Rasta

2003-09-09T16:52:00.000-07:00

The birth and childhood of
HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY
EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE I

Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given:

and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller
The mighty God,
The everlasting Father
The Prince of Peace.

..
The boy child Tafari Makonnen was born on 16th Hamle 1884 (July 23rd 1892 in Babylon time), in the year of John, at Ejarsa Goro near Harar. His father was Ras Makonnen and his mother, Wayzaro Yashimabet.

His birth had been foretold by astrologers and chaplains. They reasoned that the planets of Neptune and Pluto, would intersect in July 1892 having started moving towards each other 493 years earlier in 1399. This would in turn influence the constellation Leo, that is the house of Judah. They also foretold the great drought that started in 1889 and was broken at the moment of the child's birth thus confirming his identity and destiny.

On the fortieth day of His life He was baptised according to custom and given the name HAILE SELASSIE which means POWER OF THE TRINITY. At the moment of baptism He became totally aware and although this knowledge faded at the time, it returned as He grew. His teachers were astounded at the depth of his knowledge and standing (understanding) of Incient religious texts. He could also converse with animals; and savage beasts became docile in His presence.

He was the only one of ten siblings to survive childhood and his mother died before he reached his 2nd birthday. Tafari was raised by his father's cousin Wayzaro Ehta Maryam and her husband Dejazmatch Hayla Selasse Abaynah who had a child just 4 months younger than him.

At the age of seven Tafari and his cousin Emru began their education learning to read and write in both Amharic and Ge'ez. He also learnt French, firstly from a Dr Vitalien and also from Abba Samuel for whom he had much love and respect.

At the age of 13, on the 21st Teqemt 1898 (1st November 1905) his father, Ras Makonnen, made him Dejazmatch in the region called Gara Mullata. The following year Ras Makonnen died on the 13th Magabit 1898 (21st March 1906).

"Whatever may befall a man in this world, there is no-one who concludes his days entirely in joy or in grief, but pleasure and sadness occur alternately in heir turn; hence all my thoughts were floating in a sea of distress as my father, who loved me dearly and was so fond of me, fell gravely ill."
from the Autobiography of H.I.M. 'My Life and Ethiopia's Progress 1892-1937' translated and annotated by Edward Ullendorff

Emperor Menelik gave the governorship of Harar to Dejazmatch Yelma, Makonnen's son from a previous relationship and Tafari was given the Governorate of Sallale. During this time he resided in the palace at Addis Abeba and continued his education in a school set up by the Emperor Menelik. Later Tafari became Governor of Sidamo a large southern province. He left for Sidamo on April 4th 1908 only to return to Addis eight months later when Menelik suffered a stroke. During the political intrigues that followed, Dejazmatch Tafari remained neutral and on March 3rd 1910 the Empress Taitu granted him the governorship of Harar.

On July 31st 1911 Tafari married Menen Asfaw, the 22 year old granddaugher of Ras Mikael. The marriage would last 50 years until the death of Empress Menen in 1961. Together they had six children.

..

.
Excerpt from an interview

Fallaci: Your Majesty, I would like you to tell me something about yourself. Tell me were you ever an disobedient youth? But maybe I ought to ask you first whether you have ever had time to be young, Your Majesty?
Selassie I: We don't understand that question. What kind of question is it? It is obvious that We have been young: We weren't born old! We have been a child, a boy, a youth, an adult, and finally an old man. Like everyone else. Our Lord the Creator made Us like everyone else. Maybe you wish to know what kind of youth We were. Well, We were a very serious, very diligent, very obedient youth. We were sometimes punished, but do you know why? Because what We were made to study did not seem enough and We wished to study further. We wanted to stay on at school after lessons were over. We were loath to amuse Ourselves, to go riding, to play. We didn't want to waste time on games.

2003-09-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

MIND WHAT YOU EAT!

THE DISTURBING FACTS ABOUT WHAT MOST PEOPLE EAT DAILY ARE HARD TO CONCEIVE

The sad truth is, what we buy everyday at our local shops to feed ourselves and our children more often than not, is labeled incorrectly, so the truth about what the common ingredients in food cannot be known by reading the label. Amazingly this is true of even the most basic things such as milk, bread, butter, peanut butter, honey, etc, etc.

EXAMPLES:

The process of making common honey

For making chewing gum

Peanut butter

Margarine

Cheese

Cottage cheese

Processed cheese

Ice cream

Skim milk

Eg.1

HONEY:

The process used in making honey commercially often involves filtration of nutrients, heating/ removing more nutrients and adding poisonous chemicals such as:

CARBOLIC ACID, NITROUS OXIDE, SULFA- DRUGS, BENZALDEHYDE, PROPIONIC, ANHYDRIDE, ANTIBIOTICS, AND MOTHBALLS (used to fumigate combs), also used is HYDROCYANIC GAS as used- in gas chambers.

Eg.2

CHEWING GUM:

Contains OVER 30 ingredients which are not shown on the label, the FDA does not- require a list of ingredients, which are as follows:

SYNTHETIC RUBBERS, ANTIOXIDANTS (BHA, GALLATE, BHT), GUM TURPENTINE, WOOD TAR AND COAL TAR DERIVATIVES, PETROLEUM-PLASTICIZERS, AND DYES, ALL ARE POISONOUS, TOXIC AND CARCINOGENIC AGENTS. 60% OF CHEWING- GUM IS WHITE SUGAR, CORN SYRUP, AND CARBOHYDRATES OF STARCH, MALTOSE, DEXTROSE AND DEXTRIN (2 TABLESPOONS OF SUGAR PER STICK).

Eg.3

PEANUT BUTTER:

Commercial peanut butter is degermed (removing the peanut heart before processing to increase its shelf life), and is effectively turned into a colourful brown liquid synthetic chemical slime. Sweeteners such as white sugar, corn syrup, dextrose are added to hide moldy, inferior and rancid peanuts in addition to hydrogenated oil (i.e. pig lard), emulsifiers and texturizers. The sum total of commercial processing including the use of bleached peanuts which dentures the peanuts and destroys nutrients renders the peanut butter a non-food hence a nutritional robbery and crime against the consumer.

Typical levels of ingredients:

60% HYDROGENATED OIL (PIG LARD) AND 40% PEANUT.

Eg.4

MARGARINE:

Highly hydrogenated substances are included in margarine. Hydrogenation oils, such as corn oil , soya oil and others that are added to margarine cause arterial deterioration (ie hardening of the arteries) and build-up of fat around the heart hence the high incidence of heart attacks. Furthermore, cotton seed oil, a non-food because of chemical contamination is also added to margarine as well as high amounts of lard and known poisons benegoates and emulsifiers. The corn oils have to be hydrogenated in order to become solid at room temperature. Margarine is not unlike soap because it is a combination of water and oil combined by a chemical process.

Eg.5

CHEESE:

Commercial cheeses are made by BLEACHING the cheese (so destroying oil soluble vitamins), DYES, SORBIC ACID (mould inhibitor) and vitamins are usually added, and the TOXIC CHEMICAL found in the milk, such as PESTICIDE, and PENICILLIN in addition to the POISONS used in the cattle forage. SYNTHETIC VITAMINS deminerizes the bones. (See. The Cheese Book by V. Marquia and P. Haskel)

Eg.6

COTTAGE CHEESE:

Cottage cheese contains SODIUM HYDOCHLORIDE (which is required to speed up the processing), DIACETYLS (butter flavour), hydrogen peroxide (bleach), COCHINEAL or ANNATTO (toxic dyes), SALT (indigestable), PLASTER OF PARIS cast (plastic hardener), POISON MOULD retarders plus the chemicals found in milk and cattle grass and feed. A Consumer Union study in 1964 revealed DIRT, RANCID, OVERACIDIC, MOULD, BACTERIA, YEAST, CONTAMINATION and poor flavours in cottage cheese. The FDA recognizes the POISONS used but fails to do anything about them. Storage of cottage cheese in shops and supermarkets promotes BACTERIAL INFESTATIONS and SPOILAGE, which goes undetected by the consumer because of the DEODORIZERS used in the cheese.

Eg.7

PROCESSED CHEESE:

Processed cheeses are made by heating cheeses and pumping the slimy mass with air. This cheese is a mixture of low quality green (uncured) or cured cheese, moles, yeast, INFESTED BACTERIA, and RECYCLED cheese of whatever cheeses are around at processing time. These cheeses are ground up, mixed with POISONOUS EMULSIFIERS and other chemicals. They also contain the combined contaminants of milk, treated water, the cattle forage and feed, and processed chemicals. Strictly speaking, it is neither a cheese nor a food.

Eg.8

ICE CREAM:

Ice cream is totally unsafe. It is made from cheese by-products, butter, butter oil, evaporated milk, condensed milk, all types of buttermilk, all types of skimmed milk, milk treated with SODIUM HYDROXIDE and DISODIUM PROSPHATE, PLASTIC CREAM, DRIED CREAM, cheap POISONOUS THINNERS, PROPYLINE (paint remover, antifreeze), IMITATION FLAVOURS (used as flea killers, embalming fluid, leather tanners), INDUSTRIAL FLAVOUR CHEMICALS(have caution and innocous poison on the labels), POLYOXYTHYLENES (cancerous), SODIUM A CARBOXYMETHYL cellulose (a cancer inciter), refiners syrup (a cheap by-product with salty taste and off-flavour), gelatin (which increases germ growth) ANTIOXIDANTS, BUFFERS, NEUTRALIZERS, STABLIZERS and other countless dangerous chemicals. These dangerous chemicals have been exempted by the FDA.

Because of acceptance by the FDA, the chemical content of ice cream does not have to be listed on the label.

Eg.9

SKIM MILK:

Skim milk is stripped of vitamins D, E, K and denatured. It is a by-product that was once solely fed to hogs. Dry milk is usually dried at high temperatures which reduces or destroys the vitamin, decreases the fatty acids and makes minerals indigestible. The nutritional value of skim milk is altered by SYNTHETIC or fish oil-vitamin and contaminated by SALMONELLA. Canned evaporated milk contains non-nutritional corn syrup and / or white sugar, SYNTHETIC VITAMIN, CALCIUM CHLORIDE, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, and SODIUM CITRATE which are all dangerous to health.

Skim, dry, evaporated and imitation milk are unsafe for children, pregnant women and breastfeeding women, the poor and the elderly. HORMONES in milk have caused FEMINIZATION of males in studies.

PETROLEUM wax in milk (and other waxed containers) has cancer causing hydrocarbons in them which the FDA acknowledges but allows their use.

It is known that in ancient Africa fig juice was used as a substitute for human milk. Figs are similar in chemical composition to human milk, It can double the size of an infant in six months. When combined with dates, figs were used to sustain the life of many desert African tribes. Dates were later used by the romans as food for training warriors and building muscles.

2003-09-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Usually I would not post the same message to all my blogs – but there are different people that visit each one of them, and I thought that I really wanted to share this with all of you; forgive me.

There have been times in my life when all seemed lost; I just wanted to end my life right then and there. Were it not for friends and support I would not have made it thought. How many of us have had such thoughts and feelings of anger, loss, confusion – and how many of us have turned to our friends and thanked them for helping us through those times?

I have been in those very situations where I thought there was nothing for me to do. I did find the way out and the answers needed via my friends. They gave me the tools needed to do it myself! I thank them!

My teaching Guru, Srila Prabhupada
My dear friends, Pandava, Chandra, Sura!

And all the others who I am forgetting to name, I thank for you time and selfless effort in helping one get back to Godhead!

"Rascal! Surrender!"
Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.35
Mayapura, October 15, 1974

Nitai: "And yet others say that You appeared to rejuvenate the devotional service of hearing, remembering, worshiping and so on, in order that the conditioned souls suffering from material pangs might take advantage and gain liberation."

Prabhupada:

bhave 'smin klisyamananam
avidya-kama-karmabhih
sravana-smaranarhani
karisyann iti kecana

This is a very important verse. Bhave asmin. Asmin means "this," and bhave, "the material world." Bhava means to grow, means... Grow means which has taken birth. That requires grow. In the material world, there are six kinds of changes: first of all birth, then grow, then stay for some time, then producing some by-product, then diminishing, dwindling, and then vanish. These are the six kinds of changes. Just like this body. It has taken birth at a certain date, and it has grown, that the child is growing. And growing, it will stay, not immediately vanish. It will stay. And while staying, it will create some by-product. From this body, so many sons and daughters will come, by-product. Even tree, they produce also, everyone. Then it becomes old, no more strength, and when it is very old, finish. These are called sad-vikara. That is on account of this body.

So after finishing this body, then I am not finished; I am there. I am, this gross body, finished, but I am within this subtle body -- mind, intelligence and ego. The subtle body carries me to another gross body. These so-called scientists, medical men, they cannot see the subtle body, although one has to accept. Just like I have got mind, you have got mind -- but I cannot see your mind; you cannot see my mind. I have got intelligence; you have got intelligence. Everyone knows. But you cannot see my intelligence; I cannot see your intelligence. They are very subtle. So, and beyond that, the spirit soul is still subtle, so minute quantity. So what these material scientists will see? They cannot see the mind, intelligence, ego, and what to speak of the soul? Therefore they say, "This body is everything, and there is nothing more." But actually that is not the fact. The fact is that the spirit soul is very, very small. Kesagra-sata-bhagasya satadha kalpitasya ca [Cc. Madya 19.140]. Kesagra, the tip of the hair, agra-bhaga, front portion, front portion, sata-bhagasya, you divide into... Can you do it? Take one hair and divide into hundred parts? No, that is not possible. But if... The direction is there. If you can, you can do it. Sata-bhagasya. Then again take one part of that sata-bhaga, one hundredth part, again make it hundred parts.

So it is not possible, impossible by the so-called scientists. But how to learn? Then you have to learn from the authority, "It is like this," that much. It is not under your experimental knowledge. That is not possible. Because your knowledge is so imperfect, you cannot deal with these things. But these rascals, they think... Because they cannot deal with these things, they think that the matter is the cause of life. That's all -- matter, material. But that is... They have not been able to do so. Take matter in the laboratory, chemicals, and produce a small with hands and legs and eyes. We see every night, a small, very, very small, but still, it has got hands, legs and everything, eyes. Otherwise how they are coming to the light? Very small.

So... So we are getting bhava, bhava from that small insect up to the Brahma. Abrahma-bhuvana-stambha,(?) abrahma stambha. Everyone. That is called bhava. There are 8,400,000 different forms of life, and we are finishing one body, entering another body. Tatha dehantara-praptih. Krsna says. Either you have to reject Krsna's word or you have to reject all this so-called scientific research. But we have... We are pledged to Krsna consciousness. We cannot reject Krsna's word. So it is accepted that tatha dehantara-praptih. Now, Krsna says that you have to accept another body. Everyone has to accept. Now, He does not say that "After this body, the next change will be this body." He does not say. He does not say. So... Because that will depend, as it is said here, avidya-kama-karmabhih. Avidya. The... Every living entity is within this material world under avidya. Avidya-karma-samjnanya trtiya saktir isyate.

There are many potencies of God, Krsna. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate. Many millions. So they have been summarized into three. What is that? The external potency, internal potency, two, and third, marginal potency. The marginal potency and internal potency, they are of the same quality. There are same quality. And there is another potency. That is called external potency. What is that external potency? Now, avidya-karma-samjnanya trtiya saktir isyate. Visnu-saktih para prokta ksetrajnakhya tatha para [Cc. Madhya 6.154]. Visnu-sakti, the Lord's potency, is para. That is spiritual. Visnu-saktih para. And... Visnu-saktih para... Visnu-sakti. And ksetrajnakhya tatha para. And ksetrajnah, the living entities... The ksetrajna is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, idam sariram ksetram ity abhidhiyate. And one who knows this ksetra... Ksetrajna ity abhidhiyate. These are stated in the Bhagavad-gita. So the living entity is ksetrajna. So ksetrajna is also para. But besides these two sakti, there is another, trtiya sakti, which is avidya, everything in ignorance.

Here in this material world everyone is in ignorance -- everyone, even Brahma. Brahma, he was ignorant, but he was given knowledge by Krsna. Tene brahma hrda adi-kavaye. Adi-kavi means Brahma. So the Vedic knowledge, tene brahma... Brahma means this Vedic knowledge, sabda-brahman. So there was one creature, Brahma only, but he was educated. How he was educated? Hrda. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese arjuna tisthati [Bg. 18.61]. Because, at that time, there was no other way but to transfer the knowledge from within. Buddhi-yogam dadami tam yena mam upayanti te. That is caitya-guru, Krsna, Paramatma. So Brahma was also educated. That means beginning from Brahma down to the small insect, they are all in ignorance, all fools and rascals. That is the constitutional position. Nobody should be proud of his knowledge. Everyone is a rascal, everyone. Here it is said, klisyamananam avidya-kama-karmabhih. So Brahma is desiring that "If I can get the opportunity, the post of Brahma, and I can create a big universe..." He was also thinking like that. And the small insects, it is also thinking like that -- "If I can create a small hole within the room, then I can live very peacefully and eat." The same propensity. As Brahma is thinking to create an universe, you are thinking to create an skyscraper building, the ant is thinking to create a hole within the room -- the quality of the work is the same.

But because we are fools, that these things are material... It will not stay. On account of ignorance, we are thinking that "This will be very nice. This will be very nice. This will be very nice. This will be..." Kama-karmabhih, creating some kama, desire, and working in that way. Therefore klisyanti. To become Brahma, that is not very easy thing. Brahma is such a big post, very qualified, highly advanced in austerities, penance. He is given... He's also a living entity. Just like in your America, you are also a citizen, and President Nixon or Ford, he's also citizen. But by dint of his ardent labor and diplomacy, this way, tha..., he has captured that post. But he's an ordinary citizen. Just like President Nixon. Now he's dragged down. He's no more president. Ordinary citizen. Similarly, if you like you can also become Brahma. Kama-karmabhih.

Therefore Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, brahma-janme nahi mora asa, kita-janma hao yatha tuwa dasa. This is Bhaktivinoda Thakura's song, that "Let me become one insect where there is Your devotee, because if I fall down on the dust of the devotee, my life will be successful." Therefore Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, kita-janma hao yatha tuwa dasa, bahir-mukha brahma... Brahma-janma is not easy. It is very difficult. But if Brahma is bahir-mukha -- bahir-mukha means not devotee of Krsna -- it is possible. Because we are in ignorance, maya, at any time we can forget Krsna. Therefore we have to always be engaged in Krsna consciousness so that we may not forget Krsna. And that is stated here, sravana-smarana-arhana. Sravana means hearing, And smarana means memorizing, and arhana means worshiping the Deity. If you engage yourself always in this business... Our, all these centers are being opened only for this business -- chanting, dancing, worshiping -- so that we may not forget Krsna. So sada tad-bhava-bhavitah [Bg. 8.6]. If we are always engaged in thinking of Krsna, then there is chance at the end of life -- ante narayana-smrtih. Then there is chance. Everything has to be practiced. Just like if you want to dance in the stage, so you have to perform many rehearsal, how to dance, how to dance, how to dance. Then, if you become expert dancer, then when you dance on the stage, you get acclaim: "Ah." (makes sound of applause:) "Phut, phut, phut, phut." "Very good dancer." But that "very good dancer," you cannot say, "I go immediately to the stage, and I become a good dancer." That is not possible. If one says, "No, no, no, I don't... I shall not attend the rehearsal. You give me the stage. I shall..." No, no. No director will allow him. He's a rascal. He's a rascal. You cannot become all of a..., a nice dancer without practicing it.

So real purpose of life is ante narayana-smrtih. Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante... [Bg. 8.6]. If at the time of death you can remember, you can memorize Krsna, then your life is successful. Smarana. So it has to be practiced. (aside:) Where...? You have got that? You could not? Kirata-hunandhra-pulinda-pulkasa. Kirata...

Devotee: It's in the Second Canto, Fourth Chapter.

Prabhupada: Ah, he knows. Second Canto, Fourth Chapter. So asmin bhave. This is the problem. These rascals, they do not care to understand. They are so absorbed in ignorance. Just like some of the, what is called, smugglers. Smugglers, they go on with their work. They do not know... Some of them know also that "We'll be punished. We'll be arrested." Still, they go on. That is the difficulty. A thief knows that "If I am arrested for these criminal acts, I'll be punished." He knows it. And perhaps he has been punished several times. But still, he commits the same thing. Still, he steals. Punah punas carvita-carvananam [SB 7.5.30].

So why? Ignorance. Ignorance. So therefore this very word is used, avidya. He never thinks... He is so much absorbed in ignorance that he has no time to think that "Repeatedly I am stealing, and repeatedly I am arrested, and I am punished. I sent to jail. Why I am doing this?" Result is not very good. Just like a person too much sexually inclined. He suffers in so many venereal diseases, undergoes operation, and still, he goes to prostitute, again does the same thing. This is avaidha-stri-sanga, illegitimate. And legitimate also. After sex, the woman is pregnant, and she has to suffer for ten months. And at the time of delivery it is very dangerous sometimes. And the man also, after he gets the child, he has to take care of the child. He has to work hard to give education. This is proper, proper sex. The proper sex there are so many difficulties. And what is the..., what to speak of the improper sex? You kill the child. You take contraceptive. You make this; you make that. Therefore sastra says, bahu-duhkha-bhajah. After sex life, oh, there are so many troubles, bahu-duhkha-bhajah, simply trouble, either legitimate or illegitimate, simply trouble. Trpyanti neha krpana. But because he is a rascal, ignorant, he's not satisfied, again does the same thing. Punah punas carvita-carvananam [SB 7.5.30]. Again. This is called bhava-roga. Yan maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham, kanduyanena karayor iva duhkha-duhkham [SB 7.9.45]. Iva duhkha-duhkham. Simply trouble. Therefore Vedic civilization is to train these small boys to remain brahmacari, not to take trouble. But if one is unable, he's allowed. So on being trained up in the beginning as brahmacari, he does not stay for many years in the family life. He retires very soon and becomes vanaprastha, then sannyasa. That is the training.

So here it is said, klisyamananam. They are... Everyone is suffering -- birds, beasts, animals and trees, plants, and even Brahma, even Indra. Indra is also not safe. He is always anxious: "Nobody, competitor, may come." So here in this material world everyone is klisyamana, suffering, at least with anxiety. Sada samudvigna, asad-grahat. Tat sadhu manye 'sura-varya dehinam sada samudvigna-dhiyam asad-grahat. Everyone in this material world -- always anxiety. Klisyamananam. Therefore it is called... Asmin bhave klisyamananam. Why klisyamananam? Why they are always suffering in anxiety? Avidya-kama-karmabhih. Because they are rascals. Therefore Krsna is giving so much stress: "You rascal, give up all this business. You surrender unto Me," because everyone is rascal. That is Krsna's very good mercy. He's the supreme father. Therefore directly He says that sarva-guhyatama: "This is the most confidential knowledge I am giving you: rascal, you give up everything and simply surrender unto Me." Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. Yes. That is required.

So Kunti says that "You have come to teach rascals like this and engage them in this business: sravana, smarana, arhana." Sravana. Because this is bhakti. Sravanam kirtanam visnoh [SB 7.5.23]. But they are so rascals, as soon as they, the Vaisnavas begin, sravanam kirtanam visnoh, the rascal swami will say, "No, any name, sravana, will do. Any name. Why Visnu? Oh, Kali." You know. In Bengal there is a party, kali-kirtana. What is this nonsense, kali-kirtana? In the sastra there is no such thing as kali-kirtana. Kirtana means sravanam kirtanam visnoh, Visnu-kirtana. But these rascals have discovered because they are very fertile brain and they can discover so many things. Yata mata tata patha: "I have discovered this." What is this? Kali-kirtana, durga-kirtana. So... But sastra does not say. Caitanya Mahaprabhu does not say. Sastra says, harer nama: the holy name of Hari, Krsna, not any other name. Not any other name.

So sravanam kirtanam visnoh [SB 7.5.23]. When there is question of sravanam, arhanam and..., these things are of Visnu. Where is that verse? Yat sravanam yat kirtanam...? So this... Yes. So this sravanam kirtanam has been described by Sukadeva Gosvami in Canto, Second, Chapter Four, very nicely. He says,

yat-kirtanam yat-smaranam yad-iksanam
yad-vandanam yac-chravanam yad-arhanam
lokasya sadyo vidhunoti kalmasam
tasmai subhadra-sravase namo namah

Very nicely explained. Sukadeva Gosvami, before speaking Srimad-Bhagavatam, he's offering his obeisances to Krsna. What is that? "I offer my obeisances," tasmai, "unto Him." Subhadra-sravase: "Simply hearing of Him is subhadra." Not abhadra; subhadra. Subhadra-sravase namo namah. So Sukadeva Gosvami -- yat-kirtanam yat-smaranam. Either you glorify Krsna There are so many glorifications. The whole Bhagavata is glorification. So you have got... This is... This is the glorification by Sukadeva Gosvami: yat-kirtanam yat-smaranam. Either you glorify or simply you meditate upon Him... Yat-smaranam. Yad-iksanam. Simply if you sit down in front of the Deity and go on seeing, bas, do nothing, simply see: "How nicely dressed is Krsna. How nicely dressed is Radharani," simply if you see, it is said, yad-iksanam, yad-iksanam. Sravanam kirtanam. If you have no capacity to chant or if you have no such fixed-up mind -- your mind is so disturbing that you cannot fix up your mind in Krsna -- then the chance is given: "Here is Deity. You simply see. Simply see." And if you are engaged in the service, there is good chance of seeing always, twenty-four hours. While you are cleansing the floor of the temple or the room, you are seeing. You are dressing -- you are seeing. You are bathing -- you are seeing. You are offering food -- you are seeing. This is the process.

So people are so rascal, they do not come even to see. They are so fallen down. They do not come. "Oh, what is this, Deity worship? Idol worship. Idol worship." They will worship Gandhi's statue and this statue, that statue, but when they are asked that "Come here and see the Deity worship nicely," "No, this is idol worship." We... I have seen in Calcutta that Sir Asutosh Mukherjee's statue there is in the Chowrangi square. So in the morning, these ordinary sweepers, they'll cleanse the statue with their brush, because the whole year, the crows have passed stool on the face. So it has become a very solid stool, fixed up. So... I have seen it, brushing like this. This is their arcanam. This is allowed. And if you worship the Deity, bathe the Deity, this is idol worship. And that municipal brush, sweeping brush, and on the face of Sir Asutosh Mukharjee, brushing, that is very good. Just see how much rascal they are! In the morning this business is done. And in the evening all big, big men will come and flower him, garland him, full of garlands. And after evening, they'll go away, and again, next morning, the crows will pass stool. That kind of worship is accepted. And if we install Deity of Krsna and worship Him nicely -- "These are for the fools and rascals, less intelligent." And he's very intelligent. This is going on all over the world. They are worshiping Napoleon. They are worshiping... I have seen in Paris, Napoleon's statue. "France and Napoleon, one." I asked them, "Where is your Napoleon? France is there, but where is your Napoleon?"

So these things are going on all over the world. Why? Now, avidya. The disease is avidya-kama-karmabhih. So people are so much embarrassed with this avidya-kama-karmabhih. And to educate them, to rescue them from these clutches of avidya-kama-karmabhih, is this sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam [SB 7.5.23]. That is the sum and substance. So that is explained in this verse also by Sukadeva Gosvami, yat-kirtanam yat-smaranam yad-iksanam. Kirtanam smaranam, and if you are unable to do that... Just like these children. They cannot meditate, but simply they sit down and see Krsna: "Here is Krsna. Here is Radharani." That is also... A small child, he also gets the benefit. An animal gets the benefit -- simply by seeing. Yad-vandanam. And if you are still more intelligent, then offer prayer. Either of these: yad-vandanam yac-chravanam yad-arhanam. The similar parallels(?), the arhanam. If you are expert, trained by your spiritual master how to worship, that is arhanam. And sravanam, the same thing. Yad-vandanam, offering prayers. Some way or other...

Therefore I say that the Christians, they're also Vaisnavas; the Muslims, they're also Vaisnava, very, mean, lower stage, because they're offering prayer. Yad-vandanam. They offer prayer: "O God, give us our daily bread." They do not know very much, but the beginning is there. Beginning is there because they have approached... Catur-vidha bhajanti mam sukrtino 'rjuna. That going to the church or going to the mosque, that is also pious activities. One day they'll come out pure Vaisnava, one day. But that beginning is good. But atheism -- "Don't go to church. Don't go to temple. Don't go to mosque" -- this propaganda is very, very dangerous to the human society. Something do... Try to understand. That education, that a child is sent to school. Let him learn simply A,B,C,D. It doesn't matter. So one day, if he's interested, he may become very good scholar. But to give up religion altogether, secular, simply open factory, bolts and nuts, and work hard and drink and take meat... What is this civilization? What is this civilization? Therefore we are suffering. Again bhava.

Here it is said that avidya-kama-karmabhih. By ignorance, they are thinking by opening factories they will be happy. That is avidya. He does not know that this is ignorance. Why you should open factory? That is... This is called ugra-karma. There is no need of opening factory. You have got land. Here are so many lands. You produce your food grains. Annad bhavanti bhutani. You eat sumptuously food grain, milk, and that will be available without any factory. The factory cannot produce milk or food grain. The present scarcity of foodstuff means everybody is engaged in the city, producing bolts and nuts. Who is producing food grain? This is the solution of economic problem. Annad bhavanti bhutani. Therefore we are trying to engage our men to produce their own food. Be self-sufficient so that these rascals may see that how one can live very peacefully, eating the food grains and milk, and chant Hare Krsna. This is our mission. We don't deny this food. They are after daridra-narayana-seva, but why daridra-narayana? Why not chief Narayana, or the rich Narayana? Everyone should be engaged -- Bhagavat-prasadam. We don't make any distinction, daridra-narayana or rich Narayana, dhani-narayana. Everyone, you come on. Take prasadam.

So this process of Krsna consciousness should be very vigorously propagated all over the world. Simply by seeing the Deity, simply by joining Hare Krsna mantra chanting, sravanam kirtanam... Here it is said, yat-kirtanam. The kirtana word is first used. Simply by kirtanam. Yat-kirtanam yat-smaranam. If you perform kirtana, then you'll be able to think of Krsna, that "I have danced two hours, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna. What is the meaning?" That is smarana, again smarana, "Krsna." He may think that "Foolishly, I have chanted for two hours, ‘Krsna, Krsna.' " That means again smaranam, Krsna caught up. Then yad-iksanam. So just like people are purchasing our Krsna book. Because Krsna movement is going on, so they are purchasing out of curiosity: "What is this Krsna? Let us see." Yad-iksanam. "Let us see the book." And immediately he will see the picture, Radha-Krsna. Yad-iksanam. And if they open the book, they'll see more. Yad-iksanam. Then there is vandanam. There are so many prayers, glorifying Krsna. Then sravanam. Others will hear. Somebody will read. Then if he's fortunate enough, he'll become Krsna conscious. Yad-arhanam: he'll be engaged in the worshiping of Deity.

So lokasya sadyo vidhunoti kalmasam. These processes, sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam van... [SB 7.5.23], so perfect that as soon as you take them..., not all of them, either all of them or some of them or at least one of them, then what happens? Lokasya sadyo vidhunoti kalmasam tasmai subhadra-sravase namo namah: "I am offering worship to that Supreme Personality of Godhead. Simply by remembering Him, simply by glorifying Him, simply by seeing You, so many things happen." So Sukadeva Gosvami, the authority... He is one of the authorities, Vaiyasaki. Balir vaiyasakih. Out of twelve authorities, Sukadeva Gosvami is authority. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. We have to follow the authority. So he says by..., simply by performing these processes, sravanam kirtanam visnoh, then what you are? Lokasya sadyo vidhunoti kalmasam: "This material contamination will be washed off." Lokasya sadyah. When washed off? Immediately, sir, immediately, no waiting, sadya. This is Krsna consciousness movement.

Thank you very much. (end)

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.35 -- Mayapura, October 15, 1974

2003-09-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

Why is it I feel alone?

Greetings in the name of the Most High,

I am sitting here at my computer feeling all alone. I am of mixed race – my mother was white, my father was black. I am all Rasta! Yet, I am alone. Why can’t we find others who are Rasta? Where is there no data base or something on-line where we can connect? Who knows? Does anyone care?

It is a sad thing that we must be feeling alone!

2003-09-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

One love!

How is everyone doing today?>

2003-09-05T18:07:00.000-07:00

The Essence of Rastafarianism

In 1930 in Ethiopia, Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords with the throne-name Haile Selassie the First and a new chapter in the struggle, one with religious connotations, was opened. God was finally real and the Christian doctrine was no longer the monopoly of white missionaries with headquarters in Rome. The bible was studied and any reference to Ethiopia took on added significance.
Ethiopia, being attacked by Italy at the start of the second world war galvanized interest and concern in the struggle of good over evil. During this period, the Ethiopian World Federation was formed in the United States of America under the guidance of the Emperor Haile Selassie the First, to unite the support for the restoration of Ethiopia's sovereignty. After the war, and the defeat of Italy, the Emperor showed his appreciation by donating land at Shashamane, to anyone of African descent in the west who wanted to return to the mother-land. Time, however, was creating Africans with various aspirations. New generations were producing new societies of Africans in the West.
Independent nations were beginning to form and black majority rule was imminent. In Jamaica, the reverence of Emperor Haile Selassie continued to create distinguishable movements, such as Nyabinghi, the Ethiopian National Congress or Bobo dreads, the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
The Twelve Tribes of Israel, founded by the Prophet Gad, has added another dimension in the liberation movement, to include liberation for all races through the teaching of the bible, and the acceptance of Jesus Christ. Membership is not limited, but inclusive. By identifying the spiritual sons of Jacob and finding truth for oneself through reading the bible "a chapter a day", man can find salvation. The divine lineage continues through the Ethiopian Monarchy, the seed of David, of which it is said, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from beneath his feet, until Shiloh comes and unto Him will be the gathering of the people."

To Rastafarians, Selassie was much more than just a political leader; Rasta theology centered on the divinity of Selassie as a living manifestation of Jah, the all-knowing and all-loving God. To Rastafarians, the story told by the Old Testament pertains to black Africans who descend from Abraham and Jacob. But white Christians altered this fact to keep Africans in a substandard position. Rastafarians refer to this oppression as "Babylon", with obvious references to a state of slavery and cultural tyranny that all blacks must overcome. To greater represent the truth, Rasta rejects the Bible used by most Christians, opting instead for a "black man's Bible" known as the Holy Piby.
Rastafarians have developed a unique language and outward appearance, best exemplified by the dreadlock Hairstyle. Rastafarians also have placed a high value on smoking marijuana (ganja), which is used for meditation and to reflect completely on the word of Jah. Rasta has never been strictly defined, but it continues to exist it pockets all over the world, though mainly in Jamaica. The demise and common man's death of Haile Selassie in 1974 discouraged some believers, and Rastafarians have never been liked by the authorities due to its endorsement of marijuana and its excitation of violence. Nevertheless, Rastafarians continue to follow the word of Jah: "ever-loving, ever-fearful, ever-sure as Selassie

I the First." Rasta World Day Without Sense.

Rasta's Symbolism

The prime basic belief of the Rastafarians is that Haile Selassie is the living God for the black race. Selassie, whose previous name was Ras Tafari, was the black Emperor of Ethiopia. According to Rastafarian philosophy, the scriptures phrophecied him as the one with "the hair of whose head was like wool (matted hair of a black man), whose feet were like unto burning brass (black skin)". Rastas believe that Selassie was the Jesus that Christianity speaks of; that the white man tricked the world into believing that he was a White man.
Many Rastas do not believe Haile Selassie I is dead. They believed that it was a trick of the media to try and bring their faith down because Rastas believe that true Rastas are immortal. To compensate for his death they believe that his atoms spread through out the world and became part of new babies, therefore, his life is never ending. The Rastafarian name for God is Jah.
Ethiopia (Heaven or Zion)

Ethiopia specifically, African in general, is considered the Rastas' heaven on earth. It is also referred to as Zion. There is no afterlife or hell as Christianity believes. The Rastas feel that their ancestors did something to offend Jah which brought them into an exile of slavery in the Western World such as the Caribbean.
Babylon

Babylon is the Rastafarian term for the white political power structure that has been holding the black race down for centuries. In the past, the Rastas see that blacks were held down physicaly by the shackles of slavery. In the present, Rastas feel that blacks are still held down through poverty, illiteracy, inequality, and trickery by the white man. The effort of the Rastas is to try to remind blacks of their heritage and have them stand up against this Babylon.
Return to Africa

The Rasta's believe that Jah will send the signal and help finance the blacks exodus back to Ethiopian, their homeland. Any news from Ethiopia was taken very seriously as a warning to get ready to leave. The belief stems from Marcus Garvey's theme, "Back to Africa". Although Selassie's death came before this was possible, it did succeed in turning blacks desire to look towards Africa as their roots.
Ganja (Marijuana)

Ganja, or better known to non-Rastas as Marijuana, is used for religious purposes for the Rastafarians. They find its use written in the Bible in Psalms 104:14, "He causeth the grass for the cattle, and herb for the service of man". The use of this herb is very extensive among the Rastas not only for spiritual purposes as in their Nyabingi celebration, but also for medicinal purposes for colds and such. Other names for it are Iley, callie, and holy herb. Following are a few of the many Biblical texts that Rastas embrace as reasons God, or Jah, gave them the use of the herb:
". . . thou shalt eat the herb of the field " (Genesis 3:18)
". . . eat every herb of the land " (Exodus 10:12)
"Better is a dinner of herb where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith" (Proverbs 15:17)
“He Causeth the Grass to Grow for the Cattle, and Herb for the Service of Man” (Psalm 104:14)
Food

The true Rasta eats only I-tal food. This is special food never touches chemicals or is natural and not in cans. This food is cooked, but served in the rawest form possible; without salts, preservatives, or condiments. Many Rastas are therefore vegetarians. Those who do eat meant are forbidden to eat pig because they are the scavengers of the earth. Fish is a staple I-tal food, however, not crabs, lobster, and shrimp, for these are the scavengers of the sea. The fish they eat must be small, not more than twelve inches long. Drinking preferences rest with anything that is herbal, such as tea. Liquor, milk, coffee, and soft
drinks are viewed as unnatural. The term I-tal is rapidly taking hold in the consumer industry in Jamaica.
Red, Black and Green

One of the more obvious symbols of the Rastafarians are the colors. These are red, black, and green. These colors were taken from the Garvey movement. The color red stands for the Church Triumphant which is the church of the Rastas. It also symbolises the blood that martyrs have shed in the history of the Rastas and the black struggle for liberation. The black represents the color of Africans. Green represents the beauty and vegetation of Ethiopia, the promised land. Yellow is also sometimes added to represent the wealth of their homeland.
Dreadlocks

The dreadlocks on a Rastas head also contains symbolism. This symbolizes the Rastas roots, contrasting the straight, blond look of the white man and establishment. It not only shows their roots, but it is supported in the Bible: Leviticus 21:5, "They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in the flesh". The way the hair grows comes to represent the symbol of the Lion of Judah (explained further down). This has also come to symbolize priesthood and naturality.
Lion of Judah

The Lion of Judah represents Haile Selassie, the Conqueror. It represents the King of Kings as a lion is the king of all beasts. Others believe that it represents the male majority of the movement. Selassie wore a Lion of Judah ring that was given to Bob Marley at the time of Selassie's death. The where-abouts of the ring is unknown because it disappeared after Marley's death.
I and I

The expression "I and I" is frequently heard among Rasta talk. What it means is that no person is priviledged than another in the basic truth of life. All people are totally equal. This is why many times Rastas will opt to use "I and I" instead of "you and I" because they believe that all people are bound together by the one god, Jah.

Ganja (marijuana) -The herb of inspiration

The Rastafarians' use of marijuana is perhaps the most dominant force in the movement's religious idealogy, as well as the most controversial. Its use grounded in the Bible, ganja, also known as the "holy herb", took on the role of a religious sacrament for the Rastas as the movement gathered speed in the 1930's, and symbolized a protest of the oppressive White Babylon, or power structure, which had deemed its use illegal. The term ganga refers to a specially cultivated type of Indian hemp derived from female plants, as opposed to the Mexican-Spanish variety, marijuana. The flowering clusters from the tops of the plants are carefully cut off, producing a resin with special properties capable of producing altered states of consciousness when used in smoking mixtures (Barrett 128). Ganja, then, represents a finer quality of weed, and is said to be as much as four times stronger than the Mexican-Spanish variety .
While its use is largely associated with Rastafarians, ganga use among Jamaicans was by no means unique to the Rastafarian movement. Prior to their emergence in the 1930's, ganga was used by native herbalists as a folk medicine, particularly in teas and as smoking mixtures with tobacco. Although its use had been prohibited very early in Jamaica, most peasants had no knowledge of its illegality. With the emergence of the Rastas, however, the smoking of the herb came to take on new significance.
Ganja is though to have become a religious ritual of the Rastafarians during the era of the Pinnacle Commune in the early 1940's. The Commune was founded by Leonard Howell a leading figure of the Rastafarian movement. This was after Marcus Garvey's departure from Jamaica in 1917. Having started a ministry in the slums of Kingston, Howell developed an immediate following and began to publicly advocate six principles, which soon led to his arrest: 1) hatred for the White race; 2) the superiority of the Black race; 3) revenge on Whites for their wickedness; 4) the negation, persecution, and humiliation of the government and legal bodies of Jamaica; 5) preparation to return to Africa; 6) acknowledgment of Emperor Haile Selassie I as the supreme being and the only ruler of the Black people. Charged with uttering seditious speech in which he abused both the Government of Great Britain and the Island, Howell was sentenced to two years imprisonment. It was upon his release that he organized the "Ethiopian Salvation Society," recruited a large following, and by 1940 had established a cult commune by the name of Pinnacle, deep in the hills of St. Catherine overlooking the city of Kingston . It's remote location served its purpose, at least temporarily, in keeping the authorities away.
It was during this time at the Pinnacle Commune that ganja is believed to have been adopted as a religious ritual by the Rastafarians. Grown in abundance as a native cash crop, the isolation of the Rastafarian commune led to a freedom to indulge in the drug that was "virtually unimpeded" . Pinnacle, then, became a bridge burning act, the solidifying movement around certain rites and practices with which they are now identified.
In 1941, however, the Pinnacle Commune was broken up by the police, and the majority of the Pinnacle dwellers moved to Kingston. Unlike the earlier peasants who had used the ganja, these urban dwellers knew of the illegality of the herb. It would therefore be right to assume that as a protest against society, ganga smoking was the first instrument of protest engaged in the movement to show its freedom from the laws of the "Babylon".

For the Rastafarians, however, whose beliefs are not only a religion, but a way of life, the smoking of the herb symbolizes much more than an attempt by the movement to "show its freedom from the laws of the 'Babylon'." Rather, it is an intensely religious experience, the key to a new understanding of the self, the universe, and God. According to a leading Rastafarian: Man basically is God but this insight can only come to man with the use of the herb. When you use the herb, you experience yourself as God. With the use of the herb, you can exist in this dismal state of reality that now exists in Jamaica. You cannot change man, but you can change yourself by the use of the herb. When you are God you deal or relate to people like a God. In this way you let your light shine, and when each of use lets his light shine, we are creating a God-like culture and this is the cosmic unity that we try to achieve in the Rastafarian community .
According to the Rastafarians, the average Jamaican is so brainwashed by colonialism that his entire system is programmed in the wrong way. His response to the world is conditioned by unseen forces due to European acculturation, and can only be "loosened up" through the use of the herb. The use of the herb results in a true revelation of Black consciousness which brings about the proper love for the Black race. One's true identity can finally be experienced, along with the revelation that Haile Selassie is God and that Ethiopia is the home of the Black people.
For the Rastafarians, then, the smoking of the herb is both a reactionary device to society, freeing the follower from the establishment, and a religious sacrament, enabling the Rastafarian a oneness with both God and himself. Today, however, as he or she recites the prayer preceding the lighting of the herb: Glory be to the Father and to the maker of creation As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end: Jah Rastafari: Eternal God Selassie I.

The Rastafarian movement is threatened by the emergence of crack as the drug of choice among Rastafarian youth, on Kingston's streets and elsewhere in Jamaica. If nothing else, this moral decline over which the older generations of Rastas are so disturbed illustrates precisely how they themselves view the use of the herb, a religious sacrament, in comparison with other illegal drugs.
Rasta and Reggae Music
Rasta forms the base of reggae music, the vehicle that artists such as Bob Marley used to spread Rasta thought all over the world. This indigenous music grew from ska, which had elements of American R&B and Caribbean styles. It also drew from folk music, Pocomania church music, Jonkanoo fife and drum bands, fertility rituals, adaptations of quadrilles, plantation work songs, and a form called mento. Nyahbingi is the purest form of music played at Rasta meetings or grounations. It uses three hand drums of different sizes, the bass, the funde and the repeater. (An archetypal example of nyahbingi is the three LP set from Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari.) "Roots" reggae explores the themes of the suffering of ghetto dwellers, slavery in Babylon, Haile Selassie as a living deity, and the hoped-for return to Africa.
After Jamaica's independence in 1962, the lack of political improvement and the Black Power movement in the U.S. led to a big Rasta resurgence. In 1964 the body of Marcus Garvey was returned from England for reburial in his homeland. In mid-60s reggae evolved a slower and cooler mode called rocksteady which shifted emphasis to bass and drums. In the late Sixties, Haile Selassie visited the island. Peter Tosh's "Rasta Shook Them Up" commemorated this major event. The fact that the emperor presented him with a walking stick, helped Michael Manley get elected. Manley's term in office started with wide support from Rasta musicians, though his leadership later brought disillusionment. "He Who Feels It Knows It" was one of the first recordings to use the phrase "I & I," which expresses unity between man and God. Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus rec orded such forthright Rasta statements as "Ethiopian National Anthem."

In 1969, Burning Spear's debut album included the exhortation to "Chant Down Babylon". From other artists in the early Seventies came such songs as "Conquering Lion," "Deliver Us," "Rasta Never Fails," and "Africa is Paradise." By 1975, Rastafarian chants were increasingly heard on records and the Wailers were in dreadlocks. With the albums and , Bob Marley became Jamaica's first international superstar. With a population of only two million, the island nation has sent into the world more than 100,000 reggae records over four decades.

Although we live in the midst of spiritual strife, even seemingly in the times described in the book of Revelations, Rasta is not about converting people. Although based on the Ethiopian Orthodox church, Rasta is not a church with an official doctrine, but a belief system that concerns spiritual social and historical matters. Some Rastafarians cut their hair and don't use ganga. Beliefs may include not eating salt, or things that grow under the earth or that need to be killed. Some Rasta followers won't sleep in a house. Adherents of Ites culture find the Almighty within all men, not Haile Selassie in particular. The Bobo dread wears his locks in a turban and carries a broom to signify his own cleanliness. There are Rasta women, but you don't see them around so much because they are very home and family-centered.

2003-09-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

Rasta/Patois Dictionary.

A : prep. to as in "go a shop," from Spanish (7)
A GO : aux w/v. going to do, as in "Me a go tell him" (7)
A DOOR : outdoors. (5)
ACCOMPONG : n. name of Maroon warrior, Capt. Accompong, brother of
Cudjo; also name of town. From the Twi name for the
supreme deity (7)
ACKEE : n. African food tree introduced about 1778. From Twi
ankye or Kru akee (7)
AGONY : the sensations felt during sex (6)
ALIAS : adj. (urban slang) dangerous, violent (7)
AN : than (5)
ARMAGEDDON : the biblical final battle between the forces of good
and evil (1)
ASHAM : n. Parched, sweetened, and ground corn. From twi
osiam (7)

BABYLON : 1. the corrupt establishment, the "system,
" Church and State 2. the police, a policeman (1)
BAD : good, great (2)
BADNESS : hooligan behavior, violence for its own sake (1)
BAFAN : clumsy; awkward (5)
BAFANG : a child who did not learn to walk the 1st 2-7 years. (5)
BAG-O-WIRE : a betrayer (1)
BAGGY : underpants for a woman or child. (5)
BALMYARD : n. place where pocpmania rites are held, healing is
done, spells cast or lifted (7)
BAKRA : white slavemaster, or member of the ruling class in
colonial days. Popular etymology:
"back raw" (which he bestowed with a whip.) (5)
BALD-HEAD : a straight person; one without dreadlocks;
one who works for babylon (2)
BAMBA YAY : by and by (7)
BAMBU : rolling paper (1)
BAMMY : a pancake made out of cassava, after it has been grated
and squeezed to remove the bitter juice. (5)
BANDULU : bandit, criminal, one living by guile (1)
a BANDULU BIZNESS is a racket, a swindle. (5)
BANGARANG : hubbub, uproar, disorder, disturbance. (5)
BANKRA : a big basket, including the type which hangs over the
sides of a donkey. (5)
BANS : from bands; a whole lot, a great deal, nuff,
whole heap. (5)
BAT : butterfly or moth. English bat, the flying rodent,
is a rat-bat. (5)
BATTY : bottom; backside; anus. (5)
BATTYBWOY : a gay person (6)
BEAST : a policeman (1)
BEX : vex (verb), or vexed (adjective). (5)
BHUTTU (BUHTUH) : an uncouth, out of fashion, uncultured person
Use: Wey yu a go inna dem deh cloze? Yu fayva buttu (12)
BISSY : cola nut. (5)
BLY : chance, "must get a bly", "must get a chance". (4)
BOASIE : adj. proud, conceited, ostentatious. Combination of
English boastful and Yoruba bosi-proud and ostentatious
(7)
BOBO : fool. (5)
BRAA : from BREDDA; brother. (5)
BRAATA : a little extra; like the 13th cookie in a baker's dozen;
or an extra helping of food. In musical shows it has
come to be the encore. (5)
BREDREN : one's fellow male Rastas (1)
BRINDLE : to be angry (6)
BRINKS : title given to a man who is supplying a woman with money
(6)
BUBU : fool. (5)
BUCKY : home-made gun (2)
BUFU-BUFU : fat, swollen, blubbery; too big; clumsy or lumbering.(5)
BUGUYAGA : a sloppy, dirty person, like a bum or tramp. (5)
BULL BUCKA : a bully (1)
BULLA : a comon sugar and flour cookie or small round cake,
sold everywhere in Jamaica. (5)
BUMBA CLOT,
(TO GET) BUN : to have one's spouse or girl/boy-friend cheat on
oneself, to be cheated out of something (6)
RAS CLOT,
BLOOD CLOT : curse words (1)
BUMBO : bottom; backside. A common curse word, especially in
combination with CLOT (cloth),
a reference to the days before toilet paper. (5)
BUNGO : n. racially pejorative. Crude, black, ignorant,
boorish person. From Hausa bunga-bumpkin, nincompoop (7)
BUNKS : to knock or bump against, from "to bounce",
BUNKS MI RES, catch my rest, take a nap. (5)

(THE) CAT : a woman's genitals (6)
CARD : to fool someone (6)
CEASE & SEKKLE! : stop everything and relax! (6)
CERACE : a ubiquitous vine used for boiling medicinal tea,
and for bathing. It is proverbial for its bitterness.(5)
CHA! or CHO! : a disdainful expletive (1) pshaw! (2) very common, mild
explanation expressing impatience, vexation or
disappointment. (5)
CHAKA-CHAKA : messy, disorderly, untidy. (5)
CHALICE or CHILLUM : a pipe for smoking herb, usually made from coconut shell
or CHALEWA : and tubing, used ritually by Rastas (1)
CHEAP : just as cheap, just as well. (5)
CHIMMY : chamber pot. (5)
CHO : very common, mild explanation expressing impatience,
vexation or disappointment. (5)
CLAP : hit, break, stride (1)
CLOT : 1. cloth, an essential part of most Jamaican bad words,
such as bumbo clot, rass clot, blood clot, etc.
The essence of Jamaican cursing seems to be nastiness
, rather than the blashemy or sexuality which is
characteristic of the metropolitan countries.
2. to hit or strike - from the verb "to clout". (5)
COCO : a potato-like edible root, known elsewhere as the taro
or the eddo.
It was brought to Jamaica from the South Pacific.
This is completely distinct from cocoa, usually called
chocolate. (5)
COIL : money (6)
COME DUNG : come down, get ready (as to prepare to play a tune) (6)
COME EEN LIKE : to seem as if; to resemble. (5)
CONTROL : to be in charge of, responsible for, to own; to take (1)
COO 'PON : v. (origin unclear) Look upon! (7)
COO YAH : v. (origin unclear) Look here! (7)
COOL RUNNINGS : a greeting; things are going smoothly (1)
COOLIE : the traditional Jamaican epithet for East Indians.
It is never used It is never used for Chinese Jamaicans.
Usually in the form coolie-man or coolie-oman.
It is not considered polite today anymore than the term
nega, but it is still used widely in rural areas. (5)
n. (urban slang) ganja (7)
CORK UP : jammed, filled, crowded (2)
CORN : 1. marijuana 2. money 3. a bullet (1)
COTCH : verb (cotch up), to support something else, as with a
forked stick; to balance something or place it
temporarily; to beg someone a cotch, can be a place on
a crowded bus seat or bench; or it may mean to cotch a
while, to stay somewhere temporarily. (5)
COTTA : a roll of cloth or vegetation placed on top of the head
to cushion the skull from the weight of a head load. (5)
CRAB : aside from it's usual meaning, it is a verb meaning to
scratch or claw. (5)
CRAVEN : greedy (5)
CRIS : crisp; popularly used for anything brand-new,
slick-looking. (5)
CRISSARS : crisp, brand-new (2)
CROMANTY : adj. from Corromantee, Blacks from the Gold Coast
believed to be rebellious (7)
CROSSES : problems, vexations, trials; bad luck, misfortunes. (5)
CRUCIAL : serious, great, "hard,", "dread" (1)
CUBBITCH : covetous. (5)
CUDJO : n. name of famous Maroon warrior; mn born on Monday,
from Fante, Twi kudwo (7)
CULTURE : reflecting or pertaining to the roots values and
traditions highly respected by the Rastas (1)
CUSS-CUSS : a quarrel or fracas, with lots of cursing. (5)
CUT YAI : to cut your eye at somebody is a very common means of
expressing scorn or contempt, for example; one catches
the other person's eye, then deliberatly turns one's
own eyes as an insult. (5)
CUTCHIE : pipe for communal smoking. (5)
CYAAN : cannot, can't (6)

D.J. : a person who sings or scats along with dub music,
sometimes called "toasting" (2)
DAAL : split peas, usually a thick soup, from Indian cuisine,
from Hindi. (5)
DADA : father (6)
DALLY : executive zig-zag movements on wheels (2) or on foot (6)
to ride a bicycle or motorbike with a weaving motion,
as when ones weaves around potholes. (5)
DAN DADA : the highest of DON'S (6)
DAN : than (5)
DARKERS : sunglasses (6)
DASHEEN : a big soft yam-like root, often slightly greyish when
cooked. It is related to the coco, but one eats the
"head" instead of the tubers. (5)
DAWTA : a girl, woman, "sister," girlfriend (1)
DEADERS : meat, meat by-products (1)
DEESTANT : decent. (5)
DEGE or DEGE-DEGE : adjective, little, skimpy, measly, only, as in a two
dege-dege banana. (5)
DEH : there (place) (6)
DEY : v. to be, exist, as in "No yam no dey". From Ewe de or
Twi de - to be (7)
DI : the (6)
DINKI : a kind of traditional dance at funerals or "nine nights"
("set-ups"); now popular among school children. (5)
DIS or DIS YA : this (6)
DJEW : as a verb, rain a djew; as a noun, djew rain.
It means a light rain or drizzle. (5)
DOGHEART : a person who is especially cold and cruel (6)
DOLLY : executive zig-zag movements on wheels (2)
DON : one who is respected, master of a situation (6)
DONKYA : from "don't care"; careless, sloppy, lacking ambition,
etc. (5)
DOONDOOS : an albino. (5)
DOWNPRESSOR : preferred term for oppressor (1)
(TO) DRAW CARD : the act of fooling someone (6)
DREAD : 1. a person with dreadlocks
2. a serious idea or thing
3. a dangerous situation or person
4. the "dreadful power of the holy"
5. experientially, "awesome, fearful confrontation of
a people with a primordial but historically denied
racial selfhood" (1)
DREADLOCKS : 1. hair that is neither combed nor cut 2. a person with
dreadlocks (1)
DREADY : a friendly term for a fellow dread (1)
DUB : a roots electronic music, created by skillful,
artistic re-engineering of recorded tracks (2)
DUCK-ANTS : white ants, or termites. (5)
DUKUNU : sweet corn-meal dumplings boiled in wrapped leaves. (5)
DUNDUS : an albino. (5)
DUNGLE : n. legendary West Kingston slum surrounding a garbage
dump, now cleared. (7)
: From English dunghill
DUNS,DUNSA : money (1)
DUPPY : a ghost (1)
DUTCHY : dutch cooking pot, low round-bottomed heavy pot. (5)

EASE-UP : to forgive, to lighten up (6)
EVERYTING COOK
& CURRY : all is well, all is taken care of (6)

FAS' : to be fast with, meaning to be rude, impertinent,
to meddle with sombody's business, to be forward, etc.
(5)
FASSY : eczema-like scratchy sores on the skin;
also a verb meaning to cause oneself to be covered with
fassy by scratching. (5)
FAYVA : to favour, resemble, or look like; "fayva like"
also means "it seems as if". (5)
FE : the infinitive "to" as in "Have fe go" (7)
FEEL NO WAY : don't take offense, don't be sorry, don't worry (1)
FENKY-FENKY : (from finicky) choosy, proud, stuck-up. (5)
FENNEH : v. to feel physical distress, pain. From Twi
fene-to vomit; Fante fena-to be troubled; Lumba
feno-to faint (7)
FI : possessive. "fi me"-"mine" (7)
FIESTY : impudent, rude, out of order, cheeky. (5)
FIRST LIGHT : tomorrow (1)
(HIM A) FISH : a gay person (6)
FIT : when used of fruits and vegetables,
it means ready to pick, full grown,
though not necessarily fully ripe. (5)
FORWARD : 1. to go, move on, set out 2. in the future (1)
FRONTA : tobacco leaf used to roll herb (1)
FUCKERY : wrong, unfair (6)
FULLNESS,
TO THE FULLNESS : completely, absolutely, totally (1)
FUNDS : Money (6)

GAAN TO BED : an adverbial phrase; following a verb of liking or
loving, it has a superlative meaning;
Can be used in any context,
such as "I love hafu yam gaan to bed!". (5)
GANJA : herb, marijuana (1)
GANSEY : t-shirt, any knit shirt (2)
(TO) GET SALT : to be thwarted, to encounter misfortune (6)
GATES : home, yard (1)
GENERAL : cool operator (1)
GIG : spinning top. (5)
GINNAL : n. trickster, con-man, an Amnancy figure as in "Sunday
Ginnal"-a preacher or clergyman (7)
GLAMITY : a woman's genitals (6)
GORGON : outstanding dreadlocks (1)
(DON) GORGON : outstanding dreadlocks, a person who is respected (2,6)
GRAVALICIOUS : greedy, avaricious. (5)
GRINDSMAN : one who displays great prowess in bed(6)
GROUNATION : large, island-wide meeting and celebration of Rastas (1)
GROUND : home, yard (4)

HACKLE : to hassle, bother, worry, trouble. As a noun, hackling.
(5)
HAFFI : to have to... (6)
HAIL : a greeting (1)
HARD : excellent, proficient, skillful, uncompromising (1)
HEETCH : itch. Many such words could be listed under H,
as initial H is added to scores of words at will. (5)
HEAD MAN JANCRO : n. albino buzzard (7)
HERB : marijuana (1)
HIEZ-HAAD : ears-hard, thick skulled, stubborn, unwilling or unable
to hear. (5)
HIEZ : ears. (5)
HITEY-TITEY : upper class, high tone, "stoosh". (5)
HOOD : penis. (5)
HORTICAL (DON) : respected, acclaimed (6)
HOT-STEPPER : fugitive from jail or gun court (1)

I-MAN : I, me, mine (1)
I-NEY : a greeting (2)
I-REY : 1. a greeting 2. excellent, cool, highest (1)
I-SHENCE : herb (1)
I-TAL : vital, organic, natural, wholesome; refers to way of
cooking and way of life (1)
in colors, red, green and gold (2)
I : replaces "me", "you", "my"; replaces the first syllable
of seleted words (1) I and I, I&I: I, me, you and me,
we (1)
Rastafari speech eliminates you, me we, they, etc.,
as divisive and replaces same with communal I and I.
I and I embraces the congregation in unity with the
Most I (high) in an endless circle of inity (unity). (3)
IEZ-HAAD : ears-hard, thick skulled, stubborn, unwilling or
unable to hear. (5)
IEZ : ears. (5)
ILIE : adj. literally, "highly", valuable, exalted, even
sacred (7)
IGNORANT : short-tempered, easy to vex, irate. (5)
INNA DI MORROWS : tomorrow (6)
INNA : In the (4)
IRIE : adj. powerful and pleasing (7)
ISMS and SKISMS : negative term denoting Babylon's classificatory systems
(1)
ITES : 1. the heights
2. a greeting
3. the color red (1) great (2)

JA, JAM-DOWN : Jamaica (1)
JACKASS ROPE : homegrown tobacco, twisted into a rope. (5)
JAH KNOW : Lord knows (1)
JAH : God; possibly derived as a shortened form of Jahweh or
Jehovah (1)
Jah Ras Tafari, Haille Selassie, King of Kings, Lord of
Lords, conquering Lion of Judah; rastas revere Haile
Selassie as the personification of the Almighty (2)

JAMDUNG : Jamaica, "Jam" to press down "dung" down. Ironic
reference to social and economic conditions of the
masses (7)
JAMMIN : to be having a good time, to be dancing calypso/soca (6)
JANCRO : n. literally John Crow, buzzard (7)
JANGA : shrimp, crayfish. (5)
JELLY : a young coconut, full of jelly. (5)
JON CONNU : n. (John Canoe). Bands of elaborately masked dancers
appearing around Christmas. They ressemble the
ancestral dancers of West Africa, but the ety. of the
word is unclear. (7)
JOOK : to pierce or stick, as with a thorn or a long pointed
stick. (5)
JUDGIN' : adjective, everyday or ordinary clothes or shoes worn
in the yard or in the bush, as in "judgin' boot".
Also as a verb, to judge, with a similar meaning. (5)
JUU : as a verb, rain a juu; as a noun, juu rain.
It means a light rain or drizzle. (5)

KALI; COOLY : marijuana (1)
KALLALOO : a dark, green leafy vegetable, very nutritious and
cheap. (5)
KASS KASS : n. quarrel or contention. From combination of English
curse or cuss, and Twi kasa kasa-to dispute verbally (7)
KATA : a roll of cloth or vegetation placed on top of the head
to cushion the skull from the weight of a head load. (5)
KEMPS : a little bit, a tiny piece, from skimps. (5)
KISS ME NECK! : common exclamation of surprise. (5)
KISS TEET : to kiss one's teeth or to suck one's teeth is to make
the very common hissing noise of disappoval, dislike,
vexation or disappointment. (5)
KOUCHIE : bowl of a chalice or chillum pipe (1)
KRENG-KRENG : an old-fashioned meat rack, hung up high over the fire
to catch the smoke. (5)
KU DEH! : look there! (5)
KU PAN : look at. (5)
KU YA! : look here! (5)
KU : verb, look! (5)
KUMINA : n. Ecstatic dance for the purpose of communicating with
ancestors. From Twi akom-to be possessed and ana-by an
ancestor (7)
KYA : 1. to care; "donkya", don't care, careless; "no kya"
means no matter, as in "no kya weh im tun",
no matter where he turns.
2. to carry. (5)
KYAAN : can't. (5)
KYAI : to carry. (5)
KYAN : can. (5)

LABA-LABA : to chat, gab; gossip. (5)
LABRISH : gossip, chit-chat. (5)
LAMBSBREAD : a form of high-quality marijuana (1)
LARGE : respected (6)
LEGGO BEAS' : wild, disorderly, like a let-go beast. (5)
LICKY-LICKY : fawning, flattering, obsequious. (5)
LILLY BIT : little bit, tiny. (5)
LION : a righteous Dread (1) a great soul (2)
LITTLE MORE : see you later (2)
(TOO) LIKKY-LIKKY : title given to those who like to eat any food they
encounter , without discretion (6)

MAAMA MAN : a gay person, an effeminate man, a weakling (6)
MACA : thorn, prickle. (5)
MADDA : mother (6)
MAFIA : big-time criminals (1)
MAGA DOG : mongrel (4)
MAGA : thin (2) (from meagre) (5)
MANACLES : chains (11)
MARINA : a man's undershirt, guernsey; a tank-top style. (5)
MAROON : n. free black warrior-communities which successfully
resisted British hegemony during eighteenth century
and early nineteenth century. From Spanish cimmaron-
untamed, wild (7)
MASCOT : denoting inferior status (2)
MASH IT UP : a huge success (1)
MASH UP, MASH DOWN : destroy (1)
MAAS : n. from master or massa. Now freed from its class
origin; a respectful form of address to an older man.
(7)
MASSIVE : respected (6), used with LARGE to add emphasis
MENELIK, RAS : n. Ethiopian nobleman who rallied his troops to resist
Italian aggression. Defeated Italians at Adowa 1896 (7)
MONKS : amongst. (5)
MORE TIME : see you later (1)
MR. T : the boss (2)
MUS MUS : a rat (4)
MY BABY MOTHER
/FATHER : the mother/father of my child (1,6)
MYAL : n. a form of benign magic oposed to Obeah, hence
myalman. From Hursa maye-wizard, person of mystic
power. (7)

NAGAH : n. pejorative for a black person (7)
NAGO : n. Yoruba person, practice or language. From Ewe
anago-Yoruba person (7)
NAH : adv. will not. Emphatic as in "Me nah do that" (7)
NANA : midwife; nanny or nurse. (5)
NASH : female genatalia (6)
NATTY, NATTY DREAD,
NATTY CONGO : 1. dreadlocks 2. a person with dreadlocks (1)
NAZARITE : Ancient Hebrew meaning to "separate", consecrated,
set apart by choice and devotion (1)
NIYABINGHI : 1. "death to all black and white oppressors"
2. East African warriors who resisted colonial
domination
3. large Rastafarian meeting and spiritual gathering
4. referring to orthodox, traditional Rastas
5. a variety of drumming (1)
NIYAMEN : name for Rastas referring to Niyabinghi warriors of
East Africa (1)
NO KYA : no matter, as in "no kya weh im tun", no matter where
he turns. (5)
NO TRUE? : isn't it so? (1)
NUH : interrogative at end of sentence; literally, "Is it
not so?" (7)
NYAM : to eat. (5)
(TOO) NYAMI-NYAMI : title given to those who like to eat any food
they encounter, without discretion (6)
NYING'I-NYING'I : nagging, whining. (5)

O-DOKONO : boiled maize bread. (5)
OBEAH : traditional African "science", relating to matters of
the spirit and spirits, spells, divinations, omens,
extra-sensory knowledge, etc. (5)
OHT FI : about to, on the vergeof, as in "it hoht fi rain",
it is about to rain, it looks like rain. (5)
ONE LOVE : a parting phrase, expression of unity (1)
ONE-ONE : adjective, one by one, thus any small amount. (5)
ONGLE : only. (5)

PAKI : calabash, gourd. (5)
PAPAA : pawpaw, or papaya melon. (5)
PATU : owl. (5)
PAYAKA : heathen (11)
PYAKA : tricky or dishonest. (10)
PEEL-HEAD : bald-headed, usually certain chickens or vultures. (5)
PEENYWALLY : a kind of large fire fly, actually a type of flyig
beetle. (5)
PEER : avocado pear. (5)
PICKY, PICKY HEAD : brush haircut (3)
PICKY-PICKY : 1. finicky or choosy
2. Used of uncombed hair just starting to turn into
dreadlocks. (5)
PIKNY : pickaninny, child. (5)
PINDA : peanut. (5)
PIRA : a low wooden stool. (5)
PITY-ME-LIKL : a type of very tiny red ant whose bite is so hot and
long-lasting it resembles a sting. (5)
POCOMANIA, POCO : christian revival, distinct drum rhythm (2)
POLYTRICKS : politics (by Peter Tosh) (6)
POLYTRICKSTERS : politicians (by Peter Tosh) (6)
POPPY-SHOW : from puppet show, it is used in the idiom,
tek smadi mek poppy-show, which means to make fun of
someone or shame them, making them look ridiculous. (5)
PUM-PUM : a woman's genitals (6)
PUNAANI or PUNNI : a woman's genitals (6)
PUPPALICK : somersalt. (5)
PUTTIN' AWAY : a preposition, meaning "except for", or "except". (5)
PYAA-PYAA : sickly, weak; feeble, of no account. (5)
PYU : from spew; verb used of running sores or anything
similarly dripping or oozing. (5)

QUASHIE : n. peasant, country bumpkin, coarse and stupid person;
racial pejorative generic term for blacks; originally
Twi name of a boy born on a Sunday (7)
QUIPS : 1. nouns (from squips) a tiny piece or amount.
2. verb, the Jamaican art of washing clothes making a
"squips-squips" sound. (5)

RAATID! : a common mild expletive of surprise or vexation, as in
"to raatid!". It is likely a polite permutation of
"ras", a la "gosh" or "heck". (5)
RANKING : highly respected (1)
RAS or RASS : backside, rump; a common curse is to rass! or rass clot!
a title used by Rastafarians meaning "lord" or "head" .
(5)
(TO) RAAS : "really?", "damn!"(6)
RASTA, RASTAFARIAN : a follower of Marcus Garvey who worships the Almighty
in the person of haile Selassie
RAT-BAT : bat, the night-flying rodent. (5)
RATCHET : a switchblade knife popular in Jamaica (1)
RED : 1. very high on herb 2. mulatto color (1)
RAHTID : expression of surprise, or to be enraged. From
biblical"wrothed" (7)
RENK : 1. foul-smelling, raw-smelling.
2. out of order, impudent, as in a rank-imposter.
"Yu too renk!". (5)
RHAATID : a curse-exclamation, similar to "what the hell" (6)
RHYGIN : adj. spirited, vigorous, lively, passionate with great
vitality and force; also sexually provocative and
aggressive. Probably a form of English raging. (7)
RIZZLA : brand of rolling paper. (3)
ROCKERS : reggae music (1) reggae music as it is played today,
the latest sound (2)
ROOTS : 1. derived from the experience of the common people,
natural indigenous
2. a greeting
3. name for a fellow Rasta (1)
ROTI : flat Indian pan breads. (5)
ROYAL, (RIAL) : n. offspring of some other race and black, ass in
"Chiney-Rial," "coolie-rial"; humorous as in
"monkey-rial" (7)
RUDE BOY : a criminal, a hard hearted person, a tough guy (6)
RUN-DUNG : food cooked in coconut juice, obtained after grating
the dry coconut meat and squeezing it in water,
thus extracting the coconut cream. (5)
RYAL : royal. (5)

SAL'TING : 1. dishes cooked with saltfish or meat.
2. that part of the meal which is served with the "food"
(starchy food, ground food).
3. by some strange extension, the female organ, often
simply called "sal". (5)
SALT : adjective, broke, empty-handed, low on funds or food,
as in "tings salt" or "i' salt". (5)
SAMBO : the colour between brown and black; someone who is a
cross between a mullatto (brown) and a black. (5)
SAMFAI MAN : trickster, conman. (5)
SHAMPATA : n. sandal of wood or tire rubber. Span. zapato (7)
SANKEY : n. religious song of a paticularly lugubrious tone,
sung in the long or common meter. From Ira David
Sankey, evangelist and hymnalist (7)
SATA : to rejoice, to meditate, to give thanks and praise. (5)
SATTA : sit, rest, meditate (1) relax (6)
(GO) SATTA : claim how spiritual you are (11)
SCIENCE : obeah, witchcraft (1)
SCIENTIST : occult practitioner (2)
SCOUT : denoting inferior status (6)
SCREECHIE : to sneak by (6)
SCREW : to scowl, to be angry (1)
SEEN : I understand, I agree (1)
SEEN? : Do you understand? (6)
SHAG : home-cured tobacco, straight from the field. (5)
SHAKE OUT : leave without haste, casually (2)
SHEG (UP) : verb, to bother, as in "all sheg up",
all hot and bothered, or or spoiled up (as of work). (5)
SHEG-UP : to be messed up, ruined (6)
SHEPHERD : n. leader of revivalist cult; also proprietor of
balmyard, healer and prophet (7)
SHOOB : to shove. (5)
SIDUNG : sit down (6)
SIGHT? : do you understand? (1)
SINKL-BIBLE : the aloevera plant. (5)
SINSEMILLA, SENSIE : popular, potent, seedless, unpollinated female strain
of marijuana (1)
SINTING : something. (5)
SIPPLE : slippery; slimy. (5)
SISTER, SISTREN : a woman, a friend, woman Rastafarians (1)
SITTIN' : something. (5)
SKANK : to dance to reggae music (1) to move with cunning,
ulterior motives (2)
SKIL : kiln, as in "limeskil". (5)
SKIN : rolling paper (1)
SKIN YOUR TEETH : smile (1)
SLABBA-SLABBA : big and fat, slobby, droopy. (5)
SLACKNESS : lewd, vulgar lyrics popular in DJ singing (4)
SMADI : somebody. (5)
SO-SO : only, solely, unaccompanied. (5) weak, pallid (6)
SOFT : not well done, amateurish; unable to cope (1)
broke, no money (2)
SPLIFF : large, cone-shaped marijuana cigarette (1)
SPRING : to sprout, as of yams or cocos, making them inedible.
(5)
STAR : common term of affection, camaraderie (1)
STEP : to leave, to depart (1) briskly, quickly (2)
STOOSH/STOSHUS : upper class, high tone, "hitey-titey". (5)
STRING UP : a muscial rehearsal (2)
STRUCTURE : body, health (1)
SU-SU : gossip, the sound of wispering. (5)
SUFFERER : a poor person stuggling to survive (2)
SUPM, SINTING : something (6)

TACK : bullet (2)
TACUMAH : n. character in Anancy tales. Said to be the son of
Anancy. Twin'ticuma (7)
TAKARI/TANKARI : stewed spicy pumpkin. (5)
TALL : long (1)
TALLOWAH : adj. sturdy, strong, fearless, physically capable.
From Ewe talala (7)
TAM : deep woolen hat, used by Dreads to cover their locks
(1,6)
TAMBRAN SWITCH : n. a flail made from the wiry branches of the Tamarind
tree, braided and oiled. Effective and much feared in
the hands of Babylon. (7)
TAN' : to stand; usually used in the sense of "to be".
"A so im tan", "that is what he is like";
"tan deh!" or "yu tan deh!" means "just you wait!".
"Tan tedy", stand steady, means "hold still". (5)
TARRA-WARRA : a polite way of expressing omitted bad words, a verbal
asterisk. (5)
TATA : n. father. Affectionate and respectful title for an old
man. Fram many african languages. Ewe, Ge, N'gombe (7)
TATU : a little thatched hut, often made of bamboo. (5)
TEETH : bullets (2)
TEIF : a theif, to steal (6)
TOTO : coconut cake. (5)
TRACE : to curse or speak abusively to someone. (5)
TRANSPORT : vehicle (1)
TUMPA : from stump, as in "tumpa-foot man", a one-foot man. (5)
TUNTI : female organ. (5)

UNO/UNU : you-all. (5) pron. you, plural. In usage close to
Afro-American y'awl. From Ibo unu, same meaning (7)
UPFUL : postitive, encouraging (2)
UPHILL : positive, righteous (1)
UPTOWN : the upper classes (1)

VEX : to get angry (1)

WA DAY : adverbial phrase, the other day. (5)
WA MEK? : why?
WAKL : wattle, a kind of woven bamboo work used to make house
walls. (5)
WANGA-GUT : hungry-belly. (5)
WARRA-WARRA : politely omitted bad words, same as "tarra-warra". (5)
WH'APPEN? : what's happening? (4)
WHATLEF : What's left over (7)
WHEELS : vehicle (6)
WHOLE HEAP : a lot (1)
WINJY : thin and sickly looking. (5)
WIS : vine, liana, from withe. (5)
WOLF : a non-rasta deadlocks (2)
WOOD : penis. (5)

YA NO SEE IT? : you know? (1)
YA : hear, or here. (5)
YABBA : a big clay pot. (5)
YAGA YAGA : Dancehall slang. a way to big up a brethren; to express
a greeting or attract attention, i.e. yo! or yush!
true friend; bonafide; brethren. (9)
YAHSO : here (place) (6)
YAI : eye. (5)
YARD : home, one's gates (1) tenement (2)
YOUTH : a child, a young man, an immature man (1)

ZION : Ethiopia, Africa, the Rastafarian holy land (1)
ZUNGU PAN : zinc pan. (5)

Rasta/Patois Dictionary.

2003-09-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

Coming soon!