insurgency (1986–1994)]]. It may have inspired [[Joseph Kony]] to begin his [[Lord's Resistance Army]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Warlord|url=https://invisiblechildren.com/challenge/kony/|access-date=2020-12-03|website=Invisible Children|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=DOOM|first1=R.|last2=VLASSENROOT|first2=K.|title=Kony's Message: A New Koine?The Lord's Resistance Army in Northern Uganda|date=1999-01-01|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a008002|journal=African Affairs|volume=98|issue=390|pages=5–36|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a008002|issn=0001-9909|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Van Acker|first=F.|date=2004-07-01|title=Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army: the new order no one ordered|journal=African Affairs|volume=103|issue=412|pages=335–357|doi=10.1093/afraf/adh044|issn=0001-9909|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{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 were used interchangeably.<ref name=":0" />

==Growth==

Following the collapse of [[Tito Okello]]'s [[Uganda National Liberation Army]] (UNLA), several soldiers left to create a separatist guerilla movement headed by [[Odong Latek]], the [[Uganda People's Democratic Army]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Allen|first=Tim|date=July 1991|title=Understanding Alice: Uganda's Holy Spirit Movement in context|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/abs/understanding-alice-ugandas-holy-spirit-movement-in-context/DE89E3724443D29715DE5303EC10CE5B|journal=Africa|language=en|volume=61|issue=3|pages=370–399|doi=10.2307/1160031|jstor=1160031|s2cid=145668917 |issn=1750-0184|url-access=subscription}}</ref> This army fought for [[Acholi people|Acholi]] supremacy over regions historically belonging to the ethnic group.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Day|first=Christopher R.|date=2011-07-01|title=The Fates of Rebels: Insurgencies in Uganda|url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny/cp/2011/00000043/00000004/art00005;jsessionid=gry93b9pr0og.x-ic-live-03|journal=Comparative Politics|volume=43|issue=4|pages=439–458|doi=10.5129/001041511796301623|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The horror in Northern Uganda|url=https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~mbaba20h/classweb/worldpolitics/lra%20background.html|access-date=2020-12-03|website=mtholyoke.edu}}</ref>

In 1986, Holy Spirit Movement founder Alice Lakwena (at the age of 27) and her supporters were given weapons by former UNLA officers.<ref name=":0" /> 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]] and [[Kitgum District|Kitgum]] districts of Uganda.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Behrend|first=Heike|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BhZrWzSW0TUC&q=holy+spirit+movement+uganda&pg=PA20|title=Spirit Possession, Modernity & Power in Africa|date=1999|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-299-16634-2|language=en}}</ref> The Holy Spirit Battalion and the UPDA held a steady alliance until the Battle of Corner Kilak yielded a more contentious relationship.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" />

Independently in April 1987, another 'spiritual medium', [[Joseph Kony]], held a Holy Spirit Army of his own, consisting of over 5,000 men, including defectors from the UPDA's Black Battalion.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Apuuli|first=K P|date=2007-10-18|title=Amnesty and international law: the case of the Lord\'s resistance army insurgents in Northern Uganda|journal=African Journal on Conflict Resolution|volume=5|issue=2|doi=10.4314/ajcr.v5i2.39391|issn=1562-6997|doi-access=free}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" />

Lakwena launched an offensive in Southern Uganda in August 1987, as her numbers grew stronger and stronger.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" /> After fighting a fairly successful campaign in Uganda, Lakwena and 118 followers crossed the [[Kenya]]n border, and were arrested as illegal immigrants, on 26 December 1987.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Alice Lakwena and the Holy Spirit movement|url=https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/magazine/alice-lakwena-and-the-holy-spirit-movement-1308008|access-date=2020-12-03|website=The East African|date=6 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

After Lakwena's arrest and detention in Kenya, several former rebels again took up arms and formed what was known as 'Lakwena Part Two'.<ref name=":0" /> 'Lakwena Part Two' was less of a unified rebel movement, and more broadly encompassed different rebel groups that operated under a [[Spirit medium|spiritual medium]].<ref name=":0" /> These mediums never engaged in physical combat, but were instead more influential in strategizing and creating the belief system of their armies.<ref name=":0" />

==Beliefs==

Alice Lakwena felt she was connected to the spiritual world, and could become [[Spirit possession|possessed by spirits]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

Alice was a spiritual medium and healer in her town of Gulu, which was a common role for women to hold.<ref name=":3" /> However, Alice claimed to be a ''nebi'', which is the Swahili word for '[[prophet]]' instead of ''ajwaka'', the Swahili word for a normal medium.<ref name=":0" /> Alice followed Catholicism, but it is widely unknown if she converted because her spirits instructed her to, or if she converted before becoming 'possessed'.<ref name=":0" />

Alice claimed to become possessed by spirits in either January or May 1985.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" /> She also claimed to be possessed by several ghosts, including a North Korean, [[Miriam]], and Medina.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /> Her 'chief spirit' was the one that communicated God's word directly to her.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> 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.<ref name=":0" />

Her main reason for violent war efforts was to 'purify the aggrieved Northern Acholi people'.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2007-01-18|title=Uganda's mystic rebel leader dies|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6274313.stm|access-date=2020-12-03}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" /> The men that fought for her were fully convinced they were fighting for God and proper judgement, not against an enemy.<ref name=":0" /> As such, she convinced her followers to take up arms against the [[National Resistance Army|National Resistance Army (NRA)]] under [[Yoweri Museveni]] and restore Acholi purity and supremacy.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Allen|first=Tim|title=Lord's Resistance Army: Myth and Reality|publisher=Zed Books|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84813-903-9|location=London, England}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":1" />

Rules for Alice's Holy Spirit Battalion (called Holy Spirit Safety Precautions) were biblical in format and unusual in content.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Hutchinson|first=Sharon|date=2000|title=Review of Alice Lakwena and the Holy Spirits: War in Northern Uganda 1986-1997|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/220674|journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies|volume=33|issue=2|pages=399–400|doi=10.2307/220674|jstor=220674|issn=0361-7882|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Things such as sexual intercourse, alcohol consumption, tobacco usage, and certain foods were prohibited.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> 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.<ref name=":0" /> Oftentimes, soldiers would receive odd instructions, like reciting [[mantra]]-like phrases on the front lines before proceeding into battle, and sprinkling themselves with water before drinking after a battle.<ref name=":0" /> 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 (Christianity)|elder]] of sorts.<ref name=":0" />

In terms of weaponry, Alice Lakwena convinced her soldier followers that she gave them special weaponry that was enhanced by spiritual powers.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" /> For example, she told soldiers that rocks she gave them would turn into [[grenade]]s when thrown,<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Alice Lakwena's Holy Spirit Movement|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/hsm.htm|access-date=2020-12-03|website=globalsecurity.org}}</ref> and if they drank water that had been blessed, then they would be immune to gunfire, as any [[bullet]]s that they came into contact with would immediately turn into water.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite news|date=24 October 1987|title=Alice in Uganda's Bloody Wonderland|newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>

The media (western and local) played a role in reporting about Alice's Holy Spirit Movement.<ref name=":0" /> This caused her to create a branch of the movement called the Department of Information and Publicity.<ref name=":4" /> This bureaucratic organization worked to create a softer image of the brutal practices of the HSM.<ref name=":4" /> Alice and Lakwena also gave an interview in October 1987 to try to clear the air about their motives and goals in fighting.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rebel groups in Uganda]]
[[Category:Lord's Resistance Army]]
[[Category:Christian new religious movements]]
[[Category:Religion in Uganda]]

Holy Spirit Movement - Revision history

imported>Brenda Namulinda: Removed wikilink #MEUG25