A West African Vodun View of Demonic Forces

A View of Demonic Energy from the Afrikan Vodún Perspective
In general theory, the demons have their own sphere. The demons not only live in the dark spiritual worlds (Yɛ́tɔ́mɛ Tágbà), they also live in various aspects of manifestation, including our minds and bodies, as tendencies and impulses. When they invade bodies, people lose their discretion and indulge in senseless acts of violence, anger, cruelty, delusion, greed, pride and lust. Many even pursue these things under some distorted guise that they are doing the right thing. When enough people thus engage, as we can see in our  communities, the demonic becomes the new “norm”. By collective name, in African Vodun the demons are called Yɛ Kplinu. For humans, the earth  is a battleground for the Yɛkplinu and the Hùn (deities) with the Yɛ Kplinu trying to overtake the  mind and soul of the human.
Conceptual rendering of a powerful Yɛ Kplinu
Depending upon our state of mind-soul and propensities, we may  nurture either the deities or the demons that that are present. If we  “feed” the divinitie, and good  thoughts and actions, we allow the divinities to grow in strength  and help us in our self-transformation and liberation. On the  contrary, if we “feed” the demons, they grow in strength and  transform our minds and bodies into virtual hells with the same actions manifesting from that hell. What we do  and what we sow within our consciousness, therefore, is of utmost importance in our lives and our wellbeing.
The sacred Vodún teachings called Hwlεngãn describes the demonic beings as destructive, cruel and  deluded beings, who most often do not acknowledge Mãwù (the Creator) or Her  role as the sole controller of the universe. Because of their self perpetuated  ignorance, they most often will lack respect. Even if they do claim to “worship” Mãwù, they do so  out of egoism and vanity, to satisfy their personal desires and  show off their power and status. If it suits them, they worship Mãwù but if they deem it necessary, they do not mind to  oppose Mãwù and fight with Mãwù.
For those hosting the demonic, the true enemy is within themselves. The demonic loves darkness. The  divine, or those seeking such, love light. The demonic beings  perform actions selfishly out of vanity and egoism; the divine  beings perform actions selflessly as offerings to a divine life. The demonic people love to spread chaos, they love noise (especially early in the morning and late at night), confusion and disorder; the
light beings love to spread peace, happiness and orderliness.
Some Expressions of the Demonic
  • Lack of discrimination: Demonic people lack discrimination since  their intelligence is deluded by ignorance and impurities. Therefore, they do not know what actions should be performed and what should be avoided. They refuse to choose right over  wrong and they do not spiritually investigate; as they are opposed to pure spirit by nature.
  • Considerable Lack of balance: Demonic people lack balance. The  go to extremes in performing their actions or voicing their  opinions, with little consideration for their strengths and weakness and in disproportion to their wealth or power.
  • Lack of virtue: Demonic people do not believe in virtuous  conduct.
  • Lack of and aversion towards proper knowledge: They often will hold perverted opinions about  the nature of the world and creation.
  • Lack of compassion: Since they cannot discern the truth of  our existence, they engage in hostile and cruel actions seeking the destruction.
  • Lack of respect for truth and justice: Driven by  expectations and given over to thoughts of lust and anger, they try to amass wealth by unjust and unlawful means for  the fulfillment of desires.
  • Lack of respect for tradition: Conceited, arrogant, proud,  and intoxicated by desire wealth, they perform sacrifices for  namesake only out of vanity and against tradition.
  • Lack of devotion to Mãwù
  • Lack of respect for the inner Self
In the beginning, the demons used to live in faraway worlds of  total darkness. Later they began living in remote places upon  earth, where light could not enter. Then they began entering  people’s thoughts, as their minds became polluted with  degeneracy. In this age of Uga Azi (last and most degraded of the perpetual four ages of the world; a concept we adopted from the Igbo cosmology),  the world will increasingly become vulnerable to demonic nature,  whereby people lose their sense of right and wrong and become
excessively materialistic and demonic.
Nowadays they live very much inside of people as they begin more and more to give themselves completely to the dominance of the lower being. They demonic powers are now not only influencing people from the outside, but also from the inside. The demons  are being allowed to conquer the world, at least temporarily, until another  incarnation comes. In fact, all religions are completely under their sway. This is why we find that some of the most foul, darkhearted and vehement people are some of the loudest when it  comes to religion and what they often misnomer as spirituality.
Keep in mind that the Yɛ Kplinu demonic spirits cannot exercise any real power that effects our everyday world without human hosts. When allowed to enter the human and accumulate in certain areas with other humans are likewise influenced, the foundations for spiritual vortexes are laid. Eventually whole cities or the majority of certain cities become a vortext breeding ground for the Yɛ Kplinu. Just take a good look at Atlanta.
We must overstand without a doubt that we are war with various factions; both human and spiritual. We must be equipped. Watch the type of energy you allow to enter your home. Watch the type of energy you’re around at any given time. Clean your houses and vehicles with copal and/or sage (I highly favor copal). Be very mindful of a healthy diet, as there are certain demonic spirits that try to enter through such (we have currently identified, by name, 27 Yɛ Kplinu…they are expounded upon in a section of our 6 hour Vodun Video series that we have for sell at this link).