WORLD VIDEOS HISTORY

WHY RASTAFARI SMOKE MARIJUANA FOR SACRAMENTAL REASONS, OTHER BELIEFS

Spread the love

Faith Nyasuguta 

In many nations and for decades, members of the Rastafari religion and political movement have been persecuted and imprisoned for their ritualistic use of marijuana.

It was not until recently that the tiny islands of Antigua and Barbuda became one of the first Caribbean nations to give Rastafari official sacramental authorization to grow and smoke the herb that they deem sacred.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that his government took this step in a bid to end the persecution and bring respect to the Rastafari faith.

Elsewhere, the Rastafari are pushing for similar religious protections. Experts and stakeholders think the Antigua and Barbuda law could give a boost to these efforts globally at a time when public opinion and policy are continuing to shift in favor of medical and recreational marijuana use.

A member of the Rastafarian society in KENYA /Faith Nyasuguta/

Here is a glance at the faith’s beliefs and history:

ORIGINS

The Rastafari faith is rooted in 1930s Jamaica, growing as a response by Black people to white colonial oppression. The beliefs are a melding of Old Testament teachings and a desire to return to Africa. Its message was spread across the world in the 1970s by Jamaican music icons Bob Marley and Peter Tosh — two of the faith’s most famous exponents.

Considered central to the faith is a Rastafari’s personal relationship with “Jah,” or God.

SACRAMENTAL MARIJUANA

According to Rastafari followers, the use of marijuana is directed in biblical passages and that the “holy herb” induces a meditative state and brings them closer to the divine

The faithfuls smoke it as a sacrament in chalice pipes or cigarettes called “spliffs,” add it to plant-based organic stews and place it in fires as a burnt offering.

Despite this, adherents, majority of them Black, have endured both racial and religious profiling due to their ritualistic use of cannabis.

GANJA

“Ganja,” as marijuana is known in the Caribbean, has a long history in Jamaica, and its arrival predates the Rastafari faith. Indentured servants from India brought the cannabis plant to the island in the 19th century, and it gained popularity as a medicinal herb.

HAILE SELASSIE

The Rastafarian society in KENYA /Faith Nyasuguta/

Most of its many sects worship the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. This is rooted in Jamaican Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey’s 1920s prediction that a “Black king shall be crowned” in Africa, ushering in a “day of deliverance.” 

When an Ethiopian prince named Ras Tafari, who took the name Haile Selassie I, became emperor in 1930, the descendants of slaves in Jamaica took it as proof that Garvey’s prophecy was being fulfilled. 

When Haile Selassie visited Jamaica in 1966, he was greeted by adoring crowds, and some Rastafari insisted miracles and other mystical occurrences took place during his visit to the island.

About Author

Faith Nyasuguta

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *