Rastas For Their Flagrant Use Of Ganja example essay topic

Ganja One cannot speak about the Rastas or the Indian religion without tackling the inexorable question of the ganja. Indeed, ganja is as much a leitmotiv in Marley's lyrics as much as in Lindsey Collen's Misyon Garson. In Misyon Garson, Mayk is assigned the task of bringing ganja to his mother and he carries this ganja throughout the whole of his journey. Ganja, being illegal, becomes almost a 'burden' for him as he encounters different adventures along his journey: "Enn pulya gandya.

Same nu biz in. Met enn's arz kont nu pu lad rog san ku la. The recurring question of the question throughout the text becomes indeed a symbolical sign and attains a cultural and political meaning. The omnipresence of the ganja is undeniably not innocent in the text. Ganja as a signifier is, according to the Oxford Dictionary, a "hemp plant; any of various drugs made from the dried leaves and flowers of the hemp plant that are smoke or chewed for their intoxicating effect". However, ganja has a religious and sacred connotation for the protagonist who follows the hindu doctrine.

Called kan in the Amharic bible, the ganja of India, that is Asian hemp, was intended for the coolies who worked in the fields and was known as 'grass of kali' or the 'coolie weed'. This leads to the connotation of religious ritual and cultural preservation. As a matter of fact, ganja has a ritual role. It is smoked in the honor of the goddess or to communicate with Shiva while launching of the "Jai" at the intense times. In the text, Mayk is to bring ganja to his mother (ganja which he gets from his uncle Mam Dip) who is to use it for the religious ceremony Mahashivatree: "Enn sel ti pulya gandya. Mo ti al sers li kot mo m amu Krevker.

Pu Mahashivatree. Pu mo mama prepare bhang pu servis". Ganja is also a leitmotiv e in Marley's lyrics, mostly known as "kaya". Contrary to popular belief Rastas do not smoke ganja recreation ally. Ganja is used for religious purposes for Rastafarians. To the Rastafarians ganja is yet another symbol of accepting their black heritage, since it was a part of the native herbalists folk medicine.

However, ganja is built on an opposition which generates meaning, in this case the opposition is of illegal versus sacred. As a matter of fact, the police continue to harass Rastas, for their 'flagrant' use of ganja, which remains illegal in Jamaica and in Mauritius. A parallelism can be established between the situation in Mauritius and that of Jamaica because the marijuana, another name of the ganja, is also illegal in both countries. Thus, the ganja being illegal in Mauritius, many have been in trouble with the justice: "Mo pa kont gandya, frans man Mayk, me nu pa kapaa sary e li a koz li illegal". 3 If the Rastas and the followers of the Hindu doctrine regard grass as a divine gift, a purifier of the heart, body and spirit as well as holy water for Christians, it remains a drug like another in the eyes of the authority.

However, the continuous usage of ganja is indeed symbolical. For Rastas, its usage is in fact grounded in the bible, where the "herb" is described as a sacred "weed" (Genesis 3: 18; Exodus 10: 12; Psalm 104: 14). "He causeth the Grass to Grow for the cattle, and Herb for the Service of Man". This means that ganja is actually a native symbol, which has been put into a Christian framework and gets a whole new syncretizing meaning in the Rastafarian belief. Not only does ganja reinforce and consolidate the feelings of belonging and unity between the members, but is also a key to understand the self, the universe, and God 6.

This oneness with God can lead to a true revelation of black consciousness and brings a love for the black race: "Got to have kaya now, for the rain's falling... I feel so high I even touch the sky... I feel so good in my neighbourhood". The use of Ganja - being of religious and cultural importance, despite the threat of the authority, connotes a return to the basis; a return to an original cultural and religious identity..