Category Archives: Ethiopia

Ethiopia, the birthplace of The Human Race.

Africa, Ethiopia, Ethnic Wars, Haile Sellassie, Hindu Kush, History, politics, Pre-Aryan, Soualiga Youth, , , , , ,

 Excerpted from Rastafari and Its Shamanist Origins by Wade A. Bailey.

Ethiopia’s bedrock belongs to the earth’s first continent, a continent called Gondwanaland by geologists, of which Africa forms the last intact remnant. The structures of this 600-million-year-old land, made up of hard, massive folded pre-Cambrian crystalline rock, have been covered over throughout most of Ethiopia by recent formations. Ethiopia is called the cradle of mankind by some geologists and anthropologists. The Bible records in Genesis 2:8-14 that: ‘And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted into four heads. 11 The name of the first is Pison, that is, it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good, there is Bdellium and the Onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second is Gihon (Blue Nile) the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel, that is, the river which goeth toward the east of Assyria, and the fourth river is the Euphrates. As per the biblical description Eden was a huge landmass and the river that flowed out of it, straddled more than one country, Ethiopia is one that was specifically named as being completely surrounded by one of the rivers namely Gihon (Blue Nile), judging from the biblical description the Garden of Eden is placed on the African continent, interestingly said placement is in agreement with, scientific, archaeological, historical references and evidence.

Here we have a visual map aide showing the proximity of Arab countries to Africa; from those countries, Cannabis was introduced to the continent. Ethiopia is located in northeastern Africa, the ‘Horn’ of Africa, so-called because of the horn-shaped tip of the continent, which demarcates the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean. Ethiopia is bordered by Sudan on its western border, Somalia to the southeast, Kenya to the south, Djibouti to the east, and Eritrea to the north and northeast. Ethiopia consists of four major river systems. The first system consists of the Takaze, also known as the Atbara, the Abbay or the Blue Nile, and lastly the Baro, originating in Sudan, then flowing westward into the Nile.

According to the officially available figures, Ethiopia’s population is about 76 million people, making it the third most populous nation in Africa. The varying ethnicities that comprise Ethiopia’s populace is diverse and are grouped as follows: the Amhara and Tigrinya, 32 per cent, the Oromo 40 per cent, Sidamo 9 percent, Somali 6 percent, Shankella 6 percent, Gurage 2 percent, Afar 4 percent. There are hundreds of languages spoken in Ethiopia that fall into four major categories. Three of which have a common ancestry that is called proto-Afroasiatic by linguists (Afro-Asiatic is Hamitic-Semitic). The three are known as Cushitic, Omotic, and Semitic. Harold G. Marcus wrote in his seminal work, A History of Ethiopia, published by the University of California, that: ‘Evidence is strong that the Afro-Asiatic (Hamitic-Semitic) group of languages developed and fissured in the Sudan-Ethiopian borderlands. The Proto-Cushitic and Proto-Semitic began their evolution. In Ethiopia, the Semitic branch grew into a northern group, today echoed in Tigrinya, and a southern group, best heard in Amharic. It simultaneously spread to the Middle East, whence, millennia later, it returned in a written form to enrich its cousins several times removed. Cushitic includes the Agaw, the Somali, the Afar, the Saho, the Hadiya, the Kambata, the Oromo, and the Gedeo. Omotic, the term Omotic is derived from the fact that the people thus designated traditionally lived on both sides of the Omo River. The following nationalities comprise the Omotic, the Dorze, Janjaro, Maji, Kafa, Waylata and the Dizi.

The last category is the Semitic Geez, which is the oldest Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is largely confined to the religious sphere, i.e. sacral literature and theology. Other Semitic languages are Amharic, Tigrinya, Harari, and Gurage. There are the Nilo-Saharan language groups, which are not connected to the Cushitic, Omotic, and Semitic language groups previously cited. They are as follows: the Anuak, the Nuer, the Kunamain in southwestern Eritrea, the Gumuz in western Gojam and the Manjanjir. Linguistic and archaeological evidence points to a prehistoric genesis for Ethiopian culture. Early evidence of human existence has been found in the varied array of stone tools found in many parts of Ethiopia. Village farming was developed in Ethiopia during the Neolithic period. There is empirical evidence that Stone Age culture endured in Ethiopia during different epochs. The Watta of Ethiopia were related to the hunting groups of northeastern and eastern Africa. The Agau is an early population that still exists today in Ethiopia. The Agau discovered new strains of plants, the domestication of the donkey and mule breeding regionally. The plateau peoples are grouped into three groups, linguistically and anthropologically; they are referred to as the Central Agau and Eastern Cushites. During the second Millennium, the population increased dramatically; as a result, the Cushitic population who lived in the southern fringes expanded into Uganda, Kenya, and Tanganyika. The migrations of the Bantus into Ethiopia changed the population dynamics in Ethiopia and all other southern African societies. Along with the aforementioned and the erection of the phallic stones in southern Ethiopia, the basis for the development of states in Ethiopia was established. The development of city-states in Ethiopia was spurred by various socio-religious dynamics and the interpersonal relationships of the various people groups vis-à-vis their counterparts. One of the ethnicities in Ethiopia credited with helping advance the proto-city state to the contemporary city-state is the Oromo.

The Oromo lived in the Ethiopian highlands in areas like Bali, the borders of what is now the Republic of Somalia. They claim to have emerged from the Borana region of southwestern Ethiopia. By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, powerful Abyssinian kings by force of arms made the Oromo move west and southwest into the barely habitable, salt pans, lava fields, and toward the boulder and sand deserts near Lake Rudolph. Some Oromo groups, over time, developed powerful monarchial states. The Oromo are notable for their martial feats, specifically as cavalry (mounted soldiers). Ancient Ethiopian literature is replete with mentions of or praises to the Oromo for their exploits on the battlefield. In 1776, the civil war ushered in the era of the ‘age of princes’; the war and political intrigues persisted till 1855. The civil war ultimately resulted in the proto-provincialism that is prevalent even today; as a result, the various provinces competed for territory and resources against the other provinces in a struggle for ultimate hegemony. The period saw the ascendency of various provincial dynasties, each province was demarcated along ethnic and national lines, the loyalty of the people was not to Ethiopia, but to their provinces and their kings who ruled over them. The Gondar monarchy’s decline led to an increase in the influence of the Galla. Gondar was once Ethiopia’s largest city and a hub of religion and art. Gondar was Ethiopia’s de facto capital from 1635 to 1867. By this time, the Solomonic dynasty and ethos extant for hundreds of years were well established. Since the Galla at the time were a well-established and powerful ethnic group, the royal family forged strong ties with the Galla through marriage.

The Ethiopian imperial monarchy was diluted because the majority of Galla were Muslims; the throne then was not a legitimate manifestation of Christian power but was an instrument of power wielded by Muslims. One dynasty that laid claim to the Solomonic heritage, as well as being a mainly Christian polity in its hierarchical structure, was Shoa.  Shoa, an alternate spelling is Shewa, free of the rampant civil strife sweeping the rest of Ethiopia, was able to create a largely coherent bureaucracy that was characterised by a heterogeneous coexistence among the varying ethnic and religious groups. The unification of Shoa was solidified under a Christian dynastic monarchy, which waged wars of hegemony till the end of the 18th century. In the reign of Sahle Sellassie (1813-1847) an Amhara Negus, he had many children, one of them being Haile Melekot, the father of Menellek II. When his father was murdered, Sahle Sellassie seized the throne although he had older male siblings. Sahle moved swiftly to consolidate power with the help of his mother’s kinsmen. He marched from the monastery at Sehla Dingay, where he was enrolled as a student, to his father’s capital at Qundi and claimed the succession; he was proclaimed Ras of Showa. Some of his male siblings reached Qundi at a later date and were promptly imprisoned.

Shortly after his proclamation as Ras, he proclaimed himself Negus of Shewa. In 1829, Shewa was hit with a debilitating famine; shortly thereafter, a cholera epidemic struck, killing two-thirds of the stricken. Again, misfortune struck when one of the Negus’ generals rebelled, Medoko, several of the elite Matchlockmen (infantry with guns) deserted with him and they joined with the Oromo. Together, they burned Angolalla and waged battles against Shewa. When Sahle Sellassie was able to put down the rebellion (1835), another catastrophe struck. Shewa was afflicted by a drought which decimated crops and livestock, bringing famine to the province. Sahle Sellassie responded to the famine by opening up the royal storehouses to the people. This act greatly enhanced his status with many viewing him as a wise, loving, and generous king.  Sahle Sellassie was a great reformer. Some of his notable reforms are as follows: he limited executions to murder, treason, and sacrilege; executions required the consent of the Negus. He further ceased the practices (torture) of his predecessors, such as brandings with hot irons, executions, and severance of limbs of accused persons and criminals. Many death sentences were reduced to life imprisonment or property forfeiture. Blood money was paid to a murder victim’s relatives, instead of handing them over to the relatives of the victim’s family (an ancient tradition in Ethiopia still practised at the time). He instituted tax reforms and greatly increased the store of firearms available to the state at the time.

He signed friendship treaties with both France and England and even encouraged foreigners to settle in Shoa. In the following, I will highlight Ethiopian Orthodoxy, Ethiopian history, iconography, music, art, and culture. Ethiopian artists have produced an enormous amount of work, particularly the artwork of the Tewahedo Church, murals, manuscripts, ceremonial furniture, including their unique crosses and panel paintings on wood. Ethiopian iconography depicts a wide variety of sacred imagery used for a variety of reasons, both devotional and apotropaic objects (amulets), i.e. having the power to ward off evil or bad luck. The national dress of Ethiopia is the Shamma, a rectangular shawl of three feet in width, handwoven from cotton. Men wear jodhpurs, which fit tightly from the knee to the ankles. Women wear blouses with full skirts of ankle length.

Men and women wrap barnos around their shoulders (especially in the highlands) when the weather cools or is breezy. The national dish of Ethiopia is called injera, a locally made sour, fermented flatbread with a spongelike texture, and wat ot zegeni, which is a type of curried stew made of beef, mutton or chicken. Hard-boiled eggs are added and are seasoned in the Ethiopian manner with red pepper (berbere) and other spices. It is at times served with tedj, a honey mead fermented

drink, or tall an Ethiopian beer. Names and naming ceremonies in Ethiopia, like most Middle Eastern and African countries, are of paramount importance. Asfa Wossen Asserate, the great-grandson of Haile Sellassie, wrote in his book; ‘King of Kings: The Triumph and Tragedy of Emperor Haile Sellassie’, the following: ‘Ethiopian naming conventions have no concept of the division into Christian name and surname that is usual in Europe. People have a single given name. This is often followed by the father’s name, thus Tafari Makonnen is Tafari, the son of Makonnen. If a child dies, and another is born, the newborn child’s name oftentimes is Kassa, meaning restitution. Common male names are Hagos (joy), Desta (pleasure), Tesfaye (my hope). Some common names for females in Ethiopia are Ababa (flower), Zewditu (crown), Terunesh (you are pure), and a host of others, but these are commonly recognisable even in this work since the famous Etege Zewditu Menellek’s daughter’s name is one of the most common female names in Ethiopia. Common Christian or baptismal male names are names compounded with, for instance, Gebre (servant of), an example is Gebre Yesus (servant of Jesus), Walda (son of), Haile (power of), and Habte (gift of). Well-known female baptismal names are, often compounded with the following Amete (maid of), like Amete Maryam, maid of Mary, or Walatta (daughter of), for example, Walatta Sion (daughter of Zion).

 

 

 

Foundation Lalibela Commonunity working in Rotterdam. This is how Foundation Lalibela raises funds to support relief efforts in Ethiopia.

Africa, Caribbean, Entrpreneurship, Ethiopia, Europe, Innovation, Lalibela Commonunity, Leadership, NGO, Pan Africanism, politics, Sint Maarten, Soualiga Youth, Technology, Thought Leaders., , , ,
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Foundation Lalibela Commonunity working in Rotterdam. This is how Foundation Lalibela raises funds to support relief efforts in Ethiopia.

Rastafari and its Shamanist Origins.

American Slave Trade, Black History, Caribbean, Christianity, Ethiopia, Europe, Haile Sellassie, Leadership, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Image: Some Caribbean islands including the lesser and Greater Antilles. Martinique,

Guadeloupe and French Sint Martin were called the French Antilles, with Sint Maarten, Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatia comprising the Dutch Antilles. Frantz Fanon the Martiniquan Doctor, revolutionary, author, Marxist and Antillean. Carlos Cooks was an Antillean. Maurice Bishop though a Grenadian by parentage was born in Aruba and attended school for a period of time there. Athyli Rogers author of the Rastafari bible, the Holy Piby, was an Anguillan, though Anguilla is not an Antillean island, Anguillans and Sint Maarteners are related by blood ties and share a common heritage. Edward Wilmot Blyden the man whose world-renowned protégé Marcus Garvey, is heralded by most Pan-Africanists as the father of their ideology, is a virtual unknown in so-called black studies‖ literature. Most writers writing about the Pan-Caribbean Pan-African experience tend to focus on Jamaicans and Africans conveniently omitting the fact that the actual Pan-Caribbean, Pan-Africanist movement started in the smaller islands and not in Jamaica. The movement was begun by people like Edward Blyden and others even before him. George Padmore and C.L.R James are rarely ever written about but they are in fact intrinsic to any honest analysis of the Pan-Caribbean and Pan-Africanist movement in the world today. This book though not a Pan African nor a Pan Caribbean work yet gives due credence to the greats in the aforementioned since, without their efforts, a work such as this would indeed be lacking substance in certain areas.

In her book, The First Rasta Helen Lee claims, that Marcus Garvey was agitating for integration, how a supposedly informed individual could make such a claim, can mean only one thing, Lee who is obviously enamored with Howell; was pandering to certain sentiments and sensibilities of the type of readership that she caters to.
After his release from prison on trumped-up charges Marcus Garvey was deported to Jamaica in 1928, where he resumed his activities on behalf of Africans everywhere.
He was politically active in Jamaica where he ran for a seat on the city council while he was in prison, and he won by an overwhelming margin.


Lee’s attempt at diminishing the impact and influence of Marcus Garvey on the development of African civilization in the Diaspora is exposed in this work for what it is, a specious attempt at misinformation. The historical records clearly show that Garvey was deported back to Jamaica he later left for England, where he died in 1940. Creating the false notion that Garvey never returned to Jamaica but was somehow sent to England, is a deliberate and malicious attempt, by this white journalist, claiming to identify so greatly with the Rastafari, that even within the obvious suicidal behavior of Athlyi (―Roger Athlyi‖ writer of the Holy Piby i.e. the Rastafari bible). Lee attempted to make Athlyi some sort of hero. Athlyi killed himself plain and simple; no amount of misplaced pandering to misdirected sensibilities can change that.
The likes of Athlyi were not and have never been a great influence on black people globally Athlyi‘ marginal influence is limited to the few followers he had in his heyday, likewise Leonard Howell. Marcus Mosiah Garvey on the other hand influenced black intellectuals globally and he still does so today from politicians and preachers to university students to street hustlers Garveyism has had an enduring impact on the world that no human being can diminish nor deny.

The ideology that Garvey espoused, led to many African leaders, such as Kwame Nkrumah, and Jomo Kenyatta just to mention two very famous leaders, who openly called themselves Pan-Africanists after the ideology developed by Marcus Mosiah Garvey. The ideology called Garveyism led to these men formulating the methods and means that they would later utilize to bring about the independence of their respective countries. That they failed to follow in the Pan-African tradition after having achieved independence is no reflection on Garveyism at all, but rather it is a reflection on the men as human beings.


Today both the JLP and the PNP of Jamaica are vying for the right to call themselves the ideological successors of Marcus Garvey; fortunately for Garvey history will show that he was not a socialist. Garvey believed firmly in the democratic ideal, and capitalism, in fact, was his preferred economic model.
Both the JLP and PNP are socialistic in their rhetoric, in practice, they are decidedly autocratic, and absolutist in their governing styles bordering on oligarchies. The very fact that these parties are now vying for the right to call Marcus Garvey, the father of their political ideology, points to his universal acceptance that has in fact forced the political hierarchy in his homeland, to want to adopt him as the father of their various movements.


Pan-Africanists, the Rastafari, and students of the enlightened variety both white and black have long accepted and understood the universal truths espoused by Marcus Garvey; however, his separatist rhetoric has been and rightly should be avoided by most. The applicability of his political program, as pertains to the betterment, of the condition of the Africans in the Diaspora, should be championed by any truly enlightened Caribbean leader.
Caribbean people, do not need journalists, or academicians to define their reality; they can define their own reality.


On the point of the church’s role in the Caribbean; Lee attempts to portray the role of women, as substituting for the lack of men in said institutions. The Jesus image, as created by Roman Catholicism is portrayed by Lee, as a psychological prop; upon which black Caribbean Christian women, project all of their pent-up sexual emotions.
Lee in her attempt to describe the church services of some people, who may or may not be Christian, lumped Christianity with Pocomania, and other religious sects, like Obeah and Shango. In the spiritist practices above the adherents are said to become possessed by one of their many deities, demon spirits, who cause them to manifest a wide assortment of behavior, while persons who experience the real indwelling of the Holy Ghost are experiencing what was spoken of in Acts 2:38. Moreover, the chief spirit of most of the cults mentioned corresponds to the divine androgyne, of ancient paganism, which has been identified as a symbol of Satan. For instance Obatala the chief deity of the Yoruba is a spirit manifesting both male and female characteristics, not unlike many of the other so-called gods of the ancient and modern pagans examined in this book.
The Pentecostal movement is a fact worldwide; many people around the world grew up in the Pentecostal movement.


Lee erroneously claimed that speaking in tongues is akin to the possession, of the cults.
Speaking in tongues‖ has been observed all over the globe even among Europeans and Caucasians in America and Canada, accounts of such are to be found in newspaper articles and on video footage throughout the western hemisphere.
The attempt by some white writers to portray speaking in tongues as a black phenomena‖, limited to the uneducated and the ignorant is an example of their use of the mastery of the written word to portray events in favor of the worldview that they espouse. This is the case of writers like Helen Lee and Timothy White is a decidedly pro-Rastafari worldview (of the Bob Marleyite variety).


While these writers can champion whatever worldview they want to, their attempts at lumping the very real experience of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, in true Christians‖ with demon or spirit possession akin to the possession at a Voodoo ceremony, will be challenged in this work, as it is mere fantasy and conjecture on the part of two journalist‘s attempting to explain away something that is experienced by people globally regardless of color or creed on a daily basis, as a purely black phenomenon limited to a few backward peasants and women with a limited education nothing could be farther from the truth.


Since true Christianity is diametrically opposed to occultism, those of us who truly know what the Full Body Ministry, stands for can appreciate the paradox in the matter.
For one the truly Christian woman would consider such thoughts sacrilegious, and the so-called white Jesus image, even in Jamaican society is not revered by all, not in the early 20th century nor today.
There have been and still are in the region churches that emphatically teach an anti-Eurocentric doctrine, there are many church institutions regionally that do not encourage the veneration of any imagery period taken from Roman Catholicism, even the pagan Christmas is not venerated nor celebrated by Apostolic people in the Caribbean nor around the globe.
The weak attempt of a white woman to define the experience of the African in the Diaspora failed, as all such attempts must fail, by dint of the fact that; the African in the Diaspora is far more complicated, and sophisticated than anyone from outside said group, presuming to be able to precisely analyze an entire group of people will ever be able to fathom.


Leonard Howell one of the earliest Rastafari leaders/ prophets‖ was an ardent admirer of Hinduism, and Indian culture and philosophy in general.
The original Howellites could be heard chanting to Krishna the Hindu god.
Howell began in the early thirties encouraging his followers to revere Haile Sellassie as a messiah, during this time there were many Rastafari mendicants.
Some well-known leaders were Joseph Hinds, Archibald Dunkley, and Nathaniel Hibberts, though there were many leaders, these were some of the earliest and chief leaders, of some of the better known Rastafari sects. All the other more contemporary leaders rose to prominence in the nineteen sixties.


Haile Sellassie received certain Rastafari leaders during his Jamaican visit, some of whom were honored with imperial medals by the emperor. Mention also must be made here of Prince Emmanuel the founder of the Emmanualites so-called Bobo Shanties‖.
Vernon Carrington founder of the twelve tribes of Israel is a well-known Rastafari leader; both these men rose to prominence in the sixties.
Haile Selassie himself denounced the idea that he was divine; stating that he was a Christian, and worshipped Jesus, the Rastafari saw his denial as a sign of humility.
The idea of Haile Sellassie as a god later gained global prominence through the medium of Reggae music. Robert Nesta Marley, the half-caste from Kingston is its most ardent seed planter.


The philosophical packaging and ideology of Rastafari are similar in many aspects, to Hinduism, right down to their Vegan diet, anyone can discover this for themselves by studying the original theology of Rastafari, the person wishing to know the truth must first understand who Howell was, and why his doctrine appealed to the disenfranchised, and downtrodden of society. The first

Rastafari unlike today, were largely poor, and uneducated young black men and women the eldership consisted of war veterans, some former Garveyites, and many young unwed mothers.
Although Howell was not the only black Jamaican at that time teaching about a black messiah, he was one of them who succeeded where many failed in establishing a commune where his people could live and work largely undisturbed by outsiders.
The belief in a universal black messiah was widespread amongst African descendants in the Western hemisphere, even amongst African Americans, as they had their Wallace Fard and Elijah Poole aka Elijah Muhammad, (These men also claimed to be messiahs or Mahdi=Arabic for messiah).


Based on historical accounts then we can safely say that Leonard Howell was not a novelty in the early thirties when this type of teaching was widespread amongst black people globally.
What was novel about Howell though, was his ability to galvanize his followers few before him or after him have been able to do what he did, and it is for that reason that I have chosen to focus on him, he influenced present-day Rastafari thinking and living more so than any of the other leaders.
Even after Howell’s camp (Pinnacle) was broken up, many of his followers were able to galvanize large segments of the poorer classes behind their ideology.
Poverty lack of education and financial resources conditioned the masses of young people at that time to seek a way out of their situation.
When Howell came on the scene preaching black pride and hailing Haile Selassie as a god, offering a refuge from the ghetto that they inhabited Howell’s practice of Marijuana use offered a temporary escape from the bleak landscape at that time.
Howell became an instant savior to those people at that time he became their leader a voice for the voiceless and a father to the fatherless.
Howell renounced his British citizenship claiming Ethiopia as the Promised Land for blacks and Haile Selassie as their long-awaited king who would deliver them from European colonial tyranny and oppression.
Howell lived in an Indian-styled hilltop commune, called Pinnacle he called himself Gangunguru Marajh, he even had a harem in the manner of the Hindu kings that he so admired.


Howell was well-read and had traveled extensively when he lived in the city of New York; he ran a tea shop,‖he more than likely sold Marijuana in his tea shop.
Howell himself functioned as a healer; years later in Jamaica, he would use his knowledge to heal people, he took them to a hot springs bath that relaxed their minds and bodies healing them of many ailments in their physical bodies.
Howell was not simply talking hope he was bringing about results many of the women he attracted were young uneducated single mothers looking for a way out of poverty.
The situation today has not changed much the Village Ram mentality; of some in the Caribbean, has spawned a generation of young single-parent households headed by mostly, poor, young, uneducated women.
This situation has led to an increasingly alarming number of single, young women, turning to, drug lords for their financial sustenance.
While criminal enterprise has proven to be very lucrative. The truly wealthy criminals hold a monopoly position.
The young men and women that the dons employ are largely their pawns and are usually expendable when they no longer cooperate or are either incarcerated or incapacitated.

Howell was what the poor saw as a way of escape at that time he knew what they wanted him for and he wanted power and lordship thusly both parties were served they fed his illusions of grandeur and he literally fed them. In this scenario, each party corrupted the other, yet they both got what they wanted. Howell was genuine in his beliefs he was willing to die for his beliefs and his followers this is what endears a man to anyone.
, If a man is willing to die for his word, that stance will inadvertently bring about a certain measure of respect from others even one’s enemies.
Howell was a bonafide channeler he was an adept in elemental magic; (elemental magic is rituals where various elemental spirits are conjured in order to aid the adepts, there are earthbound spirits, fire spirits, water spirits, and air spirits), his son Blade in the book The First Rasta by Helen Lee corroborated this. Howell was adept at spirit channeling people felt a definite presence when he entered a room, that was his hallmark his bearing and presence.


Bob Marley would later emulate this man calling himself Tough Gong, meaning I am tougher than Gong. The original Gong was Leonard Howell, a Gong is a hallowed cymbal-like instrument used by almost all oriental religious systems of worship, to announce the proceeding or ending of a session, this instrument was also used to honor a particular deity‘s presence.
Howell was meticulous in his choice of names and euphemism‘s Bob Marley‘s use of the name was mostly braggadocios, and also a respectful acquiescence of the preeminence of Howell.
Howell used Cannabis as a means of gaining contact with the spirit world.
Howell understood that the average youth, of a western persuasion, would never easily grasp the intricacies involved in spirit contact through meditation, and tantricism, the smoking of Cannabis was an easier simpler method so this was employed.
In the late sixties, Howell and his followers were nominally wealthy people, because of, Cannabis cultivation. Rastafari culture holds as a core tenet that, Cannabis Sativa is a sacred i.e.(Holy) plant.

Cannabis was, introduced into the Caribbean, by Indian Sadhu‘s, and smoked sacramentally by Sadhu‘s. The Sadhus were brought to Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana in the 17th century by Europeans, primarily as indentured servants, for the purpose of cane cultivation.
They brought with them their religious beliefs and myriad gods; (Some accounts claim that the Spaniards introduced Cannabis into the Caribbean as early, as the 15th century, the Cannabis originated in both historical accounts in India).
These people some of whom were called Sadhu‘s, or holy men brought Cannabis Sativa to Jamaica their worship of their gods sometimes entailed the smoking of Cannabis, at certain points an elixir would also be drunk this potion contained a mixture of honey and Cannabis,(Behang/Bhang).
Hemp was grown in the Caribbean region as early as the 15th century and was done chiefly by the British in an attempt to break the Russian monopoly on the production of Hemp as an industrial product. The Hemp plant was used chiefly as an industrial product, the plant is indigenous to West and Central Asia.

The Sadhu smoking his sacrament to kali‖, Shiva is the chief demon prince worshipped by Sadhus.

The painting above the Sadhu is of Shiva and his consort Parvati. On the right, a Shiva devotee in Nepal is covered in the white/gray ash characteristic of Shiva.

© Copyrights R.M.N.D. 2007. By Wade A Bailey.


Figure: This map indicates a portion of Western Asia Ur of the Chaldea is shown.
The Euphrates and Tigris rivers respectively are visible as two blue parallel lines flowing into the Persian Gulf.

The complexed relationships evinced between these regions cannot be handled in this work as this will take the work in an unintended direction suffice it to say that this work is a synopsis of a much broader work.
Western Asia denotes a number of geographic regions chiefly Iran, Turkey, Syria, and a number of other regions Iraq is in South Western Asia. As recently as 1979, Iran was known as Persia.
The term Central Asia denotes portions of or the entire region of Turkistan, Turkistan is the historical term for a region in Central Asia comprised of Kazakhstan, portions of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the autonomous Chinese border territory of Xinxiang Uygur in the past it was called East Turkistan or Chinese Turkistan.
Authors note, The last piece of historical data shows why there is a Chinese Muslim population in China, this occurred as a result of conquest by the Turks during the expansion of their Ottoman empire. If you are a news junky you will recall that the Xinxiang province in China is a hotbed of Uyghur Muslim ―extremist activity‖, later in this work I will examine the aforementioned in-depth.
As I have shown, taking into account the information given about the civilizations shown above. They were all highly developed cultures in the past, and had frequent contact amongst themselves. It should come as no surprise to anyone that a common religion, was shared by the people, in the regions shown above.
Hemp is also grown as an industrial product in Russia, Poland, Japan, Hungary, and China.


Hemp is refined and developed into soap, it is used in paint, and the Hemp products Marijuana and Hashish are used as drugs.
Based on the above information we have learned that Cannabis served a variety of uses, in the past as well as today.
In modern society in most countries of the world, Cannabis is used, as a recreational drug, but its usefulness as medicine has rarely been examined or taken seriously by the medical community.
Many persons clamor for its legalization as a means of furthering their own subversive agendas.

The aim here is not to promote the smoking of any substance recreationally, or for self-medication. The intent here is to honestly, deal with the multi-functional role that Hemp products have played as a natural product, that has been developed and exploited by man, it is in man‘s abuse and misuse of the plant that has created the addictive behavior, evinced today, among many people, in all sectors of society.
I will now resume my examination of the Pinnacle settlement and the lifestyle of its leader and his followers. The Pinnacle settlement was associated with Indian plantation workers with locked hair; this was before any African descendants in Jamaica ever grew locks.


Certain Rastafari elders called locks Zagavi; the etymology of the word, Zagavi is in the Hindi language.
Many Rastafari cite Bible passages in order to support their way of life, the bible does not condone the smoking of any substance as a means of spiritual upliftment, or enlightenment.
The word of God clearly condemns the use of any substance excessively, and it clearly makes a distinction between the clean and the unclean.
The Holy Ghost makes it possible for a child of God to touch God’s throne through the means of prayer praise and worship.
Sadhu‘s socialized with Jamaicans of African descent therefore, the Rastafari assertion that locks came to their movement because of seeing pictures of Ethiopian warriors with locked hair is not completely accurate.

Image:Jomo Kenyatta with a dreadlocked Mau Mau warrior.
This photo is erroneously cited by some historians as an impetus for certain Jamican Rastafari to have grown locks; such an assertion is false since Rastafari in Jamaica wore dreadlocks before the 1950‘s when this photo began making the rounds in western media publications.
Leonard Howell was impressed with Gandhi and his philosophy of nonviolence within social protest.

Howell later co-opted the nonviolent strategy, which was not always successful, some of
Howell’s followers were in constant conflict with the police some of the conflicts were because of Marijuana cultivation, Howell‘s rhetoric was anti-establishment this also brought mass exposure to his movement and its ideology.

Pinnacle; or the remnants of the settlement of Howell and his people. Pinnacle was purchased by Howell and his wife Tynneth Howell from a mister Chang a businessman of Chinese extraction, for the sum of 1200 pounds. Today the Pinnacle site is one of controversy as the Rastafari people of Jamaica and the Howell family, are taking legal action, to have the Pinnacle settlement, declared a Rastafari cultural heritage site, recognized as such under international laws. Howell died in 1981 ―peacefully‖, in a hotel room in Kingston according to the account given by Helen Lee.

Above is a faded photo of Leonard and Tyneth Howell.

Flyer and Photos of Leonard Percival Howell a.k.a The Founder and Father of the Rastafari Movement.

As I indicated previously in this book the Rastafari movement does not have one
central founder, Rastafari came about as a result of a Caribbean wide mass acceptance of Ethiopianism, Garveyism, et al, the movement had various forerunners‖ in its formative years Howell happens to be one of the more famous of them.
All Rastafari believe in the divinity of Haile Selassie the Kebra Nagast is the main source used, in proving that Haile Selassie is a direct descendant of the house of David through the union of King Solomon and the queen of Sheba.

How Rastafari Is Not Christian.

Christianity, Ethiopia, Haile Sellassie, Rastafari, , , , , , , , ,

H.I.M. Haile Sellassie I, on his battle charger .

I will like to introduce here some excerpts from the book written by Karl Philpot‘s Naphtali in his book ,The Testimony of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie Defender of the Faith.
Karl Philpot‘s is a Rastafari who adheres to the doctrines taught by Vernon Carrington better -known as Prophet Gad.
On page 109 we read that Vernon Carrington prophet of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, stated according to Philpot‘s Naphtali that there is no name whereby mankind can be saved but by the name Jesus .
In his book Philpot‘s acknowledges Jesus as the savior of mankind through the process of atonement, brought to fruition through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Philpot‘s throughout his book openly stated that Haile Sellassie was only an anointed man, as per the Solomonic order that he inherited through his ancestral lineage to the Davidic throne he also mentioned the Davidic Covenant, and stated that Christians should teach the Davidic Covenant and the gospel of The Kingdom.
From the words of Karl Philpot‘s I realize that he is very much in line with Apostolic teaching for it is in the Apostolic or fivefold ministry wherein it is taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is on earth now the Davidic Covenant is also taught within Apostolic doctrine.


Thusly we can see from the writings of one Karl Philpot‘s Naphtali a declared Rastafari that he is a believer in the divinity of Jesus or Yeshua Ha Masshiach and he acknowledges him as the one who will return in a second advent to rid the world of all corruption and injustice.


I highly recommend his book to all interested in the Rastafari organization the Twelve Tribes of Israel they are in fact the only Rastafari who can clearly and concisely lay down their beliefs in a biblically accurate manner.
His book was endorsed by long time Rastafari stalwart Mortimer Plano (now deceased).
The Twelve Tribes clearly propagate and spread a doctrine of the messiah ship of Jesus and they actively proselytize in line with that thought. It is my opinion, that Christian teachers preachers of the gospel of the kingdom, should be active in the advancement of the gospel, in a more proactive way in reaching out to organizations like the twelve tribes of Israel and forming some sort of consensus or at the very least an exchange of information. This type of informational exchange or discourse will serve to block the teachings of extremist organizations within all denominations of Rastafari and Christianity. These extremist teachers are only negative and

divisive elements in the region and are increasingly appealing to Christian youth in the region; this development should be alarming to most so-called leaders in the churches regionally as it points to their seeming inability to appeal to the young men in their congregation. The only Christians in the West who truly reflect the fullness of the gospel are those that live out the principles given to the apostles they wield the scepter of kingship, and the globe signifying universal conquest or rightful ruler ship .
The mandate of the sevenfold ministry is to take back dominion in the earth.
Through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus, the Messiah unto salvation and then the end of all things will come.

An Ethiopian Orthodox Church, in Lalibela with Ethiopian artistic renderings of biblical scenes. The scene of Saint George slaying the dragon was plagiarized by Neville Garrick, the Tuff Gong art director as cover art for the confrontation album by Bob Marley and the Wailers; again, we have an example of Marley openly identifying with Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.


Lalibela is internationally known for its rock-hewn churches, which are also called the eighth wonder of the world.
Hewn out of the rock on which they stand, these towering edifices are architectural marvels local legend has it that angels built them. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has been accepted by certain Rastafari who have been baptized in it, as members of said organization. Whether such persons see themselves as Rastafari or Christian is as yet unclear, as they do not articulate their position sufficiently.
Let me state here for everyone‘s benefit that not all people with dreadlocks are Rastafari and not all Rastafari wear dreadlocks.
Rastafari is a spiritual doctrine first and foremost that holds Haile Sellassie was a god in flesh, many in Rastafari do not smoke Cannabis Sativa.

Some are strict legalist‘s who adhere to biblical precepts in light of all that their error is in their deification of man,(I must state here that the twelve tribes of Israel believe that Haile Sellassie is not messiah, they teach that Jesus Christ/Yeshua Ha Mashiach is messiah).


Bob Marley himself was a Twelve Tribes member, the album art for the Confrontation album by Bob Marley and the Wailers was taken from the Christian‖ allegory painted on the Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church shown above of Saint George killing Satan represented as a dragon,(shown at far left of the photo of the church next to angel with sword).
The fact that Ethiopian culture has been literally shaped by Christian Judaeo culture is unassailable , the overwhelming historical, archaeological and cultural evidence all point to a pronounced Christian-Judaeo culture as the dominant culture in Ethiopia.
The attempt by some in the Caribbean to divorce Haile Sellassie from said culture is an exercise in futility.
The honest search of many in Rastafari have led to error‘s in their doctrine yet many remain faithful and are sincere in their beliefs given time and a solid explanation of true Christianity it is my belief that many will understand and leave the Cannabis out of their practice and deal with the pure practice of God ordained priesthood.
True Rastafari are lovers of purity and they love to show heart love. This love is the agape love loving people even when they hate you.


Sadly many people seek to malign and discredit Rastafari I have not done so in this work. I have shown from research gathered that the roots of Rastafari are Shamanistic meaning esoteric this in direct contrast to the God ordained priesthood many will attempt to dispute the claims as set forth herein an honest study of my evidence will soon satisfy the honest seeker.
The origins of Rastafari are not to be found in Judaism or in Christianity.
Many Rastafari were formerly Christians including the wife of Bob Marley Rita Marley a good book to read on the subject is the book written by Hettie Jones as narrated by Rita Marley.


The story is always the same no one was teaching black people to love themselves but
Rastafari. In most churches in the Caribbean, many do not know that Jesus spoke a language called Aramaic, which is similar in tone and makeup to Amharic the language of Ethiopia. The Rastafari know this fact that is why they will always win the youth, they make youth aware of their heritage and they teach them to love themselves.
This is one of the reasons Rita Marley, was attracted to Rastafari, she states in her autobiography that her peers called her Blackie Tootus meaning black and shiny with very white teeth.


This form of self-degradation is evinced throughout the Caribbean, and wherever Black people live self-hatred is a deep-seated cancer in many in our communities.
The Rastafari have attempted to challenge the status quo. They have erred in their creation of another slavery, the introduction of Cannabis use into our Caribbean culture. Though the intention of some might be good, the general corruption and filth associated with the traffic in Cannabis regionally can never be a good thing for our youth. I will never promote the use of Cannabis in any form, other than as a purely industrial product or in certain rare instances the preparation of Cannabis Sativa as a tea drink has been proven to cure migraine headaches, glaucoma and other diseases. Where in former times drugs as prescribed by physicians were few and far between, it might have served to alleviate the ills of some. In light of the previously stated, I must clarify my position I know personally that Cannabis can heal migraines and a variety of ailments does this entail abuse? no medicinal application is one thing, while the smoking of a plant for religious or social purposes are vastly differing reasons even in their application.


Countless other products have been, and can be developed for the use of man from the Cannabis plant. Criminal interests and governmental authorities have seized upon Cannabis as a means of power manipulation in the region.
Government have criminalized the Cannabis plant; the criminalization of the plant has only aided the corrupt government lackeys worldwide, in lining their pockets from the graft money, that criminal elements must pay them in order to be able to successfully run their enterprise.
Should the Cannabis plant be used as a taxable industrial product, in the manufacture of rope, and other non-edible, or non-smokable products, the criminals who run the trade will in this way be dealt a blow where it hurts namely their pocketbooks.
Governments previously eschewed and condemned Rastafari as a criminal element; they now promote Bob Marley as a national Jamaican hero for commercial gain.
In his life, he was an outcast and was branded as a potential national and regional security threat, in death the authorities have benefited from his potential, as a huge tourist attraction the paradox in the matter is food for thought.
I am a lover of Black History I know that it cannot save my soul it is a tool of empowerment, and it can free one from the disease of the inferiority complex cast upon Africans in the Diaspora by Europeans. Ultimately only Jesus the Messiah can truly save our lives.


A very important issue that has never been dealt with by most Christian Theologians is the so-called curse on Ham; it is because of the fallacious policy of some white theologians to depict the black man as a descendant of a so-called cursed son of Noah, that many are confused.
It says in scripture cursed be Canaan not Ham, Ham was the father of Canaan, Ham was not cursed his son Canaan was cursed.
The curse came to fruition when Canaan was seized by the Hebrews under the leadership of Joshua.
Caribbean people are largely descended from Africans who are descended from Cush son of Ham.


The location of Canaan is Palestine not Africa, from this geographical evidence we can conclude that for African people the curse of Ham does not apply.
In light of the above, I will like to expose the biblical historical facts, why Ethiopians are people who have in their history a written account of every Old Testament biblical act, from the creation to the Davidic and the Solomonic dynasties.
I will use the bible to bear up my points I will also use history and evidence from secular sources to prove the points.
The first man Adam was an African man that is my first point.
A Midianite priest a black man gave Moses the order for governance of the tribes of Israel. African people travelled with the ancient Hebrews.
These are my two points that I will prove historically, biblically and linguistically.
In Genesis, it is stated that he (Adam) was created from dirt the name Adam means red or ruddy.
Firstly, the man Adam was in fact not a red colored man the word red in effect speaks of the color of the inner core of the dirt or earth.
The location of the Garden of Eden was given as being on the African continent closer to present day Egypt than Ethiopia.
The dirt in that region of earth is a brown reddish color not unlike the color of the Ethiopians.

These biblical facts proven by history and geography destroy the racist lies and myth‘s created by European academicians and others to perpetuate their superiority over others.
Secondly, in Exodus 18:1 we read that Jethro was Moses‘ father in law.
Jethro was also a Midianite, Midianites were men descended from Abraham who took Keturah as a concubine after the death of Sarah, and the word Sarah (means queen his wife. Keturah bore Abraham six sons one of which was Midian father of the Midianites, of whom Jethro was descended. This means that Jethro was a black man, an African Genesis 5:1 ―Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah, and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Median, Ishbak and Shua.
Midian was the fourth son the father of the Midianites here in chapter 25 of Genesis we have biblical proof that support my claims made in my second point.
Now it is stated that Jethro who was a Midian was the father of Zipporah the wife of Moses. If one is familiar with the bible we will know that Moses sister had a problem with his choice of a wife because she was an Ethiopian, Ethiopian denotes skin color in this instance and not nationality.


Verse six of genesis 25 illustrates what became of the sons of Keturah Abraham gave them gifts and sent them away from Isaac.
In verse 14 of Exodus 18 we see Jethro questioned Moses on his pattern of governance of the people of Israel.
In verse 19-24 it is shown that Moses was given the first God ordained tribunal of 12 judges by a black man who was a priest unto YHVH the god of all mankind.
YHVH was already dealing with Jethro he chose the Hebrew people to bring forth a redeemer out of their midst Jesus/ Yeshua God also chose black men to guide the Hebrews in many important decisions that they themselves were not aware of.
In verse 12 of the same chapter (18) we read ―And Jethro Moses father in law took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God; and Aaron came and all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses father in law before God.
How could a Midianite know about burnt offerings seeing that he was never amongst the Hebrews yet here in verse twelve it states that Jethro took a burnt offering unto God in the presence of the children of Israel?
The act of eating after a sacrifice is an act of covenant the covenant that Jethro cut with the children of Israel would stand forever.
That is the first recorded sacrifice ever carried out since the time of Abraham and Noah; this sacrifice was conducted by an African priest from the land of Midian that is a revelation to break the chain of inferiority and ignorance created by white academicians.
There are many more evidences in scripture of the African people being in covenant with YHVH independently of any Hebrew influence whatsoever I will in this work reveal only a few .


What has been uttered here is not racism this is the operation of the full body ministry Iam exercising my right to banish Satanic strongholds and dominions on the earth from the minds of peoples of all colors.
I will now show from the bible where the children of Israel traveled with Africans.
In numbers 10 we read that Moses asked Hobab the son of Jethro to travel with them.
Hobab was an elder a leader of his people in verse 31 we read that Moses told Hobab they could scout for the Israelites.

In verse 32 it states that whatever goodness comes upon Israel will also come upon the Midianites thisis calledcovenant.
In numbers there is two accounts of African people in covenant with the Jews, the Midianites were related to the Hebrews through their father Abraham.
There are many more examples of Israel making covenants with Africans.
This is the reason today the descendants of African people namely Ethiopians have a written account of their history and the history of the house of Israel; they were there when Moses asked Hobab to travel and scout for the Hebrew people. The Midianites were a nomadic people who are the predecessors of the modern Ethiopians and Nubian peoples.


No other ethnic group of people on earth have a written documented account of the history of the Jewish people outside of Israel but the Ethiopian people. The fact that Ethiopians like Haile Selassie, can claim lineage from King Solomon, should not come as a surprise since the Ethiopians did freely cohabitate with The Hebrews. The Ethiopic account of the visit of the queen of Sheba is contained in their Kebra Nagast, an account written in Geez the religious writing of this account tells of the sexual relation between Solomon and the queen of Sheba that birthed Menyelek or Byna Lekhem the son of Solomon and Sheba founder of the Solomonic kingdom, whom Haile Selassie claims lineage from, through the loins of his grandfather Menellek the second.
The claim of Haile Selassie being descended from Judahite kings in no way qualifies him as a modern day messiah; these facts were already given in the beginning of this work and will not be rehashed here.

This Post Will be continued.