Rastafari movement

Rasta, or the Rastafari movement of Jah people, is a religious movement that reveres Haile Selassie I, the former emperor of Ethiopia, as King of Kings, Lord of Lords and the Lion of Judah. The name Rastafari comes from Ras Täfäri, the pre-coronation name of Haile Selassie I, who Rastas of many mansions say is the earthly aspect of Jah (short for Jehova or the Rastafari name for God) and part of the Holy Trinity. The movement emerged in Jamaica among working-class and peasant black people in the early 1930s, arising from an interpretation of Biblical prophecy, black social and political aspirations, and the teachings of their prophet, Jamaican black publicist and organiser Marcus Garvey, whose political and cultural vision helped inspire a new world view. The movement is sometimes called "Rastafarianism"; however, this is considered improper and offensive by the Rastas themselves.

Symbols

Dreadlocks

The wearing of dreadlocks is very closely associated with the movement, though not universal among (or exclusive to) its adherents. Dreadlocks are supported by Leviticus 21:5 ("They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in the flesh.") and the Nazarite vow in Numbers 6.5-6. Part of the reason the hairstyle was adopted was to contrast the kinky long hair of black men with the straighter hair of whites.

Related Topics:
Dreadlocks - Leviticus - Nazarite - Numbers

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It is believed that the first Rasta dreadlocks were copied from Kenya in the 1940s, when during the independence struggle the feared maumau freedom fighters grew their "dreaded locks" while hiding in the mountains. However, there are ascetic groups within nearly every major religion that have at times worn their hair in this fashion. In addition to the Nazirites of Judaism and the Sadhus of Hinduism, there are the Dervishes of Islam, the Coptic Monks of Christianity, and the Sikhs, among others. The very earliest Christians may also have worn this hairstyle; particularly noteworthy are descriptions of James the Just, "brother of Jesus" and first Bishop of Jerusalem, who wore them to his ankles.

Related Topics:
Nazirite - Sadhu - Dervish - Coptic Monks - Sikh - James the Just

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Dreadlocks have also come to symbolize the Lion of Judah and rebellion against Babylon. In the United States, several public schools and workplaces have lost lawsuits as the result of banning dreadlocks. 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 Rastafarian rights.

Related Topics:
Lion of Judah - United States - Safeway - Lafayette, Louisiana

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Rastafari associate dreadlocks with a spiritual journey that one takes in the process of locking their hair (growing dreadlocks). It is taught that patience is the key to growing dreadlocks, a journey of the mind, soul and spirituality. Its spiritual pattern is aligned with the Rastafarian religion. People who do not understand the process sometimes mock the dreadlock style and make comments about the cleanliness of the locked hair. The way to form dreadlocks, with a black person's hair, is to not comb it. There is no twisting or braiding involved, and anything that makes the locking process easier or faster is regarded as akin to sacrilege among the Rasta faithful.

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Many non-Rastafari of black African descent have also adopted dreads 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 whose hair is not naturally suited to the style, who sometimes go to great lengths to affect the look.

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The word dread comes from Rasta terminology. For the Rastas the razor, the scissors and the comb are Babylonian or Roman inventions. So close is the association between dreadlocks and the Rastafari that the two are sometimes used synonymously.

Related Topics:
Razor - Scissors - Comb

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In reggae music a follower of Rastafari may be referred to simply as a dreadlocks or Natty Dread, whilst those non-believers who cut their hair are referred to as baldheads.

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Ganja

For many Rastas, smoking marijuana (known as ganja, herb, or lambs bread) is a spiritual act; they consider it a sacrament that facilitates consciousness and peacefulness, bringing them closer to God. Many believe that cannabis originated in Africa, and that it is a part of their African culture that they are reclaiming.

Related Topics:
Marijuana - Sacrament

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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. They contrast their herb to liquor, which they feel makes people stupid, and is not a part of African culture. While there is a clear belief in the beneficial qualities of cannabis, it is not compulsory to use it, and there are Rastafarians who do not do so. Dreadlocked mystics, often ascetic, known as the sadhus, have smoked cannabis in India for centuries. The migration of many thousands of Indian Hindus to the Caribbean in the 20th century brought this culture to Jamaica.

Related Topics:
Ascetic - Sadhu - India - Migration - 20th century

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They believe that the smoking of cannabis enjoys Biblical sanction and is an aid to meditation and religious observance. Among Biblical verses Rastas believe justify the use of herb:

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• Genesis 1:11 "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so."
• Genesis 3:18 "... thou shalt eat the herb of the field."
• Proverbs 15:17 "Better is a dinner of herb where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."
• Psalms 104:14 "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man." Also see Spiritual use of cannabis.

Then-Attorney General of the United States Janet Reno, however, ruled that Rastafari do not have the religious right to smoke ganja in violation of drug laws in the United States of America. The position is the same in the United Kingdom, where, in the Court of Appeal case of R. v. Taylor 1 Cr. App. R. 37, it was held that the UK's prohibition on cannabis use did not contravene the right to freedom of religion conferred under the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Related Topics:
Attorney General of the United States - Janet Reno - Drug laws - United States of America

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