Little Known Facts About Rastafarians

I went to the doctor recently for my annual checkup.  I have numerous precancerous spots on my body, so my doctor wanted to do a complete check.  I was lying there, when the doctor says to me, "Next time don't wear nailpolish on your toes."  I wondered why, and he goes on to tell me that he needs to look at my toes and toenails.  Did I know that Bob Marley died from cancer because he refused to have his toe amputated? he said.  No, I had never heard that.  Marley had cancer of the toe, and because of his beliefs, he would not amputate his toe, which may have saved his life.

I couldn't wait to get home and look up more about Rastafarianism after what the doctor told me.  Rastafari is called both a philosophy and a religion.   Most of us think of Bob Marley when we hear people talk about Rastafaris.  The philosophy believes in an Ital diet.  Ital comes from the word vital.  It is mainly a vegetarian diet, with no processed foods.  Rastafarians believe in keeping the body pure.  Long hair, dreadlocks, is part of this belief.  No tattoos either.  The Rastafari philosophy became popular in the 1930"s, in Jamaica.

Rastafaris are not a mainstream religion.  In fact, I was at the dog park talking about Rastafaris, and not a single person there knew what they were.  We had a doctor, teacher, engineer, and social worker present, and no one knew what a Rastafarian was.  I assumed that everyone who knew Bob Marley also knew his religion/philosophy.  Anyway, the doctor gave me a thorough going over, checking toes, bottom of my feet, and my scalp.  If I hadn't been wearing nailpolish on my toes, I never would have found out this interesting tidbit about Bob Marley, and you probably wouldn't have either.