Sometime more than a year ago, I wondered about the connection between reggae and Zionism. Occasionally you hear the word “Zion” being sung by artists like Bob Marley and even his son Damien Marley in some of their songs. I had no idea why but I did have a hunch that there was a complex story worth exploring.
The result of that post was the following…
I was prompted to watch Damien Marley’s video “Road To Zion” and somewhere along it, this popped in my face.
Yes, that’s right, the Star of David in the unforgettable reggae colors of red, yellow and green. So basically the “Zion” he was singing about wasn’t just any Zion, it was the Zion, the Jewish Zion, the Land of Israel and Jerusalem. Or so I believed.
I thought to myself “cool”, let’s dig deeper… and we sure did. Interesting comments were contributed.
Halalhippie from Denmark:
H.I.M Haile Selassie Ras Tafari was alledgedly descending from the Biblical king Solomon, thus the title “Lion of Juda”.
DrewCatt from Jamaica:
1. Rastafarianism does not bar its members from getting angry nor does it bar anger. It promotes livity, healthy living and peace. The two are different.
2. While it is afro-centric, it’s as fringe a religion as they come. You find any Jamaican parent and they’ll tell you that their greatest fear is that their child decides to become a Ras. It’s barely taken hold in its country of origin, much less in Africa.
3. There is NO set theology or beleif in Rastafarianism. Different rastas will follow different things. The only real thing they all have in common is the beleif that Emperor Haile Selassie is (or was) the living God.
There is some link to Judaism in that, most Rastas will follow their own version of Jewish law.
Raccoon from Israel:
The dreadlocks thing has a lot of connection to Judaism. Cohens (the priest caste of Judaism) are forbidden to cut their hair or to comb it. They found ways around it - but they are not supposed to “pass iron through their hair”
… Interestingly, it would appear that before the Diaspora, Jews used Cannabis as a sacred herb. To my ancestors it was known as “Kne Bosem” - translated loosely as “aromatic cane”, and was a regular part of worship.
DrewCatt from Jamaica:
Ok, some more info on the Rasta-Jew link. Rastafarians compare their exile from Africa with the Israelites exile to Babylon. There is also a comparison to the Israelites who were enslaved in Egypt before they went to the Promised Land.
Generally, Rastafarians believe that they are the original Lost Tribes of Israel that were once scattered by Babylon until the appearance of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I. It was the appearance of Selassie that was to signal the reinvigoration of the tribes of Israel (that, of course, didn’t happen).
Raccoon is close to the mark with the locks. There may be some links to judaism, but as for Jamaican rastas, the locks are a part of the Nazarite Vow (”They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard nor make any cuttings in their flesh”). Samson, of biblical fame, is believed to be a Nazarite with dreadlocks. Many Rastafarians believe that like Samson, their hair is their strength and also their weakness if it is cut off.
But then there was more. This! A cross. It conflicts with the Star of David. Or so it seemed, at least to me.
At first I didn’t understand its meaning or how Christianity and Judaism were both related to Rastafari. But now thanks to Jennifer Brea, I do.
Check out this post and find out the answer: The Kebra Negast. Pretty damn interesting I must say.
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Rastas have a close link to one Jew for certain…that is Raccoon…
Let me sing you my favorite Reggae Song (and your own beat)
I smoke two joints in the morning
I smoke two joints at night
I smoke two joints before I smoke two joints
And then I smoke two more
Oy vey mahn
And I have never met a Jew in my life that was a cool as a Ras…nobody beats a Ras for unmitigated cool
Halie Saleste was God???
Oy vey mahn
the star of david is actually an old as fuck symbol. lol execuse my vocabs .. the star of david, or the Hexagram is a pre-jewish symbol..
I believe Moses (Mosa) was black .. maybe he was a rasta :p
anyways.. listen to this people
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sN01CT-v7as
WOE TO THE DOWNPRESSORS
DZA, the earliest usages of a Hexagram as an important symbol were by Israelites and Hindus, so your while your claim of the ‘Star of David’ being pre-Jewish has some merit (Hinduism is quite ancient, as religions go), it developed in two distant and separate regions. Neither, you will note, was Africa.
As for Moses (Moshe) being African… Quite unlikely, as he came to Cana’an (Israel) from a around modern-day Syria-Iraq, as location names haven’t changed *that* much over the passage of recorded history. Of course, I’m sure that you disregard Jewish texts (you know, those draconically preserved ancient texts kept in the same language used over 2000 years ago), as that sure makes your life simpler.
By the way, nice post, Drima. Always nice to learn some more. Though I’d say that it’s worth looking into the history, traditions, and beliefs of Ethiopian Jews to get a fuller picture here. Ethiopian Jewish traditions do include tales of the Ark being put into their care when they left the Holy Land to avoid the Israel/Judea internal wars.
I think this idea of Moses/Moshe being black must be explored. Consider the fact that Egypt is in Africa. During the time of Israels sojourn the egyptian were not the mixed remnants that live there today. But, in fact were full blooded Africans, complete with African features etc. If one is familiar with the story of the birth of Moshe, then we must acknowledge the fact that he must have looked liked the people he lived with. ( recalll Pharoah’s order to kill all the hebrew male children??) if in fact the Egyptians were a dark skinned people of African origin, then Moshe, in orderto live as Pharaoh’s grandson, in his palace for 40 years, must also have looked as they did.
Haile Selassie himself repeatedly denied being the Messiah,(Moshiach) instead refering to one of his Royal titles of Defender of the Faith (Ethiopian Orthodox) and his steadfast Christian faith, while still perpetuating his lineage of Solomonic origin through Menelik (the son of Solomon and Sheba).There is a Rastafarian Mansion which follows this line amongst others (Zion Rastafari) who are possibly the largest and widespread internationally, called The Twelve Tribes of Israel (see Wikapedia) Bob Marley was affiliated with this mansion,which not only read and accepted the Old Testament (the Jewish Bible) but also the New Testament, the phrase “Read Your Bible a Chapter a Day” is a common catchcry
Damian marley is a rasta he was talking about africa thats what rastas zion is
Greeting people. I have a few things i need to ask as im on my own little quest to discover many things in life. Im trying my best to research the foundations of zion in the rastafarian perspective in comparison to zion in the jewish and zionist perspective.
So far from reading alot of your comments (very helpful btw so many thanks) i gather that zion in the perspective of rastafari is heaven/ethiopia. what i cant determine at the moment is where the “good” jews come in to this and where the “bad” jews/zionists come in to this. I understand that in the early years in africa there was people living alongside each other nicely, then along comes these pharasees who believe in nasty things, enslave the jews and muslims (if im incorrect please tell me), take them to babylon, slowly convince them the talmud way is all good, then spread across europe etc, and so on. What i need to understand is why these “bad” jews claim zion as something else or what is their version of zion?
Secondly as the centuries ticked over from when the pharasees occupied the jews and slowly convinced them into their way of religion, jews slowly came out of this and so you get what i call the “good” jews and “bad”jews/zionists and one of them in the late 18th century is said to have formed the secret illuminati society hence the american dollar “in zionist bankers we trust”. What is damian marley doin with nas who i believe to be part of such a society? Most of you must know that he throws up the all seeing eye hand symbol on his album cover, and its likely theres more to his fame than we know, but bob marleys son and nas? i know these people are deceptive to much extent but that is seriously confusing.
peace
Swarm,
Huh?
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