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“For from the rising of the sun
even to the going down of the same My Name SHALL BE GREAT AMONG THE NATIONS” |
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“Only one life till
soon past only what’s done in Christ will last And when I am dying how glad I shall be if the lamp of my life was been burned out
for Thee” “He is no fool
who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose!” Jim Elliot |
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PRESENT – MOBILIZE – EQUIP – ALERT – EXHORT – SUPPLY –
IMPACT: TO EVANGELISE
THE WORLD - TO EQUIP BELIEVERS |
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Rastafarianism · Jah ·
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Afrocentrism
and Black Pride ·
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Rastafari and other Abrahamic
faiths Related Articles · The worker among the abnormal · The art of praying with Authority · Open-Air
Preaching A Sketch of its history and remarks thereon · How to work for the cure of souls · Definite Directions for
Open air preaching · Golden Calf Worship and Evangelism · Buddhism · Animism · Hinduism Other Articles: ·
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Psychology and the doctrine of
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Kairos Mission(Greek
meaning Harvest Time) is a non-profit organisation which exists
to: Present believers in Christ with resources that will bring them up in Christ, “Whom
we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we
may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus – what is the riches of
the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the
hope of glory” (Col 1) Mobilize believers
in Christ to action in obedience to the Scriptural command to "go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Matthew 28:19) Equip believers
to fulfil their call to reach the lost for Christ, to rightly dividing the
Word of Truth and to be vessels of honour, fit for the master’s use. Alert believers in Christ to unbiblical teachings
and practices impacting evangelism and missions. Exhort believers to give greater heed to Biblical
regulative principles, discernment and truth regarding teachings and
practices being currently promoted in the church and on the mission
enterprise and to establish a platform that will present evangelism and
missions in their right perspective. Supply believers with resources, teaching,
information, and materials which will encourage the love of God's truth, and
assist in the development of Biblical evangelism and love for the lost. Impact the church of Jesus Christ with the
necessity of trusting the Scriptures as the only rule of faith, practice, and
a life pleasing to God so to impact the world for Christ. Evangelise the lost reaching those that are reached and unreached with the gospel
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Community
enrichment. We are committed to through the gospel present help to the needs
of humanity and the community where it may be found – on the street, in the
home and elsewhere! PRESENT – MOBILIZE – EQUIP – ALERT – EXHORT – SUPPLY –
IMPACT: TO EVANGELISE THE WORLD TO EQUIP BELIEVERS THE EMPTINESS OF THE WORLD Do
not even such things as are most bitter to the flesh, tend to awaken
Christians to faith and prayer, to a sight of the emptiness of this world,
and the fadingness of the best it yield? Doth not God by these things
(ofttimes) call our sins to remembrance, and provoke us to amendment of life?
How then can we be offended at things by which we reap so much
good?....Therefore if mine enemy hunger, let me feed him; if he thirst, let
me give him drink. Now in order to do this, (1) We must see good in that, in
which other men can see none. (2) We must pass by those injuries that other
men would revenge. (3) We must show we have grace, and that we are made to bear
what other men are not acquainted with. (4) Many of our graces are kept
alive, by those very things that are the death of other men's souls.... The
devil, (they say) is good when he is pleased; but Christ and His saints, when
displeased. The Revival Hymn Messages and Articles in Afrikaans Mp3 Boodskappe Kan God n mens van ALLE sonde verlos? Leon Redelinghuys MP3 Messages Evangelism Basics part 1 - Jan Boshoff How to find God's Will for your life - R
Comfort The Path to Power and Usefullness - A W
Tozer Why do you call Me good? Bill Randles |
Rastafarians
are members of a Jamaican messianic movement dating back to the Haile Selassie (1892-1975) was the Emperor of
Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. Rastas claim that he was the reincarnation of
Jesus Christ and therefore an incarnation of Jah onto the Earth. They also
claim that he will lead the righteous into creating a perfect world, called
"Zion." Zion would be the ultimate paradise for Rastas. Zion is
identified as the New Jerusalem which has be known to be lalibela named after
the emperor lalibela in lasta amhara rigion in the highlands of Ethiopia ref
[kebra negast], the very Habitation of the Godhead (Trinity)creator,
Rastafari [Ras= head Tafari=creator] , and is also geographically located
nowhere else but Ethiopia according to the Bible, especially in the books of
Isaiah and Psalms. Rastafari are monotheists,worshipping a singular
god whom they call Jah. Rastas see Jah as being in the form of the Holy
Trinity, that is, God being the God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Rastas say that Jah, in the form of the Holy Spirit (incarnate),
lives within the human, and for this reason they often refer to themselves as
"I and I". Furthermore, "I and I" is used instead of
"We", and is used in this way to emphasise the equality between all
people, in the recognition that the Holy Spirit within us all makes us
essentially one and the same. Rastas usually accept the Christian doctrine
that God incarnated onto the Earth in the form of Jesus Christ, to give his
teachings to humanity. However, they often feel his teachings were corrupted
by Babylon. Many Rastas, in accordance with their assertion that "word,
sound is power", also object specifically to the English pronunciation
of his name (/dʒi:zəs/) as impure, preferring instead to use the forms in Hebrew
(Yeshu) or Amharic ('Iyesus). Integral to some mansions of Rastafari is the
belief that Jah, as the Messiah/Christ or anointed one by his anointment and
blood "king of kings seed of david/solomon". He was also the direct
line of mohammed making him also the head of islam , god being incarnated again,
this time as the Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie (Ras Tafari Makonnen).he
was also a priest of the order of Melchizedek like all the Emperors of
Ethiopia. A few Rastas also claim that Melchizedek, an Old Testament figure,
was a previous incarnation of
Jah.
Rasta doctrines concerning the Holy Trinity
are mostly related to the name "Haile Selassie" meaning "Power
of the Trinity or powerfull trinty" in Ge'ez, but the exact significance
of this tends to vary. Many Rastas claim that Haile Selassie I God the Father
and [[Son of God|God the Son/Yahoshua/Jesus]and the [holy spirt "haile
sellassie"] are the Holy Trinity, while all human beings potentially
embody the Holy Spirit. Many Rastas say that Jesus Christ is an
incarnation of God on Earth. They consider that Jesus gave Jah's teachings to
humanity, but they were distorted by Babylon. For this reason, it was
prophesied in the [[Book of Revelation the old testament and the new
testament] "And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and
there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of
the children of Israel." that Jesus would return with a new name
that would be inscribed on the foreheads of 144,000 of his most devoted
servants. Rastas hold that this was fufilled when Haile Selassie was crowned
King of Kings Nov. 2nd 1930, whom they see as the second coming of Jesus or
the coming of the holy spirt and therefore Jah, onto the Earth. Rastas say that Jesus was black, and that
white society (or Babylon) has commonly depicted him as white for centuries
in order to suppress the truth and gain dominion over all peoples.
Emperor Haile Selassie
I of Ethiopia, considered by Rastas to be the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Haile Selassie
(1892-1975) was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. Rastas claim that
he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and therefore an incarnation of Jah
onto the Earth. They also claim that he will lead the righteous into creating
a perfect world, called "Zion." Zion would be the ultimate paradise
for Rastas. Zion is identified as the New Jerusalem which has be known to be
lalibela named after the emperor lalibela in lasta amhara rigion in the
highlands of Ethiopia ref [kebra negast], the very Habitation of the Godhead
(Trinity)creator, Rastafari [Ras= head Tafari=creator] , and is also
geographically located no where else but Ethiopia according to the Bible,
especially in the books of Isiah and Psalms. From Genesis to Revelation,
Ethiopia is mentioned and plays the most significant role of any place in the
universe. Rastas say that Haile
Selassie's coming was prophesied from Genesis to the Book of Revelation.
Genesis, Chapter 1: "God made man in His own image." Where did He
put him; in Ethiopia, along the River Nile (gehon river or blue nile). Psalm
#2: "Yet I set my Holy king/ On My Holy hill of Zion" Which is
identified by them as Jesus Christ. Psalm 87:4-6 is also interpreted as
predicting the coronation of Haile Selassie I. During his coronation,
Selassie was given many of the same titles used in the Bible, such as
"King of Kings," "Elect of God," and "Conquering
Lion of the Tribe of Judah the author of mankind" are just some of more
than 38 titles and anointments." This is one of the primary reasons and
fullfilments he is held to be God incarnate. Rastas also refer to Selassie as
"His Imperial Majesty" and "Jah Rastafari". The very name
"Rastafari" comes from his own name. Of great importance is
that Rastafari[3] do not accept that God could die and thus insist
that Selassie's 1975 supposed death was a hoax, and that He is still here in
the flesh and in the spirit and will return to liberate his followers and
vanquish all Evil, Restoring His Creation. A few Rastas today consider this a
partial fulfilment of prophecy found in the apocalyptic 2 Esdras 7:28.From
Genesis to Revelation. For Rastafari, His
Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, the first King of Kings, Lord of
Lords, conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah, remains their God and their King.[8]
They see Selassie as being worthy of worship, and as having stood with great
dignity in front of the world's press and in front of representatives of many
of the world's powerful nations, especially during his appeal to the League
of Nations in 1936, when he was still the only independent black monarch in
Africa.[8] From the beginning the Rastas, decided that their
personal loyalty lay with Africa's only black monarch, Selassie, and that
they themselves were in effect as free citizens of Ethiopia, loyal to its
Emperor and devoted to its flag. In the 10th century
BC, the Solomonic Dynasty of Ethiopia is said to have been founded by Menelik
I, the son of Solomon and Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, who had visited Solomon
in Israel. 1 Kings 10:13 claims "And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of
Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave
her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and
her servants." On the basis of the Ethiopian national epic, the Kebra
Negast, Rastas interpret this verse as meaning she conceived his child,
and from this, conclude that African people are among the true children of
Israel, or Jews. Beta Israel black Jews have lived in Ethiopia for centuries,
disconnected from the rest of Judaism; their existence has given some impetus
to Rastafari, as they feel it validates their assertion that Ethiopia is
Zion. Haile Selassie was the 225th in an unbroken line of Ethiopian monarchs
who descended from the Biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Rastas assert that Zion
(i.e., Africa, especially Ethiopia) is a land that Jah promised to them. To
achieve this, they reject modern western society, calling it "Babylon",
which they see as entirely corrupt.[3][5][9] "Babylon"
is considered to have been in rebellion against "Earth's Rightful
Ruler" (Jah) ever since the days of the Biblical king Nimrod. Some Rastas claim
themselves to represent the real Children of Israel or children of god which
is a main reason for why they call themselves after his name that the word
rasta derived from he's first crowning of three Ras Tafari, in modern times,
and their goal is to repatriate to Africa, or to Zion. Rasta reggae is peppered
with references to Zion; among the best-known examples are the Bob Marley
songs '"Zion Train," "Iron Lion Zion," and the Damian
Marley song "Road to Zion,". Reggae groups such as Steel Pulse and Cocoa
Tea also have many references to Zion in their various songs. In recent
years, such references have also "crossed over" into pop music
thanks to artists like, Ben Harper, Soldiers of Jah Army SOJA, Jah Roots, H.I.M.,
Sound System, Sinéad O'Connor, Lauryn Hill, Dreadzone with the reggae-tinged
track "Zion Youth.", Xavier Naidoo with his album titled
"Zion" (2000)[[Ras Rebell]] and the song "look noh" . Many Rastas are
physical immortalists who maintain that the chosen few will continue to live
forever in their current bodies. This is commonly called
"Everliving" life, particularly in the context of "Life
Everliving with Jah" as king and Amharic the official language. This
replaces the term "everlasting", as "last" in
"everlasting" implies an end (as in the term "at last"), whereas
Rastas say their life will never have an end. A good expression of
this doctrine is in Lincoln Thompson's song "Thanksgiving". After
asking "What's destroying life?" he says, "Tell I if you
know." Paraphrasing the Bible, he continues, "There are too many
dead bodies lying around me... in a true reality, down in the grave there is
no life. In silence there you'll be, with no-one to hear nor see, and no
matter what you saw, when you are dead you cannot praise Jah." Another
may be seen in the lyrics to the Third World's anthem, "96 Degrees in
the Shade": As sure as the Sun
shine Way up in the sky, Today I stand here a
victim - The truth is I'll
never die... Perhaps the most well
known example of this is Bob Marley refusal to write a will despite suffering
from the final stages of an advanced metastasized cancer (and the resulting
controversy surrounding the distribution of his estate after his death) on
the grounds that writing a will would mean he was "giving in to
death" and forgoing his chance at everliving life. There are some
descriptions of something like paradise, but on earth, in Rastafari poetry
and reggae lyrics. Bunny Wailer's song "Dreamland" and Marley's
"Rainbow Country" are well known paraphrases for a better life in a
literal or spiritual Africa. One of the key focuses
of Rastas is on Afrocentrism. They teach that Africa, in particular Ethiopia,
is where Zion, or paradise, shall be created. As such Rastafari orients
itself around African culture. Rastafari holds that
evil society, or "Babylon" has always been white-dominated, and has
committed such acts of aggression against the African people as the Atlantic
slave trade. Despite this Afrocentrism and focus on people of the black race,
members of other races, including whites, are found and accepted by Blacks
among the movement, for most believe Rasta is for all people. Rastafari developed
among poor Jamaicans of African descent who felt they were oppressed and that
society was apathetic to their problems. Marcus Garvey, who is viewed as a
prophet of Jah, was a keen proponent of the "back to Africa"
movement, advocating that all people of the black race should return to their
ancestral homeland of Africa. Many early Rastas for
a time believed in black supremacy. Widespread advocacy of this belief was
shortlived, at least partly because of Haile Selassie's explicit condemnation
of racism in an October 1963 speech before the United Nations. Most Rastas
now espouse the doctrine that racial animosities must be set aside, with
world peace and harmony being common themes. One of the three major modern
houses of Rastafari—the Twelve Tribes of Israel—has specifically condemned
all types of racism, and declared that the teachings of the Bible are the
route to spiritual liberation for people of any racial or ethnic background.
During his famous UN address (which provided the lyrics for the Carlton
Barrett and Bob Marley song "War"), Haile Selassie made the
following statement: "On the question
of racial discrimination, the Addis Ababa Conference taught, to those who
will learn, this further lesson: that until the philosophy which holds one
race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and
abandoned; that until there are no longer first class and second class citizens
of any nation; that until the color of a man's skin is of no more
significance than the color of his eyes; that until the basic human rights
are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; that until that day,
the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of
international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but
never attained. And... until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman
self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will;
until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all
men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; until that day, the African continent
will not know peace." He concluded this
speech with the words, "We must become members of a new race, overcoming
petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our
fellow men within the human community." Some Rastafari learn Amharic,
which some consider to be the original language, both because this was the
language of Haile Selassie I, and in order to further their identity as
Ethiopian. There are reggae songs written in Amharic. Rastafari is a
strongly syncretic Abrahamic religion that draws extensively from the Bible.
Adherents look particularly to the New Testament Book of Revelation, as this
is where they find the prophecies about the divinity of Haile Selassie.
Rastas claim that they, and the rest of the black race, are descendants of
the ancient twelve tribes of Israel, cast into captivity
outside Africa as a result of the slave trade. Some
assert that only half of the Bible has been written, and that the other half,
stolen from them along with their culture, is written in a man's heart. This
concept also embraced the idea that even the illiterate can be Rastas by
reading God's Word in their hearts. Rastas also see the lost half of the
Bible, and the whole of their lost culture to be found in the Ark of the Covenant,
a repository of African wisdom, which is allegedly located in Ethiopia. Rastafari
are criticised, particularly by Christian
groups[who?], for taking Biblical quotes out
of context, for picking and choosing what they want from the
Bible, and for bringing elements into Rastafari that do not appear in the
Bible. A great interest in the Amharic Orthodox version of the Bible,
authorized by Haile Selassie I in the 1950s, has arisen among Rastas.
Selassie himself wrote in the preface to this version that "unless [one]
accepts with clear conscience the Bible and its great Message, he cannot hope
for salvation," thus confirming and coinciding with what the Rastafari
themselves had been preaching since the beginning of the movement.[10] The Kebra Nagast,
the national epic of Ethiopia,
is also taken as important amongst many Rastas. There
are two types of Rasta religious ceremonies. Reasoning
A
"reasoning" is a simple event where the Rastas gather, smoke cannabis
("ganja"), and discuss ethical, social, and religious issues. The
person honored by being allowed to light the herb says a short prayer
beforehand, and the ganja is passed in a clockwise fashion except in time of
war when it is passed counterclockwise. Grounation
A
"grounation" or "binghi" is a holy day; the
name "binghi" is derived from "Nyabinghi",
believed to be an ancient, and now extinct, order of militant blacks in
eastern Africa that vowed to end oppression. Binghis are marked by much
dancing, singing, feasting, and the smoking of ganja, and can last for
several days. In
public gatherings, Rastafarians often say the following standard prayer, with
several variants, comparable to the Lord's Prayer: "Princes
and princesses shall come forth out of Egypt, Ethiopia now stretch forth her
hands before JAH. O Thou God of Ethiopia, Thou God of Thy Divine Majesty, Thy
Spirit come into our hearts, to dwell in the parts of righteousness. Lead and
help InI to forgive, that InI may be forgiven. Teach InI Love and loyalty as
it is in Zion, Endow us with Thy wisemind, knowledge and Overstanding to do
thy will, thy blessings to use, that the hungry might be fed, the sick
nourished, the aged protected, and the infant cared for. Deliver InI from the
hands of our enemy, that InI may prove fruitful for these Last Days, when our
enemy have passed and decayed in the depths of the sea, in the depths of the
earth, or in the belly of a beast. O give us a place in Thy Kingdom forever
and ever, so we hail our God JAH Selassie I, Jehovah God, Rastafari, Almighty
God, Rastafari, great and powerful God JAH, Rastafari. Who sitteth and
reigneth in the heart of man and woman, hear us and bless us and sanctify us,
and cause Thy loving Face to shine upon us thy children, that we may be
saved, SELAH." When
lighting a chalice, the following, shorter invocation is often used:
"Glory be to the Faada and to the Maker of Iration, as it were ina the
Iginnin, are now an shall be foriva, world without end, SELAH." Some
important dates when grounations may take place are: ·
January 7 - Oriental Orthodox
Christmas ·
February 6 - The birthday of
Bob Marley ·
May 11 - The day that Bob
Marley passed on. ·
April 21 - The anniversary of
Haile Selassie's visit to Jamaica. Also known as Grounation Day.
·
July 23 - The birthday of
Emperor Haile Selassie ·
August 17 - The birthday of
Marcus Garvey ·
September 11 - Ethiopian New Year ·
November 2 - The coronation
of Haile Selassie Haile
Selassie I Generally,
Rastas assert that their own body is the true church or temple of God,
and so see no need to make temples or churches out of physical buildings.
However, some Rastafarians have created temples, or as some call spiritual
meeting centers in international communities with large Rastafarian
populations.
There
are three main sects or orders of Rastafari today. All agree on the basic
principles of the divine status of Haile Selassie and the importance of black
images of divinity. Many Rastafari do not belong to any sect and the movement
as a whole is loosely defined and organized. The
Nyahbinghi Order (a.k.a. Theocratic Priesthood and Livity Order of Nyabinghi)
is named for Queen Nyahbinghi of Uganda, who fought against colonialists in
the 19th century. This is the oldest of the orders and it focuses mainly on
Haile Selassie, Ethiopia, and the eventual return to Africa. It is overseen
by an Assembly of Elders. Bobo
Shanti was founded by Prince Emanuel Charles Edwards in Jamaica in the 1950s.
"Bobo" means black and "Shanti" refers to the Ashanti
tribe in Ghana, from which this sect believes Jamaican slaves are descended.
Members of Bobo Shanti are also known as Bobo Dreads. In
belief, Bobo Dreads are distinguished by their worship of Prince Emmanuel (in
addition to Haile Selassie) as a reincarnation of Christ and embodiment of
Jah; their emphasis on the return to Africa ("repatriation"); and
their demands for monetary reimbursement for slavery. Members
of the Bobo Shanti order wear long robes and tightly wrapped turbans around
their dreads. They adhere closely to the Jewish Law, including the observance
of the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and hygeine laws for
menstruating women. They live separately from Jamaican society and other
Rastafarians, growing their own produce and selling straw hats and brooms.
They often carry brooms with them to symbolize their cleanliness. The
Twelve Tribes of Israel sect was founded in 1968 by Dr. Vernon "Prophet
Gad" Carrington. It is the most liberal of the Rastafarian orders and
members are free to worship in a church of their choosing. Each member of
this sect belongs to one of the 12 Tribes (or Houses), which is determined by
birth month and is represented by a color. The Standard Israelite calendar
begins in April. The
Twelve Tribes of Israel Napthali-January-Green;
Joseph-February-White; Benjamin-March-Black; Reuben-April-Silver;
Simeon-May-Gold; Levi-June-Purple; Judah-July-Brown; Issachar-August-Yellow;
Zebulon-September-Pink; Dan-October-Blue; Gad-November-Red;
Asher-December-Grey. Main
article: Ital Many
Rastas eat limited types of meat in accordance with the dietary Laws of the Old Testament;
they do not eat shellfish
or pork. Others abstain from all meat and flesh whatsoever, asserting that to
touch meat is to touch death,
and is therefore a violation of the Nazirite vow.
(A few make a special exception allowing fish, while abstaining from all
other forms of flesh.) However, the prohibition against meat only applies to
those who are currently fulfilling a Nazirite vow ("Dreadlocks
Priesthood"), for the duration of the vow. Many Rastafari maintain a vegan or vegetarian diet
all of the time. Food approved for Rastfari is called ital. The purpose of fasting (abstaining
from meat and dairy) is to cleanse the body in accordance to serving in the
presence of the "Ark of the Covenent". Usage
of alcohol is also
generally deemed unhealthy to the Rastafarian way of life, partly because it
is seen as a tool of Babylon to confuse people, and partly because placing
something that is pickled and fermented within oneself is felt to be much
like turning the body (the Temple) into a "cemetery". In
consequence, a rich alternative cuisine has developed in association with
Rastafari tenets, eschewing most synthetic additives, and preferring more
natural vegetables and fruits such as coconut and mango. This cuisine can be
found throughout the Caribbean and in some restaurants throughout the western
world. Some
of the Houses (or "Mansions" as they have come to be known) of the
Rastafari culture, such as the Twelve Tribes of Israel, do not specify diet
beyond that which, to quote Christ in the New Testament, "Is not what
goes into a man's mouth that defile him, but what come out of it". Wine
is seen as a "mocker" and strong drink is "raging";
however, simple consumption of beer or the very common "Roots Wine"
are not systematically a part of Rastafari culture this way or that.
Separating from Jamaican culture, different interpretations on the role of
food and drink within the religion remains up for debate. At official state
banquets Haile Selassie would encourage guests to "eat and drink in your
own way". See
also: Spiritual use of cannabis For
Rastas, smoking cannabis,
usually known as "healing of the nation", "ganja", or
"herb" (from the Sanskrit word, "Ganjika", created by the
Hindus of India), is a spiritual act, often accompanied by Bible study; they
consider it a sacrament
that cleans the body and mind, heals the soul, exalts the consciousness,
facilitates peacefulness, brings pleasure, and brings them closer to Jah. The
burning of the herb is often said to be essential "for it will sting in
the hearts of those that promote and perform evil and wrongs." By the
8th century, cannabis had been introduced by Arab traders to Central and
Southern Africa, where it is known as "dagga"[11] and
many Rastas say it is a part of their African culture that they are
reclaiming.[12] It
is sometimes also referred to as "the healing of the nation", a
phraseology adapted from Revelation 22:2.[13] The migration
of many thousands of Hindus
from India to the Caribbean in the 20th century may have brought this culture
to Jamaica. Many academics point to Indo-Caribbean origins for the ganjah
sacrament resulting from the importation of Indian migrant workers in a
post-abolition Jamaican landscape. "Large scale use of ganjah in
Jamaica… dated from the importation of indentured Indians…"(Campbell
110). Dreadlocked mystics, often ascetic, known
as sadhus, have
smoked cannabis in India for
centuries.[14] According
to many Rastas, the illegality of cannabis in many nations is
evidence that persecution of Rastafari is a reality. They are
not surprised that it is illegal, seeing it as a powerful substance that
opens people's minds to the truth — something the Babylon system, they
reason, clearly does not want.[15] They
contrast their herb to alcohol and other drugs, which they feel destroy the
mind.[16] They
hold that the smoking of cannabis enjoys Biblical sanction, and is an aid to
meditation and religious observance. Among Biblical verses Rastas quote as
justifying the use of cannabis: ·
Genesis 1:11
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed,
and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself,
upon the earth: and it was so." ·
Genesis 1:29 "And God
said, Behold, I have given you every herb-bearing seed, which is upon the
face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree
yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." ·
Genesis 3:18 "... thou
shalt eat the herb of the field." ·
Proverbs 15:17
"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred
therewith."[2] ·
Psalms 104:14
"He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service
of man." According
to some Rastafaris[17] and
other scholars, the etymology of the word "cannabis" and
similar terms in all the languages of the Near East may be traced to the
Hebrew "qaneh bosm" קנה-בשם, which is one of the herbs God commanded Moses
to include in his preparation of sacred
anointing perfume in Exodus 30:23; the Hebrew term also appears in
Isaiah 43:24; Jeremiah 6:20; Ezekiel 27:19;
and Song
of Songs 4:14. Deuterocanonical and canonical references to the
patriarchs Adam,
Noah, Abraham and Moses "burning incense before the
Lord" are also applied, and many Rastas today refer to cannabis by the
term "ishence" — a slightly changed form of the English word
"incense". It is also said that cannabis was the first plant to
grow on King
Solomon's grave. In
1998, then-Attorney General of the United States Janet Reno,
gave a legal opinion that Rastafari do not have the religious right to smoke
ganjah in violation of the United States' drug laws. The
position is the same in the United Kingdom, where, in the Court of Appeal
case of R. v. Taylor [2002] 1 Cr. App. R. 37, it was held that the UK's
prohibition on cannabis use did not contravene the right to freedom of religion
conferred under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms. On
January 2, 1991, at an international airport in his homeland of Guam, Ras Iyah Ben Makahna (Benny
Guerrero) was arrested for possession and importation of marijuana and seeds.
He was charged with importation of a controlled substance. The case was heard
by the US 9th Circuit Court November 2001, and in May 2002 the court had
decided that the practice of Rastafari sanctions the smoking of marijuana,
but nowhere does the religion sanction the importation of marijuana.
Guerrero's lawyer Graham Boyd pointed out the court's ruling was
"equivalent to saying wine is a necessary sacrament for some Christians
but you have to grow your own grapes."[18] In
July 2008, however, the Italian Supreme Court ruled that Rastafari may
be allowed to possess greater amounts of cannabis legally, owing to its use
by them as a sacrament.[19][20]
The
lion is a symbol of Haile Selassie. Jesus Christ is described as "the
lion of Judah" in the Bible, and for this reason, Haile Selassie is seen
as the reincarnation of Jesus. Locks See
also: Dreadlocks The
wearing of Locks is very closely associated with the movement, though not
universal among, or exclusive to, its adherents. Rastas maintain that Locks
are supported by Leviticus
21:5 ("They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they
shave off the corner of their beard,
nor make any cuttings in the flesh.") and the Nazirite vow
in Numbers
6:5 ("All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor
come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth
himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair
of his head grow."). It
has often been suggested (e.g., Campbell 1985) that the first Rasta Locks
were copied from Kenya in 1953, when images of the independence struggle of
the feared mau mau insurgents, who grew their "dreaded
locks" while hiding in the mountains, appeared in newsreels and other
publications that reached Jamaica. However, a more recent study by Barry
Chevannes[21] has
traced the first Hairlocked Rastas to a subgroup first appearing in 1949,
known as Youth Black Faith.
A man
with Locks. There
have been ascetic groups within a variety of world faiths that have at times
worn similarly-matted hair. In addition to the Nazirites of
Judaism and the sadhus of
Hinduism, it is worn among some sects of Sufi Islam, notably the Baye Fall sect of
Mourides,[22] and
by some Ethiopian
Orthodox monks in
Christianity,[23]
among others. Some of the very earliest Christians may also have worn this
hairstyle; particularly noteworthy are descriptions of James the Just,
"brother of Jesus" and first Bishop of Jerusalem, whom Hegesippus
(according to Eusebius and Jerome) described as a Nazirite who never once cut
his hair. The length of a Rasta's locks is a measure of wisdom, maturity, and
knowledge in that it can indicate not only the Rasta's age, but also his/her
time as a Rasta. Also,
according to the Bible, Samson
was a Nazarite who had "seven locks". Rastas argue that these
"seven locks" could only have been dreadlocks,[24] as
it is unlikely to refer to seven strands of hair. Locks
have also come to symbolize the Lion of Judah
(its mane) and rebellion against Babylon. In the United States,
several public schools and workplaces have lost lawsuits as the result of
banning locks. Safeway
is an early example, and the victory of eight children in a suit against
their Lafayette, Louisiana school was a landmark
decision in favor of Rastafari rights. Rastafari
associate dreadlocks with a spiritual journey that one takes in the process
of locking their hair (growing hairlocks). It is taught that patience is the
key to growing locks, a journey of the mind, soul and spirituality. Its
spiritual pattern is aligned with the Rastafari movement. The way to form
natural dreadlocks is to allow hair to grow in its natural pattern, without
cutting, combing or brushing, but simply to wash it with pure water. For
the Rastas the razor, the scissors and
the comb are the
three Babylonian or Roman inventions.[25] So
close is the association between dreadlocks and Rastafari, that the two are
sometimes used synonymously. In reggae music, a follower of Rastafari may be
referred to simply as a "hairlocks","dreadlocks" or
"Natty (Knotty) Dread", whilst those non-believers who cut their
hair are referred to as baldheads. As
important and connected with the movement as the wearing of locks is, though,
it is not deemed necessary for, or equivalent to, true faith. Popular
slogans, often incorporated within Reggae lyrics, include: "Not every
dread is a Rasta and not every Rasta is a dread..."; "It's not the
dread upon your head, but the love inna your heart, that mek ya
Rastaman" (Sugar Minott); and as Morgan Heritage
sings: "You don't haffi dread to be Rasta...," and "Children
of Selassie I, don't lose your faith; whether you do or don't have your locks
'pon your head..." Many
non-Rastafari of black African descent wear locks as an expression of pride
in their ethnic identity, or simply as a hairstyle, and take a less purist
approach to developing and grooming them, adding various substances such as
beeswax in an attempt to assist the locking process. The wearing of dreads
also has spread among people of other ethnicities, including those whose hair
is not naturally suited to the style, and who sometimes go to great lengths
to form them. Locks worn for stylish reasons are sometimes referred to as
"bathroom locks," to distinguish them from the kind that are purely
natural. Rasta purists also sometimes refer to such dreadlocked individuals
as "wolves," as in "a wolf in sheep's clothing,"
especially when they are seen as trouble-makers who might potentially discredit
or infiltrate Rastafari.[26]
Rastafari
culture does not encourage mainstream political involvement. In fact, in the
early stages of the movement most Rastas did not vote, out of principle. Ras Sam
Brown formed the Suffering People's Party
for the Jamaican elections of 1962
and received fewer than 100 votes. In the election campaign of 1972,
People's National Party leader Michael Manley
used a prop, a walking stick given to him by Haile Selassie, which was called
the "Rod of Correction", in a direct appeal to Rastafari values. In
the famous free One Love Peace Concert on April 22, 1978, Peter Tosh
lambasted the audience, including attending dignitaries, with political
demands that included decriminalising cannabis. He
did this while smoking a spliff, a
criminal act in Jamaica. At this same concert, Bob Marley led
both then-Prime Minister Michael
Manley and opposition leader Edward Seaga
onto the stage; and a famous picture was taken with all three of them holding
their hands together above their heads in a symbolic gesture of peace during
what had been a very violent election campaign. Main
article: Rastafari vocabulary Rastas
assert that their original African
languages were stolen from them when they were taken into
captivity as part of the slave trade, and that English is an
imposed colonial language. Their
remedy has been the creation of a modified vocabulary and dialect, reflecting their desire to take
language forward and to confront the society they call Babylon. Some
examples are: ·
"I-tal" is derived from the word
vital and is used to describe the diet of the movement which is taken mainly
from Hebrew dietary laws. ·
"Overstanding"
replaces "understanding" to denote an enlightenment which places
one in a better position. ·
"Irie" (pronounced
"eye-ree") is a term used to denote acceptance, positive feelings,
or to describe something that is good. ·
"Upfulness" is a
positive term for being helpful ·
"Livication" is
substituted for the word "dedication" because Rastas associate
dedication with death. ·
"Downpression" is
used in place of "oppression," the logic being that the pressure is
being applied from a position of power to put down the victim. ·
"Zion" the most distinctive
modifications in "Iyaric"
is the substitution of the pronoun "I-and-I" for other pronouns,
usually the first person. "I", as used in the examples above,
refers to Jah; therefore, "I-and-I" in the first person includes
the presence of the divine within the individual. As "I-and-I" can
also refer to "us," "them," or even "you," it
is used as a practical linguistic rejection of the separation of the
individual from the larger Rastafari community, and Jah himself. Rastafari
say that they reject "-isms". They see a wide range of "-isms
and schisms" in modern society, for example communism and capitalism,
and want no part in them. They especially reject the word
"Rastafarianism", because they see themselves as "having
transcended -isms and schisms." This has created conflict between some
Rastas and some members of the academic community studying Rastafari, who
insist on calling this faith "Rastafarianism" in spite of
disapproval this generates within the Rastafari movement. Nevertheless, the
practice continues among scholars. However, the study of Rastafari using its
own terms has occurred.[27] Music has long played an integral role in
Rastafari, and the connection between the movement and various kinds of music
has become well known, due to the international fame of reggae
musicians like Bob
Marley and Peter
Tosh. Niyabinghi
chants are played at worship ceremonies called grounations,
that include drumming, chanting and dancing, along with prayer and
ritual smoking
of cannabis.
The name Nyabinghi comes from an East African
movement from the 1850s to the 1950s that was led by people who militarily
opposed European imperialism.
This form of nyabinghi was centered around Muhumusa, a
healing woman from Uganda
who organized resistance against German
colonialists. In Jamaica, the concepts of Nyabinghi were appropriated for
similar anti-colonial efforts, and it is often danced to invoke the power of Jah against an oppressor. The
drum is a symbol of the Africanness of Rastafari, and some mansions assert
that Jah's spirit of divine energy is present in the drum. African music
survived slavery because
many slaveowners encouraged it as a method of keeping morale high.
Afro-Caribbean music arose with the influx of influences from the native
peoples of Jamaica, as well as the European slaveowners. Another
style of Rastafari music is called burru drumming, first played in the Parish
of Clarendon,
Jamaica, and then in West
Kingston. Burru was later introduced to the burgeoning Rasta
community in Kingston by a Jamaican musician named Count Ossie. He
mentored many influential Jamaican ska, rock steady, and reggae musicians.
Through his tutelage, they began combining New Orleans R&B, folk mento, jonkanoo, kumina, and
revival zion into a unique sound. The burru style, which centers on three
drums - the bass, the alto fundeh,
and the repeater - would later be copied by hip hop DJs.[28] Maroons, or
communities of escaped slaves, kept purer African musical traditions alive in
the interior of Jamaica, and were also contributing founders of Rastafari. Main
article: Reggae Reggae
was born amidst poor blacks in Trenchtown, the
main ghetto of Kingston,
Jamaica, who listened to radio stations from the United States.
Jamaican musicians, many of them Rastas, soon blended traditional Jamaican
folk music and drumming with American R&B, and jazz into ska, that later developed into reggae
under the influence of soul. Reggae
began to enter international consciousness in the early 1970s, and Rastafari
mushroomed in popularity internationally, largely due to the fame of Bob Marley, who
actively and devoutly preached Rastafari, incorporating nyabinghi and
Rastafarian chanting into his music, lyrics and album covers. Songs like
"Rastaman Chant" led to the movement and reggae music being seen as
closely intertwined in the consciousness of audiences across the world
(especially among oppressed and poor groups of African Americans
and Native Americans, First Nations Canadians, Australian Aborigines and New Zealand Māori, and
throughout most of Africa).
Other famous reggae musicians with strong Rastafarian elements in their music
include Peter Tosh, Freddie McGregor,
Toots & the Maytals, Burning Spear, Black Uhuru, Prince Lincoln Thompson,
Bunny Wailer, Prince Far I, Israel Vibration,
The Congos, Mikey Dread,
Don Carlos, The Viceroys, The Itals, Cornell Campbell, The Meditations,
Wailing Souls, Norris Reid, Michael Phrophet, The Heptones, Dennis Brown,
Twinkle Brothers, and hundreds more. Reggae
music expressing Rasta doctrine The
first reggae single that sang about Rastafari and reached Number 1 in the
Jamaican charts was Bongo Man by Little Roy in
1969.[29]
Early Rasta reggae
musicians (besides Marley)
whose music expresses Rastafari doctrine well are Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer
(in Blackheart Man), Prince Far I, Linval Thompson,
Ijahman Levi
(especially the first 4 albums), Misty-in-Roots
(Live), The
Congos (Heart of the Congos), The Rastafarians,
The Abyssinians,
Culture, Big Youth, and Ras Michael And
The Sons Of Negus. The Jamaican jazz
percussionist Count Ossie,
who had played on a number of ska and reggae recordings, recorded albums with
themes relating to Rasta history, doctrine, and culture. Rastafari
doctrine as developed in the '80s was further expressed musically by a number
of other prominent artists, such as Burning Spear, Steel Pulse, Third World, The Gladiators, Black Uhuru, Aswad, and Israel Vibration.
Rastafari ideas have spread beyond the Jamaican community to other countries
including Russia, where artists such as Jah Division write songs about Jah, and
South Africa where [Lucky Dube] first learned reggae music from [Peter Tosh]
recordings. Afro-American hardcore
punk band Bad
Brains are notable followers of the Rastafari movement and have
written songs ("I Against I", etc.) that promote the doctrine. In
the 21st century, Rastafari sentiments are spread through roots reggae
and dancehall, subgroups of reggae music, with many of their most important
proponents promoting the Rastafari religion, such as Capleton, Sizzla, Anthony B, Barrington Levy,
Turbulence, Jah Mason, Pressure, Midnite, Natural Black, Daweh Congo, Luciano, Cocoa Tea, Richie Spice or
H.I.M. Sound System. Several of these
acts have gained mainstream success and frequently appear on the popular
music charts. Most recently artists such as Damian Marley
(son of Bob Marley) have blended hip-hop with reggae to re-energize classic
Rastafari issues such as social injustice, revolution and the honour and
responsibility of parenthood using contemporary musical style. Berlin-based
dub techno label "Basic
Channel" has subsidiary labels called "Rhythm &
Sound" and "Burial Mix" whose lyrics strongly focus on many
aspects of Rastafari culture and ideology, including the acceptance of Haile
Selassie I. Notable tracks include "Jah Rule", "Mash Down
Babylon", "We Be Troddin'", and "See Mi Yah". Jamaican
reggae artist Jah Cure also
praises Jah and the Rastafari movement in many of his songs, as do two Sinéad
O'Connor rastafari/reggae CDs – "Throw Down Your
Arms" and "Theology". There
are several Jamaican films that are paramount to the history of Rastafari,
such as Rockers,
The Harder They Come, Land of Look Behind and Countryman. Before
Garvey, there had been two major circumstances that proved conducive to the
conditions that established a fertile ground for the incubation of Rastafari
in Jamaica: the history of resistance, exemplified by the Maroons, and
the forming of an Afrocentric, Ethiopian world view with
the spread of such religious movements as Bedwardism,
which flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. These groups had long carried a
tradition of what musician Bob
Marley referred to as 'resisting against the system.' Main
article: Marcus
Garvey Marcus
Garvey Rastas
see Marcus Mosiah Garvey as a prophet, with his philosophy fundamentally
shaping the movement, and with many of the early Rastas having started out as
Garveyites. He
is often seen as a second John the Baptist.
One of the most famous prophecies attributed to him involving the coronation
of Haile Selassie I was the 1927 pronouncement "Look to Africa, for
there a king shall be crowned," although an associate of Garvey's, James Morris Webb, had made very similar
public statements as early as 1921.[30][31]
Marcus Garvey promoted Black
Nationalism, black separatism,
and Pan-Africanism:
the belief that all black people of the world should join in brotherhood and
work to decolonise the continent of Africa — then still controlled by the
white colonialist powers. He
promoted his cause of black pride throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and was
particularly successful and influential among lower-class blacks in Jamaica
and in rural communities. Although his ideas have been hugely influential in
the development of Rastafari culture, Garvey never identified himself with
the movement, and even wrote an article critical of Haile Selassie for
leaving Ethiopia at the time of the Fascist occupation.[32] In
addition, his Universal Negro Improvement Association disagreed with Leonard Howell
over Howell's teaching that Haile Selassie was the Messiah.[32]
Rastafari nonetheless may be seen as an extension of Garveyism. In early
Rasta folklore, it is the Black Star Liner
(actually a shipping company bought by Garvey to encourage repatriation to Liberia) that
takes them home to Africa. Although
not strictly speaking a 'Rastafari' document, the Holy Piby
written by Robert Athlyi Rogers from Anguilla in the
1920s, is acclaimed by many Rastafarians as a formative and primary source.
Robert Athlyi Rogers founded an Afrocentric religion known as
"Athlicanism" in the US and West Indies in the 1920s. Rogers'
religious movement, the Afro-Athlican Constructive Church, saw
Ethiopians (in the Biblical sense of all Black Africans) as the chosen people
of God, and proclaimed Marcus Garvey, the prominent Black Nationalist, an apostle.
The church preached self-reliance and self-determination for Africans. The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy,
written during the 1920s by a preacher called Fitz Balintine Pettersburg,
is a surrealistic stream-of-consciousness polemic against the white colonial
power structure that is also considered formative, a palimpsest of
Afrocentric thought. The
first document to appear that can be labelled as truly Rastafari was Leonard
P. Howell's The Promise Key,
written using the pen name G.G. [for Gangun-Guru] Maragh, in the early
1930s. In it, he claims to have witnessed the Coronation of the Emperor and
Empress on 2 November 1930 in Addis Ababa,
and proclaims the doctrine that H.I.M. Ras Tafari is the true Head of
Creation and that the King of England is an imposter. This tract was written
while Howell was jailed on charges of sedition. Selassie
I in the 1930s Emperor
Haile
Selassie I, whom some of the Rastafarians call Jah, was crowned "King of Kings,
Elect of God, and Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah" in Addis Ababa on
November 2, 1930. The event created great publicity throughout the world,
including in Jamaica, and particularly through two consecutive Time
magazine articles about the coronation (he was later named Time's Person
of the Year for 1935, the first Black person to appear on the
cover), as well as two consecutive National Geographic issues around the same
time. Haile Selassie almost immediately gained a following as both God and King amongst
poor Jamaicans, who came to be known as Rastafarians, and who looked to their
Bibles, and saw what they believed to be the fulfilling of many prophecies
from the book of Revelation.
As Ethiopia was the only African country to be free from colonialism, and
Haile Selassie was the only black leader accepted among the kings and queens
of Europe, the early Rastas viewed him with great reverence. Over
the next two years, three Jamaicans who all happened to be overseas at the
time of the coronation, each returned home and independently began, as street
preachers, to proclaim the divinity of the newly crowned Emperor as the
returned Christ,[33]
arising from their interpretations of Biblical prophecy and based partly on
Haile Selassie's status as the only African monarch of a fully independent
state, with the titles King of Kings and Conquering Lion of Judah
(Revelation
5:5). First,
on 8 December 1930, Archibald
Dunkley, formerly a seaman, landed at Port Antonio
and soon began his ministry; in 1933, he relocated to Kingston where the King
of Kings Ethiopian Mission was founded. Joseph Hibbert
returned from Costa
Rica in 1931 and started spreading his own conviction of the
Emperor's divinity in Benoah district, Saint Andrew Parish, through his own ministry,
called Ethiopian Coptic Faith; he too moved to Kingston the next year,
to find Leonard
Howell already teaching many of these same doctrines, having
returned to Jamaica around the same time. With the addition of Robert Hinds, himself a Garveyite and
former Bedwardite, these four preachers soon began to attract a following
among Jamaica's poorer classes, who were already beginning to look to
Ethiopia for moral support. Main
article: Leonard
Howell Leonard
Howell, who has been described as the "first Rasta",[34]
became the first to be persecuted, charged with sedition for
refusing loyalty to the King
of England George V. The British government
would not tolerate Jamaicans loyal to Haile Selassie in what was then
regarded as their colony. When he was released, he formed a commune which grew as large as 2,000 people[35] at a
place called Pinnacle, at St. Catherine in Jamaica. Visit of Selassie I to Jamaica Haile
Selassie I had already met with several Rasta elders in Addis Ababa in
1961, giving them gold medals, and had allowed West Indians of African
descent to settle on his personal land in Shashamane in
the 1950s. The first actual Rastafarian settler, Papa Noel Dyer,
arrived in September 1965, having hitch-hiked all the way from England. Haile Selassie
visited Jamaica on
April 21, 1966. Somewhere between one and two hundred thousand Rastafari from
all over Jamaica descended on Kingston airport having heard that the
man whom they considered to be God was coming to visit them. They waited at
the airport smoking a great amount of cannabis and
playing drums. When Haile Selassie arrived at the airport he delayed
disembarking from the aeroplane for an hour until Mortimer Planno,
a well-known Rasta, personally welcomed him. From then on, the visit was a
success. Rita
Marley, Bob Marley's wife, converted to the Rastafari faith after
seeing Haile Selassie; she has stated that she saw stigmata appear
on his person, and was instantly convinced of his divinity. The
great significance of this event in the development of the Rastafari movement
should not be underestimated. Having been outcasts in society, they gained a
temporary respectability for the first time. By making Rasta more acceptable,
it opened the way for the commercialisation of reggae, leading
in turn to the further global spread of Rastafari. Because
of Haile Selassie's visit, April 21 is celebrated as Grounation Day.
It was during this visit that Selassie I famously told the Rastafari
community leaders that they should not emigrate to Ethiopia until they had
first liberated the people of Jamaica. This dictum came to be known as "liberation
before repatriation." In
1968, Walter
Rodney, a Guyanese national, author, and professor at the
University of the West Indies, published a pamphlet titled The Groundings
with My Brothers which among other matters, including a summary of African
history, discussed his experiences with the Rastafarians. It became a
benchmark in the Caribbean Black
Power movement. Combined with Rastafarian teachings, both
philosophies spread rapidly to various Caribbean nations, including Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, and Grenada. Today,
the Rastafari movement has spread throughout much of the world, largely
through interest generated by reggae
music—most notably, that of Jamaican singer/songwriter Bob Marley. By
1997, there were around one million Rastafari faithful worldwide.[36]
About five to ten percent of Jamaicans identify themselves as Rastafari. By
claiming Haile Selassie I as the returned messiah, Rastafari may be seen as a
new religious movement that has arisen from Judaism and Christianity.
Rastafari is not a highly-organized religion; it is a movement and an
ideology. Many Rastas say that it is not a "religion" at all, but a
"Way of Life".[37] Most
Rastas do not claim any sect or denomination, and thus encourage one another
to find faith and inspiration within themselves, although some do identify strongly
with one of the "mansions of Rastafari" — the three most
prominent of these being the Nyahbinghi, the Bobo Ashanti and
the Twelve Tribes of Israel. In 1996, the International Rastafari
Development Society was given consultative status by the United Nations.[38] By
the end of the twentieth century, women played a greater role in the
expression of the Rastafari movement. In the early years, and in a few of the
stricter "mansions" (denominations), menstruating women were
subordinated and excluded from religious and social ceremonies. To a large
degree, women feel more freedom to express themselves now, thus they
contribute greatly to the movement. Today,
Rasta was made by Blacks yet it is not racist and believes in unity, rastas
include other diverse ethnic groups including Native American, White,
Māori, Indonesian, Thai, etc. Additionally, in the 1990s, the word Rastaman
became part of the vocabulary of the Post-Soviet
states. After the fall of the USSR, a youth subculture
of cannabis users formed, primarily in Russia and Ukraine, many
of whom began to call themselves Rastamany ("растаманы",
in plural).[39] They
adopted a number of symbols of Rastafari culture, including Reggae music
(especially honouring Bob Marley), the green-gold-red colours, and sometimes
dreadlocks,[40] but
not Afrocentrism (most are ethnically Slavic). Many
of them protest against what they call "Babylon".This has been a
touchy subject where many Blacks believe some aspects are being omitted and
their culture is being robbed, since a big part of being Rasta is unearthing
African roots and recognizing the black struggle. Many also feel that people
who are not black should be humbled and accept the culture instead of trying
to alter it. A Russian Reggae scene has developed
that is only partially similar to common reggae. Rastamany have their
own folklore,
publish literature and records, as well as create websites and
form online
communities. St
Agnes Place contained a Rastafari place of worship in London until it
was evicted in 2006.[41] A
small but devoted Rasta community developed in Japan in the late 1970s and
early 1980s. Rasta shops selling natural foods, Reggae recordings, and other
Rasta-related items sprang up in Tokyo, Osaka, and other cities. For several
years, "Japan Splashes" or open-air Reggae concerts were held in
various locations throughout Japan. For a review by two sociologists of how
the Japanese Rasta movement can be explained in the context of modern
Japanese society, see Dean W. Collinwood and Osamu Kusatsu, "Japanese Rastafarians:
Non-Conformity in Modern Japan," The Study of International Relations,
No. 26, Tokyo: Tsuda College, March 2000 (research conducted in 1986 and
1987). Many Rastafarian Marketplaces and small shops have sprung up in Kensington
Market in Toronto. Canada has a large amount of Rastafarians
mainly consisting of Black
people and persons of Native
Canadian heritage.[citation needed] Rastafari and other Abrahamic
faiths Some
Rastafari choose to classify their movement as Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, Protestant Christianity, or Judaism. Of
those, the ties to the Ethiopian Church are the most widespread, although
this is controversial to many Ethiopian clergy. Rastafari typically hold that
standard translations of the Bible incorporate changes, or were edited for
the benefit of the power structure. References 1. ^ "Dread Jesus": A New View of the Rastafari
Movement 2. ^ the Rasta name for Godpslams 68 [king james] incarnate, from
a shortened form of Jehovah
found in Psalms 68:4 in
the King
James Version of the Bible
3. ^ a
b
c
d
Dread, The Rastafarians of Jamaica, by Joseph Owens ISBN 0-435-98650-3
4. ^ The Ganja Complex:
Rastafari and Marijuana by Ansley Hamid (2002) 5. ^ a
b
Chanting Down Babylon p. 342-343. 6. ^ Encyclopedia of
African and African-American Religions p. 263 by Stephen D. Glazier, 2001
7. ^ Various (1611). "7:4". The
Bible (King James ed.). http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%20Revelation%207:4-8&version=9;. 8. ^ a
b
The Rastafarians by Leonard E. Barrett, p. 252. 9. ^ Edmonds, p. 54 10. ^ Words of Ras Tafari
11. ^ Hamid, The Ganjah
Complex: Rastafari and Marijuana, introduction, p. xxxii. 12. ^ Chanting Down
Babylon, p. 130 ff. 13. ^ Rastafari and Other
African-Caribbean Worldviews by Barry Chevannes, p. 35, 85; Edmonds, p.
52 14. ^ Arrow of the
Blue-Skinned God: Retracing the Ramayana Through India, Jonah Blank, p.
89. 15. ^ Edmonds, p. 61 16. ^ Chanting Down
Babylon, p. 354. 17. ^ Marijuana and the
Bible, published by the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church 18. ^ See: Case No. 00-71247
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
www.ca9.uscourts.gov/coa/newopinions.nsf/55215A562F6A670188256BC7005C6CC5/$file/0071247.pdf?openelement
19. ^ Reuters - Rasta pot
smokers win legal leeway in Italy 20. ^ AOL News - Rasta smoker
wins appeal of marijuana conviction 21. ^ Barry Chevannes, 1998 Rastafari
and Other African-Caribbean Worldviews, chap. 4 22. ^ Islamic Society and
State Power in Senegal, p. 167 by Leonardo Alfonso Villalón 1995 23. ^ Neil J. Savinsky in Chanting
Down Babylon p. 133, 143 fn.#37; citing David Buxton, The Abyssinians,
p. 78. 24. ^ The Kebra Negest: The
Lost Bible of Rastafarian Wisdom and Faith, p. 49 25. ^ cf. Chanting Down
Babylon p. 32; The Kebra Nagast: The Lost Bible of Rastafarian Wisdom
and Faith by Gerlad Hausman p. 48; Rastafarianismby Gerhardus
Cornelis Oosthuizen p. 16; An Educator's Classroom Guide to America's
Religious Beliefs and Practices p. 155. 26. ^ Chanting Down
Babylon, p. 2 27. ^ Professor Rex
Nettleford, Ceremonial Address on Behalf of University of West Indies to
"Marley's Music: Reggae, Rastafari, and Jamaican Culture"
conference, in Bob Marley: The Man and His Music (2003) 28. ^ Jeff Chang Can't
Stop, Won't Stop. 2005: St. Martin's Press. Pages 24-25. 29. ^ Mark Lamaar, Radio 2 30. ^ http://rastaites.com/repatriationnews/09repatriation.htm
31. ^ IRIE Barbados Groundation
Report 32. ^ a
b
http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/rasta/keyfigures.htm
33. ^ The Rastafarians
by Leonard E. Barrett, pp. 81-82 34. ^ The First Rasta:
Leonard Howell and the Rise of Rastafarianism by Helene Lee, 1999 35. ^ Rastafari: From
Outcasts to Culture Bearers by Ennis Barrington Edmonds, p. 37. 36. ^ Chanting Down
Babylon p. 1 38. ^ UN Report of the Committee
on Non-Governmental Organizations 39. ^ Russian Reggae Rasta Roots
— a 1997 report on Russian Rasta by Shohdy Naguib 40. ^ The eXile Field Guide to
Moscow: Russian Rasta — a satiric account about Russian Rastaman
by The eXile 41. ^ BBC NEWS | UK | Anger amid Rastafarian temple raid
·
Dread, The Rastafarians of Jamaica, by Joseph Owens ISBN 0-435-98650-3
·
Experience, by Lincoln Thompson
·
Soul Rebels: The Rastafari, by William F Lewis ·
Rastafari: A Way of Life, by Tracy Nicholas ISBN 0-948-39016-6
·
Book of Memory: A Rastafari Testimony, composed by
Prince Elijah Williams and edited by Michael Kuelker ISBN 0-9746021-0-8
·
Complete Idiot's Guide to World Religions, by Toropov,
Brandon ISBN 0-7865-8840-5
Bibliography: *(Wikipedia)
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