Rastafari, sometimes termed Rastafarianism,
is an Abrahamic religion that developed in
Jamaica during the 1930s. Scholars of religion
and related fields have classified it as both
a new religious movement and a social movement.
There is no centralized authority in control
of the movement and much heterogeneity exists
among practitioners, who are known as Rastafari,
Rastafarians, or Rastas.
Rastas refer to their beliefs, which are based
on a specific interpretation of the Bible,
as "Rastalogy". Central is a monotheistic
belief in a single God—referred to as Jah—who
partially resides within each individual.
The former emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie,
is given central importance. Many Rastas regard
him as an incarnation of Jah on Earth and
as the Second Coming of Christ. Others regard
him as a human prophet who fully recognized
the inner divinity within every individual.
Rastafari is Afrocentric and focuses its attention
on the African diaspora, which it believes
is oppressed within Western society, or "Babylon".
Many Rastas call for the resettlement of the
African diaspora in either Ethiopia or Africa
more widely, referring to this continent as
the Promised Land of "Zion". Other interpretations
shift focus on to the adoption of an Afrocentric
attitude while living outside of Africa. Rastas
refer to their practices as "livity". Communal
meetings are known as "groundations", and
are typified by music, chanting, discussions,
and the smoking of cannabis, the latter being
regarded as a sacrament with beneficial properties.
Rastas place emphasis on what they regard
as living 'naturally', adhering to ital dietary
requirements, twisting their hair into dreadlocks,
and following patriarchal gender roles.
Rastafari originated among impoverished and
socially disenfranchised Afro-Jamaican communities
in 1930s Jamaica. Its Afrocentric ideology
was largely a reaction against Jamaica's then-dominant
British colonial culture. It was influenced
by both Ethiopianism and the Back-to-Africa
movement promoted by black nationalist figures
like Marcus Garvey. The movement developed
after several Christian clergymen, most notably
Leonard Howell, proclaimed that the crowning
of Haile Selassie as Emperor of Ethiopia in
1930 fulfilled a Biblical prophecy. By the
1950s, Rastafari's counter-cultural stance
had brought the movement into conflict with
wider Jamaican society, including violent
clashes with law enforcement. In the 1960s
and 1970s it gained increased respectability
within Jamaica and greater visibility abroad
through the popularity of Rasta-inspired reggae
musicians like Bob Marley. Enthusiasm for
Rastafari declined in the 1980s, following
the deaths of Haile Selassie and Marley, but
the movement has survived and has a presence
in many parts of the world.
The Rasta movement is organised on a largely
cellular basis. There are several denominations,
or "Mansions of Rastafari", the most prominent
of which are the Nyahbinghi, Bobo Ashanti,
and the Twelve Tribes of Israel, each of which
offers different interpretations of Rasta
belief. There are an estimated 700,000 to
1 million Rastas across the world; the largest
population is in Jamaica although communities
can be found in most of the world's major
population centres. The majority of practitioners
are of black African descent, although a minority
come from other racial groups.
== Definition ==
Scholars of religion have categorised Rastafari
as a new religious movement, a new social
movement, or as a social movement. The scholar
of religion Leonard E. Barrett referred to
it as a sect, and the sociologist Ernest Cashmore
as a cult, while scholar of religion Ennis
B. Edmonds argued that it could best be understood
as a revitalization movement.
Although Rastafari focuses on Africa as a
source of identity, the scholar of religion
Maboula Soumahoro noted that it was not an
"authentic" African religion but an example
of creolization, a product of the unique social
environment that existed in the Americas.
Edmonds also suggested that Rastafari was
"emerging" as a world religion, not because
of the number of adherents that it had, but
because of its global spread.
Many Rastas themselves, however, do not regard
it as a religion, instead referring to it
as a "way of life". In 1989, a British Industrial
Tribunal concluded that—for the purposes
of the Race Relations Act 1976—Rastafarians
could be considered an ethnic group because
they have a long, shared heritage which distinguished
themselves from other groups, their own cultural
traditions, a common language, and a common
religion.The term "Rastafari" derives from
the pre-regnal title of Haile Selassie; the
term "Ras" means a duke or prince, while "Tafari
Makonen" was his name. It is unknown why the
early Rastas adopted this form of Haile Selassie's
name as the basis of their religion's name.
Many commentators—including some academic
sources—refer to the movement as "Rastafarianism".
This term has also been used by some practitioners.
However, "Rastafarianism" is considered offensive
by most Rastafari, who, being critical of
"isms" or "ians" (which they see as a typical
part of "Babylon" culture), dislike being
labelled as an "ism" or "ian" themselves.
Cashmore urged fellow academics not to use
this term, which he described as "insensitive".Rastafari
is a decentralised and heterogeneous movement.
It is thus difficult to make broad generalisations
about the movement without obscuring the complexities
within it.
== Beliefs ==
Rastas refer to the totality of their religion's
ideas and beliefs as "Rastalogy". The scholar
of religion Ennis B. Edmonds described Rastafari
as having "a fairly cohesive worldview"; however,
Cashmore thought that its beliefs were "fluid
and open to interpretation". Because it has
no systematic theology or highly developed
institutions, the sociologist of religion
Peter B. Clarke stated that it was "extremely
difficult to generalise" about Rastas and
their beliefs. Based on his research in Ghana,
the scholar of religion Darren J. N. Middleton
suggested that it was appropriate to speak
of "a plethora of Rasta spiritualities" displaying
a "shifting eclecticism". The movement has
continuously changed and developed over the
course of its history. Attempts have been
made to summarise Rastafari belief, but these
have never been accorded the status of a catechism
or creed within the movement.Emphasis is placed
on the idea that personal experience and intuitive
understanding should be used to determine
the truth or validity of a particular belief
or practice. No Rasta, therefore, has the
authority to declare what beliefs and practices
are orthodox and which are heterodox. The
conviction that Rastafari has no dogma "is
so strong that it has itself become something
of a dogma", according to Clarke.Rastafari
belief is deeply influenced by Judeo-Christian
religion. It accords the Bible a central place
in its belief system, regarding it as a holy
book, and adopts a literalist interpretation
of its contents. Rastas regard the Bible as
an authentic account of early black history
and their place as God's favoured people.
They believe that the Bible was originally
written on stone in the Ethiopian language
of Amharic. For Rastas, the Bible is therefore
viewed as the key to understanding the past
and the present and for predicting the future.
It is also regarded as a source book from
which they can form their religious practices.
The Bible's final book, the Book of Revelation,
is widely regarded as the most important part
for Rastas, having a particular significance
for their situation.However, Rastas also believe
that the true meaning of the Bible has been
warped, both through mistranslation into other
languages and by deliberate manipulation by
those who wanted to deny black Africans their
history. They also regard it as cryptographic,
meaning that it has many hidden meanings.
They believe that its true teachings can be
revealed through intuition and meditation
with the "book within". As a result of what
they regard as the corruption of the Bible,
Rastas also turn to other sources that they
believe shed light on black African history.
Common texts used for this purpose include
Leonard Howell's 1935 work The Promised Key,
Robert Athlyi Rogers' 1924 book Holy Piby,
and Fitz Balintine Pettersburg 1920s work,
the Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy.
=== Jah Rastafari and Jesus of Nazareth ===
Rastafari are monotheists, worshiping a singular
God whom they call Jah. Rastas view Jah in
the form of the Holy Trinity – Father, Son,
and the Holy Spirit. The term "Jah" is a shortened
version of "Jehovah", the name of God in English
translations of the Old Testament.As well
as regarding Jah as a deity, Rastas also believe
that Jah is inherent within each human individual.
This belief is reflected in the aphorism,
often cited by Rastas, that "God is man and
man is God". Due to the view that God exists
within everyone, Rastas believe that all members
of the religion are intrinsically connected,
and thereby regard statements like "you and
I" as being insignificant.
As a result, Rastas speak of "knowing" Jah,
rather than simply "believing" in him. In
seeking to narrow the distance between humanity
and divinity, Rastafari embraces mysticism.
In believing that human beings have an inner
divinity within themselves, Rastas help to
cultivate a bastion against the uncertainty
and insecurity that exists within society
and societal institutions.Jesus of Nazareth
is an important figure in Rastafari. However,
practitioners reject the traditional depiction
of Jesus present in Christianity, particularly
the depiction of him as a white European,
believing that this is a perversion of the
truth. They believe that Jesus was a black
African and that he was a Rasta. Christianity
is treated with suspicion out of the view
that the oppressors and the oppressed cannot
share the same God, with many Rastas taking
the view that the God worshipped by most white
Christians is actually the Devil. Rastas therefore
often view Christian preachers as deceivers,
and regard Christianity as being guilty of
furthering the oppression of the African diaspora,
often referring to it as having perpetrated
"mental enslavement". One recurring saying
among Rastafari is that "The Pope is Satan".
Jesus is given particular prominence among
a Rastafari denomination known as the Twelve
Tribes of Israel. Rastas belonging to this
group refer to Jesus as Yahshua and Yesus
Kritos, and believe that his second coming
is imminent. Accordingly, they do not share
the view of other Rastas that Haile Selassie
was the second coming of Jesus.
=== Haile Selassie ===
From Rastafari's origins, the religion was
intrinsically linked with Haile Selassie of
Ethiopia, who ruled as Emperor of Ethiopia
from 1930 to 1974. He remains the central
symbolic figure in Rastafari ideology, and
although all Rastas hold him in esteem, precise
interpretations of his identity differ. The
Makonnen dynasty, of which Haile Selassie
was a member, claimed descent from the Biblical
figures Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, a
belief that many Rastas share. However, historians
agree that this alleged "Solomonic" lineage
was broken multiple times in history, and
probably a 13th-century invented tradition
to justify Yekuno Amlak's new reign.Understandings
of how Haile Selassie relates to Jesus differ
among Rastas. Many, although not all, view
the Ethiopian king as Second Coming of Jesus.
In this, Haile Selassie is also believed to
be the messiah predicted in the Biblical Old
Testament, and as the manifestation of God
in human form, and therefore "the living God".
Some perceive him as part of a Trinity, alongside
God as Creator and the Holy Spirit, which
is sometimes referred to among Rastas as "the
Breath within the temple". Among those Rastas
claiming a link between the two figures, some
point to the belief that both Jesus and Haile
Selassie were descendants from the royal line
of David. Rastas also cite their interpretation
of chapter 19 in the Book of Revelation.Other
Rastas see Selassie as embodying Jesus' teachings
and essence but not being the reincarnated
Jesus himself. From this perspective, Haile
Selassie is perceived as a messenger or emissary
of God rather than a manifestation of God
himself. This attitude may be more pervasive
among Rastas living in Africa itself, who
are more familiar with the realities of the
continent's political problems. Rastas holding
to this view sometimes regard the deification
of Haile Selassie as naïve or ignorant; there
are various Rastas who went from believing
that Haile Selassie was both God incarnate
and the Second Coming of Jesus to seeing him
as something distinct.
On being crowned, Haile Selassie was given
the title of "King of Kings and Lord of Lords,
Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah". Rastas
use this title for Haile Selassie alongside
others, such as "Almighty God", "Judge and
Avenger", "King Alpha and Queen Omega", "Returned
Messiah", "Elect of God", and "Elect of Himself".
Rastas also view Haile Selassie as a symbol
of their positive affirmation of Africa as
a source of spiritual and cultural heritage.During
the 1960s, many Jamaican Rastas professed
the belief that Haile Selassie would never
die. The 1974 overthrow of Haile Selassie
by the military Derg and his subsequent death
in 1975 resulted in a crisis of faith for
many Rastas. Some practitioners left the movement
altogether. Others remained, and developed
new strategies for dealing with the news.
Some Rastas believed that Selassie did not
really die and that claims to the contrary
were Western misinformation. To bolster their
argument, they pointed to the fact that no
corpse had been produced; in reality, Haile
Selassie's body had been buried beneath a
toilet in his palace, remaining undiscovered
there until 1992. To support their claim of
his continued survival, some Rastas claimed
that Selassie was now living under a new name,
Abba Keddus or Abba Keddus Keddus Keddus.
Another perspective within Rastafari acknowledged
that Haile Selassie's body had perished, but
claimed that his inner essence survived as
a spiritual force. A third response within
the Rastafari community was that Selassie's
death was inconsequential as he had only been
a "personification" of Jah rather than Jah
himself.During his life, Selassie described
himself as a devout Christian.
In a 1967 interview when a Canadian interviewer
mentioned the Rastafari belief that he was
the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, he responded
by saying: "I have heard of this idea. I also
met certain Rastafarians. I told them clearly
that I am a man, that I am mortal, and that
I will be replaced by the oncoming generation,
and that they should never make a mistake
in assuming or pretending that a human being
is emanated from a deity." His grandson Ermias
Sahle Selassie has said that there is "no
doubt that Haile Selassie did not encourage
the Rastafari movement". For some Rastas,
Haile Selassie's denials are taken as evidence
was that he was indeed the incarnation of
God. However, critics of the religion have
insisted that Haile Selassie was merely a
human being who never claimed to be God.
=== Afrocentrism, Babylon, and Zion ===
According to Clarke, Rastafari is "concerned
above all else with black consciousness, with
rediscovering the identity, personal and racial,
of black people". The Rastafari movement began
among Afro-Jamaicans who wanted to reject
the British imperial culture that dominated
Jamaica, while at the same time making a determined
effort to create an identity based on a re-appropriation
of their African heritage. Rastas equate blackness
with the African continent and thus endorse
a form of Pan-Africanism. Practitioners of
Rastafari identify themselves with the ancient
Israelites—God's chosen people in the Old
Testament—and believe that black Africans
or Rastas are either the descendants or reincarnations
of this ancient people.
Rastafari espouses the view that the true
identity of black Africans has been lost and
needs to be reclaimed. In reclaiming this
identity, Rastas believe, they will help to
rid themselves of feelings of inferiority.Rastafari
teaches that the black African diaspora are
exiles living in "Babylon", a term applied
to Western society. For Rastas, European colonialism
and global capitalism are regarded as manifestations
of Babylon, while police and soldiers are
viewed as its agents. The term "Babylon" is
adopted because of its Biblical associations.
In the Old Testament, Babylon is the Mesopotamian
city which conquered and deported the Israelites
from their homeland between 597 and 586 BCE.
In the New Testament, "Babylon" is used as
a euphemism for the Roman Empire, which was
regarded as acting in a destructive manner
akin to the ancient Babylonians. Rastas view
Babylon as being responsible for both the
Atlantic slave trade which removed enslaved
Africans from their continent and for the
ongoing poverty facing the African diaspora.
Rastas turn to scripture to explain the Atlantic
slave trade. Rastas believe that the slavery,
exile, and exploitation of black Africans
was punishment for failing to live up to their
status as Jah's chosen people.For Rastas,
Babylon is regarded as the ultimate evil.
Rastas regard the exile of the black African
diaspora in Babylon as an experience of great
suffering, with the term "suffering" having
a significant place in Rasta discourse. Rastas
seek to delegitimise and destroy Babylon,
something often conveyed in the Rasta aphorism
"Chant down Babylon". Practitioners are often
critical of Western resource extraction from
Africa, seeing it as a form of exploitation
akin to the Atlantic Slave Trade. Adopting
a Pan-Africanist ethos, many Rastas have criticised
the vision of Africa into nation-states, again
regarding this as a Babylonian development.
Rastas often expect white-dominated society
to dismiss their beliefs as false, and when
this happens it is seen as confirmation of
the correctness of their faith, thus strengthening
their convictions.
Rastas view "Zion" as an ideal to which they
aspire. As with "Babylon", this is again a
term derived from the Bible, where it referred
to an idealised Jerusalem, regarded as the
City of God. Rastas use the term in reference
either to Ethiopia or to Africa more widely,
a land which has an almost mythological identity
in Rasta discourse. In doing so, Rastas reflect
their desire to escape what they perceive
as the domination and degradation that they
experience in Babylon. During the first three
decades of the Rastafari movement, it placed
strong emphasis on the need for the African
diaspora to be repatriated to Africa. To this
end, various Rastas lobbied the Jamaican government
and United Nations to oversee this resettlement
process. Other Rastas organised their own
transportation to the African continent. Critics
of the movement have argued that the migration
of the entire African diaspora to Africa is
implausible, particularly as no African country
would welcome this.By the movement's fourth
decade, the desire for physical repatriation
to Africa had declined among Rastas. This
change in view was influenced by observation
of the 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia. Rather,
many Rastas saw the idea of returning to Africa
in a metaphorical sense, entailing restoring
their pride and self-confidence as people
of black African descent. The term "liberation
before repatriation" began to be used within
the movement. Some Rastas seek to transform
Western society so that they may more comfortably
live within it rather than seeking to move
to Africa. There are nevertheless many Rastas
who continue to emphasise the need for physical
resettlement of the African diaspora in Africa.
Some Rastas living elsewhere in Africa see
no need to migrate to Ethiopia specifically
because they believe that all of Africa falls
under the Biblical understanding of "Ethiopia";
thus, Rastas in Ghana for instance described
themselves as already living within "Ethiopia".There
is no uniform Rasta view on race. Rastas typically
believe that black Africans are God's chosen
people, meaning that they made a deal with
him and thus have a special responsibility.
This is similar to beliefs in Judaism. Influenced
by Garvey, many Rastas endorse black supremacy,
believing the black African race to be superior
to other racial groups. This has opened the
religion up to accusations of racism from
its critics, including black Jamaicans. Cashmore
noted that there was an "implicit potential"
for racism in Rasta beliefs but that racism
was not "intrinsic" to the religion. Some
Rastas have acknowledged that there is racism
in the movement, primarily against Europeans,
Asians, and also against white European Rastas.
Some Rasta sects reject the idea that a white
European could ever be a legitimate Rasta,
while others believe that an "African" identity
is not inherently linked to black skin but
rather is about whether an individual displays
an African "attitude" or "spirit".
==== Salvation and paradise ====
Rastafari has been characterised as a millenarianist
movement, for it espouses the idea that the
present age will come to an apocalyptic end.
With Babylon destroyed, Rastas believe that
humanity will be ushered into a "new age".
In the 1980s, Rastas believed that this would
happen around the year 2000. In this Day of
Judgement, Babylon will be overthrown, and
Rastas would be the chosen few who survive.
A common view in the Rasta community was that
the world's white people would wipe themselves
out through nuclear war, with black Africans
then ruling the world, something that they
argue is prophesied in Daniel 2: 31–32.
In Rasta belief, the end of this present age
would be followed by a millennium of peace,
justice, and happiness in Ethiopia. The righteous
will live in paradise in Africa. Those who
had supported Babylon will be denied access
to paradise.
The Rasta conception of salvation has similarities
with that promoted in Judaism.Rastas do not
believe that there is a specific afterlife
to which human individuals go following bodily
death. They believe in the possibility of
eternal life, and that only those who shun
righteousness will actually die. One Rasta
view is that those who are righteous are believed
to go through a process of reincarnation,
with an individual's identity remaining throughout
each of their incarnations.
Barrett observed some Jamaican Rastas who
believed that those Rastas who did die had
not been faithful to Jah. He suggested that
this attitude stemmed from the large numbers
of young people that were then members of
the movement, and who had thus seen only few
Rastas die.
In keeping with their views on death, Rastas
eschew celebrating physical death and often
avoid funerals, also repudiating the practice
of ancestor veneration that is common among
African traditional religions.
=== Morality, ethics, and gender roles ===
Most Rastas share a pair of fundamental moral
principles known as the "two great commandments".
These are love of God and love of neighbour.
Rastafari promotes the idea of "living naturally",
in accordance with what Rastas regard as nature's
laws. It endorses the idea that Africa is
the "natural" abode of black Africans, a continent
where they can live according to African culture
and tradition and be themselves on a physical,
emotional, and intellectual level. Practitioners
believe that Westerners and Babylon have detached
themselves from nature through technological
development and as a result have become debilitated,
slothful, and decadent. Some Rastas express
the view that they should adhere to what they
regard as African laws rather than the laws
of Babylon, thus defending their involvement
in certain acts which may be illegal in the
countries that they are living in.Rastafari
promotes what it regards as the restoration
of black manhood, believing that men in the
African diaspora have been emasculated by
Babylon. Rastafari espouses patriarchal principles,
and promotes the idea that women should submit
to male leadership. External observers—including
scholars like Cashmore and Edmonds—have
claimed that Rastafari accords women an inferior
position to men. Rastafari women usually accept
this subordinate position and regard it as
their duty to obey their men. Rasta discourse
often presents women as morally weak and susceptible
to deception by evil, and claims that they
are impure during their period of menstruation.
Rastafari mirrored the views on gender which
were common in Jamaican society more broadly;
however, it has retained its commitment to
patriarchy while Jamaican society has moved
toward greater gender equity. Rastas legitimise
these gender roles by citing Biblical passages,
particularly those in the Book of Leviticus,
and in the writings of Paul the Apostle.Rasta
women usually wear clothing that covers their
head and masks their body contours, in a manner
akin to traditional Islamic clothing. Long
skirts are usually worn rather than trousers.
Rasta discourse legitimises this female dress
code with the claim that it is necessary to
prevent women attracting men; it also endorses
this female dress code as an antidote to the
sexual objectification of women in Babylon.
Rasta men are permitted to wear whatever they
choose. Although men and women took part in
early Rasta rituals alongside each other,
from the late 1940s and 1950s a more radical
movement within the Rasta community encouraged
gender segregation for ceremonies. This was
legitimised with the explanation that women
were impure through menstruation and that
their presence at the ceremonies would distract
male participants.
As it existed in Jamaica, Rastafari was not
monogamous. Rasta men are permitted to have
multiple female sex partners, while women
are expected to reserve their sexual activity
for their one male partner. Marriage is not
usually formalised through legal ceremonies,
although there are many Rastas who are legally
married. Rasta men refer to their female partners
as "queens", or "empresses", while the males
in these relationships are known as "kingmen".
Rastafari places great importance on family
life and the raising of children, with reproduction
being encouraged. The religion emphasises
the place of men in child-rearing, associating
this with the recovery of African manhood.
Women often work, sometimes while the man
is left to raise the children at home. Rastafari
typically rejects feminism, although since
the 1970s there have been increasing numbers
of Rasta women calling for greater gender
equity within the Rastafari movement. Clarke
encountered Rasta women in Britain who expressed
feminist sentiment and criticised sexism within
the religion, while the scholar Terisa E.
Turner encountered black feminists in Kenya
who were appropriating Rastafari and redefining
its content to suit their political agenda.
Some Rasta women have challenged gender norms
by wearing their hair uncovered in public
and donning trousers.Both contraception and
abortion are usually censured by Rastas, and
a common claim in Rasta discourse is that
these were inventions of Babylon created in
an attempt to decrease the black African birth-rate.
Rastas also typically express hostile attitudes
to homosexuality, regarding homosexuals as
evil and unnatural; this attitude derives
from references to same-sex sexual activity
in the Bible. In the 1960s, the scholar Sheila
Kitzinger suggested that this horror of homosexuality
"may be an indication of a heterosexuality
which is not markedly pronounced" among Jamaican
practitioners. The scholar of religion Fortune
Sibanda suggested that there were likely homosexual
Rastas who deliberately concealed their sexual
orientation because of these attitudes. Rastas
typically see the growing acceptance of birth
control and homosexuality in Western society
as evidence of the degeneration of Babylon
as it approaches its apocalyptic end.Some
Rastas have promoted activism as a means of
achieving socio-political change, while others
believe in awaiting change that will be brought
about through divine intervention in human
affairs. In Jamaica, Rastas do not typically
vote and derogatorily dismiss politics as
"politricks". Similarly, some Ghanaian Rastas
were reported as refusing to vote in the 2000
general election, believing that salvation
would only come through livity, not political
activity. The Rasta tendency to believe that
socio-political change is inevitable opens
the religion up to the criticism from the
political left that it encouraged adherents
to do little or nothing to change the status
quo. Most of these Jamaican practitioners
have rejected both capitalism and socialism
as models of economic development. Other Rastas
do engage in political activism; the Ghanaian
Rasta singer-songwriter Rocky Dawuni for instance
has been involved in campaigns promoting social
justice, environmental justice, and democratic
elections. In the example of Grenada, many
Rastas joined the People's Revolutionary Government
which was formed in 1979, although Marxist-Leninist
factions later turned against them.
== Practices ==
The cultural and religious practices of Rastafari
are referred to as "livity" by Rastas.
Rastafari has no professional priesthood,
with Rastas believing that there is no need
for a priest to act as mediator between the
worshipper and divinity. There are individuals
who are regarded as elders within the community.
This is an honorific title bestowed upon those
who have attained a good reputation among
Rastas because of their exemplary conduct.
Although respected figures, they do not necessarily
have any administrative functions or responsibilities
among Rastafari. Elders are often in communication
with each other through a network.
=== Grounding ===
The term "grounding" is used among Rastas
to refer to the establishment of relationships
between like-minded practitioners. Groundings
often take place in a commune or yard, and
are presided over by an elder. The elder is
charged with keeping discipline in the group,
and can ban those who contravene the rules
that they set forth. The number of participants
can range from a handful to several hundred.
Activities that take place at groundings include
the playing of drums, chanting, the singing
of hymns, and the recitation of poetry. Ganja,
or cannabis, is often smoked. Most groundings
contain only men, with women being excluded.
Some Rasta women have established their own,
all-female grounding circles.One of the central
activities that takes place at groundings
is "reasoning". This is a discussion among
assembled Rastas about the religion's principles
and their relevance to current events. These
discussions are supposed to be non-combative,
although attendees can point out the fallacies
in any arguments that are presented. Those
assembled inform each other about the revelations
that they have received through meditation
and dream. Each contributor is supposed to
push the boundaries of understanding until
the entire group has gained greater insight
into the topic under discussion. Cashmore
observed that in England, Rastas arrived and
left throughout the reasoning session. In
meeting together with likeminded individuals,
reasoning helps Rastas to reassure one another
of the correctness of their beliefs.Rastafari
meetings are opened and closed with prayers.
Barrett suggested that the most common example
had "all the structure of a classical ritual
prayer". This prayer involves supplication
of God, the supplication for the hungry, sick,
and infants, calls for the destruction of
the Rastas' enemies, and then closes with
statements of adoration.
The largest groundings were known as "groundations"
or "grounations" in the 1950s, although were
subsequently re-termed "Nyabinghi Issemblies".
The term Nyabinghi is adopted from the name
of a mythical African queen. Several dates
are often selected for Nyabinghi Issemblies,
particularly those associated with Ethiopia
and Haile Selassie. These include Ethiopian
Christmas (7 January), the day on which Haile
Selassie visited Jamaica (21 April), Selassie's
birthday (23 July), Ethiopian New Year (11
September), Selassie's coronation day (2 November).
Some Rastas also organise Nyabinghi Issemblies
to mark Jamaica's Emancipation Day (1 August)
and Marcus Garvey's birthday (17 August).Nyabinghi
Issemblies typically take place in rural areas,
being situated in the open air or in temporary
structures—known as "temples" or "tabernacles"—which
are specifically constructed for the purpose.
Any elder seeking to sponsor a Nyabinghi Issembly
must have approval from other elders to do
so, and requires the adequate resources to
organise such an event. The assembly usually
lasts between three and seven days. During
the daytime, those Rastas attending the event
engage in food preparation, ganja smoking,
and reasoning, while at night they focus on
drumming and dancing around bonfires.
Nyabinghi Issemblies often attract Rastas
from a wide area, including from different
countries. They establish and maintain a sense
of solidarity among the Rasta community and
cultivate a feeling of collective belonging.
They also help to confirm Rastas' convictions
in the veracity of Rastafari teaching.
=== Spiritual use of cannabis ===
Clarke stated that the "principle ritual"
of Rastafari was the smoking of ganja, or
cannabis. Among the names that Rastas give
to the plant are callie, Iley, "the herb",
"the grass", and "the weed". When smoked in
ritual contexts, Rastas often refer to it
as "the holy herb". In addition to smoking
it, Rastas also ingest cannabis in a tea,
as a spice in cooking, and as an ingredient
in medicine.
Cannabis is usually smoked during groundings,
although some Rastas smoke it almost all of
the time. Others have criticised this practice,
believing that use of the drug should be restricted
to groundings.
However, not all Rastas use ganja, explaining
that they have already achieved a higher level
of consciousness and thus do not require it.Rastas
argue that the use of ganja is promoted in
the Bible, specifically in Genesis 1: 29,
Psalms 18:8, and Revelation 22:2. Rastas portray
cannabis as the supreme herb, and regard it
as having healing properties. They also eulogise
it for inducing feelings of "peace and love"
in those taking it, and claim that it cultivates
a form of personal introspection that allows
the smoker to discover their inner divinity,
or "InI consciousness". Some Rastas express
the view that cannabis smoke serves as an
incense that counteracts perceived immoral
practices, such as same-sex sexual relations,
in society.When meeting in a grounding, Rastas
typically remove their head gear first. Rastas
most often smoke cannabis through a form of
large cigarette known as a spliff. This is
often rolled together while a prayer is offered
to Jah; only once this is completed is the
spliff then lit, enabling it to be smoked.
At other times, cannabis is smoked not in
a spliff but in a water pipe referred to as
a "chalice". There are different styles of
chalices used by Rastas, including kutchies,
chillums, and steamers. The pipe is passed
in a counter-clockwise direction around the
assembled circle of Rastas.
By the 8th century, cannabis had been introduced
by Arab traders to Central and Southern Africa,
where it is known as "dagga" and many Rastas
say it is a part of their African culture
that they are reclaiming. It is sometimes
also referred to as "the healing of the nation",
a phrase adapted from Revelation 22:2. There
are various methods of transmission that might
explain how cannabis smoking came to be part
of Rastafari. One possible source was the
African diasporic religion of Kumina, based
on the practices of Bakongo enslaved people
and indentured labourers who were brought
to Jamaica in the mid-nineteenth century.
In Kumina, cannabis was smoked during religious
ceremonies in the belief that it facilitated
possession by ancestral spirits. The religion
was largely practiced in south-east Jamaica's
Saint Thomas Parish, where a prominent early
Rasta, Leonard Howell, lived during the period
he was developing many of Rastafari's beliefs
and practices.A second possible source was
the use of cannabis in various Hindu rituals.
Hindu migrants arrived in Jamaica as indentured
servants from British India between 1834 and
1917, and brought the use of cannabis with
them. One Jamaican Hindu priest, Laloo, was
one of Howell's spiritual advisors, and may
have influenced his adoption of ganja. It
is also possible that its adoption was also
influenced by the widespread medicinal and
recreational use of cannabis among Afro-Jamaicans
in the early twentieth century. Early Rastafarians
may have taken an element of Jamaican culture
which they associated with their peasant past
and the rejection of capitalism and sanctified
it by according it Biblical correlates.According
to many Rastas, the illegality of cannabis
in many nations is evidence of persecution
of Rastafari. 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. In smoking an illegal substance,
Rastas protest the rules and regulations of
Babylon. Rastas have advocated the legalisation
of cannabis. The Rasta usage of ganja has
attracted much popular, scholarly, and legal
debate.
=== Music ===
Rastafari music developed at reasoning sessions,
where drumming, chanting, and dancing are
all present. Rasta music is performed to praise
and commune with Jah. In performing it, Rastas
also reaffirm their rejection of Babylon.
Rastas believe that their music has healing
properties, with the ability to cure colds,
fevers, and headaches. Many of these songs
are sung to the tune of older Christian hymns,
but others are original Rasta creations.The
bass-line of Rasta music is provided by the
akete, a three-drum set, which is accompanied
by percussion instruments like rattles and
tambourines. A syncopated rhythm is then provided
by the fundeh drum. In addition, a peta drum
improvises over the rhythm. The different
components of the music are regarded as displaying
different symbolism; the bassline symbolises
blows against Babylon, while the lighter beats
denote hope for the future.As Rastafari developed,
popular music became its chief communicative
medium. During the 1950s, ska was a popular
musical style in Jamaica, and although its
protests against social and political conditions
were mild, it gave early expression to the
Rastafarians' social and political ideology.
Particularly prominent in the connection between
Rastafari and ska were the musicians Count
Ossie and Don Drummond. Ossie was a drummer
who believed that black people needed to develop
their own style of music; he was heavily influenced
by Kumina and Burru, two drumming styles developed
by African-Jamaicans. Ossie subsequently popularised
this new Rastafari ritual music by playing
at various groundings and groundations around
Jamaica, with songs like "Another Moses" and
"Babylon Gone" reflecting this Rasta influence.
Rasta themes also appeared in Drummond's work,
with songs such as "Reincarnation" and "Tribute
to Marcus Garvey".
Rasta ideas began to feature in the lyrics
of mento songs, such as Lord Lebby's "Ethiopia".1968
saw the development of reggae in Jamaica,
a musical style typified by slower, heavier
rhythms than ska and the increased use of
patois. Although like calypso, reggae was
a medium for social commentary, it demonstrated
a wider use of radical political and Rasta
themes than had previously been present in
Jamaican popular music. Reggae artists incorporated
Rasta ritual rhythms, and also adopted Rasta
chants, language, motifs, and social critiques.
Songs like The Wailers' "African Herbsman"
and "Kaya", and Peter Tosh's "Legalize It"
referenced marijuana use, while tracks like
The Melodians' "Rivers of Babylon" and Junior
Byles' "Beat Down Babylon" referenced the
Rastafarian belief in Babylon. Reggae gained
widespread international popularity during
the mid-1970s, coming to be viewed as music
of the oppressed by black people in many different
countries. Its popularity led to the emergence
of "pseudo-Rastafarians", individuals who
adopted the cultural trappings of Rastafari—such
as dreadlocks and marijuana use—without
sharing the religion's beliefs. Many Rastas
grew critical of reggae, believing that it
had commercialised their faith. Although reggae
contains much Rastafari symbolism, and the
two have come to be widely associated, the
connection between them is often exaggerated
by non-Rastas. Most Rastas do not listen to
reggae music. Out of reggae came dub music;
dub artists often employ Rastafari terminology,
even when not Rastas themselves.
=== Language and symbolism ===
In the 1940s, a distinct form of Rasta language,
often known as "dreadtalk", developed among
Jamaican practitioners. Rastas typically regard
words as having an intrinsic power, with Rastafari
language reflecting Rastas' own experiences,
as well as fostering a group identity and
cultivating particular values.
Rastas seek to avoid language that contributes
to servility, self-degradation, and the objectification
of the person. They believe that the English
language is a tool of Babylon, and thus by
formulating their own language are launching
an ideological attack on the integrity of
the English language. The use of this language
helps Rastas distinguish themselves from non-Rastas,
for whom—according to Barrett—Rasta rhetoric
can be "meaningless babbling".
When greeting one another, Rastas often say
"Peace and Love". Rastas make wide use of
the pronoun "I". The use of this word denotes
the Rasta view that the self is divine. It
also reminds each Rasta that they are a human
being, not a slave, and that they have value,
worth, and dignity as a human being. For instance,
Rastas use "I" in place of "me", "I and I"
in place of "we", "I-ceive" in place of "receive",
"I-sire" in place of "desire", "I-rate" in
place of "create", and "I-men" in place of
"Amen". Rastas refer to this process as "InI
Consciousness" or "Isciousness". Rastas typically
refer to Haile Selaisse as "Haile Selassie
I", thus indicating their belief in his divinity.
Rastas also typically believe that the phonetics
of a word should be linked to its meaning.
For instance, Rastas often use the word "downpression"
in place of "oppression" because oppression
bears down on people rather than lifting them
up, with "up" being phonetically akin to the
"opp-". Similarly, they often favour "livicate"
over "dedicate" because "ded-" is phonetically
akin to the word "dead".Rastafarians often
make use of the colours red, black, green,
and gold. Red, gold, and green were used in
the Ethiopian flag while, prior to the development
of Rastafari, Garvey had used red, green,
and black as the colours for his United Negro
Improvement Association. According to Garvey,
the red symbolises the blood of martyrs, the
black symbolises the skin of Africans, and
the green represents the vegetation of the
land. Many Rastas endorse these associations
to the colours. The colour gold is often included
alongside Garvey's three colours; it has been
adopted from the Jamaican flag, and is often
interpreted as symbolising the minerals and
raw materials which constitute Africa's wealth.
Rastas often paint these colours onto their
buildings, vehicles, kiosks, and other items,
or display them on their clothing, helping
to demarcate Rastas from non-Rastas and allowing
adherents to recognise their co-religionists.
As well as being used by Rastas, the colour
set has also been adopted by Pan-Africanists
more broadly, who use it to display their
identification with Afrocentricity; for this
reason it was adopted on the flags of many
post-independence African states. Rastas often
accompany the use of these three or four colours
with the image of the Lion of Judah, also
adopted from the Ethiopian flag and symbolizing
Haile Selassie.
=== Diet ===
Rastas seek to produce food "naturally", eating
what they call ital, or "natural" food. This
is often produced organically, and locally.
Most Rastas adhere to the dietary laws outlined
in the Old Testament's Book of Leviticus,
and thus avoid eating pork or crustaceans.
Other Rastas remain totally vegetarian, and
also avoid the addition of any additives,
including sugar and salt, to their food. Rasta
dietary practices have come under ridicule
from non-Rastas; in Ghana for example, where
food traditionally includes a high meat content,
the Rastas' emphasis on vegetable produce
has led to the humorous comment from other
Ghanaians that Rastas "eat like sheep and
goats". In Jamaica, Rasta practitioners have
commercialised ital food, for instance by
selling fruit juices prepared according to
Rasta custom.Rastafarians typically avoid
food produced by non-Rastas or from unknown
sources. Rasta men also refuse to eat food
prepared by a woman while she was menstruating.
They also avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and hard
drugs such as heroin and cocaine.
=== Dreadlocks ===
Through their use of language, dress, dreaded
hair, and lifestyle Rastas seek to draw a
clear boundary between themselves and non-Rastas.
One of the "distinguishing mark[s] of the
movement" is the formation of hair into dreadlocks.
The formation of dreadlocks is Biblically
inspired, legitimised by reference to the
Book of Numbers (6: 5–6). They are regarded
as marking a covenant that the Rastas have
made with God, and are also regarded as a
symbol of strength linked to the hair of the
Biblical figure of Samson. Sometimes this
dreadlocked hair is then shaped and styled,
often inspired by a lion's mane symbolising
Haile Selassie, who is regarded as "the Conquering
Lion of Judah". For Rastas, the wearing of
dreads is a symbolic rejection of Babylon
and a refusal to conform to its norms and
standards regarding grooming aesthetics. They
also reflect a commitment to the Rasta idea
of 'naturalness'. Rastas are often critical
of black people who straighten their hair,
believing that it is an attempt to imitate
white European hair and thus reflects alienation
from a person's African identity.There are
Rastas who do not wear their hair in dreadlocks;
within the religion they are often termed
"cleanface" Rastas. Some Rastas have also
joined the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the
Christian organisation to which Haile Selassie
belonged, and these individuals are required
to not wear their hair in locks by the Church.
Many Rastas also grow their beards long. In
reference to Rasta hairstyles, Rastas often
refer to non-Rastas as "baldheads", while
those who are new to Rastafari and who have
only just started to grow their hair into
dreads are known as "nubbies". Members of
the Bobo Ashanti sect of Rastas conceal their
dreadlocks within turbans. The tam headdress
worn by many Rastas is coloured green, red,
black, and yellow to symbolise allegiance
and identification with Ethiopia.From the
beginning of the Rastafari movement in the
1930s, adherents typically grew beards and
tall hair, perhaps in imitation of Haile Selassie.
The wearing of hair as dreadlocks then emerged
as a Rasta practice in the 1940s. Within the
oral culture of the movement, there are various
different claims as to how this practice was
adopted. One claim is that it was adopted
in imitation of certain African nations, such
as the Maasai, Somalis, or Oromo, or that
it was inspired by the hairstyles worn by
some of those involved in the anti-colonialist
Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya. An alternative
explanation is that it was inspired by the
hairstyles of the Hindu sadhus.It has 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 has traced the first
hairlocked Rastas to a subgroup first appearing
in 1949, known as Youth Black Faith.
The wearing of dreadlocks has faced opposition
from other sectors of society; in Jamaica
during the mid-20th century, teachers and
police officers used to cut off the dreads
of Rastas. 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. More recently,
in 2009, a group of Rastafari settled a federal
lawsuit with the Grand Central Partnership
in New York City, allowing them to wear their
locks in neat ponytails, rather than be forced
to "painfully tuck in their long hair" in
their uniform caps. Dreadlocks remain socially
stigmatised in many societies; in Ghana for
example, they are often associated with the
homeless mentally ill, with such associations
of marginality extending onto Ghanaian Rastas.Dreadlocks
and Rastafari-inspired clothing have also
been worn for aesthetic reasons by non-Rastas.
For instance, many reggae musicians who do
not adhere to the Rastafari religion wear
their hair in dreads. Many non-Rastafari of
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. The wearing
of dreads also has spread among people of
other ethnicities. Locks worn for stylish
reasons are sometimes referred to as "bathroom
locks", to distinguish them from the kind
that are purely natural. Rastafari 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. The wearing of dreadlocks has also
contributed to the negative view of Rastafari
held by many non-Rastas, who regard it as
wild and unattractive.
== History ==
The Rastafari movement developed out of the
legacy of the Atlantic slave trade, in which
over ten million Africans were enslaved and
transported from Africa to the Americas between
the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. Here,
they were sold to European planters and forced
to work on the plantations. Around a third
of these transported Africans were relocated
in the Caribbean, with under 700,000 being
settled in Jamaica. On the island, the enslaved
Africans were divided into a stratified system,
with field workers on the lowest rung and
house servants above them. In 1834, slavery
in Jamaica was abolished after the British
government passed the Slavery Abolition Act
1833. Racial prejudice nevertheless remained
prevalent across Jamaican society, with the
overwhelming majority of Jamaica's legislative
council remaining white throughout the nineteenth
century, and those of African descent being
treated as second-class citizens. With slavery
abolished, formerly enslaved Africans and
Afro-Jamaicans became free peasants. In the
three decades after emancipation, the Free
Village system proliferated across Jamaica
as non-conformist missionaries, particularly
Baptist, purchased land from the large owners
and sold it as smaller plots to former slaves.Many
Afro-Jamaicans joined Christian churches during
the Great Revival of 1860–61. They brought
with them many inherited African beliefs and
rituals, which syncretised with Christianity
in various ways and to varying degrees. Some
of the new religions that emerged, such as
Pukkumina, remained heavily based on traditional
African religion, while others, like Revival
Zion, were more fully Christian. The majority
of these groups practiced spiritual healing
and incorporated drumming and chanting, counselling,
and spirit possession into their structures.
Increasing numbers of Pentecostal missionaries
from the United States arrived in Jamaica
during the early twentieth century, reaching
a climax in the 1920s. They provided a way
for black Jamaicans—who continued to live
with the social memory of enslavement and
who were denied any substantial participation
in Jamaica's political institutions—to express
their hopes, fears, and aspirations.
=== Ethiopianism, Back to Africa, and Marcus
Garvey ===
According to the scholar of religion Ennis
B. Edmonds, Rastafari emerged from "the convergence
of several religious, cultural, and intellectual
streams", while fellow scholar Wigmoore Francis
described it as owing much of its self-understanding
to "intellectual and conceptual frameworks"
dating from the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. Both Ethiopianism and the Back
to Africa ethos remain "fundamental ingredients
of Rastafarian ideology". These two movements
predated Rastafari and can be traced back
to the eighteenth century.In the nineteenth
century, there were growing calls for the
African diaspora located in Western Europe
and the Americas to be resettled in Africa.
In that century, many members of the African
diaspora were moved to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Based in Liberia, the black Christian preacher
Edward Wilmot Blyden began promoting African
pride and the preservation of African tradition,
customs, and institutions. Blyden sought to
promote a form of Christianity that was suited
to the African context, and believed that
black people had to acquire their own historical
knowledge about themselves. The idea of the
African diaspora's return to Africa was given
impetus by the creation of the State of Israel
in 1948 as a nation-state for the Jewish diaspora
to return to.Also spreading through Africa
was Ethiopianism, a movement that accorded
special status to the east African nation
of Ethiopia because it was mentioned in various
Biblical passages. For adherents of Ethiopianism,
"Ethiopia" was regarded as a synonym of Africa
as a whole. Across the continent, although
particularly in South Africa, Christian churches
were established that referred to themselves
as "Ethiopian"; these groups were at the forefront
of the burgeoning African nationalist movement
that sought liberation from European colonial
rule.Garvey supported the idea of global racial
separatism and rejected the idea that black
people of African descent living in the Americas
should campaign for their civil rights; instead
he believed that they should migrate en masse
back to Africa. His ideas were opposed by
many blacks in the Americas and he experienced
hostility from African-American civil rights
activists like W. E. B. Du Bois. He also faced
opposition from the government of Liberia,
which did not want millions of unskilled migrants
arriving on its shores. As a mass movement,
Garveyism declined in the Great Depression
of the 1930s.A rumour later spread that in
1916, Garvey had called on his supporters
to "look to Africa" for the crowning of a
black king; this quote was never verified.
Soumahoro noted that this statement was "legendary".
Rather, Garvey was critical of Haile Selassie
for leaving Ethiopia at the time of the Italian
Fascist occupation, describing the king as
"a great coward" who rules a "country where
black men are chained and flogged." Rastafari
does not promote all of the views that Garvey
espoused, but nevertheless shares many of
the same perspectives, with many Rastas regarding
Garvey as a prophet. According to Soumahoro,
Rastafari "emerged from the socio-political
ferment inaugurated by Marcus Garvey", while
for Cashmore, Garvey was the "most important"
precursor of the Rastafari movement.
=== Haile Selassie and the early Rastas: 1930–1949
===
Emperor Haile Selassie was crowned Emperor
of Ethiopia in 1930. A number of Christian
clergymen, among them Leonard Percival Howell,
Joseph Nathaniel Hibbert, Henry Archibald
Dunkley, and Hinds, claimed that Selassie's
coronation was evidence that he was the black
messiah that they believed was prophesied
in the Book of Revelation (5:2–5; 19:16),
the Book of Daniel (7:3), and the Book of
Psalms (68:31). These preachers began promoting
this idea within Kingston, and soon the message
spread throughout 1930s Jamaica. Clarke stated
that "to all intents and purposes this was
the beginning" of the Rastafari movement.Over
the following years, a number of street preachers—most
notably Leonard Howell, Archibald Dunkley,
Robert Hinds, and Joseph Hibbert—began promoting
the idea that Haile Selassie was the returned
Jesus. Howell has been described as the "First
Rasta", and the "leading figure" in the early
Rastafari movement. Howell preached that black
Africans were superior to white Europeans
and that Afro-Jamaicans should owe their allegiance
to Haile Selassie rather than to George V,
King of Great Britain and Ireland. The island's
British authorities arrested him and charged
him with sedition, resulting in a two-year
imprisonment. Following his release, Howell
established the Ethiopian Salvation Society
and in 1939 created a Rasta community known
as Pinnacle, in St Catherine. The community
attracted between 500 and 2000 people, who
were largely self-sufficient. Police feared
that Howell was training his followers for
an armed rebellion and were angered that it
was producing marijuana for sale among the
wider community. They raided the community
on several occasions and Howell was imprisoned
for a further two years. On his release he
returned to Pinnacle, but the police continued
with their raids and shut down the community
in 1954; Howell himself was committed to a
mental hospital.In 1936, Italy invaded and
occupied Ethiopia, with Haile Selassie going
into exile. The event brought international
condemnation and growing sympathy for the
Ethiopian cause. In 1937, Selassie then created
the Ethiopian World Federation, which established
a branch in Jamaica in 1938. In 1941, the
Italians were driven out of Ethiopia and Selassie
returned. For many Rastas, this event was
interpreted as the fulfilment of an event
described in the Book of Revelation (19:11–19).
=== Subsequent development: 1950–present
===
Rastafari's main appeal was among the lower
classes of Jamaican society. For its first
thirty years, Rastafari was in a conflictual
relationship with the Jamaican authorities.
Jamaica's Rastas expressed contempt for many
aspects of the island's society, viewing the
government, police, bureaucracy, professional
classes, and established churches as instruments
of Babylon. Relations between practitioners
and the police were strained, with Rastas
often being arrested for cannabis possession.
During the 1950s the movement grew rapidly
in Jamaica itself and also spread to other
Caribbean islands, the United States, and
the United Kingdom.
In the 1940s and 1950s, a more militant brand
of Rastafari emerged. The vanguard of this
was the House of Youth Black Faith, a group
whose members were largely based in West Kingston.
Backlash against the Rastas grew after a practitioner
of the religion allegedly killed a woman in
1957. In March 1958, the first Rastafarian
Universal Convention was held in Back-o-Wall,
Kingston. Following the event, militant Rastas
unsuccessfully tried to capture the city in
the name of Haile Selassie. Later that year
they tried again in Spanish Town. The increasing
militancy of some Rastas resulted in growing
alarm about the religion in Jamaica. According
to Cashmore, the Rastas became "folk devils"
in Jamaican society. In 1959, the self-declared
prophet and founder of the African Reform
Church, Claudius Henry, sold thousands of
black Jamaicans, including many Rastas, tickets
for a ship that he claimed would take them
to Africa. The ship never arrived and Henry
was charged with fraud. In 1960 he was sentenced
to six years imprisonment for conspiring to
overthrow the government. Henry's son was
accused of being part of a paramilitary cell
and executed, confirming public fears about
Rasta violence. Clamping down on the Rasta
movement, in 1964 the island's government
implemented tougher laws surrounding marijuana
use.At the invite of Jamaica's government,
Haile Selassie visited the island for the
first time in August 1966, with crowds of
Rastas assembling to meet him at the airport.
The event was the high point for many of the
religion's members. Over the course of the
1960s, Jamaica's Rasta community underwent
a process of routinization, with the late
1960s witnessing the launch of the first official
Rastafarian newspaper, the Rastafarian Movement
Association's Rasta Voice. The decade also
saw Rastafari develop in increasingly complex
ways. During that decade, some Rastas began
to reinterpret the idea that salvation required
a physical return to Africa, instead interpreting
salvation as coming through a process of mental
decolonisation that embraced African approaches
to life.Whereas its membership had previously
come predominantly from poorer sectors of
Jamaican society, in the 1960s Rastafari began
to attract support from more privileged groups
like students and professional musicians.
The foremost group emphasising this approach
were the Twelve Tribes of Israel, whose members
came to be known as "Uptown Rastas". Among
those attracted to Rastafari in this decade
were middle-class intellectuals like Leahcim
Semaj, who called for the religious community
to place greater emphasis on scholarly social
theory as a method of achieving change. Although
some Jamaican Rastas were critical of him,
many came under the influence of the Guyanese
black nationalist academic Walter Rodney,
who lectured to their community in 1968 before
publishing his thoughts as the pamphlet Groundings.
Like Rodney, many Jamaican Rastas were influenced
by the U.S.-based Black Power movement. After
Black Power declined following the deaths
of Malcolm X, Michael X, and George Jackson,
Rastafari filled the vacuum it left for many
black youth.
In the mid-1970s, the international popularity
of reggae exploded. The most successful reggae
artist was Bob Marley, who—according to
Cashmore—"more than any other individual,
was responsible for introducing Rastafarian
themes, concepts and demands to a truly universal
audience". The popularity of reggae led to
a growth in "pseudo-Rastafarians", individuals
who listened to reggae and wore Rasta clothing
but whom did not share its belief system.
Many Rastas were angered by these developments,
believing that the popularity of reggae had
commercialised their religion. Through reggae,
Rasta musicians became increasingly important
in Jamaica's political life during the 1970s.
In his desire to break from the past and move
towards democratic socialism, Jamaican Prime
Minister Michael Manley courted and obtained
support from Marley and other reggae musicians,
helping to bolster his popularity with the
electorate. Manley described Rastas as a "beautiful
and remarkable people", and carried a cane,
the "rod of correction", which he claimed
was a gift from Haile Selassie. Following
Manley's example, Jamaican political groups
increasingly employed Rasta language, symbols,
and reggae references in their campaigns,
while Rasta symbols became increasingly mainstream
in Jamaican society. This helped to confer
greater legitimacy on Rastafari, with reggae
and Rasta imagery being increasingly presented
as a core part of Jamaica's cultural heritage
for the marketing purposes of the growing
tourist industry.Enthusiasm for Rastafari
was likely dampened by the death of Haile
Selassie in 1975 and then that of Marley in
1981. During the 1980s, the number of Rastafarians
in Jamaica declined, with Pentecostal and
other Charismatic Christian groups proving
more successful than Rastafari at attracting
young recruits. Several publicly prominent
Rastas converted to Christianity, and two
of those who did so—Judith Mowatt and Tommy
Cowan—maintained that Marley had converted
from Rastafari to Christianity, in the form
of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, during his
final days. The significance of Rastafari
messages in reggae also declined with the
growing popularity of dancehall, a Jamaican
musical genre that typically foregrounded
lyrical themes of hyper-masculinity, violence,
and sexual activity rather than religious
symbolism. Since the mid-1990s, however, there
was a revival of Rastafari-focused reggae
associated with musicians like Anthony B,
Buju Banton, Luciano, Sizzla, and Capleton.
From the 1990s, Jamaica also witnessed the
growth of organised political activity within
the Rasta community, seen for instance through
campaigns for the legalisation of marijuana
and the creation of political parties like
the Jamaican Alliance Movement and the Imperial
Ethiopian World Federation Incorporated Political
Party, none of which have attained more than
minimal electoral support.
== Organization ==
Rastafari is not a homogeneous movement and
has no single administrative structure, nor
any single leader. Centralised and hierarchical
structures are avoided by Rastas because they
want to avoid replicating the formal structures
of Babylon. Rastas also tend to avoid hierarchic
and bureaucratic structures because of the
ultra-individualistic ethos that the religion
promotes with its ideas about inner divinity.The
structure of Rastafari groups is less like
those of Christian denominations and is instead
akin to the cellular structure of other African
diasporic traditions like Haitian Vodou, Cuban
Santeria, and Jamaica's Revival Zion. Since
the 1970s, there have been attempts to fashion
a pan-Rasta unity movement, namely through
the establishment of the Rastafari Movement
Association, which sought political mobilisation.
In 1982, the first international assembly
of Rastafari groups took place in Toronto,
Canada. This and subsequent international
conferences, assemblies, and workshops have
helped to cement global networks and cultivate
an international community of Rasta practitioners.
=== Mansions of Rastafari ===
Within Rastafari, there are distinct groups
which display particular orientations. There
are often referred to as "houses" or "mansions",
in keeping with a passage from the Gospel
of John (14:2): as translated in the King
James Bible, Jesus states "In my father's
house are many mansions". The three most prominent
branches are the House of Nyabinghi, the Bobo
Ashanti, and the Twelve Tribes of Israel,
although other important groups include the
Church of Haile Selassie I, Inc., and the
Fulfilled Rastafari.
==== House of Nyabinghi ====
The House of Nyabinghi is an aggregate of
more traditional and militant Rastas who seek
to retain the movement close to the way in
which it existed during the 1940s. They stress
the idea that Haile Selassie was a manifestation
of God and the reincarnation of Jesus. The
wearing of dreadlocks is regarded as indispensable,
and patriarchal gender roles are strongly
emphasised. Nyabinghi Rastas refuse to make
any compromise with Babylon, and are often
critical of reggae musicians like Bob Marley
whom they regard as having collaborated with
the commercial music industry. According to
Cashmore, the Nyabinghi House is "vehemently
anti-white". It is probably the largest Rastafari
group.
==== Bobo Ashanti ====
The Bobo Ashanti sect was founded in Jamaica
by Emanuel Charles Edwards through the establishment
of his Ethiopia Africa Black International
Congress (EABIC) in 1958. The group established
a commune in Bull Bay, where they were led
by Edwards, who served as the group's high
priest, until his 1994 death. The group hold
to a highly rigid ethos. Edwards advocated
the idea of a new trinity, with Haile Selassie
as the living God, himself as the Christ,
and Garvey as the prophet. Male members of
the group are divided into two categories:
the "priests" who conduct religious services
and the "prophets" who take place in reasoning
sessions. Women are regarded as impure because
of menstruation and childbirth, and so are
not permitted to cook for men. The group teaches
that black Africans are God's chosen people
and thus are superior to white Europeans.
Bob Ashanti practitioners will often refuse
to associate with white people. Members of
this sect are recognisable by their attire,
which include long, flowing robes and turbans.
Since the 1990s, increasing numbers of Bob
Ashanti Rastas have lived outside the Bull
Bay commune, but continue to regard the latter
as a place of pilgrimage.
==== Twelve Tribes of Israel ====
The Twelve Tribes of Israel sect was founded
in 1968 in Kingston by Vernon Carrington.
He regarded himself as the reincarnation of
the Old Testament prophet Gad, one of Jacob's
twelve sons, and his followers thus refer
to him as "Prophet Gad", "Brother Gad", or
"Gadman". It is commonly regarded as the most
liberal form of Rastafari and the closest
to Christianity in its beliefs; Barrett stated
that there was "only a thin line dividing
the sect from true Christianity". Practitioners
are often dubbed "Christian Rastas" because
they believe Jesus is the messiah and only
saviour; Haile Selassie is accorded importance,
but is not viewed as the second coming of
Jesus. The group divides its members into
twelve groups according to which month in
the Hebrew calendar they were born; each month
is associated with a particular colour, body
part, and mental function. Maintaining dreadlocks
and an ital diet are considered commendable
but not essential, while adherents are called
upon to read a chapter of the Bible each day.
Some Rastas regarded the Twelve Tribes as
a heretical group for its views.The Twelve
Tribes peaked in popularity during the 1970s,
when it attracted artists, musicians, and
many middle-class followers, resulting in
the term "middle-class Rastas" and "uptown
Rastas" being applied to members of the group.
Marley was one such of these musicians belonging
to the Twelve Tribes. Carrington died in 2005,
since which time the Twelve Tribes of Israel
have been led by an executive council. As
of 2010, it was recorded as being the largest
of the centralized Rasta groups. It remains
headquartered in Kingston, although has followers
outside Jamaica.
==== Church of Haile Selassie ====
The Church of Haile Selassie, Inc was founded
by Abuna Foxe, and operated much like a mainstream
Christian church, with a hierarchy of functionaries,
weekly services, and Sunday schools. In New
York, the group have established prison chaplains.
In adopting this broad approach, the Church
seeks to develop Rastafari's respectability
in wider society.
==== Fulfilled Rastafari ====
Fulfilled Rastafari is a multi-ethnic movement
that has spread in popularity during the twenty-first
century, in large part through the Internet.
The Fulfilled Rastafari group accept Haile
Selassie's statements that he was a man and
that he was a devout Christian, and so place
emphasis on worshipping Jesus Christ through
the example set forth by Haile Selassie. The
wearing of dreadlocks and the adherence to
an ital diet are considered issues up to the
individual.
== Demographics ==
As of 2012, there were an estimated 700,000
to 1 million Rastas worldwide. They can be
found in many different regions, including
most of the world's major population centers.
Rastafari's influence on wider society has
been more substantial than its numerical size,
particularly in fostering a racial, political,
and cultural consciousness among the African
diaspora, Africans themselves, and other dominated
communities across the world.The Rasta message
resonates with many people who feel marginalised
and alienated by the values and institutions
of their society. In valorising Africa and
blackness, Rastafari provides a positive identity
for youth in the African diaspora by allowing
them to psychologically reject their social
stigmatisation. It then provides these disaffected
people with the discursive stance from which
they can challenge capitalism and consumerism,
providing them with symbols of resistance
and defiance. Cashmore expressed the view
that "whenever there are black people who
sense an injust disparity between their own
material conditions and those of the whites
who surround them and tend to control major
social institutions, the Rasta messages have
relevance." Benard was of the view that because
of its stances on capitalism, European hegemony,
and white racism, Rastafari is "easily incorporated
into other nations with similar histories
of European oppression".
According to sociologist of religion Peter
B. Clarke, Rastafari "helped to provide many
people of African descent with a deeper sense
of their African identity".Men dominate Rastafari.
In the religion's early years, most of its
followers were men, and the women who did
adhere to it tended to remain in the background.
This picture of Rastafari's demographics has
been confirmed by ethnographic studies conducted
in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
=== Conversion and deconversion ===
Rastafari is a non-missionary religion. However,
elders from Jamaica often go "trodding" to
meet with newly converted Rastas in order
to instruct them in the fundamentals of the
religion. On examining the Rasta movement
in England during the 1970s, Cashmore noted
that Rastas had not converted instantaneously
to the belief system, but rather had undergone
"a process of drift" through which they gradually
adopted Rasta beliefs and practices, resulting
in their ultimate acceptance of the central
importance of Haile Selassie.
Rastas often claim that—rather than converting
to the religion—they were actually always
a Rasta and that their actual embrace of its
beliefs was merely the realisation of this.
There is no formal ritual carried out to mark
an individual's entry into the Rastafari movement.They
regard themselves as an exclusive and elite
community, membership of which is restricted
to those who have the "insight" to recognise
the importance of Haile Selassie. Rastas often
regard themselves as being the "enlightened
ones" who have "seen the light". Many see
no point in establishing good relations with
non-Rastas, believing that the latter will
never accept Rastafari doctrine as truth.
English Rastas have for instance expressed
criticism of black Britons who have not embraced
the religion, stating that they have been
"brainwashed", "misguided by European Christianity",
and "blinded by Babylon".Some Rastas have
left the religion. Clarke noted that among
the British Rastas whom he communicated with,
he found that some returned to Pentecostalism
and other forms of Christianity, while others
embraced Islam or no religion. Some of these
British ex-Rastas described disillusionment
when the societal transformation promised
by Rasta belief failed to appear, while others
felt that while Rastafari would be appropriate
for agrarian communities in Africa and the
Caribbean, it was not suited to the industrialised
and materialistic society in the UK. Some
experienced disillusionment after developing
the view that Haile Selassie had been an oppressive
leader of the Ethiopian people. Cashmore found
that some of British Rastas who had more militant
views left the religion after finding its
focus on reasoning and musical outlets insufficient
for the struggle against white domination
and racism.
=== Jamaica and the Caribbean ===
Barrett described Rastafari as "the largest,
most identifiable, indigenous movement in
Jamaica."
As of the mid-1980s, there were approximately
70,000 members and sympathisers of the Rastafari
movement in Jamaica. The majority of these
individuals were male, working-class, former
Christians aged between 18 and 40. Jamaica
is often valorised by Rastas as the fountain-head
of their faith, and many Rastas living elsewhere
travel to the island on pilgrimage in order
to "drink from the source".In the 2011 Jamaican
census, 29,026 individuals identified themselves
as Rastafari. Other sources estimated that
in the 2000s they formed "about 5% of the
population" of Jamaica. Jamaica's Rasta population
were initially entirely from the Afro-Jamaican
majority, and although most Jamaican Rastas
remain Afro-Jamaican, it has also gained members
from the island's Chinese, Indian, Afro-Chinese,
Afro-Jewish, mulatto, and white minorities.
Until 1965 the vast majority were from the
lower classes, although since that point it
attracted many middle-class members. By the
1980s, there were Jamaican Rastas working
as lawyers and university professors. The
majority are male. These Rastas are predominantly
ex-Christians.During the 1970s, Rastafari
ideas were spread through much of the eastern
Caribbean through the growing popularity of
reggae. Rasta ideas complemented the anti-colonial
and Afrocentric views then prevailing in countries
like Trinidad, Grenada, Dominica, and St Vincent.
In these countries, the early Rastas often
engaged in cultural and political movements
to a greater extent than their Jamaican counterparts
had. A number of Rastas were involved in Grenada's
1979 New Jewel Movement and were given positions
in the Grenadine government until it was overthrown
and replaced following the U.S. invasion of
1983.Reggae was introduced to Cuba in the
1970s by Jamaican students. By the 1980s,
underground reggae parties were being held
in Havana and Santiago. Foreign Rastas who
were studying in Cuba during the 1990s connected
with this reggae scene and helped to ground
it in Rasta beliefs.
=== Africa ===
Since the founding of Rastafari, some practitioners
have followed through with their belief in
resettlement in Africa. The West African states
of Ghana and Nigeria have been particularly
favoured. Ghana's status as the first African
country to gain independence from European
colonial rule (in 1957) made it an attractive
place for members of the African diaspora
to migrate to; its first post-independence
President, Kwame Nkrumah, encouraged this
as part of his Pan-African ethos. Among the
Caribbean immigrants to arrive in the country
during the 1960s were Rastafarians, while
some native Ghanaians also converting to the
religion. When asked as to why they chose
Ghana as a new home, several of the Rasta
arrivals described it as the "gateway to the
continent"; others cited its political stability
and affordability as making it ideal for settlement.
For his Pan-African efforts, Nkrumah has come
to be regarded as a heroic figure among many
Rastas, although other Ghanaians have been
critical of what they perceive as excess idolisation
of the former president. The largest congregation
of Ghanaian Rastas has been in southern parts
of the country, around Accra, Tema, and the
Cape Coast, although Rasta communities also
exist in the Muslim-majority area of northern
Ghana, especially in the towns of Tamale and
Bolgatanga. The Rasta migrants' wearing of
dreadlocks was akin to that of the native
fetish priests, which may have assisted the
presentation of these Rastas as having authentic
African roots in Ghanaian society. Non-Ghanaian
Rastas living in the country have nevertheless
complained of social ostracism, unemployment,
and legal prosecution for ganja possession;
Ghanaians who were not Rastas often accuse
the Rastas of being "drop-outs", "too Western",
and "not African enough".
In the 1960s, a Rasta community established
itself in Shashamane, Ethiopia, on land made
available for members of the African diaspora
by Haile Selassie's Ethiopian World Federation.
The community faced many problems; 500 acres
were confiscated by the Marxist government
of Mengistu Haile Mariam. There were also
conflicts with local Ethiopians, who largely
regarded the incoming Rastas, and their Ethiopia-born
children, as foreigners. The Shashamane community
peaked at a population of 2000, although subsequently
declined to around 200.By the early 1990s,
a Rasta community was present in Nairobi,
Kenya, whose approach to the religion was
informed both by reggae and by traditional
Kikuyu religion.
Several Rastafari orders have also been established
in Zimbabwe, all of which send representatives
to the Rastafari Association of Zimbabwe.At
an African Union/Caribbean Diaspora conference
in South Africa in 2005, a statement was released
characterising Rastafari as a force for integration
of Africa and the African diaspora.
=== Western countries ===
During the 1950s and 1960s, several thousand
Caribbean migrants settled in the United Kingdom,
some of whom brought Rastafari with them.
In 1955, a short-lived Rasta group was established
in Brixton, South London, and by the latter
part of the 1950s, a Rasta community had settled
in the Notting Hill area of Northwest London.
By the late 1960s, Rastafari had attracted
converts from the second-generation of British
Caribbean people, offering an outlet for the
economic hardship, racial discrimination,
and social isolation that many faced. It spread
among the black working-classes not just of
London, but also in Birmingham, Leicester,
Liverpool, Manchester, and Bristol. Its spread
was aided by the gang structures that had
been cultivated among black British youth
by the rudeboy subculture; these gangs proved
to be a breeding ground for Rastafari themes.
This social structure allowed for the promotion
of in-gang associations and the restrictions
of contacts with Babylon. British Rastafari
gained increasing attention in the 1970s as
a result of reggae's popularity. In that same
decade it also faced increasing opposition,
being regarded as a criminal sub-culture by
both much of the press, and by the police,
resulting in complaints of police harassment.According
to Clarke's research, the majority are from
black working-class families who practiced
Pentecostalism, although a small number are
from white families. Cashmore found that the
majority of British Rastas were male and that
most had few or no educational qualifications.
He also found that around 50% of them were
unemployed, and 45% employed in manual occupations;
only 5% were in more skilled jobs or higher
education. In 1986, there were an estimated
5000 Rastas living in the United Kingdom.
Clarke believed that there were "probably
fewer members" at this time then there had
been at the start of the 1980s, with the movement
declining following Marley's death. According
to the 2001 United Kingdom Census there are
about 5000 Rastafari living in England and
Wales. Clarke described Rastafari as a numerically
small but "extremely influential" component
of black British life.Rastafari was also established
in various continental European countries,
among them the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal,
and France, gaining a particular foothold
among black migrant populations but also attracting
a growing number of white converts.
Rasta communities were also established in
two French cities that had substantial black
populations, Paris and Bordeaux. In the Netherlands,
it attracted converts within the Surinamese
migrant community.Rastafari was introduced
to the United States and Canada with the migration
of Jamaicans to continental North America
in the 1960s and 1970s. As with the case in
the UK, American police were often suspicious
of Rastas and regarded their religion as a
criminal sub-culture.
=== Australasia and Asia ===
Rastafari attracted membership from within
the Maori population of New Zealand, and the
Aboriginal population of Australia.A small
Rasta community developed in Japan in the
late 1970s and early 1980s, promoted by a
practitioner named Jah Hiro.
== See also ==
Awake Zion
Ethiopian suit
Jamaicans in Ethiopia
List of topics related to Black and African
people
Mutabaruka
Pastafarianism
Vegetarianism and religion
== References ==
=== Citations ===
=== Sources ===
=== Further reading ===
== External links ==
Rastafari at Curlie
Dreadlocks Story – Documentary exploring
the hidden spiritual links between Jamaican
Rastas and Indian Sadhus.
Rastafari Scholarly profile at the Religious
Movements Homepage (University of Virginia)
A Sketch of Rastafari History by Norman Reddington
Rastamentary – A Documentary of Rastafari
Culture & Beliefs
House of Judah Nyabinghi Rastafarian Grounation
– John H. Bradley on YouTube
Rastafari: Alternative Religion and Resistance
against "White" Christianity by Jérémie
Kroubo Dagnini for Études caribéennes, n°
12, 2009
Remembering Rasta Pioneers: An Interview with
Barry Chevannes by Jérémie Kroubo Dagnini
for the Journal of Pan African Studies, vol.
3, n° 4, 2009
Songs of Freedom Interview with Ras Mike on
the authentic roots of the Rastafari movement
and its fulfillment
"The True Story of Rastafari" from The New
York Review of Books (6 January 2017)
