have your dreads inspired you to identify more with Reggae, and Rastafarianism??

To me, since deciding FINALLY on getting them, I have opened up my view on Bob Marley and reggae and the whole rasta scene totally. I know its probably cliche or bad or something, but I feel more connected now that I am presenting myself in this way, it seems justified to be more excited about rasta and reggae culture.

thoughts?

*disclaimer = this thread is NOT saying I am proclaiming myself as rastafarian, just creating a cultural identity discussion based on our hairstyle of choice and the coincidence therein with dreadlocked rastafarians.

 

i've always loved reggae (i've got close to 2500 songs in my roots, dub, dancehall collection). i've always also had an affinity towards dreadlocks as well as people who have them. unfortunately i've come across a lot of "rastas", who don't really live up to the beliefs ie- they do drugs, eat meat, and don't believe sellasie is the upcoming messiah. in fact he wasn't even rasta himself, but a coptic christian. also, dreadlocks have been around since neandrathals, were worn in egypt and by the sadhus of india. they were just more well known since bob marley brought them out into light. rastas and rasta music first inspired reggae music and the culture, not the other way around. i would say if anything, i feel more connected to myself. i've had every hairstyle under the sun and have been through so much in my life. i felt in my heart it was time to start my journey with my dreads. i feel blessed to have them and deffinatley feel like they are a part of my soul.

 

well put. i have been a fan of the music for awhile but never felt that i had a true conection to it in ANY way... i mean for the least of it, i am a white suburban kid who comes from a somewhat affluent family and has not seen any of the trials that the rastafarians and reggae scenesters out of kingston have lived through, and for that i felt disconnected. still am on that respect. but now with dreads i feel more connected on a different level, like i can relate to an extent...just a sliver, but still.

also i completely agree with that which you said about identifying with yourself, thats the best way to put it for sure because as you said, the journey has begun.

 

while I admire rastafari, I do not identify myself with it. I'm an atheist and intend to stay that way.

 

I've listened to reggae for atleast 5-6 years and probably like 2-3 years ago it finally opened my eyes to some things that changed my life completely...this is something that's hard for me to explain (these things usually tend to be). Like Bob said, "emancipate yourself from mental slavery"...it's pretty safe to say that I've been through something similar atleast. I started doing big researches on rastafarism and the general rasta truths and basically I was just blown away by all its aspects and by the fact that I had already turned my back to the babylon system to walk my own road. After some more massive thinking work and researching I finally stopped supporting the animal slaughtering idiots and became a vegetarian. My dreads were born this summer though, since I had some problems with growing my hair, but I wasn't in a rush anyway...something so important for me can wait for the right time to start the journey. I didn't start my dreads because of that though, I started them for a bunch of reasons...to escape from the gray mass of babylon, to feel closer to everything natural to name a few, there's alot of them.

It's hard though...I live in the middle of people who have no idea what's it all about and I haven't met not even one person that thinks the same way as me...people have dreads just for the looks and they live their life after other people...the blind lead the blind.

I'm far from a rasta though, hell, most people who claim to be one are...these are usually the same people i mentioned above, but it's hard and sometimes wrong to judge people like that. I just value the way of life of a rastafarian highly and it has pretty much helped me to become a better person.

About the religious side of rastafarianism though...that's the point where I'm still unsure though. It would take a MUCHMUCH longer post for me to cover all my thoughts right now, but I'll just end it by saying, that "Zeitgeist" (the doc. movie) got me thinking. Religion could really be the biggest lie in the history of mankind. But that's just to the unnatural level. Finding someone in yourself that makes you a better person and who you look up to and who helps you to live a righteous life is a different story though. I believe that people take it too black and white...it doesn't have to be just "believe" or "don't believe".

 

have your dreads inspired you to identify more with Reggae, and Rastafarianism??

no. simple answer!
celtic mythology on the other hand.....

 

no. atheism is my philosophy.

on the other hand it is teaching me patience

 

well, like the others that posted, i've always like reggae and the "off branches" of it. actually one of my favorite styles to play^^.

i also can't say that having dreads have actually inspired me to identify any more than i did before. i actually think the rastas are very passionate and anyone can learn from that(the real rastas).

in my personal experiece, i think it's helped other rastas with dreads identify something with ME. instead of some barrier between us(most rastas i know are either actually from Jamaica or direct descendants), we actually have something that we can both identify with, even if reasons or ideas behind them are a little different^^.

 

no. I don't consider myself religious. Though I like reggae music, I don't "identify" with it more because of my hair. I could say the same about classical music...
There are bits of rastafari that I agree with, but I could say that about most religions.

 

I am dreadless these days, myself, I was just wondering if anyone enjoyed listening to SoCa music. I find it hilarious, as SoCa music either refers to 1)Cannabis 2)Sex... lmao

Soul + Calypso = Soca

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soca_music

Always gets you pumped for a nice bonggggg hit, or what have you. Listen to uh... Krosfyah, get yourself some oil pumping or whatnot.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2l0jBvGug04



I miss my dreads at times, then if I don't shower for awhile, I kinda remember how my head feels, haha. When I went to Bonnaroo, my hair started to dread again because of my extreme hat wear and all of the neglect and good stuff.

 

No, most religions have little appeal to me.

Though I must say that since I've gotten them I've had strange cravings to put bones in my hair, paint my face and chant.

 

I hate to generalise, but being gay, some rastas tend to have a pretty callous outlook on my existence.

I enjoy a bit reggae and ska though ;]

 

a lot of the more fundamentalist rastafari are against homosexuality, however not all are. the cool thing about Rastafari is that it's a religion you pursue on your own, so it's not as rigid as typical christianity and other religions.

 

When i was in high school I was in love with Bob Marleys music but i knew nothing about him. I did a project in English class about how people listening to him, and he changed the world. I picked him to study because he was the only reggae musician that i actually knew, and wanted to know why, when this music is so great. I learned soo much about Bob Marley and Rastafarianism, and although i dont agree with it completely there are tons of aspects that i admire. I love how they dont cut or brush there hair... they live natural lives. They are mostly vegetarian, and try and tread lightly on our earth. I dont agree with the religion side... as why should we worship the past when our problems are now! we should be spending our time in action making this world a better place. but everyones opinion is different..... sorry for the rant, but im totally feeling it today. so.... after this project i wanted to live a natural lifestyle and dreads we a way of making it there.

 

i read phens post... and i used to think no one thought the same way that i did, except for my bestest buddy, who also kicks around here. that was when i was in highschool, and just a bit younger. Now adays i have never known sooo many people with locks and that share the same ideas as i do. once you start exploring, and put in situations that you never would be able to experience when you are younger, things start to come together. and if it doesn't ever start to come together you can make it, make people aware of your views, and sometimes people being a different stories could change there mind. I needed to leave my home town to figure out my self and life... so maybe i just moved to a more dreaded area? but when i first moved here i was unhappy, but making myself happy i find more things i like, like similar minds and dreadlocks... and music