The Rastafarian Movement: A Religion and Lifestyle

In the early 1930's, a religious movement was started in the nation of Jamaica. This movement, known as the Rastafarian movement or the Rastafari religion to many, besides the Rasta themselves, is mostly taken up by the poorer black population of Jamaica. Over time the Rastafari movement has spread to blacks across the world looking for equality. The Rasta commonly speak out against poverty, inequality and oppression. This, along with the teachings of Marcus Garvey, has contributed to the rise of the Rastafari religion and lifestyle. Garvey, a well-known black publicist, is well known for his theme "Back to Africa". Because of his powerful messages, he is considered to be a prophet to the Rasta. Also, the bible is used as guidance for the Rasta. The Rastafarian religion is based on interpretation of the bible.

Rastafarian Colors

The colors red, gold, and green are powerful symbols of the Rastafari movement. These colors first became strong symbols together when they were used in the Garvey movement. Each of these colors has a specific and inspiring meaning to the Rasta.

• Red stands for the Church Triumphant, which is the church of the Rasta. It also symbolizes the blood shed by various martyrs throughout Rasta history.

• Gold symbolizes the wealth of the Rasta's native homeland of Ethiopia.

• Green represents the natural beauty and vegetation of Ethiopia.

Why Ethiopia?

Unlike Christian religions as well as many others, the Rasta do not believe in heaven being a place away from Earth. To the Rasta, Ethiopia is heaven on earth and their eventual destination. Followers of the Rastafarian movement have a strong sense of pride towards their native homeland of Ethiopia. The Rasta believe that their God, Jah, will bring them will eventually bring all of the black people back to Ethiopia at an appointed time only known by Jah.

The Rasta, the bible, and Haile Selassie I

The Rasta use the bible to guide them throughout their lives. They consider all of their beliefs to be directly from the bible. As with many, if not all Christian religions, the Rasta believe in the coming of a messiah as prophesied in the Old Testament. This messiah is believed by the Rastafarian followers to be Ras Tafari Makonnen, who was crowned Haile Selassie I at his coronation as Emperor of Ethiopia. The Rasta do not believe that Christ was the promised messiah and do not use the New Testament in their practices. The name Rastafari comes from the birth name of Haile Selassie I. Because of the way the Rastafarian movement has used the bible, many different Christian sects and other religious groups criticize the Rasta for taking biblical quotes out of context. The concept of Haile Selassie being the messiah is only one of such concepts.

When Haile Selassie I died in 1975, many of the Rasta did not believe that he was truly deceased. Instead, they believed that it was an elaborate conspiracy and that he would reveal himself at a later time to liberate his loyal followers. Haile Selassie is still believed to come and lead his people, the black people, back to Ethiopia.

The Rastafarian Holy Trinity

As with many other churches that use the bible as scripture, the Rastafarian believers hold the concept of the Holy Trinity as truth. They believe that there are three parts to the concept of their deity.

• God the Father: whom the Rasta believe is Haile Selassie and not a separate being.

• God the Son: is also believed by the Rasta to be Haile Selassie. This concept that God the Father and God the Son are one being is also seen in a number of Christian sects.

• The Holy Spirit: is considered themselves and potentially all human beings. We all embody the idea of the Holy Spirit in Rastafarian belief.

Chosen Few Receive Physical Immortality

In the Rastafarian system of beliefs there is a concept of physical immortality for a chosen group of elect people. This idea is very important to their culture. Bob Marley, probably the most well-known follower of the Rastafarian religion is an amazing example of this belief. When he was suffering from the last stages of cancer, Marley refused to write a will because he felt that if he did so he would be giving in to death and forgoing his chance at "everliving life", as some Rastafarian followers call it.

The Ceremonies and Festivals of the Rastafarian Culture

The Rasta have two main types of ceremonies.

• Reasoning

o A reasoning is a very simple ceremony at which the Rasta's will gather together to discuss a variety of issues. Some of the issues are on religious topics, but many involve ethical, social and political topics. During this meeting, they will also smoke marijuana, more commonly called "ganja" by the Rasta. There is usually one person who is given the honor of lighting the ganja. This person is also given the duty of giving a prayer prior to smoking the intoxicating herb. Once the marijuana is lit it is always passed in a clockwise direction.

• Binghi or Grounation

o This ceremony/festival is essentially just a simple holiday. Basically it is a period of time usually lasting for several day during which the Rasta will sing, dance, feast and smoke ganja.

• Possible Binghi Dates

Ethiopian Christmas on January 7

Bob Marley's birthday on February 6

Grounation Day on April 21

Haile Selassie's Birthday on July 23

Marcus Garvey's birthday on August 17

And Haile Selassie's coronation day on November 2

Dreadlocks

Dreadlocks are very important in the Rastafari movement although they are not exclusive to the Rasta's tradition. These "dreads" represent rebellion against oppression and also a spiritual journey. Growing dreads takes much patience and the Rasta believe that by growing them you are growing spiritually.

Rastafari Music

Music is very important to the Rasta and many of it has become well known thanks to artists such as Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. There are two main types of Rastafarian music.

• Nyabinghi music which is the most integral form of their music. This form of music is often played at the grounation ceremonies. The drum is the principal instrument in Nyabinghi music.

• Reggae music, which is far more well-known than Nyabinghi music, is a unique blend of traditional Jamaican folk music, R&B, jazz and soul. There are many Reggae music festival s across the world as well as many reggae artists.

The Rasta do not only incorporate the many different aspects into their worship as many other religions do. There is not one day out of the week which is set apart for religion while the rest of the days their beliefs are neglected. Every day the Rasta take their beliefs very seriously and have them constantly on their mind. The Rastafarian religion is not only a religion, but truly a lifestyle.

(Information was taken from personal interviews as well as http://www.important.ca/rastafari.html and http://www.meta-religion.com/World_Relgions/Other_religions/rastafarian_religion.htm)