Alice Auma - The Tale of Paraa

The Tale of Paraa

While Alice’s practice as a medium immediately after returning to Gulu does not seem to have been particularly successful, the tale of Paraa became the central text of the Holy Spirit Movement, in particular in the discourse about the insurgency being a rebellion of nature itself, and deserves explication. According to the story, Lakwena first held court with all the animals of the park on the theme of the ongoing war in the south and destruction of the environment by warring parties:

Lakwena said to the animals: ‘You animals, God sent me to ask you whether you bear responsibility for the bloodshed in Uganda.’ The animals denied blame, and the buffalo displayed a wound on his leg, and the hippopotamus displayed a wound on his arm.

Lakwena then questioned the water about the war:

Lakwena said to the waterfall: ‘Water, I am coming to ask you about the sins and bloodshed in this world.’ And the water said: ‘The people with two legs kill their brothers and throw their bodies into the water.’ The spirit asked the water what it did with the sinners, and the water said: ‘I fight against the sinners, for they are the ones to blame for the bloodshed. Go and fight against the sinners, because they throw their brothers into the water.

After briefly returning home, Lakwena led Alice to Mount Kilak, which greeted their arrival with large explosions, to deal with the issue of witchcraft:

The spirit Lakwena said to the mountain or to the rock: ‘God has sent me to find out why there is theft in the world.’ The mountain answered: ‘I have gone nowhere and have stolen no one’s children. But people come here to me and name the names of those whom I should kill . Some ask me for medicine . This is the sin of the people. I want to give you water to heal diseases. But you must fight against the sinners.

In the climax to the story, God Himself specifies who is to blame for all of the suffering and bloodshed:

God said that there was a tribe in Uganda that was hated everywhere. This tribe was the Acholi. And God ordered that a lamb be offered, so that they should repent their sins and to put an end to the bloodshed in Acholi.