8 - Alice & the Spirits

Summary

So far, this study has on the whole neglected the actors in the drama of the Holy Spirit Movement. Now I would like to remedy this. In this chapter, the prophetess Alice Lakwena will be presented as the protagonist. But only from an outside perspective does she appear as the agent or leader of the Holy Spirit Movement. From a local perspective, it was rather the spirits of the HSM and especially the spirit Lakwena, who were the true agents. For this reason, the biography of Alice's father's and the story of his vocation will first be presented briefly, and then the spirits of the HSM, their characteristics, their tasks and their discourse will be described.

The Story of the Vocation of Severino Lukoya

Severino Lukoya, Alice's father, was among the founders of the Holy Spirit Movement. Together with Alice, he went to Paraa (see pp. 30ff.) and is responsible for the fact that ‘the story of the journey to Paraa’ advanced to become the myth of the origin of the HSM. But he liked to introduce this story with the story of his own vocation, thus putting himself at the beginning of the movement. Alice, however, rejected her father's hegemonic claims and sent him away when he came to Opit to join the movement. This did not prevent her from using for her own discourse certain aspects of the cosmology he had devised. Only after her defeat in October 1987 was Severino able to build up his own movement with the remaining Holy Spirit soldiers.

On 12 August 1948, God chose Severino Lukoya as his beloved son. When Severino was reading Chapter 47 of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (about the judgment of Babel), God shone a bright light on the open pages of the Bible. Then Severino heard a voice calling his name, and saying:

I will care for you as my beloved son. Because you are poor, I will help you get a wife. I will send you away from home. When you are married, I will give you children. You will be blessed, because we have entered into a covenant. From now on, I will send you to places where you can earn your living.