Rastafarian Children of Solomon: The Legacy of the Kebra Nagast and the Path to Peace and Understanding

by Gerald Hausman

Shares the spiritual wisdom of Rastafari through the stories, teachings, and traditions of practicing Rastas in Jamaica

• Includes the author’s interviews with bush doctors, healers, and Rastafarians gathered during his 15 years of living in Jamaica

• Reveals the old ways of the Rastafarians and how their beliefs form an unbroken lineage tracing back to King Solomon

• Explains the connection of Rasta beliefs to important biblical passages

Tracing their lineage back to King Solomon--the wisest man who ever lived--Rastafarians follow a spiritual tradition of peace and meditation that is more a way of life than an organized religion. During his 15 years living in Jamaica, Gerald Hausman developed deep friendships with Rastafarians and rootsmen, enabling him to experience firsthand the beliefs and traditions of these followers of the Kebra Nagast--the African gospel excised from the King James version of the Bible. He met bush doctors, Rasta preachers, members of the Marley family, and respected elders who knew Marcus Garvey, prophet of the Rasta movement and vocal proponent of the Pan-African movement in America. He also met elders who were present when Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia and descendant of the House of David, came to Jamaica in the 1960s.

Through interviews with fishermen, mystics, and wise men, as well as direct encounters with spirits and the spiritual, the author reveals the deep wisdom that underlies the “old ways” of the Rastas. He connects their stories, lives, and teachings with important biblical passages as well as reggae songs. He shares their views on the medicinal and meditative powers of cannabis--the sacred herb of Solomon--and explains that while Rastas believe it to be “the opener of the door,” they maintain that peace and understanding must be found within. Illustrating the unwavering faith and hope of the Rastafari of Jamaica, Hausman shows them to be a people who, above all, emphasize equality, because the Holy Spirit within each of us makes us all one and the same.

Genres: Religion, History

152 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2013

About the author

Gerald Andrews Hausman is a storyteller and award-winning author of books about Native America, animals, mythology, and West Indian culture. Hausman comes from a long line of storytellers and educators, and has published over seventy books for both children and adults.

Reviews

[Ltopo McFly · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writer Gerald Hausman is extremely eloquent, concise and descriptive. He paints Jamaica as the most exotic paradise but there's a fetishism of its black Rasta residents as "magical Negroes" who exist just to impart spiritual wisdom to white tourists. The book reads like an extended travelogue, similar to Ian Fleming's "Live and Let Die" and just as unconsciously racist. Most of the book is written in fake Patois and all of the Rastas are solely focused on serving the white author's every fancy. There is absolutely no interest or respect in the racial and political ideals of the real Rastafarians or the horrific history of slavery in Jamaica; Just painting them as peaceful colonized servants with an intriguing false religion which is only valuable to the Jewish writer because of Rastafarianism's assumed Jewish roots. He surely knows and ignores the fact that Rastafarians claim the Israelites were Ethiopians and Jews are imposters. Their appreciation of Jesus is minimized and the pacifistic, mixed race Bob Marley is elevated much more important to Rastafarian thought than its own founders. The writer reimagines Rastas as an apolitical monolith without any nuances or deep culture. Yet the book centers on his supposed friendship with its most dangerous and mystical members. A colonizer promoting colonialism through fictional ex-rebels who have learned to enjoy being colonized.

[Bhagat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gerry is very poetic with his life and love.

[Noah Letner · Rating 5 out of 5]

very enjoyable little stories of Rastas in jamaica...

[Richard Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me a much deeper insight into not just the Marley family, but also all of the other Rastas who have been seriously working on higher consciousness. Very good story telling.