Rastafari movement
The
Rastafari movement is an African-based spiritual ideology that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica. It is sometimes described as a religion but is considered by many adherents to be a "Way of Life". Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, some as Jesus in his Second Advent, or as God the Father. Members of the Rastafari way of life are known as Rastas, or the Rastafari. The way of life is sometimes referred to as "Rastafarianism", but this term is considered derogatory and offensive by most Rastafari, who, being highly critical of "isms", dislike being labelled as an "ism" themselves. The name
Rastafari is taken from
Ras Tafari, the title and first name of Haile Selassie I before his coronation. In Amharic,
Ras, literally "head", is an Ethiopian title equivalent to prince or chief, while the personal given name
Täfäri means one who is respected or feared. Jah is a Biblical name of God, from a shortened form of Jahweh or
Jehovah found in Psalms 68:4 in the King James Version of the Bible.