Table of Contents
What is the philosophy of Rastafari?
Rastafarians believe that they are being tested by Jah (God) through slavery and the existence of economic injustice and racial “downpression” (rather than oppression). They await their deliverance from captivity and their return to Zion, the symbolic name for Africa drawn from the biblical tradition.
What is the most important book for Rastas?
The Holy Piby is probably the most important book in Rastafarian Theology.
Is Rastafari a religion or a way of life?
Rastafari is more of a way of life than an organized, structured religion, but the beliefs are rooted deeply in traditional spirituality. Here are 10 things to know about the Rastafari religion: 1. The religious movement was founded in the 1930s in Jamaica.
What is the origin of Rastafarianism?
The Rastafari movement began in Jamaica during the 1930s following a prophecy made by Marcus Garvey, a black political leader. Garvey led an organisation known as the Universal Negro Improvement Association, whose intention was to unify blacks with their land of origin.
Who is the founder of Rastafarianism?
What are the 12 tribes of Rastafarianism?
Members are grouped into Twelve Tribes, modelled after the Twelve Tribes of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin.
Who wrote the Rastafarian Bible?
The Holy Piby, also known as the Black Man’s Bible, is a text written by an Anguillan, Robert Athlyi Rogers (d. 1931), for the use of an Afrocentric religion in the West Indies founded by Rogers in the 1920s, known as the Afro-Athlican Constructive Gaathly.
What is the sacred text of Rastafarian?
The Holy Bible is the most important book in Rastafari. This special edition Bible includes the Old and New Testament with corrections made to the King James Version. The books of Enoch, Jubilees, and the Kebra Nagast are also included, all sacred books in the Ethiopian Biblical Canon.
What are the rules of Rastafarian religion?
They consider their body to be a temple, based on the Old Testament teachings. Rastas do not drink alcohol or eat food that is not nourishing to their body, which includes meat. Many follow a strict dietary law called ital, which states that all food must be completely natural and raw.
Who did the Rastafari religion appeal to?
Rastafari’s main appeal was among the lower classes of Jamaican society. For its first thirty years, Rastafari was in a conflictual relationship with the Jamaican authorities.
What influenced Rastafarianism?
The roots of Rastafarianism can be traced to the 18th century, when Ethiopianism and other movements that emphasized an idealized Africa began to take hold among black slaves in the Americas.
What is the Rastas sacred text?
The sacred text of Rastafarians is the Holy Piby, the “Black Man’s Bible”. The Ethiopian national epic, the Kebra Negast and the Bible are also used as sacred texts.