Description

Rastafari is a personal faith or a culture, a "way of life" that requires the individual Rastafarian to find the truth for him/herself.  To understand Rastafari, we have to go back to Jamaica in the 1920s to a man named Marcus Garvey.  Garvey, born in Jamaica in 1887, was an influential black spokesman and founder of the "back-to-Africa" movement, which advocated the ‘return’ of people of African ancestry to the motherland - Africa.  He often stated that the redemption of his people would come from a future Black African king:  "Look to Africa for the crowning of a Black King, he shall be the Redeemer".

 
His millennial prediction came true when on November 2, 1930, Ras (meaning Prince) Tafari (meaning to be feared) Makonnen (Haile Selassie I pre-coronation name) was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia and given the title Emperor Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God, Light of the World. The movement was born out of colonial oppression and biblical prophecy in the slums of Jamaica.  First adopted by the Garveyites.  Ethiopia became the Rastafarians Zion and Haile Selassie I, the returned Christ made flesh.

 
Haile Selassie I, was the direct descendent and the 225th monarchs born from the union of King Solomon of Israel and Queen Bath Sheba of Ethiopia.  His coronation as emperor in 1930 gave the signal of Garvey’s prophecy that a black king would bring the day of deliverance, had come true.

Houses and Mansions of Rastafari

There are many ‘houses’ or ‘mansions’ of Rastafari, the four largest  ‘mansions’ are: The Twelve Tribes of Israel, founded in 1968 by Vernon Carrington (sometimes referred to as prophet Gad) and has headquarters all over the world including Canada, Sweden, New York, Los Angeles, UK, Trinidad, Africa and New Zealand; Bobo Shanti, is considered to be the priestly order of the Rastafarian movement; while Nyabingi, being the first house and considered to be the heartbeat of Rastafari - chant and praise Emperor Haile Selassie I at traditional gatherings; and the Ethiopian World Federation (EWF) the most political organization in the movement. There are other houses and still many Rastafarians who do not belong to any.
 
 
Today, it is estimated that there are over three (3) million Rastafarians of every race and culture worldwide.  From Jamaica to Johannesburg and from Toronto to Tel Aviv, Rastafarians can be found on every single continent.  As Bob Marley, sang in “Coming in Form the Cold ”, Rastafarians are moving out of the ghettos and have taken their rightful place in a wide variety of careers-- lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, community activists, musicians and artists. 
 
We will be reviewing the religious elements of Rastafari in our next article.