Decoding the Mystic Revelations of Rastafari
BY DANIEL HARJU
Barefoot and mighty, the humble Rastafarian takes a huge puff of ‘oly ‘erb while the circle keeps the slow heartbeat rhythm going. There is hope for all of us hopelessly trapped in the Babylonian mindset: Rastafari! Stop yearning for postmortem bliss by looking up at the ceiling from inside organized religion, and stop attempting to climb some materialistic totem pole because it will only lead you nowhere, which is exactly where we already are. So instead of being caught up in some day-to-day running around leading back to Nowhere, Babylon (population: countless), we can find peace of mind within by chanting down this mental prison. Yes, those shackles come off, but only if you let them! And in case you are a pothead looking for a higher purpose to justify your pot smoking: Rastafari!
Count Ossie was a pioneer who helped popularize the Rastafari musical tradition worldwide. We can now use his earthly and trance-inducing Nyahbinghi drum chants as spiritual tools to purify our souls. The songs are often based Old Testament scriptures and therefore have some of the same the qualities as psalms. But church music never sounded this good, even if you had smoked a joint on the parking lot before mass. The Rastafari “religion” has an interesting history and is, I think, a logical conclusion of recently liberated African roots growing with tropical island spirit after four hundred years of slavery. Rasta as a liberation/repatriation theology emerged with the Black intellectual renaissance of the early twentieth century and was inspired by intellectuals like Marcus Garvey and Leonard Howel. With Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian king, the Rasta movement, that opposed oppression and yearned back to Africa, found its own messiah.
Rastafarianism, the local Jamaica branch of renewed Black consciousness, became a popular movement among the poorest of the poor. While there are many reasons (social, political, cultural and economic) why this emerging consciousness took the form of just Rastafarianism in Jamaica, we can only be glad that it did.
Kind of like giving your boss the finger before the bastard has the chance to fire you, Rastafarians liberate themselves spiritually from oppression and hardships here on earth, first by reading themselves into stories the old testament as Jah’s exiled people bound to return home, and then by smoking the ‘oly ‘erb to escape Babylon. In musical meditation, Rastas get closer to their Zion and heal in the love of Jah.
Listen to Hundred Years — by Count Ossie & the Mystic Revelations of Rastafari. The song is from Groundation, the group’s 1973 debut. It’s a mournful call to action. Nyahbinghi songs are by definition revolutionary but also suggest that we can free ourselves without organizing and definitely without using violent means.
This song does not sound typically Nyahbinghi. Instead it has a Old English folky vibe. Count Ossie mixed freely African-inspired drumming with other musical influences such as jazz and rock’n'roll. Accompanying the chants are acoustic bass and brass. The group also sometimes used organ, but the instrumentation was always subtle. Here we get yet another wonderful mixed musical emotion. Rastafari!
Four hundred years of colonial reign
Has brought the people misery,
It has left them such pain.
The talk is now of independence, you see,
It seems it wasn’t meant for you or for me.
As strangers we came - slave-trade was the game,
And ever since, we don’t even know our names.
However we teach, we must remember
And all that they did to mother and father.
So people, people, for what it’s worth
Demands your freedom here up on earth.
Stop asking when, where and how,
Make up your mind: the time is now.
So people, people, for what it’s worth
Demands your freedom here upon earth.
Stop asking when, where and how,
Make up your mind: the time is now.
- Tales Of Mozambique
January 12th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
What an insightful essay.
The Rastafari philosophy reminds me of the Greek philosopher Diogenies’ founding tenets of his “Cynic” test. Cynic, meaning “like the dogs,” was meant to encourage people to live a life as simply as possible and as close to nature. A famous conversation between Alexander the Great and Diogenies.
Diogenies: What are your life plans, Alexander the Great?
Alexander The Great: I plan to conquer and subjugate Greece.
D: Then what?
A: Then I plan to conquer and subjugate Asia Minor.
D: And then?
A: I plan to conquer and subjugate the world.
Diogenes, who was not easily dissuaded from a line of inquiry, posed the question again:
D: What next?
A: After all that conquering and subjugating, I plan to relax and enjoy himself.
Diogenes responded: Why not save yourself a lot of trouble by relaxing and enjoying yourself now?
A tale of ambition to conquer manifested in Alexander and ambition itself conquered by Diogenies.
January 13th, 2009 at 2:58 am
Was Diogenies the guy who lived in a barrel and spent his days wandering around as a well-respected wiseman who masturbated openly in the town square, aka the first ever punk?
January 14th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Haha pretty much, I believe he lived in a tub.