RASTAFARI.. A PURE WAY OF LIFE!

Humans are mentally and socially hard wired to believe in
a religious/ cultural/ economical model and become a member of one, or many, of such groups. Through out the course of humanity, many cultures and religions have flourished, each preaching its own doctrine and attracting like minded individuals into its fold. One very interesting way of life happens to be the Rastafari Movement.

Rastafari Movement is a spiritual movement that
originated in Jamaica in the 1930's. Monotheists by virtue,they follow the doctrine that Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930-1974 is the original incarnate of Jesus and call him the "god of gods".
The Rastas, as they call themselves reject western society and its principles and way of life. They also consider Zion (Africa, particularly Ethiopia) to be the true birth place of God and deeply criticize Babylon for being corrupt and greedy.

The Movement also believes in the spiritual use of cannabis (ganja) and use it for their religious ceremonies as they feel it cleanses the body and opens the mind to truth. However, they condemn the use of alcohol since it destroys the mind.

Rastas are divided into three main sects, though various sub sects also exist. These are Bobo Ashanti, Twelve Houses of Israel and Nyahbinghi Order.

BOBO ASHANTI: 

"Bobo" means Black and Ashanti is the Asanthe sect in Ghana, which the adherents belong to. They wear long robes and tie their dreadlocks in a tight turban. Their beliefs are very similar to Jewish law and they grow their own produce, making a living of selling straw hats or brooms.

NYAHBINGI ORDER

The sect was named after Queen Nyahbinghi of Uganda, who fought against colonialists in the 19th century. They hold fast to old biblical values such as refraining from pork, drugs as they believe the human body is a temple and should not be made impure. This sect has a very strong history of music and their religious chants, drums and instruments and visuals have been incorporated by many world famous reggae artists all over the world.

TWELVE HOUSES OF ISRAEL

This sect is the most liberal of all sects and the members of this sect believe that they belong to one of the 12 houses, each being a month in a year.






MOST NOTABLE INFLUENCES OF THE RASTAFARI MOVEMENT

The most important influences and characteristics of the Rastas are the dominant colors, the hair and the spiritual use of cannabis.

DOMINANT COLORS:




The dominant colors in the Rastafari culture are green, gold and red which are the colors used in the Ethiopian flag to show their loyalty to the state of Africa. Red denotes the blood of martyrs, green the vegetation and gold the wealth of Africa.




HAIR:

Rastas have dreadlocks, they are against shaving, chopping hair or making any cuttings in the flesh. They grow their dreadlocks with great patience. They are had by not cutting their hair, not combing them and simply washing them with pure water. The Dreadlocks are a symbol of their wisdom, maturity and knowledge.







SPIRITUAL USE OF CANNABIS:

The Rastas believe that cannabis is sacred, and use it for their religious practices. The lighting of ganja is an important ceremony and is carried out with the person lighting saying a prayer and passing the joint in a clockwise direction. The spiritual use of
cannabis has met with great opposition from the west, which has
further angered the Rastas regarding Babylonian principles of allowing alcohol, which is impure,as against ganja which opens peoples mind towards the truth.


The two very famous rastas that lived were Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, both reggae artists. Reggae itself is said to be originated from the poor provinces of Jamaica, where the young Jamaicans listened to the radio and combined Jazz and western music influences with the traditional drums, lyrics and chants associated with the Rastafari Movement.


Clearly this is a movement that daringly stood up against western dominance and continues to do so....