mrtrench
Well-Known Member
So, this is so bizarre that it's difficult to believe it's true.
I'm reading a book by Evelyn Waugh called 'When the Going Was Good'. It's a collection of his travel logs from the 1930s. The second trip is to Addis Ababa for the coronation of Haile Selassi as Emperor. He doesn't refer to him by that name however - he calls him Ras (prince) Tafari. Which is why Rastafarians are so called.
So I came to the computer to find out why Rastas worship him. I'm still not sure exactly why, but in Jamaica they decided that when he became emperor he was the second coming of Christ as predicted in Revelations. They wanted to travel to Ethiopia to be with him and he agreed but only after they first make Jamaica a wonderful place. In the 1960s he travelled to Jamaica and thousands turned up - it is said that the air was thick with cannabis smoke. Bob Marley's wife was there and was converted when she thought she saw stigmata on his hands (nobody else saw them). Selassi was polite and didn't tell them he wasn't Christ - although at other times he made it clear that he was not and thought it rude to correct them.
He was Emperor until 1974 when he was deposed. Like all leaders he has his detractors but he did modernise the country. Waugh describes the people living in mud huts at the time.
Just thought I'd share as I think it's fascinating.
I'm reading a book by Evelyn Waugh called 'When the Going Was Good'. It's a collection of his travel logs from the 1930s. The second trip is to Addis Ababa for the coronation of Haile Selassi as Emperor. He doesn't refer to him by that name however - he calls him Ras (prince) Tafari. Which is why Rastafarians are so called.
So I came to the computer to find out why Rastas worship him. I'm still not sure exactly why, but in Jamaica they decided that when he became emperor he was the second coming of Christ as predicted in Revelations. They wanted to travel to Ethiopia to be with him and he agreed but only after they first make Jamaica a wonderful place. In the 1960s he travelled to Jamaica and thousands turned up - it is said that the air was thick with cannabis smoke. Bob Marley's wife was there and was converted when she thought she saw stigmata on his hands (nobody else saw them). Selassi was polite and didn't tell them he wasn't Christ - although at other times he made it clear that he was not and thought it rude to correct them.
He was Emperor until 1974 when he was deposed. Like all leaders he has his detractors but he did modernise the country. Waugh describes the people living in mud huts at the time.
Just thought I'd share as I think it's fascinating.