My connection to Rastafari is pretty deep and strong though it came to me not through music but through two friends Beatz and Lady Lee both of them had a profound impact on my life. Just as profound as Rashid Bey when I was nineteen and was taught Islam. On the surface Islam and Rastafari seem like two complete different ends of the spectrum the reality couldn't be further from the truth. But this article is not going to compare and contrast I'll do that another time. In this article I want to explore the name of Haile Selassie I and it's implications.
The monotheistic beliefs state that there is only one God they didn't make it up lots of people before Zoroaster and Abraham held these same views the difference is every so often people feel the need to divide God into sections. Christians have three while Kabbalists have a plethora of Holy Divisions. Because of this wars have broken out and misunderstanding has been happening for a few hundred years give or take. The basic problem about having dogma is that if it's rigidly right then everyone else must be rigidly wrong, right? No, not so.
The reason I called this article taking a hermetic look at Haile Selassie I the God of the majority of Rasta, prophet to some, and simply an Ethiopian Emperor to the vast majority of the world. The name of Haile Selassie I means
Power Of The Trinity. That is to say that his is blessed by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, through them he has the POWER to RULE over Ethiopia. That is the mainstream Ethiopian Orthodox view of his name but to Rastas it means more, it means that He was all three rolled into One. Thus Jesus might just be the Son of God but this man is God with all three aspects into One. He is Jesus and the Holy Spirit absorbed back into the singularity of Godhead. That's a very impressive resume and many people have a hard time understanding that concept. Even though it's one of the oldest concepts known to the human family.
The great Thoth (to use his greek name) came up with a philosophy that we call Hermetic Philosophy. In short this philosophy is the real basis for every expression of spiritual, religious, Science, and of course philosophy that has come up in its wake. One of the key concepts is that even though people may see God as three or four or more that we must remember that in reality God is One. Everything proceeds from God and will eventually fold back into God. Though God is one some people can't comprehend that fact since we see a world of dualism all around us. All opposites are not opposites but merely the same thing, night is day, the moon is the sun, you are me and I am you etc etc but ultimately we are all an aspect of the Divine even though it is both in everything but also separate from its creation. I know it takes a while to wrap your head around it.
So now you want to know what does this have to do with an Emperor? Again, the name of Haile Selassie I signifies three aspects of Godhead in Christian tradition, the Father- the Creator aspect-the Mind, the Son-the bringing forth or Word aspect-the thought, and the Holy Spirit-the mover-the body of the triad. The significance is though his name implies three He Haile Selassie I is one. He's actually proof of the Hermetic reality that though you may see God as three God is really one. The Emperor lived a very pious life and all who met said he had a certain way about him, almost magical but whether you believe he is God or not is not the point I'm trying to make. The point is if you take into account his name and the fact that he's a single person, if you want to understand the model of deity in hermetic philosophy that is one way to do it. Look at a picture and think to yourself he is a single person but he represents three and yet remains one, indivisible. That is the point I would like you to keep with you just because someone sees the Divine in multiple parts doesn't mean they are saying those parts are minor gods but they are different functions of the One God.
I know it's circular thinking at its best but I hope it helped in some weird mystical way.
copyright Abdul Batin Bey 2016
