Why do rastas have dreadlocks

If you want to know what the other colors signify, click here. We could never cover the entirety of the Rastafari movement in ONE blog post. Barrett is a great place to begin your education. Island Outpost is a collection of distinctive hotels and villas in Jamaica known for their interesting character and expression that reflects the magic of music, each with its own rhythm, its own beat.

Book Now Sign Up. Dreadlocks are not just for style. Rastas smoke marijuana to increase spiritual awareness. No, Bob Marley did not start the Rastafari movement. Rastafari has its roots in the philosophy of Marcus Garvey. It is known that many Pharaohs wore their hair in dreadlocks, for example: the mummy of king Tutankhamun was found with locks still intact.

How is it that dreadlocks have become a Rastafarian symbol, rather than that of African spirituality? Master Naba offers knowledge: dreadlocks in spirituality have a very high value. During the pre-colonial period in Africa, healers and priests in many parts of the continent had dreadlocks, and every religion that has come has adopted the idea of wearing dreadlocks or shaving the hair on any part of the body.

In the Bible it says that those who do not shave the hair, and drink alcohol or eat meat are the closest to God. Jesus himself is portrayed with long hair! In Islam, shaving is considered a value of cleanliness. To associate dreadlocks with only Rastafarianism is simply untrue. But in the history of blacks, Rastafarianism became a politico-spiritual movement after the prophecy of Marcus Garvey.

It gave black people a spirit of hope, and led the Rastafarians to adopt the attitude of African priests: Keeping their hair as priests, not eating red meat, not drinking alcohol and not using drugs or smoking cigarettes.

They decided to put their hopes in spirituality. The dreadlocks have a very strong spiritual significance that is virtually unknown in modern society today.

Now they are worn as a style, a political message or as a rebellion. Many people, young and old, have no idea what it means spiritually to wear dreadlocks, and they do not really know the position in which wearing locks places them. The dreadlocks relate to the concept of dedication and sacrifice to the Gods or Deities and the spiritual rules. Wearing dreadlocks is a very heavy spiritual burden.

Only those who have consciously decided to take a vow of purity and to follow all of the Original Seventy-Seven Commandments and apply them to all aspects of their life can wear dreadlocks. People of any race or any sex can do this, because spiritually we are the same, but anyone who wears dreadlocks must know and understand the spiritual meaning behind the wearing of dreadlocks to get away from any negative consequences. Most people in modern societies have no idea of the consequences of wearing locks, other than their own imagination and definitions.

So what are the consequences of wearing dreadlocks? According to the wisdom of Kemet, the earliest and most authentic spiritual system ever known to all mankind, the wearing of locks would be synonymous with the reverence to our ancestral roots, the quest for purity of soul and spirit and the application of the Original Seventy-Seven 77 Divine Ordinances at all times. He advocated for black empowerment, the unity among people of African descent, and returning to the Motherland of Africa. Rastafaris preached how the Bible says Jesus will return as the Lion of Judah.

To some, locs were a symbol of letting go of material possessions and worldly vanity. Many more also believe that the longer your locs are, the closer you are to God. When he arrived on the scene, people began to associate Jamaican culture, the Rastafari movement, and locked hair with Bob Marley.

Another Rastafari belief is that knotted hair can prevent energy from escaping the top of your head. When this happens, the energy remains in the body to aid in strength of mind, body, and spirit. Locs were said to be a sign of strength and inner power, which supports the story of Samson and Delilah in The Old Testament of the Bible.

Rastafari doesn't have a specific religious building that is set aside for worship. Rastafarians usually meet weekly, either in a believer's home or in a community centre.

The meetings are referred to as Reasoning sessions. They provide a time for chants, prayers and singing, and for communal issues to be discussed. Marijuana may be smoked to produce heightened spiritual states. The music used at these meetings is known as Nyabingi , and so when meetings are mostly musical they are often referred to as Nyabingi meetings.

Marijuana is regarded as a herb of religious significance. It is used in Rastafari reasoning sessions, which are communal meetings involving meditation.

According to Leonard Barrett, Rastafarians first began using Marijuana in reaction to the treatment of blacks in society. It became a reactionary device to enable freedom from the establishment. Marijuana is used by Rastafarians to heighten feelings of community and to produce visions of a religious and calming nature.