The Rastafari Movement

or
Rastafarianism
A religion story
By: Gideon Stanwood
Spaulding
Introduction and Brief
History
The Rastafari movement started in the early 1930s
preached by Marcus Garvey. It started in Jamaica
caused by poor economical and social conditions for
blacks. It is a religious movement that idolizes Haile
Selassie former ruler of Ethiopia. The Rasta
movement is mostly part of Jamaica, but can be
found worldwide. Rastas preach from what is
known as the black, the Holy Piby, for equality and
justice for all around the world. Many Rastas are
former Christians.
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie was Born as Tafari
Makonnen in Ethiopia in 1892. He
married the princess of Ethiopia in
1911, and In 1917 he became heir
to the throne. In 1930 he became
ruler of Ethiopia and upon being
crowned ruler he took the name
Haile Selassie. Many say that Haile
Selassie made Ethiopia what it is
by modernizing it to Europe's
standards (from what he saw in his
visits to Europe). Haile Selassie
preached equality and justice in
the world. He died August 28,
1975. Haile Selassie is seen as a
true god by Rastafarians.
Haile Selassie is also known as Ras
Tafari.

Other Main Figures
In Rastafarianism there are
other figures that are
considered a main part of the
religion:
Bob Marley, a famous reggae
artist appreciated in Rasta
culture for preaching
Rastafari practices in his
music
Marcus Garvey, known as
the first to preach about the
Rasta movement in Jamaica,
he is said to be the founder
of the Rastafari movement.
Rasta Holidays
January 6, Ethiopian Christmas
February 6, Bob Marleys Birthday
April 21, Anniversary of Haile Selassies visit to
Jamaica
July 23, Haile Selassies Birthday
August 17, Marcus Garveys Birthday
November 2, Coronation of Haile Selassie
Vocabulary
Ganja- Rasta word for marijuana.
Rasta- Someone who is part of, or follows,
the Rastafarian movement.
Reggae- Popular music of Jamaican
origin, signature for its noticeable and
offbeat rhythms.
Jehovah (Jah)- The old testament name
for God, used in Rastafarianism also. Most
Rastas call Jehovah, Jah, for short.
Worship and Practice
Rastas worship Haile Selassie on grounation days
(holidays)
A reasoning- a simple event where Rastas gather, smoke
ganja, and then discuss ethical, social, and religious issues.
The person honored by lighting the herb, or the ganja, says
a short prayer first. The pipe is passed counterclockwise.
Dreadlocks- The wearing of dreadlocks is very close to the
movement, but is not exclusive to its followers. The
hairstyle was mainly adopted to contrast the kinky long hair
of black men with the straighter hair of whites.
Ganja- For most Rastas the smoking of Ganja is a spiritual
act, they consider it a sacrament that helps their
consciousness and peacefulness, bringing them closer to
God. Rastas also use segments from the bible to further
their idea why Ganja is a sacred act. For example, Genesis
3:18 thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
Sacred Places
Rastafarians believe that their own body is
like a church or a temple, so there is no
need to make actual churches or temples
in the world.
Despite their being no temples or
churches a sacred place to be in to a
Rasta in Jamaica is to be in Ethiopia
where Haile Selassie ruled.
The Rasta Dream
The Rastafarian
dream is that Haile
Selassie will call the
day of judgment,
when righteous shall
return home to Mount.
Zion to live forever in
piece, love, and
harmony
Books and Writings
The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy- A writing from
Jamaica written in the early 1920s by a Rastafarian speaker, Fitz
Balintine Pettersburg, the parchments significance is it tells of the
roots of the first Rastafarian beliefs.
For more info on The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy
click link
The Holy Piby- The Holy Piby in summary is the Rastafarian Bible. It
was written by Robert Athlyi Rogers in the 1920s as part of the
religious movement going on. The original is very rare to find, and
copies are not listed in the library of congress, which is highly
unusual. The book was banned in the late 1920s to Jamaicans and
Caribbean Islands. Today The Holy Piby is considered a Primary
source by Rastafarians.
For more info on the Holy Piby click link The Holy Piby Index.htm
The Holy Parchment Scroll of Black
Supremacy & The Holy Piby
Afterlife
Rastas do not believe in heaven or hell like other religions,
they believe that Jah will send the signal and help the
blacks migrate back to Ethiopia, their homeland. This belief
goes back to Marcus Garveys idea Back to Africa. Even
though Haile Selassie may have died before the idea could
be reality, it did turn blacks interest to look at Africa as their
roots, and most Rastas believe Ethiopia is heaven on
Earth
Rastafarians are also physical immortalists, which means
they believe the chosen few will live forever in their current
bodies. This idea of immortality to Rastafarians is a very
strong and important belief in Rasta culture.
Ethiopia
A country in
Northeast Africa.
Ethiopia has a long
history of rulers and
exiles. Addis Ababa is
the capital and the
largest city its
population is
32,775,000.
Race and Culture
Early Rastas believed in Black Supremacy. These strong
opinions lasted for a small time mostly because Selassie
spoke and was against racism. Now most Rastas believe
that racial negativity must be set aside, and world peace
and harmony should be a common idea and theme.
One of the major sects of the Rastafari movement, The
Twelve Tribes of Israel, have specifically cleaned
themselves of all types of racism, and have said the
teachings of the Bible can be the route to spiritual
cleansing for people of any ethnic or racial background.
Language and Dialect
Rastas believe that their African
languages were take away from them and
put into captivity as part of the slave
trade, and that English is a forced Puritan
language. Their heal for this act has been
the creation of a modified vocabulary and
dialect. This reflects the Rastafari desire to
take forward language and come forth
with the society they call Babylon.
Isms
Most Rastafaris reject isms. This is because they
see a wide range of isms and schism around the
world, and they do not want to be a part of them.
This is why Rastas reject the word Rastafarianism,
they see themselves as having passed through isms
and schisms.
This ordeal has created conflict between Rastas
and people of the academic community studying
the Rastafari movement, because they insist on
calling the movement Rastafarianism.
Afrocentrism and Racial Pride
Rastafarianism was originally a response to racist
negation of black people as it was experienced in
Jamaica in the early 1930s. Marcus Garveys
encouragement of black people to take pride in
themselves and their African origins, inspired Rastas
to embrace all things that have relation with Africa.
Rastafarians believe they were brainwashed while in
captivity to oppose all things black and African. They
then refuted these racist images, and turned the
picture into a proud cultural group of people.
Music
Rasta music has been around for a long time,
and thanks to a few famous musicians, it has
become popular too. The most common and
most popular type of Rasta music is Reggae,
Reggae artists such as Bob Marley and Peter
Tosh raise awareness of Rastafarianism around
the world, and for this the artists are honored by
Rastas very gratefully.
There are other forms of Rasta music, and
variations on reggae such as Raggamuffin, Ska,
NyaBinghi, Rastafarian, etc
The 3 main Rasta colors consist of Red,
Green, and yellow, they each symbolize
something in Rastafarianism.
Red represents the blood and suffering of
the people who fought or died for the
Rastafari movement
Green represents the beauty and
vegetation of Africa and Ethiopia
Yellow (gold) represents the wealth and
prosperity Africa and Ethiopia have to offer
Rastafarianism Today
In the early years of Rastafarianism women
were not a very active part of the movement,
and menstruating women were excluded from
religious gatherings and meetings. Now they are
very important in the functioning of
Rastafarianism. The movement is not a very
organized religion but a way of life, is how a
Rasta would explain it.
Today there are an estimated 1,000,000
followers of the Rastafari movement worldwide.
Works Cited
The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy.
http://www.sacred-texts.com Date: 2002 pars. 2 Online
Available: http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/rps/ (June 1, 2005)
Rastafari Movement. http://en.wikipedia.org Date: 2005
pars. 63. Online available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafarianism (June 1, 2005)
The Rastafarian religion. http://www.meta-religion.com Date:
2004 pars. 15. Online Available: http://www.meta-
religion.com/World_Religions/rastafarian_religion.htm (June
1, 2005)
The Holy Piby. http://www.houseofnubian.com Date: 2005
pars. 1. Online Available:
http://www.houseofnubian.com/IBS/SimpleCat/Product/asp/pr
oduct-id/783161.html (June 1, 2005)
THE END