Spirits of Chaos: The Violent Rituals of Destruction and Power

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a love for good horror/scary stories, shows, and movies. This interest goes back to when my mother introduced me to them when I was a child in the 1980s. Over my lifetime, I have probably seen every subcategory of the genre from the innocence of the monsters on Scooby Doo to the stories of Unsolved Mysteries all the way up to the terror of Hannibal, Jigsaw, Leatherface, Jason, Freddy, and Michael Myers.

But there are certain scary things that I may watch on TV but I will not touch to this day. Reality can be scarier than any story or movie. If you don’t believe me, read the Old Testament and Ancient History. If you know anything about the stories Ouija boards, the Bell Witch, and the Candy Man you will know these are things that scared us to the point that we draw a line. Those of us in the Black Community from Tennessee were taught not to mess with spirits. Even though the elders in my family never went into detail about the reasoning behind why we shouldn’t practice certain things, they taught us reverence for the spirit world and that we were not supposed to play around with it. They let us know that you do not conjure spirits because you cannot control them.

As I have gotten older and started to understand more about Hoodoo, Vodou/Vodún, and Christian Mysticism (contemplative and meditation practices) I learned the importance of connection between the earth and connection to the spirit world through the “conjuring” up to make things better for ourselves and others. Maybe the word “conjure” is too provocative for you and has too much of a negative stigma. Let me make it a little more churchy for you. Praying, hoping, “stirring up” good works may sit better with you. Either way, we are wanting the spiritual world to help us in our physical realm. This is why prayer and Koinonia are so powerful. The Spirit of God is invoked to work on our behalf and to work with us so we can do Kingdom/Kindom work.

Being that I understand that the spiritual realm is real and powerful, I have to be mindful not to conjure up or invoke evil spirits. One time, I walked into a situation where it felt like “Pandora’s Box” had been opened. It was one definitely one situation where felt the presence of the evil. I was drained when I left that situation. But the situation improved before I left. When I got home, I told my wife I believed I was involved in a process of exorcising demons during that event.

Unfortunately, this nation has an infatuation with the invoking and worship of evil spirits. And then we sit back and wonder why things are the way they are. We constantly stir up the evil spirits of hatred, jealousy, envy, violence, deceit, and many more. We consume a steady diet of them by the portals we have opened through our media outlets, our social circles, and even our religious communities. Some of us are getting a consistent saline drip of evil into our spiritual veins every day. We essentially do exactly what our elders and ancestors taught us not to do by conjuring up and worshiping these spirits.

You may think I’m crazy, but how else do you explain the fact that our schools have turned into combat zones instead of learning centers. The first time that the Hebrew word for sin was mentioned in the Bible was during the story of Cain and Abel. Violence and destruction of life has been a part of society for a long time. But this nation seems to worship violence and destruction because it has been in the DNA of several events in history that have defined negative pivotal moments for some people groups (Indigenous & Black Americans). If you don’t believe me, go do an in-depth study of how genocide is an intricate component of colonialism. Read the stories of the following communities: Greenwood in Tulsa, York Hill and Seneca Village in New York, Rosewood in Florida, Henry and McKee Islands in Alabama, Oscarville in Georgia, Kowaliga (Benson) in Alabama, Vanport in Oregon, and many more. The progress of this nation was built upon violence. Read about how the nation expanded West if you don’t believe me.

Even though we may not see portals of evil open up like Hollywood depicts them, we open them up because of our desire to be in control. We may not have the Ouija board or we may not be summoning the Bell Witch or Candyman, but we definitely offer up sacrifices to these evil spirits so that we can have control of situations. I know that we have an issue as a nation when the pulpit and the classroom has always taught me that the Holy Trinity to be worshiped consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Since becoming a grown man, I have learned that these have been replaced with things like power, greed, hatred, guns, presidents, and the Bible. So when I see events like school shootings, mass shootings in general, peaceful protests being met by military style resistance, the insurrection of January 6th, gang violence, and the killing of unarmed individuals, I see spiritual warfare that is being acted out through humanity. It is the acting out of the Cain Effect.

I know my pacifist friends and 2nd Amendment friends may disagree with this next point. But I believe (2) things that seem to oppose each other can both be true at the same time. I don’t have a problem with owning guns. I grew up around them. Some were used for hunting while others were for protection. I believe that all of us who choose to own them should be able to. My problem is the type of guns that we have gained access to and our idol worship of them. While I agree with what Dr. King taught in his non-violent approach, I also agree with Dr. Huey and Bro. Malcolm about protecting and defending yourself.

I’ve heard the statement, “Guns don’t kill, people do.” While that statement sounds cute and we know that if they are used responsibly that everything is okay. Let’s be honest, if those weapons end up in the hands of a vindictive person, the Cain Effect will take place. When weapons of destruction are combined with our evil desires, bad things happen. Since we are dealing with conjured up evil spirits that are fueling our desires and destroying lives, how do we protect our children and school administrators? How do we protect our churches? How do we protect our employees? How do we protect our families? While policy may help, how do we reach the souls of others to help them with the idol worship of their gods that they feel give them power?

In spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.