Xerneastafarianism
Xerneastafarianism is a religious designation for which no established body of doctrine, practice, leadership, or community is documented in the reference and scholarly literature on Rastafari. The name does not occur among the houses, or mansions, into which Rastafari is divided, and no founder, scripture, ritual, or institution associated with it has been recorded. Claims that a distinct Xerneastafarian religion exists therefore cannot presently be substantiated from documentary evidence.
The tradition against which the name is defined is Rastafarianism, also called Rastafari, a black Christian religious movement that arose in Jamaica in the 1930s[^c1]. It grew from Marcus Garvey's Back to Africa movement and from his prediction that a black king would be crowned in Africa[^c2]. Many took that prophecy as fulfilled when Ras Tafari was crowned emperor of Ethiopia in 1930[^c3], and the emperor came to be regarded as the God of the Black race[^c4] and as an incarnation of Jah, the messiah[^c5].
Rastafarian theology reads black history through the opposition of Babylon and Zion. Babylon names the social and political structures of whites, blamed for centuries of oppression[^c6], while Ethiopia is identified with Zion and regarded as heaven on Earth, the destination of a hoped-for exodus[^c7]. Practice centres on the sacramental smoking of cannabis[^c8], special diets and widespread vegetarianism[^c12], dreadlocks understood as the mane of the Lion of Judah, and the colours red, black, green, and gold[^c11]. Reggae music, introduced to international audiences by Bob Marley, became the movement's best-known form of self-expression[^c9].
Organisation is decentralised. The Twelve Tribes of Israel, Bobo Shanti, and the Nyabinghi Order are autonomous mansions with distinct leadership and ritual styles, and no body exercises authority over the others[^c10]. This internal plurality means that "traditional Rastafarianism" is itself a family of positions rather than a single standard.
Because no separate Xerneastafarian corpus is documented, the substantive record concerns the Rastafarian tradition itself and the points at which a distinct offshoot would be expected to diverge. The questions of how such a movement defines itself, what it retains or rejects, and how traditional Rastafarians regard it remain open for lack of evidence.