Rastafari Symbols from the Video

Some of the symbols and traditions I caught from the video include the specific times of prayer the Boboshanti branch of the Rastafari faith observe are 3 am, 9am, and 3pm, and I am not sure of the significance of these times, but the individuals on the video expressed how religious (ha!) they were about the timing of these prayers. The colors red, yellow, green, and black were prevalent through, mainly on the homes. The people where clothed in red, with red turbans over dreadlocks. The signs around the village had bible teachings and encouragement for equality. They had black over white, and r over x. Both R and black represented righteousness while white and x were evil and wrong. They always made sure the "fire of life" was lit at the top of the mountain, as close to God as they could be. The people observed the Sabbath. The creators of the video had a similar design as is seen on the back of Bob Marley's "Exodus" cd cover, seen to the left. A verseion of the lion from the video, with the flag, or simiar object with the green, yellow, and red coloration is shown above.

The differences between the imagery of the Rastafari people I get when I listen to Marley and the actual images of the Boboshanti people involve basic ways of life. To the Boboshanti, the turbans are important, but to the sect that Marley believes in, the visible dreadlocks are more important. I had never really considered that there are sects that might live in shacks or may not have clean running water or that their livelihood comes at least partly from creating brooms. Marley's music makes me think more about a civilized nation that is working for more rights and equality. Maybe more along the lines of a middle class, especially with the popularity of Bob Marley? The views of the lifestyle, at least in comparison to the lifestyles I imagined, was the biggest difference, but now that I have more insight through the video, I understand that there are diverse sects of Rastafari who live differently.

here is a link to the website of the people who made the video