Members of the Rastafari movement often wear braids known as dreadlocks.
Rastafari is the name of a spiritual movement that emerged in the first half of the 20th century in Jamaica . Rastafarians (also known as Rastas ) believe that Haile Selassie I was the reincarnation of Jah and take Marcus Garvey to be a kind of preacher or prophet .
The Rastafari movement maintains that the black population, which descends from slaves captured by the white man and taken to different countries around the world , must return to Africa to develop in their land of origin. For its followers, the promised land is Zion , a concept that can refer to Ethiopia or Africa along the Arabian Peninsula .
Characteristics of the Rastafari movement
Rastafari consider Jah as the god who represents the Holy Trinity ( Father , Son and Holy Spirit ). Haile Selassie I , a man born as Tafari Makonnen in 1892 and died in 1975 , is noted as the third reincarnation of this god after Melchizedek and Jesus . Notably, Selassie was Emperor of Ethiopia .
Those who profess this cult usually wear braids ( dreadlocks ) in their hair, which they often cover with a cap known as a tam . They also wear red, yellow and green clothing, and smoke marijuana for ritual purposes, since they consider that this drug allows them to get closer to Jah .
It is common for this movement to be associated with reggae music , since Bob Marley was a Rastafarian and many of his songs spread this philosophy . For the same reason, reggae is linked to the consumption of marijuana promoted by Rastas.
Marijuana consumption is common in Rastafari.
Jamaican Patois
One of the two languages spoken in Jamaica is known by the name Jamaican Patois , the other being English. There are various words and phrases directly associated with the Rastafari movement, among which are the following:
* Zion : in addition to the meaning explained in a previous paragraph, Zion can be used to name the sacred valley in which Rastafarians rest when they die, the place to which they go after life , in a similar way to paradise for Christians;
* Babylon - This term serves to represent a system of thought that moves away from Jah. In short, its meaning is the opposite of Zion, which can be said to refer to all the concepts considered negative for Rastafarians, such as communism and capitalism, among other modern ways of life that go against of their beliefs and principles ;
* Downpression : is the Rastafarian way of referring to the concept of oppression . It is formed by the equivalent of this last word in English plus "down", which refers to the position of someone who suffers oppression, who cannot get up but remains crouched;
* Irie : encompasses emotions, feelings and anything considered positive for Rastafarians. It can be a state that is reached through meditation, but also a cordial greeting;
* Livication : since the English word for "dedication" is "dedication" and the sound of the first three letters is very similar to that of the word dead (or dead, both singular and plural), "dead", The Rastafari movement chooses to change its beginning to "liv", alluding to the term "live", which means "to live" or "alive", depending on the context;
* Overstanding : in a similar way to livication, overstanding is the equivalent of "understanding", understanding, but getting rid of "under", which can be translated as "below", to avoid any negative connotation or submission to other people's ideas ;
* Karamawi : this is the highest praise to God that a rasta can utter, and he does so from the depths of his being, usually at parties and moments of meditation.