The Rastafarian Christmas
The following articel was originally published in the 24th December 2006 edition of The Sunday Mirror, Harare. The video depicts an Ethiopian hymn celebrating the Birth of Christ.
በተሳብ ቂዱስ The Blessed Virgin Maryam and Her Son
Lidät – the Rastafarian Christmas
Christmas as the saying goes, means different things to different people.
Even so, being the only Rastafarian in my wide circle of friends and family, my way of marking this occasion remains something of an enigma. I get many cards, and presents, but I never return the gesture. I also decline to attend Christmas parties. Then, in the first week of January, those of my people that are online get e-cards with the Amharic Greeting, Inkwan lalidätu baal badahna adarrasaw (lit. “Congratulations, to the Birth of Him the feast in safety He has brought you”)
And so, it emerges that Rastafarians do celebrate the Birth of Christmas, except that it’s not called Christmas and it’s not celebrated on the 25th of December. It is called Lidät, an Amharic word meaning “Birthday”. Because the Amharic language has its own alphabet, you will sometimes find this spelt as Ledet or Lidet as there is no standard transliteration in Western letters.
Already, it is clear from the name that the origin of this custom is Ethiopia, the spiritual home of Rastafari. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, one of the oldest Christian Churches in the world, has been celebrating the Birth of Christ on the 7th of January long before European Christendom even came up with its own version of Christmas. In the light of the on-going controversy about the exact date, let me hasten to mention that the Orthodox Church does not claim that this was the day Jesus was born. Rather, the Feast was instituted by the Three Kings who arrived in Bethlehem on this day and paid homage to the Infant Christ.
“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him,” Gospel of Matthew 2:1-2.
Further testament of the particular importance of Lidät is found in a prophecy of the visit if these Three Kings, dating from the time of the Patriarch Adam, who was given their gifts as a consolation after his expulsion from Eden. Read more
