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The Twelve Tribes of Israel is a Rastafari religious group and one of the Mansions of Rastafari. Its headquarters is on Hope Road in Kingston, Jamaica. [1] The group was formed in 1968 by Vernon Carrington, who was known to the organisation as "Prophet Gad". [1] The twelve tribes have been described as the Rastafari mansion closest in beliefs to Christianity or Messianic Judaism. Members follow the teaching of reading the Bible (the Scofield Reference Bible, King James Version) a chapter a day from Genesis 1 - Revelation 22, a practice encouraged by Carrington. It is the most liberal[ clarification needed ] of the Rastafarian orders and members are free to worship in a church or building of their choosing.
The Twelve Tribes of Israel teach salvation through the Messiyah Jesus Christ, whom they refer to as either Yahshua or by the Amharic name Iyesus Kirisitos. It is perhaps the Rastafari mansion closest in beliefs to Christianity or Messianic Judaism.
Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, is seen as a divinely anointed king in the lineage of Kings David and Solomon (Selassie's house being called the Solomonic dynasty). While he is considered a representation of "Christ in His Kingly Character", he is not seen as an incarnation of the Messiyah, nor as Jah Himself, but rather as an emissary of Jah and representative of the everlasting Davidic covenant, which is to be fulfilled by Christ upon his return.
Members of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, like all other Rastafarians, reject the consumption of alcohol, refrain from cutting their hair, and avoid the dead and anything having to do with death, as a part of the Nazirite vows. They also keep the Sabbath, and follow Ital dietary laws.
Members are grouped into Twelve Tribes, modelled after the Twelve Tribes of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin. Each member belongs to a tribe, which is determined by Gregorian birth month, though beginning in April in rough alignment with the Jewish calendar. Each tribe is represented by a color, a part of the body, and a character trait, often called a "faculty". Although the twelve representations apply to male and female alike, Dinah, though not considered a tribe, is representative of the feminine.
Members of this order are not required to be turbaned; however, they do wear red, gold, and green banners at meetings, during prayer and Bible readings as a holy garment. The Twelve Tribes of Israel functions internationally and has headquarters in various countries. Members work towards repatriation to Africa, mainly Ethiopia (Shashamane)
Bob Marley was a notable member. [1] Other artists associated with the group include Sangie Davis, Fred Locks, Little Roy, and Pablove Black. [1] The group had an association with the Jah Love sound system in the 1970s. [1]
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of mashiach, messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a mashiach is a king or High Priest traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil.
Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Rastafari, Rastafarians, or Rastas.
The Bobo Ashanti, also known as the Ethiopian African Black International Congress (EABIC), is a religious group originating in Bull Bay near Kingston, Jamaica. The title of Bobo Ashanti essentially means "Black warrior".
The Lion of Judah is a Jewish national and cultural symbol, traditionally regarded as the symbol of the tribe of Judah. The association between the Judahites and the lion can first be found in the blessing given by Jacob to his fourth son, Judah, in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible.
Leonard Percival Howell, also known as The Gong or G.G. Maragh, was a Jamaican religious figure. According to his biographer Hélène Lee, Howell was born into an Anglican family. He was one of the first preachers of the Rastafari movement, and is known by many as The First Rasta.
Shashamane is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Oromia Region with a 2007 Census population of 100,454, but with an estimated 208,368 inhabitants in mid 2022; the town is known for its Rastafarian community. The resort of Wondo Genet lies near Shashamane, as does the Senkele Wildlife Sanctuary.
Mortimo St George "Kumi" Planno, was a renowned Rastafari elder, drummer and a follower of the back-to-Africa movement founded in the 1910s by Marcus Garvey. He is best known as the Rasta teacher and friend of Bob Marley, and as the man who commanded the respect of a chaotic crowd during the arrival of Emperor Haile Selassie on his visit to Jamaica in 1966. He is referred to by other Rastas as a teacher and a leader within the context of the faith, given his life's work.
Iyaric, also called Dread Talk, is a language consciously created by members of the Rastafari movement. When Africans were taken into captivity as a part of the slave trade, English was imposed as a colonial language and their traditional African languages were lost. In defiance, the Rastafari movement created a modified English vocabulary and dialect, with the aim of liberating their language from its history as a tool of colonial oppression. This is accomplished by avoiding sounds and words with negative connotations, such as "back", and changing them to positive ones. Iyaric sometimes also plays a liturgical role among Rastas, in addition to Amharic and Ge'ez.
Vernon Carrington, also known as the prophet Gad, founded the Twelve Tribes of Israel branch of the Rastafari movement in 1968.
Mansions of Rastafari is an umbrella term for the various groups of the Rastafari movement. Such groups include the Bobo Ashanti, the Niyabinghi, the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and several smaller groups, including African Unity, Covenant Rastafari, Messianic Dreads and the Selassian Church. The term is taken from the Biblical verse in John 14:2, "In my Father's house are many mansions."
The Rastafari Movement in the United States is the manifestation of the Rastafari Movement, founded in Jamaica, in the United States.
Persecution of members of the Rastafari movement, an Abrahamic religion founded in Jamaica in the early 1930s among Afro-Jamaican communities, has been fairly continuous since the movement began but nowadays is particularly concerning their spiritual use of cannabis.
Bedwardism, more properly the Jamaica Native Baptist Free Church, was a religious movement of Jamaica.
Joseph Nathaniel Hibbert was, along with Leonard Howell, Archibald Dunkley, and Robert Hinds, one of the first preachers of the Rastafari movement in Jamaica following the coronation of Ras Tafari as Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia on 2 November 1930.
Abuna Yesehaq, was a leader of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in the Western hemisphere.
Earth Rightful Ruler is a reggae studio album by Augustus Pablo, originally released in 1982 on Message Records.
Aside from a mutual belief in the Old Testament, Judaism and Rastafari closely align in essence, tradition, and heritage, as both are Abrahamic religions. However, the philosophy behind many customs is what truly differentiates the two religions. There are stark differences in some core beliefs in regards to the messianic prophecies, apprehensions behind traditions, and even dietary restrictions. However, they are more similar rather than different on a vast spectrum of ideas, values and ethics.
The Rastafari movement developed out of the legacy of the Atlantic slave trade, in which over ten million Africans were enslaved and transported to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries. Once there, they were sold to European planters and forced to work on the plantations. Around a third of these transported Africans were relocated in the Caribbean, with under 700,000 being settled in Jamaica. In 1834, slavery in Jamaica was abolished after the British government passed the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. Racial prejudice nevertheless remained prevalent across Jamaican society. The overwhelming majority of Jamaica's legislative council was white throughout the 19th century, and those of African descent were treated as second-class citizens.
Nyabinghi is one of the oldest denominations, or "Orders", of the Rastafari movement.
This is bibliography of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I, reigned from 1930 to 1974. The list contains books with year of publication.