So how do you guys feel about this? I find pretty much everything about it very appealing except the whole Haile Selassie being the reincarnation of Jesus, God on Earth. What gives? Is there really some validity to this, or were people just confused? Is this really what true Rastafarians believe or has the movement been corrupted by those who wish to undermine it? Because I also read that some of the supposed prominent elders or leaders were racist against white people, and that just doesn't make sense to me.

You have to look at authentic Rastafarianism from the historical standpoint in which it arose.

The idea that Ras Tafari (Emporer Haile Selassie I) might be the second coming is severely debunked by the fact that the dude is dead and none of the prophecies have come true. Of course, this hasn't kept the followers of Yeshua Ben Yoseph of Nazareth from holding a torch that he was the meshiach (messiah) predicted by the prophets either.

To understand why a downtrodden people who had the Bible shoved down their throats might imagine the former emperor of Ethiopia to be the 2nd coming, you have to look at a few facts:

1) The Bible says that the messiah would be from the house of King David. Ras Tafari was one of the few people on Earth who could prove a direct blood relation to King David. David's son Solomon married the Queen of Sheba (Ethiopia) and had Menelik as their son. Menelik became the first in an unbroken (supposedly) chain of emperors that lead to Selassie. While it seems that this was not a direct father to son chain as many believed, it is likely that Selassie did in fact carry the blood of Solomon. (Though, by now, considering how many kids both David & Solomon had, this could be said of a very large number of people.)

2) Ethiopia was the only empire (or even kingdom) in Africa that was unconquered and uncolonized by the Europeans. A source of pride for the people of the African diaspora.

3) Selassie beat Mussolini's modern army (tanks and machine guns) with an army composed of horsemen with sabers and a small number of firearms. (The Italians had already taken over Djibouti, and were well on their way to colonizing Somalia and the entire Horn of Africa.) Mussolini even had help from Hitler's Afrika Korps and still got his ass handed to him by Selassie. This was perceived by the people of the time as a miracle, and further proof of Selassie's divinity. (Actually, the Bible says nothing about the messiah being divine, but that is another story.)

4) The Bible describes the meshiach as being the "Lion of the House of Judah." Judah, of course was one of Jacob/ Israel's sons and the father of the tribe bearing his name from which King David arose centuries later. Perhaps not-coincidentally, the royal seal of the Ethiopian empire was this Lion of Judah symbol. A conquering lion motif superimposed on a Star of David. This flag and symbol was always shown in concert with images of Haile Selassie... and thus pushed this idea further into the minds of people who wanted to believe that the savior had come.

5) The Bible says the messiah would be a "king of kings & a lord of lords"... pretty much the definition of an emperor.

Naturally, Selassie himself denied being the messiah. He made it clear enough that Rastafarianism didn't take root in Ethiopia where people practiced Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity for the most part (with pockets of authentic Falasha Jews). Ethiopian Christianity is much closer to Judaism than anything the west practices... even moreso than Seventh Day Adventists. Only messianic Jews are closer Christians.

However, in far away little Jamaica, they didn't get the message. Selassie's official state visit to the island didn't help matters as many devout rastas claimed to have transcendental experiences from seeing him.


There is more to it than this, but I don't want to pen an essay on Rastafarianism here. There are many amazing and powerful things about Rastafarianism and rastas in general, Ital food, Nyabhingi, Reggae etc. The fact that these things have little to do with Selassie and are more examples of Jamaican roots culture notwithstanding, there is much to be learned from this influential cultural movement. It seems rather strange to hold onto ideas of Selassie's divinity when he is long dead and gone, but this is not completely unprecedented as I said before. In fact, there are many groups who maintain that their lost leaders were the messiah, and will get out of their coffins or whatever when the time is ripe. The Hasidic group Chabad has a branch that still thinks the Lubovitcher Rebbe is the messiah, and he has been dead for almost 20 years. North Koreans venerate both Kim Jong Il and his predecessor Kim Il-sung as being divine saviors... and their official website proclaims that neither of them will ever leave their people.

Amazing what people will believe if inspired.

Oh, I forgot to mention the other main influence on Rastafarianism... Marcus Garvey. Read his wikipedia page and you will see where some of the black pride, return to Africa, Pan-Africanism, and stuff comes from. Rastas consider Marcus Mosiah Garvey to be a prophet... sometimes even calling him the reincarnation of John The Baptist.

Considering the treatment black people had received and were still receiving at the time that Rastafarianism was forming, it is not surprising that there would be some animosity towards the white oppressors. Remember, this was well before the Civil Rights Movement. Most Rastas are not racist, but it is not uncommon to find racists in any group of people. There are well known Mormon leaders who were die hard racists, for example.

And, let's not forget that 8 early presidents of the USA kept slaves in the White House... including James Madison (who had at least 100 at Montpelier while being one of the principal authors of the Constitution!) People still revere those hypocritical f*cktards with religious fervor to this very day.

The bible... worst religon ever. I cant even imagine how that sucker survived this long. Rasta and shamans is the way to go, just live in peace and use your herbs that moder nature gave you.

honestly within the bible the simple teachings and symbolism of jesus is beautiful.

Don't trust religions, trust plants!!

Unrelated but related, did you guys ever see the movie The Rockers? It's really awesome movie

Noo, but after seeing this clip I will download if I find it c

The bible is a morel guide book, and not a historical fact book. Used as a morel guidebook, following its teachings will lead a person upon death and entrance into the clear light a seat next to our Lord. Or at least a very favorable re-incarnation.

I know of no claimed messiah to bring any reign of peace to this earth. And so has this fabled messiah even arrived yet???

Rastas read the bible too...

as evidenced by the fact that roots reggae music is full of quotes and references to it... the well known Bob Marley album and song, Exudus, is but one example.

Yea, and the wish to make the 'Exodus' to 'Zion' (land of Israel - actually Africa). There are many more vitriolic Reggae stars, who are quite hard-line religious. I can think of reggae lyrics straight off the top of my head that refer to Judah (and the lion of) , Children of Israel, Sodom and Gomorrah, Peter and Paul. Even Boney M (if they can be called reggae - I suspect not) talked about 'Marys boy child Jesus Christ'! 'Rivers of Babylon' anyone...

I know many rastas and respect them. It's also a religion/culture with a cool factor.

Nevertheless, as a faith it's just as pointless as christianity, islam and everything else...

For those who appreciate the "message" rather than the strict adherence of the bible being the word of God, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible

"This is a definition of Rastafari from the Marley heights of consciousness...from his songs, his life story, his life history, and from the lives of other Rastafari brethren, I see Rastafari as multidimensional...it's a mystical, herbal, Biblical pathway leading from one state, called Babylon, to a higher state called Zion"...definition from the noted researcher Dennis Forsythe, author of "Rastafari: For the Healing of Nations".

You also have to realize that all paths lead to Rome. No matter what path you take it will eventually lead you to God, the divine, the All That Is, whatever you want to call it. Many many many paths take much much longer but no matter what you learn and experience and die and return to your higher self and do it again, potentially in a different universe or dimension, possibly on this Earth as we know it. I know one devout Rastafarian and he's described to me the same experiences I've had with DMT and ayahuasca, at Rastafarian festivals high on cannabis. The combination of faith, sacredness for cannabis as a sacrament (something that makes every high so much more amazing, and something that the world is missing), and high vibrations from all of his brothers and sisters around him lead him to this. Another good friend was a Hari Krishna who had previous experience with DMT and also broke through from just singing and playing music with his Iskon (kansas city Iskon for reference). This leads me to believe that you need to find the path that most excites you, resonates the deepest within your heart, and follow it.

As I said I highly recommend taking a ritualistic approach to cannabis if that is your sacrament of choice. Express your gratitude or it, ask it what you want to know, and meditate under it's effects. The result may surprise you.

..in his great africa travel diary book Dark Star Safari, Paul Theroux describes the immigrant Rastafarian community in Ethiopia as comprising "..very hard working women, and very skinny spaced out males.." .. a friend who has also been there agreed with this summary..
..in E. Africa the idea of Haile Selassie being a divine being is treated with bemused amusement, as are rastafarians
..it was Menelek III (the previous emperor) who was actually in the 'bloodline', if you go for that sort of stuff..
for me, it is not the line of David/Solomon which is important, but that of Makeeba, Queen of Sheeba, a dark-skinned intelligent beauty sort by Hebrew alpha-males..

Hey y'all--I was going to create a thread in regards to the Rastafari movement but did a search and found this.

I am very interested in Rastafari as a spiritual practice and as an outlet for black liberation. I'm curious if anyone would be familiar with the sacramental use of mushrooms by Rastafari, if such a thing exists? The practice is very clear about avoiding anything synthetic or processed (so LSD is out of the question, unfortunately) but I'm very curious about Rastafari concepts of direct spiritual experience.

I'm also wondering if there might be any kind of link to Vedic philosophy? I identify much with the teachings of Advaita Vedanta and non dual sects of Shaivism (Kashmir Shaivism, Tantra Yoga, etc...) and would be interested in any kind of connection between the two cultures.

Looking around online I was able to find this and thought it was interesting:

we loooove reggae music and riddim in general But we haaaaate ism/shism



Qalandarism? That would be the end of it...