Rasta Pilgrimmage in Jamaica

[Kebo]

Greetings people

Do people know of the must hit spots in Jamaica. I'm taking a rasta pilgrimmage to Jamaica, flying into Kingston - the birthplace of rasta. My ultimate goal is to visit Bob's mausoleum. While I'm there I want to visit the Bob Marley museum, Tuff Gong studios, and stay at a rasta camp site. The only one I've been able to learn about is in Bull Bay - but its looks like in Bull Bay they pay homage to their own leader Prince Emmanuel over Selassie. I'm sure theres a lot to be learned there regardless but does anyone know of other Rasta Camps to stay at and other places in Jamaica that are worth visiting on this kind of rasta journey. Thanks.

Kevin

[Kai]

Kebo...I really don't know of any off Hand..I am taking a trip next week and it would be really nice to visit one or two of these sites..so if by chance you come up with any...please post and I will do the same.

[gman]

LOL
No offense man, but I can tell you white (if I didn't know already).
By all means visit those sites and spread your tourist dollars around wisely to benefit grassroots people. But know that no Rasta I know, would ever talk about "pilgrimage" to Jamaica. Rasta in Jamaica don't even consider themselves Jamaican, they consider themselves African, and if it's any place Rasta wanna go on a "pilgrimage" to, it's Africa.
Anyway I'm sure you will learn many more things when you reason with bruddaz and sistaz in JA.

[natural blacks]

the birthplace of rasta is the hills of clarendon...from there it moved to st catherine...then to kingston. i wouldn't call it a pilgrimage, but jamaica IS the birthplace of rastafari, and it is good to visit and dwell up amongst rastafari bredrin and sistrin. reasoning with the incients is essential. u can't learn of rastafari in afrika rite now.

places to see..hmm...i'd suggest ...pit four nyahbinghi grounds, montego bay; great pond nyahbinghi grounds, ocho rios, st ann; bob hill, nine miles, bull bay.

in terms of rasta communities, currently u have bobo hill for the bobo shantis, and scott's pass for the nyahbinghi. the nyahbinghi high priest lives in scotts pass, clarendon. bobo hill is a more organised and self sufficient rasta community...i'd suggest u visit. there's a lot of tension there now, the EABIC has been split into 3 segments, more confusion for ini, but the battle continues. i haven't been to bobo hill yet, but i'd like to go spend some time there. but if u really wish to learn of rastafari, then u should cling to the hills of hanover, westmoreland, st thomas. u should listen to mutabaruka on the radio as well, his program "The Cutting Edge" on IrieFM is a good listen. wednesday nites, 10pm - 2am. http://www.iriefm.net

may25th the afrikan liberation binghi begins...most likely 14 lights (2 weeks). this binghi will be at the earthquake nyahbinghi grounds in malvern, st elizabeth.

yearly nyahbinghi gatherings:

march 25th - empress menen earthstrong
april 21st - groundation day (haile selassie's visit to jamaica, april 21st 1966)
may 25th - afrikan liberation day
june 16th - leonard howell's earthstrong
july 23rd - HIM earthstrong
september 11th - ethiopian new years day
november 2nd - coronation anniversary...the largest nyahbinghi gathering each year. (held at the pit four nyahbinghi grounds, just outside montego bay)

most binghi gatherings are for 14 or 7 lights.

there is a nayhbinghi gathering in jan...i think it's the 11th...ethiopian christmas day. it's usually not well attended, because most rastas are against jesus and christmas, be it western or ethiopian. these are some of the things that are being changed within rastafari.

this strong-end (weekend), rastafari will be in kgn, half way tree...comemorating haile selassie's visit to jamaica. final nite of ises at the pit four nyahbinghi grounds in montego bay, on sunday, april 23rd. houses of rastafari must be i-nited...organise and centralise. we don't have to be uniform to be unified

love and blessings...rastafari lives

[natural blacks]

general places to visit tho...

- white river is a must! clean, clear, COLD water
- cockpit country
- maroon town in st elizabeth (acompong)
- maroon town in portland (moore town)
- clabash bay, st elizabeth
- treasure beach, st elizabeth
- nine miles, bob marley home town, st ann
- 56 hope road, bob marley kgn home
- ashanti restaurant, hope gardens, old hope rd, kgn
- pelican bar! a out-at-sea bar. not for the drinknig, but it's a creative idea and a good effort. if u eat fish then u may be more interested than i am...this is off the shore in parottee, st elizabeth
- bull bay beach, portland. old rasta settlement. used to be the home of jah b, bunny wailer, not sure if he still rests there
- ys falls, st elizabeth
- dunns river falls, st ann (tourist hotspot, i nuh too in the tourist ting...but it's a nice falls)

soo many places, caan memba nuh more rasta.

[Kebo]

Thanks for the responses. Back from Jamrock.

Started in Kingston and ended in Kingston. The places I visited were the Bob Marley museum at Hope Road, the Bobo camp in Bull Bay, Nine Miles - stayed overnight at the Wailers Hotel across the street from Bob's Mausoleum and cooked and reasoned with the local street hustler rastas (nine miles is as mystic and beautiful as you can imagine), hit the beach in Ocho for a couple days, then headed back to Kingston and visited the National Stadium where the One Love Peace Concert was held, Tuff Gong Studios, and finally the highlight of the trip was the Culture Yard in Trenchtown. Trenchtown live on.

My trip to Jamaica just tells me I got to return soon - much more to do and see and learn and experience. So many cools brothers there and beautiful lovely sisters. Natural Blacks, I heard alot of those names you mentioned while I was there, they're on the list to check for next time. Thanks brother. Trip to Jamrock - ***** - recommended.

The trip was a rasta education - tracing Bob's life and roots was the outline of the tour. One consclusion I've solidified is that Bob Marley was a mountain of a man - greater than I even knew all these years. His legacy is massive and palpable in many, many ways. The man is greatly respected by brethern across the island. From one side to the other brethren say "Bob Marley is a great, great man".

[Kai]

Kebo)))))))))...how come mi neva see you..lol...I just got back on Tuesday.  I was in Ochi the whole time though and I had a ball.

[Kebo]

Drop me a private message through this site Kai tell me about your visit.

[Kai]

Kebo...I'm trying to link you through email but it keeps saying its full.

[Kebo]

kai......manzieob@yahoo.com

[gnata]

Hotep ,
Natural Blacks you seems to know the Rasta mouvement very well , would you please a moment to explain me what are His precepts and beliefs ?
How many kind of Rastaf

[gnata]

Hotep ,
Sorry Natural Blacks , i wasn't done ...

I was asking you how many Houses were existing in the Rasta mouvement , and is it a mouvement or a Religion ?
In fact my perception is of Rasta is not clear ...

Thanks for your help ...

[natural blacks]

i know very little of rastafari actually. but then again does anybody really know anything really well?

i'll try...i'm at werk and don't have much time so i'lll make it short.

the 3 main houses/mansions of rastafari are the emperor haile selassie theocracy reign, the ancient order of the nyahbinghi; the ethiopia afrika black international congress (EABIC), more popularly known as the bobo shanti/bobo dread; the twelve tribes of israel. u also have the "bearded men"; sum say these were the original rastas... i believe toots of toots and the maytals is a member of this house. others may want to include: the ethiopian orthodox church (among MANY others...coptic, cling cling...all sort a ting), but this as they (the ethiopian orthodox church) have tried to get across to so many of the confused, is a christian church, praising not EMPEROR HAILE SELLASSIE, but jesus christ, their lord and saviour. HAILE SELLASSIE is the head of this church (defender of the faith) so i guess this is where the confusion comes in. there are many "houses" or "sects" which ppl include from time to time, but to my knowledge, there are only 3 recognised houses of rastafari...bobo, nyahbinghi and twelve tribe. there's this bredrin in blue mountains "Fagan", who claims he has been ordained by HAILE SELASSIE to protect the ppl from the mighty micro-chip - "mark of the beast" and he recently (maybe a few yrs now) started his own thing. he believes the chip will take full effect at the turn of the millenium (2007 = 2000 by the ethiopian calendar...September 11, 2007)

rastafari is not a religion; it is a lifestyle, a culture and a nation. a spiritual culture of which HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE I and HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY EMPRESS WOZERIO MENEN is head. greater focus is given to EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE HIMself in most houses.

core beliefs:

1. HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE IS THE AMIGHTY
2. ETHIOPIA (some take this to mean the current geographical location, others to be the entire continent) is the birth place and home of all black people. and we MUST return for salvation and redemption of black ppl.
3. dreadlocks - no grooming, cutting, or combing of hair. some 12 tribe "rastas" are bald head
4. ital diet - this contrary to what many believe does not mean a vegetarian diet...NOR a vegan diet. it means eating as much as possible from the earth. no processed foods. sum houses allow certain fish to be eaten. twelve tribes allow the diet of the old testament. some rastas practise "bird imple livity"...they don't cook their food, neither do they eat food that is beneath the ground...like peanuts, yam, potatoes, etc. their food must be exposed to the sun... kinda like the diet of brids, hence the name.
5. self-reliance - rastas lean very heavily (consciously or not) on the philosophies and opinions of MARCUS GARVEY. he afterall was instrumental in the starting of the rastafari movement with his proclomation of "look to the east for the coming of a black king"
6. collective effort - this comes against the background of the teachings of EMPEROR HAILE SELLASSIE the first
7. nyahbinghi - which means "kill all black and white oppressors" (rastas were never about "turn the other cheek" kinda peace)

rastas speak a different speak, thnk a different think, eat a different eat and live a different live. rastafari emerged in the 1930's in the hills of clarendon, jamaica. leonard p. howell is credited for the starting of rastafari. the moevment moved from clarendon to spanish town. the nyahbinghi is the original order... declaring EMPEROR HAILE SELLASSIE HIMself as the ALMIGHTY. in the 1950's, prince charles edward emmanuel (EMMANUEL of the boboshanti) branched off into the second house of rastafari (many believe due to power struggles) and started the bobo shanti order (nine miles, bull bay)... claiming divinity of himself, marcus garvey and EMPEROR HAILE SELLASSIE I, the holy trinity. emmanuel being the black christ (7th), marcus garvey being the prophet, and HIM being the almighty. it is a churchical order stemming from the ancient order of melchezidek ("the first christ" - see genesis in the bible). the belief is that the 3 are of one spirit manifested into earth to seal prophecies (most taken from the bible). in the 1960's there was another split, and prohet gad started the twelve tribes of israel. his belief was that EMPEROR HAILE SELLASSIE was the reincarnate of jesus christ of the bible. he supported HAILE SELLASSIE's teaching of reading the bible, and this is where the idea of "a chapter a day" springs from. the twelve tribes are dictated by the months of the year.

leonard howell was jailed on numerous occasions for declaring HAILE SELASSIE I as the almighty, and was ultimately sent to a bellvue (madhouse in kgn). his premise for starting rasta was the prophecy of marcus garvey about the black king. this was mirrored to prophecy in the bible and so there has always been a linking between rastafari and the bible. this however, many of the younger, more educated (sum would argue..maybe say "educated") rastafari, have begun to reject.

...to explain rastafari in a post, i would be typing until next morning, maybe evenenxt week. my advice is to find rastafari bredrin and sistrin in ur area and reason. read books...not just one book, but many books. the ideas on rastafari are very varied, and many have no clue as to the essence of the culture. i suggest u listen to all the views and find ur own. i also suggest that if u are interested in trodding rastafari, u seek to be a part of one of the houses. much mroe can be achieved thru collective effort than can ever be achieved by sole contribution. reasoning is fundamental. also, always bear in mind taht rasta is about nature. and nature-al livity. much more can be learned about rastafari by going to the hills for a time of solitude (not a couple hours, but actually live there) than can ever be learned in any book. it's the livity that brings about the spirit of rastafari. self-reliance, self-pride, humilty, tolerance, patience, unattachment. clign to nature and rastafari shall reveal HIMself. but remember that ur effort is very vital as there is no magic trick to it. it takes discipline and committment. it's a practice.

i haven't the time to re-read ths post, and i hope it's not too jumbled for u to iverstand. and i hope my information isn't misleading, as i said, i'm a young warrior within rastafari. hopefully this post will bring about other views as well...collective reasoning.

love and blessings...HAILE SELLASSIE I and EMPRESS MENEN LIVES!

"belief is a matter of opinion changeable by superior reasoning" - MARCUS MOSIAH GARVEY ...InI KNOW ...HAILE SELLASSIE lives and reigns. give thanks and ises.

[Kebo]

Its the coolest thing to find like-minded people. Coming a place among no rastas to being among people who talk of rastafari (like in Jamaica) is almost like a dream come true. Its like coming home. I almost cant believe that other people believe in Haile Selassie like I do. There s a general lack of trust that defeats my relationships with people. Connecting with rastas could be a cure if I trust that they are for real people. I think Jamaica should be a base for rastas worldwide. A consistent mecca for all rastas to learn and charge.

[natural blacks]

Its the coolest thing to find like-minded people. Coming a place among no rastas to being among people who talk of rastafari (like in Jamaica) is almost like a dream come true. Its like coming home. I almost cant believe that other people believe in Haile Selassie like I do. There s a general lack of trust that defeats my relationships with people. Connecting with rastas could be a cure if I trust that they are for real people. I think Jamaica should be a base for rastas worldwide. A consistent mecca for all rastas to learn and charge.

rasta yadding outta jamaica man... ini base is in afrika. repatriatian is a must, we not looking to for a mecca. but yes, it is good to be seated amongst rastafari... where's better to go than jamaica rite now.