Living in harmony with the environment and the laws of Nature is one of the central ideas of Rastafarianism. To live in accordance with the Earth is to live in accordance with Jah; it is incorporated into the morality that is Rastafarian consciousness. The Rasta's reverence for nature is influenced by the traditional African religions which are still practiced in Jamaica and which have also influenced Christianity on the island tremendously.Hinduism, too, has influenced many Rastafarian beliefs and practices. Through the Rastafarian's calculated rejection of Western cultural norms they have come to realize capitalism and the environmental destruction it has caused as Babylon, a place of destruction and greed. In order to escape this "Babylon system" a lifestyle has been employed that is focused on a correlation between man and nature. This lifestyle is an environmentally sound ideal that others around the World are only now beginning to strive for.The African TraditionIn order to understand the Rastafarian idealism relating to the environmentwe must first consider the traditions from which it came. In Jamaica, the survival of the African religious tradition can be felt throughout the island. Most clearly this religious tradition is demonstrated by Kumina groups. Kumina is generally accepted as being West African in origin; brought here by the Ashanti.Kumina is based on the belief in a pantheon of gods, mostly non-humanspirits associated with natural forces, the worship of ancestors, a high superstitious quality, and the belief that sometimes human spirits return to the living in the form of duppies or ghosts (Bishton 104,1986.) Among the Ashanti is the belief that everything possesses a soul or sunsum, even non-living objects like rocks. Thus the religion of the slaves believed that, "the entire realm of nature has been endowed with personal life; and every tree or plant, every river or stone, becomes a source of energy or powerwhich ...
