Imperial cult

An Imperial cult is a cult in which an Emperor, or a dynasty of emperors, are worshipped as demigods or deities.

Haile Selassie and the Rastafari

An imperial cult of a totally different dimension occurred also in the 20th century. Thousands of miles from where the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie lived, a new religion developed in the Caribbean, stating the Ethiopian Emperor to be a manifestation of Jah. Note that there was no explicit connection to the fact he was Emperor, he was considered to be an earthly aspect of the God that was also identified with the Christian God. That the Emperor was a secular ruler too was no essential part of the definition of his god-like status.

Related Topics:
Ethiopia - Emperor Haile Selassie - Jah

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He was exiled in Britain during Italian occupation of his country (1935-1941), but basically he was the only Emperor who survived the second world war with his godhead status still rising: the Rastafari belief was still far from its peak, which occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was spread around the world with Reggae music as its best known carrier.

Related Topics:
Rastafari - 1970s - 1980s - Reggae

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