Joshua blahyi autobiography of a yogi

Joshua Milton Blahyi born 30 September , better known by his nom de guerre General Butt Naked , is a Liberian evangelical preacher, writer and former warlord best known for his actions during the First Liberian Civil War. During the conflict, Blahyi led a group of soldiers which fought on the side of the anti-rebel group United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy ULIMO before converting to Christianity and becoming a pastor in Born in the Liberian capital of Monrovia to a Krahn family, Blahyi was handed by his father to several tribal elders who initiated him as a high priest in at the age of eleven.

Tolbert in , the new regime employed Blahyi to perform black magic rituals at the presidential palace in Monrovia to help him win the general election. During the conflict, Blahyi and his men, a group of soldiers known as the Naked Base Commandos, fought without clothing and perpetrated numerous atrocities, including child sacrifice and cannibalism.

Blahyi abandoned his life as a warlord and turned to preaching after undergoing a religious conversion in , attributing these actions to receiving a vision of Jesus. In , Blahyi testified at the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission , claiming that his victims numbered at least 20, individuals. The public testimony brought mixed reactions and led to international attention, leading Blahyi to be featured in several documentaries.

He was born into a Krahn family, some of whom resided in Sinoe County , located in the south of the country; among the Krahn people, belief in child sacrifice and black magic was common. As Blahyi noted in his memoirs, the role of high priest included overseeing human sacrifices. Blahyi, like other Krahn priests, would use visions to determine which individual would be sacrificed.

During the conflict, Blahyi became a warlord, leading a unit of several dozen combatants consisting primarily of child soldiers known as the Naked Base Commandos which operated primarily around the Monrovia area. The unit, including Blahyi himself, frequently wore no clothing except for their shoes and magic charms , earning Blahyi the nom de guerre 'General Butt Naked'.

Blahyi claimed that this practice made him and his soldiers "immune to bullets.

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Blahyi would later claim that he had received a vision from the Devil during the conflict; in the vision, the Devil told him that he would become "a great warrior and should practice human sacrifice and cannibalism to increase his power. I would dive under the water, grab one, carry him under and break his neck. Sometimes I'd cause accidents.