Ok well I hope its not offensive to anyone 0.o But just wanted to make sure it was cool with Council ^_^
Rasta, or the Rastafari movement, is a religion that accepts Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as God incarnate, whom they call Jah. He is also seen as part of the Holy Trinity as the messiah promised in the Bible to return. The name Rastafari comes from Ras (literally "Head," an Ethiopian title equivalent to Duke) Tafari Makonnen, the pre-coronation name of Haile Selassie I.
The movement emerged in Jamaica among working-class and peasant black people in the early 1930s, arising from an interpretation of Biblical prophecy partly based on Selassie's status as the only African monarch of a fully independent state, and his titles of King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Conquering Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5). Other characteristics of Rastafari include the spiritual use of cannabis(but just so we're clear I don't do drugs), and various Afrocentric social and political aspirations, such as the teachings of Jamaican publicist, organiser, and black separatist Marcus Garvey (also often regarded as a prophet), whose political and cultural vision helped inspire a new worldview.
The Rastafari movement has spread throughout much of the world, largely through interest generated by reggae music—most notably, that of Jamaican singer/songwriter Bob Marley. By 2000, there were more than one million Rastafari faithful worldwide. About five to ten percent of Jamaicans identify themselves as Rastafari. Many Rastafari follow an ital diet which essentially means living by the dietary Laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy in the Old Testament.
Leonard Howell, who has been described as the "first Rasta," formed a commune which grew as large as 5,000 people at a place called Pinnacle, at St. Catherine in Jamaica.
Doctrines son! (lol)
Rastafari developed among an oppressed people who felt society had nothing to offer them except more suffering. Rastas may regard themselves as conforming to certain visions of how Africans should live, reclaiming what they see as a culture stolen from them when their ancestors were brought on slave ships to Jamaica, the movement's birthplace. The messages expounded by the Rastafari promote love and respect for all living things and emphasize the paramount importance of human dignity and self-respect. Above all else, they speak of freedom from spiritual, psychological, as well as physical slavery and oppression. In their attempts to heal the wounds inflicted upon the African race by the imperialist nations of the world, Rastafarians continually extol the virtue and superiority of African culture and civilization past and present.
The doctrines of Rastafari depart radically from the norms of the conventional modern western mind, a trait of the movement deliberately encouraged by Rastas themselves. Unlike many religious groups that stress compliance with and recognition of the "powers-that-be," Rastafari instead stresses loyalty to their vision of "Zion," and rejection of modern society (called Babylon), which they see as thoroughly corrupt. "Babylon" in this case is considered to be rebelling against "Earth's Rightful Ruler" (JAH) ever since the days of king Nimrod.
This "way of life" is not merely to be assented to intellectually, or "belief" as the term is often used; it is used for the finding and knowledge of one's true identity. To follow and worship JAH Rastafari is to find, spread, and "tread" the unique path to which each individual Rasta was rightfully born. The movement is difficult to categorize, because Rastafari is not a centralized organization. Individual Rastafari work out their religion for themselves, resulting in a wide variety of doctrines nevertheless also covered under the general umbrella of Rastafari.
Afrocentrism
ocially, Rastafari has been viewed as a response to racist negation of black people as it was experienced, both in the world as a whole (where Selassie was the only black leader recognised in international circles), and in Jamaica, where in the 1930s black people were at the bottom of the social order, while white people and their religion and system of government were at the top. Marcus Garvey's encouragement of black people to take pride in themselves and their African heritage inspired the Rastas to embrace all things African. They teach that they were brainwashed while in captivity to negate all things black and African. They turned the white image of them—as primitive and straight out of the jungle—into a defiant embrace of the African culture they see as having been stolen from them when they were taken from Africa on the slave ships. Africa is associated with Zion. Africa/Zion is the starting place of all human ancestry as well as the original state of mind that can be reached through meditation and the ganja herb.
Living close to and as a part of nature is seen as African. This African approach to "naturality" is seen in the dreadlocks, ganja (marijuana), ital food, and in all aspects of Rasta life. They disdain the modern approach (or, as they see it, non-approach) to life for being unnatural and excessively objective and rejecting subjectivity. Rastas say that scientists try to discover how the world is by looking from the outside in, whereas the Rasta approach is to see life from the inside, looking out. The individual is given tremendous importance in Rastafari and every Rasta has to figure out the truth for himself.
Another important Afrocentric identification is with the colors red, gold, and green, of the Ethiopian flag as well as, with the addition of black, the colors of "Pan-African Unity" for Marcus Garvey. They are a symbol of the Rastafari movement and of the loyalty Rastas feel toward Haile Selassie, Ethiopia, and Africa rather than for any other modern state where they happen to live. These colors are frequently seen on clothing and other decorations. Red stands for the blood of martyrs, green stands for the vegetation of Africa, while gold stands for the wealth and prosperity Africa has to offer.
Some Rastafari learn Amharic, which some consider to be the original language, because this is the language of Haile Selassie I and in order to further their identity as Ethiopian. There are reggae songs written in Amharic. Most Rastas speak either a form of English or a form of their native languages that embrace non-standard dialects and has been consciously modified to accord with and display an individual Rasta's world view (e.g. "I-an-I" rather than "we").
Haile Selassie and the Bible
One belief that unites many Rastafari is that Ras Tafari Makonnen, who was crowned Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia on November 2, 1930, is the living God incarnate, called Jah, who is the black Messiah who will lead the world's peoples of African origin into a promised land of full emancipation and divine justice (although some mansions do not take this literally). This is partly because of his titles King of Kings, Lord of Lords and Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah. These titles match those of the Messiah mentioned in Revelation. However, according to Ethiopian tradition, these titles were accorded to all Solomonic emperors beginning in 980 BC—well before Revelation was written in the first century AD. Haile Selassie was, according to some traditions, the 225th in an unbroken line of Ethiopian monarchs descended from the Biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Psalm 87:4-6 is also interpreted as predicting the coronation of Haile Selassie I.
Modern book cover of Kebra Nagast: The Glory of the Kings
In the 10th century BC, The Solomonic Dynasty of Ethiopia was founded by Menelik I, the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who had visited Solomon in Israel. 1 Kings 10:13 claims "And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants." On the basis of the Ethiopian national epic, the Kebra Negast, Rastas interpret this verse as meaning she conceived his child, and from this, conclude that African people are among the true children of Israel, or Jews. Beta Israel black Jews have lived in Ethiopia for centuries, disconnected from the rest of Judaism; their existence gave some credence and impetus to early Rastafari, validating their belief that Ethiopia was Zion.
Some Rastafari choose to classify their movement as Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, Protestant Christianity, or Judaism or Judeae. Of those, the ties to the Ethiopian Church are the most widespread, although this is controversial to many Ethiopian clergy. Rastafari believe that standard translations of the Bible incorporate changes created by the white power structure. Some also revere the Kebra Negast, but many of these Rastas would classify themselves as Ethiopian Orthodox in religion and Rastafarian in ideology. Some Rastafarians pay little attention to the Kebra Negast, and most consider it as having nowhere near the sanctity of the Bible.
For Rastafari, Selassie I remains their god and their king. They see Selassie as being worthy of worship, and as having stood with great dignity in front of the world's press and in front of representatives of many of the world's powerful nations at a time when he was the only black head of state in the world. From the beginning the Rastas decided that their personal loyalty lay with Africa's only black ruler, Selassie, and that they themselves were in effect as free citizens of Ethiopia, loyal to its Emperor and devoted to its flag.
Most Rastafari believe that Selassie is in some way a reincarnation of Jesus and that the Rastafari are the true Israelites. At the heart of Rastafari is the belief in being one's own 'kingman' or prince (hence they call themselves Rastafari). As Ras Midas sang "When I saw my Daddy with the pick axe and my Mommy with the broom, then I know Rastaman is in exile" (Ras Midas, Rastaman in Exile, 1980). Rastas say they have been conditioned into slavery, but convert this into a belief in their own divine potential, believing that as Selassie I dwells within them, they also are worthy kings and princes.
Rastas call Selassie Jah, or Jah Rastafari, and believe there is great power in all these names. They call themselves Rastafari (pronounced /rɑstɑ'fɑr.ɑɪ/) to express the personal relationship each Rasta has with Selassie I. Rastas like to use the ordinal with the name Haile Selassie I, with the dynastic Roman numeral one signifying "the First" deliberately pronounced as the letter I - again as a means of expressing a personal relationship with God. They also call him H.I.M. (pronounced him), for His Imperial Majesty.
Of great importance is that Rastafarians do not accept that God could die and thus believe that Selassie's 1975 supposed death was a hoax, and that he will return to liberate his followers. A few Rastas today consider this a partial fulfillment of prophecy found in the apocalyptic 2 Esdras 7:28. Rastafari is a strongly syncretic Abrahamic religion that draws extensively from the Bible. Adherents look particularly to the New Testament Book of Revelation, as this (5:5) is where they find the prophecies about the divinity of Haile Selassie. Rastas believe that they, and the rest of the black race, are descendants of the ancient twelve tribes of Israel, cast into captivity outside Africa as a result of the slave trade.
Some believe that only half of the Bible has been written, and that the other half, stolen from them along with their culture, is written in a man's heart. This concept also embraced the idea that even the illiterate can be Rastas by reading God's Word in their hearts. Rastas also see the lost half of the Bible, and the whole of their lost culture to be found in the Ark of the Covenant, a repository of African wisdom.
Rastafari are criticised, particularly by Christian groups, for taking Biblical quotes out of context, for picking and choosing what they want from the Bible, and for bringing elements into Rastafari that do not appear in the Bible. They are also criticised for using an English language translation (particularly the King James Version) of the Bible, as many have no interest in Hebrew or Greek scholarship. However, a great interest in the Amharic Orthodox version, authorized by Haile Selassie I in the 1950s, has arisen among Rastas. Selassie himself wrote in the preface to this version that "unless [one] accepts with clear conscience the Bible and its great Message, he cannot hope for salvation," thus confirming and coinciding with what the Rastafari themselves had been preaching since the beginning of the movement (Words of Ras Tafari).
Lack of will power has caused more failure than lack of intelligence or ability.
