SECTS?

The sects, or Mansions, as they are refered to, can best be described in a full, but brief manner, by this article found on Wikipedia

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Mansions of Rastafari are branches of the Rastafari movement. Mansions include the Bobo Ashanti, the Nyabinghi, the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and others. The term is taken from the Biblical verse in John 14:2, "In my Father's house are many mansions."
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Bobo Ashanti

Known as the Priestical House of Rastafari, the Ethiopian Africa Black International Congress / Church of Salvation for Bobo Dreads, or Bobo Ashanti, is an organization founded by Charles Edwards, known as Prince Edward Emmanuel Charles VII, in the 1950s. Most of its members, called "Bobos" or "Bobo dreads", live in Bull Bay, in a small utopian community called Bobo Hill. Bobos are most notable for their wearing of turbans and robes and the brooms they carry with them, which signify cleanliness. The brooms are also sold in Kingston as a way to provide funds for the community. The Bobos have built a strong relationship with the local community outside of Bobo Hill and often invite people to their services.

Prince Emmanuel is called "Dada" by his followers, who see him as part of a holy Trinity, together with Marcus Garvey and Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, in which Selassie is seen as King/God (Jah), Garvey as prophet, and Emmanuel as high priest. Almost all songs and tributes within the community end with the phrase "Holy Emmanuel I Selassie I Jah Rastafari."

Bobos say that "Africa" is the name that the white men gave to Ethiopia, or "Jerusalem". Many see black supremacist ideas as essential to the faith, and in the Bobo (and Rastafarian) conception, the true Israelite is a black man.

Not only do Bobos believe in black supremacy, they also consider women and children subordinate to men. Women must cover their legs and arms; and a woman may serve food to a guest, but never to a Bobo male. Nearly all the men within the community are seen as prophets or priests, whose functions are to “reason” and conduct services, respectively.

Many reggae artists have emerged from the Bobo Ashanti, including The Abyssinians, Sizzla, Capleton, Anthony B, Turbulence, and Ras Shiloh. Many claim to be Bobo Ashanti, however many of the artists have not made the Bobo declaration, therefore being unable to legitimatley call themseves 'Bobo'. (Check interview with Jah Cure, BBC radio 1xtra)

Twelve Tribes of Israel

The Twelve Tribes of Israel is a Rastafari group founded in Kingston, Jamaica, and now functioning world wide. Its founder, Vernon Carrington, was known as Prophet Gad, and taught ones to read the Bible 'A Chapter A Day'.

The main theological difference of Twelve Tribes of Israel Rastafari organization is their acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord & Saviour. (Due to the stigma associated with slavery and the false use of the name Jesus by colonialist not practicing what they preached, some prefer to use the ancient names of Christ - Yeshua or Yehoshua or JAH SHUA (aka Jah is Salvation) in Hebrew - Yesus Kristos in Amharic)...

Haile Selassie I is seen as a divinely anointed king in the lineage of King David & Solomon. While he is considered a type/representation of Christ in Kingly Character, he is not Jesus Christ himself, but a representative of the everlasting Davidic covenant, which is to be fulfilled by Jesus Christ when he returns as Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

The twelve tribes symbology is based on Jacob/Israel's 12 sons, and correspond to the months of the ancient Israelite calendar, beginning with April and Reuben. Some people further relate this to metaphysical signs. Thus Bob Marley came from the Tribe of Joseph, the eleventh of the biblical Jacob's twelve children. Ijahman Levi isthe third child. Another well known reggae group of this sect is Israel Vibration.

Bob Marley, a natty dread, by quoting a biblical text about Joseph on the album cover of Rastaman Vibration, was acknowledging his own support for this sect. Dennis Brown, Freddie McGregor, and many other roots reggae artists were associated with the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Due to their inclusiveness of all races and acceptance of the Holy Bible, though not the oldest, TTI is considered the largest of all Rastafari houses.

Nyabinghi

The Nyabinghi Theocracy Government (Nyabinghi), was named for a legendary Amazon queen of the same name, who was said to have possessed a Ugandan woman named Muhumusa in the 19th century. Muhumusa inspired a movement, rebelling against African colonial authorities. Though she was captured in 1913, alleged possessions by Nyahbinghi continued, mostly afflicting women.

The Nyabinghi resistance inspired a number of Jamaican Rastafari, who incorporated what are known as nyabinghi chants (also binghi) into their celebrations (groundations). The rhythms of these chants were eventually an influence of popular ska, rocksteady and reggae music. Three kinds of drums (called "harps") are used in nyabinghi: bass, also known as the "Pope Smasher" or "Vatican Basher", reflecting a Rasta association between Catholicism and Babylon, the middle-pitched funde and akete. The akete (also known as the "repeater") plays an improvised syncopation, the funde plays a regular one-two beat and the bass drum strikes loudly on the first beat, and softly on the third beat (of four). When groups of players get together, only one akete player may play at any one time. The other drums keep regular rhythms while the akete players solo in the form of a conversation. Count Ossie was the first to record nyabinghi, and he helped to establish and maintain Rastafari culture.

Nyabinghi drumming is not exclusive to the Nyabinghi order, and is common to all Rastafarians. Its rhythms are the basis of Reggae music, through the influential ska band, the Skatalites. It is said that their drummer revolutionized Jamican music by combined the various Nyabinghi parts on a drum kit, which combined with jazz to create an entirely new form of music, known as ska. Nyabinghi rhythms were largely a creation of Count Ossie, who incorporated influences from traditional Jamaican Kumina drumming (especially the form of the drums themselves) with songs and rhythms learned from the recordings of Nigerian musician Babatunde Olatunji. Binghi chanting typically includes recitation of the Psalms, but may also include variations of well-known Christian hymns. Though Count Ossie is clearly the most influential Binghi drummer, practically inventing the genre in its present state, the recordings of Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus, as well as the Rastafari Elders, have contributed to the popularity of the music. Though Nyabinghi music operates as a form of Rasta religious music outside of Reggae, musicians such as Bob Marley and even non-Rastas such Prince Buster and Jimmy Cliff (both Muslim) used the idiom in some songs. Recently, dancehall sensation Sizzla and American roots-Reggae artists such as Groundation and Jah Levi have used Nyabinghi drums extensively in their recordings. Though sometimes claimed to be a direct continuation of an African cultural form, Nyabinghi drumming is best seen as the voice of a people rediscovering their African roots. Combining Jamaican traditions with newly acquired African ones, Count Ossie and others synthesized his country's African traditions and reinvigorated them with the influences of Nigerian master-drummer Babatunde Olatunji, as a comparison of Count Ossie's Tales of Mozambique and Olatunji's earlier Drums of Passion will reveal. Indeed, it is that combination of inherited traditions and conscious rediscovery of lost African traditions that makes Nyabinghi drumming-- and Rastafari-- so powerful.

Nyabinghi are considered the strictest mansion of the Rastafari movement in Jamaica preaching the ideals of a global theocracy to be headed by Emperor Haile Selassie I, whom they proclaim to be the promised Messiah and incarnation of the Supreme Deity.

Often misrepresented as supporting violence for promoting "Death to black and white downpressors", the Nyahbinghi are actually pacifists who believe that the rule of the black race is simply a matter of destiny and not a cause for war. They do not believe in violence, because they believe that only Jah has the right to destroy. They make this pledge because of the power of words, believing that only when all of Jah's children make the pledge together, oppression will be destroyed.

This gives you the general overview of each individual 'sect' If any of these appeal to you, you should look into researching them further.

Peace