RASTAFARIAN

also spelled Ras Tafarian member of a politico-religious movement among elements of the black population of Jamaica and several other countries. Rastafarians worship Haile Selassie I, former emperor of Ethiopia, under his precoronation name, Ras (Prince) Tafari. They consider the Ethiopian emperor to have been a divine being, the Messiah, and the champion of the black race. According to the Rastafarians, blacks are the Israelites reincarnated and have been subjected to the evil and inferior white race in divine punishment for their sins; they will eventually be redeemed by repatriation to Africa, their true home and heaven on earth, and will compel the whites to serve them. These beliefs, first enunciated in 1953, can be traced to several independent prophets and particularly to the Back to Africa movement led by Marcus Garvey in the early 20th century. The various groups that make up the Rastafarians rejected Jamaican-European-oriented culture and Christian revivalist religion and developed their own identity while awaiting the exodus. Since the early 1950s the Rastafarian movement has grown in numbers and complexity. The identification with Africa remained, but the repatriation concept received less emphasis and the Rastafarians began to lean toward either political black militancy or a religious mysticism supported by the Old Testament and incorporating African forms. Rastafarian lifestyle may include dietary rules (often vegetarianism), the wearing of uncombed locks and beards, and the smoking of ganja (marijuana).