Rastafari is the name of Haile Selassie I, the final Emperor of Ethiopia. Ras means Head and Tafari was his formal given name.
Rastafarianism is a movement in which believe that the Emperor is an incarnation of the Christian God, called Jah. The Rastafari people are also known as Rastafarians or Rastas. The movement rejects western society and proclaims Africa as the birthplace of mankind. Africa is also known as Zion.
The Rastafari also allow the spiritual use of cannabis, and believe the most important thing in life is family. It is not recognised as a religion, rather a way of life or an ideology. There is a school of thought that says people should find faith and inspiration within themselves but there are some who identify with the 'Mansions of Rastafari', three of which are the Bobo Shanti, the Niyabinghi and the 12 Tribes of Israel.
Awareness and understanding of the movement has spread throughout the world over the last 40 years, largely thanks to the increase in the popularity in reggae music, and in particular Bob Marley. Prior to this, Rasta was only really known in Jamaica. Bob Marley, the Jamaican singer/songwriter sang about the movement in many of his songs, which grew even more popular following his death in 1981.
There are over 1 million Rastafari worldwide and recently there were as little as 100,000 Rastafarians in Jamaica itself, only 5 per cent of the total population. There are many Rastafarians who believe that they are the chosen few and will live forever in their existing bodies. This is called life ever-living and they believe they will live forever with Jah as their King and their official language will be Amharic.
Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia and is used by the Government and the military, and is the second most used Semitic language in the world, after Arabic.
Rastafarianism is a movement in which believe that the Emperor is an incarnation of the Christian God, called Jah. The Rastafari people are also known as Rastafarians or Rastas. The movement rejects western society and proclaims Africa as the birthplace of mankind. Africa is also known as Zion.
The Rastafari also allow the spiritual use of cannabis, and believe the most important thing in life is family. It is not recognised as a religion, rather a way of life or an ideology. There is a school of thought that says people should find faith and inspiration within themselves but there are some who identify with the 'Mansions of Rastafari', three of which are the Bobo Shanti, the Niyabinghi and the 12 Tribes of Israel.
Awareness and understanding of the movement has spread throughout the world over the last 40 years, largely thanks to the increase in the popularity in reggae music, and in particular Bob Marley. Prior to this, Rasta was only really known in Jamaica. Bob Marley, the Jamaican singer/songwriter sang about the movement in many of his songs, which grew even more popular following his death in 1981.
There are over 1 million Rastafari worldwide and recently there were as little as 100,000 Rastafarians in Jamaica itself, only 5 per cent of the total population. There are many Rastafarians who believe that they are the chosen few and will live forever in their existing bodies. This is called life ever-living and they believe they will live forever with Jah as their King and their official language will be Amharic.
Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia and is used by the Government and the military, and is the second most used Semitic language in the world, after Arabic.
