The Cannabis culture in Rastafarianism….
I was quite surprised to learn that the Indians actually introduced cannabis to the Rastafarians in Jamaica….LOL..pas de merde!
Though the majority of the Jamaican population was of African descent, a small but culturally powerful contingent of Indian immigrants influenced the Rastafari movement.
Some 3,600 Indian immigrants first arrived in Jamaica in 1845 as indentured servants. These “coolies” were friendly with the native Afro-Jamaicans and race relations remained positive throughout history. Their teachings of peace in the face of oppression resonated with Jamaicans and their rituals entranced locals. Eventually, much of the Hindu ritual was routinized in Jamaican culture. Rastafarites borrowed many of their rituals from Hindu culture: the smoking of ganja as a spiritual practice, meditation, vegetarianism (which would eventually become known as Ital), and the concepts of god-kings and transformation. They brought with them the Hindu idea of the ‘Sadhu— the ascetic wandering monk’ which is : not eating meat, growing his locks, smoking his chillum, living for things of the spirit — and this is one of the usually forgotten roots of rastafarianism. Every wonder why they call it colly weed: colly weed = Kali weed.
Rastas became the first Afro-Jamaican group to peacefully rebel against European concepts of Christianity. Prior to this time, slave societies depended upon the often violent methods of witchcraft, to show resistance to their white masters. The new attitude of peaceful rebellion is directly drawn from Gandhi’s efforts towards equality.
Rastafarians hold that the smoking of cannabis enjoys Biblical sanction, and is an aid to meditation and religious observance. Among Biblical verses, Rastas quote as justifying the use of cannabis:
Genesis 1:11 “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.”
Genesis 1:29 “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb-bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”
Genesis 3:18 “… thou shalt eat the herb of the field.”
Psalms 104:14 “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man.”
Proverbs 15:17 “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.”
Revelation 22:2 ” the river of life proceeded to flow from the throne of God, and on either side of the bank there was the tree of life, and the leaf from that tree is for the healing of the nations.”
interessant,no ??
I culled a bit of info from Wki…as usual…gvvytrhhyyi!
weltanschauung!!!
