When most people hear the word “Rastafari,” they think of men with
dreadlocks, of smoking ganja, and of men with dreadlocks smoking
ganja. Basically, they think of Bob Marley. In fact, Rastafari is a very
serious philosophy that takes much direction from the Bible. While
there are some people who claim to be Rastafari just as an excuse to
do drugs, there are many true believers, and the public idea of them is
often quite inaccurate.
10 Not All Rastafari Smoke Weed
Many people are attracted to the idea of being a Rastafari because it
means they have a religious excuse to smoke ganja. Some of them
may be surprised then that smoking ganja is not only optional for
Rastafarians but isn’t really all that central to their faith. Some
Rastafari simply choose not to smoke weed at all.
Recently, Snoop Dog decided to change his name to “Snoop Lion” to
show his adherence to Rastafari after he spent some time in Jamaica.
However, many Rastafari have raised an outcry claiming that they see
little actual faith in his behavior and think it is only an excuse for
Snoop’s love of weed . Of course while Snoop Dog (or Snoop “Lion” if
you will) may actually be sincere, that really isn’t the true point of
their ire. Rastafari already have trouble getting people to take them
seriously due to the stereotypes, they likely fear a well-known stoner
like Snoop Dog representing them will only spread that misperception
more widely.
9 They Call Halie Selassie The Second Coming Of Christ
This belief, which is a core part of the Rastafari philosophy, was taken
up at the inception of the religion. In the early 1900s, Marcus Garvey
prophesied that a new black king would soon come to Africa and that
man would be the messiah. Not too long after this, in Ethiopia, a new
king was crowned and his name was Haile Selassie I.
Seeing this as a sign of what was prophesied, the burgeoning
Rastafari movement took this man as the second coming of Jesus.
However, while most people would not believe in a second coming of
the messiah solely based on prophecy, the Rastafarians wouldn’t
either. They point to other evidence as well, particularly the claim that
Haile Selassie is related to King Solomon, giving him a connection to
Jesus. If Haile Selassie I was the messiah. he kept it very quiet. He
himself always denied being a reincarnation of Jesus.
8 Ital Diet
Photo credit: Christina Xu
Rastafari have a specific diet called Ital , a word that stems from vital.
Many people confuse Ital with vegetarianism or veganism. It’s actually
a diet of its own and may change somewhat based on the
denomination of Rastafari or the individual.
The Rastafari don’t wish to take part in the system as they deem it
oppressive. For this reason they refuse any processed foods. They
also won’t eat red meat, believing that it rots inside your body. Many
will still eat fish because they believe that it is supported as being all
right by the Bible. However, some refuse to eat fish, and others will
remove dairy from their diet and go closer to full-vegan. The main
idea of course is simply to eat natural foods that are good for you.
7 Your Body Is A Temple
In Rastafari, your body is considered your temple, so you need to
really take good care of yourself. Part of this can be seen in the
philosophy of the Ital diet. However, it goes much further than just
eating good food to take care of your health.
Rastafari believe that they should let their hair grow long and not taint
it with anything unnatural. This all comes down to respecting your
body and what it is. You don’t cut your hair, tattoo your skin, or eat
bad food. In fact some Rastafari have cited this as the reason they
don’t smoke ganja. Some feel that for them personally it’s not good
for their health, so they quit smoking.
6 Don’t Call Them “Rastafarians”
Photo credit: Empres843/Wikimedia
You might notice this entire article doesn’t refer to “Rastafarians,”
except in the title above. You see, Rastafari actually don’t like being
referenced that way at all. The reason for this stems from their
philosophy.
Rastas believe that “ians” and “isms” represent the corrupt
“Babylonian” system that oppresses people all over the world.
Considering themselves a religion or an ism of any sort is seen as
accepting a system that is anathema to what they believe. This
means that some Rastafari will actually be quite unhappy with you if
you call them a Rastafarian or say that they practice Rastafarianism.
Of course this hasn’t stopped scholars who still refer to Rastafari as
an “ism” and also classify them as a religion. This latter part has also
caused annoyance as some Rastafari don’t like the term “religion”
either and prefer to consider their movement a philosophy.
5 Down With Babylon
The Rastafari movement began in Jamaica, where most of the black
population had originally been slaves forced from Africa to work. The
movement was started as a means of empowerment. As such, it may
not be too surprising that Rastafari as a belief system completely
rejects the standards and structure of western society.
For a people who had been oppressed by Western society and
colonialism, the Rastafari movement was a way to claim back their
own way of life. By rejecting the “Babylonian” system that was
deemed corrupt and oppressive, Rastafari are able to take back their
own culture and connect to their roots.
You see, the movement was shaped very much in the beginning by
the words of Marcus Garvey who would later on be considered a
prophet in Rastafari beliefs. Garvey may never have identified as a
Rastafari but he was very vocal when it came to black empowerment
and inspired a great many people.
4 The Return To Africa
Rastafari often rely heavily on the Bible when it comes to their
religious beliefs and yet have their own idea of a paradise. Members
of the Rastafari movement feel that they are in a sort of hell or
purgatory as their ancestors were removed from their homeland
against their will. Africa is their version of Zion. It is a paradise on
Earth, and the goal of many Rastafari is to move back to Africa.
This is more of a cultural yearning than it is a solely religious belief
and makes perfect sense after the colonialist oppression that so many
black people faced. For this reason, it is about more than just
returning to Africa for most Rasta. It is actually very much about
building Africa into something even better, preserving African culture,
and celebrating a way of life that many feel the Babylonian society
tried to take away from them.
3 Their Own Lyaric Dialect
Photo credit: Changalanga/Wikimedia
The early Rastafari in Jamaica created a dialect that is an offshoot of
Jamaican Creole. Jamaican Creole was originally derived from English
by African slaves who had been brought to the island of Jamaica. The
Rastafari as an empowerment movement took the language and
modified it both in dialect and philosophy to meet their needs,
forming a new dialect known as Lyaric .
One of the most important concepts is the use of pronouns. Most of
the time, “I” is used instead of “me,” “you,” or just about any pronoun.
Rastafari do this to express the connection between all people and to
acknowledge everyone’s humanity.
Rastafari also prefer positive expressions whenever possible. Instead
of someone saying they are “dedicated,” they might say livicated to
show vitality. And “oppressed,” would be downpressed , to indicate the
direction that the oppression is coming from. Someone also might
overstand something because it sounds more upbeat than
“understanding.”
2 Grounation Day
For stoners, April 20 is a very important day, but for Rastafari, the next
day is the truly important one. As we mentioned earlier, Rastafari
believe that Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia was the second
coming of Jesus Christ, and thus they are pretty big fans of the guy.
During his life back in the 1960s, he decided to visit Jamaica. The
official line was that it was a diplomatic visit, but some people
believed he wanted to meet the Rastafari and learn about the people
who worshiped him as another coming of the messiah.
The crowds were enormous and made an incredible amount of noise,
and this delayed him coming off his plane for quite a while, likely due
to safety concerns. During his time there, he did meet with some of
the leading members of the Rastafari movement. While there isn’t
much record of what was said, some believe he told them that they
should try to fix things at home in Jamaica before they returned to
Africa.
Since his visit, April 21 has been known to Rastafari as Grounation
Day and is observed as one of the most important holy days.
1 The Rastafari Colors
The red, yellow, and green colors of Rastafari are pretty ubiquitous,
although most people probably associate them more with Bob Marley
and ganja than they do any spiritual movement. However, many
people don’t realize there are actual four Rasta colors.
The movement took much influence from Marcus Garvey, and the
colors of his own movement were red, green, and black. The Rastafari
later saw Haile Selassie I as Jesus, and the colors of the Ethiopian
flag were red, green, and yellow, so another addition was made, with
four colors in total.
These colors all have symbolic significance in Rastafari beliefs. The
yellow color is said by some to refer to the wealth of their homeland
in Africa. The red is perhaps unsurprisingly symbolic of blood and the
martyrdom of past Rastafari. The color black is an obvious reference
to the black people who originally started the Rastafari movement in
order to return to their roots, and the green is related to the abundant
plant life of their native homeland.
In case you were still curious—no, the Rastafari colors really don’t
have anything to do with smoking ganja.


Source: http://listverse.com/2014/01/06/10-things-to-know-about-rastafari-beliefs/

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