Issue #2
Feb. 9th 2001
The Light of the Trinity ...by Menelyk
Concerning the Sign which Solomon gave the Queen …
“And the Queen rejoiced, and she went forth in order to depart, and the King set her on her way with great pomp and ceremony. And Solomon took her aside so that they might be alone together, and he took off the ring that was upon his little finger, and he gave it to the Queen, and said unto her,
‘Take [this] so that thou mayest not forget me. And if it happen that I obtain seed from thee, this ring shall be unto it a sign; and if it be a man child he shall come to me; and the peace of god be with thee! Whilst I was sleeping with thee I saw many visions in a dream, [and it seemed] as if a sun had arisen upon Israel, but it snatched itself away and flew off and lighted up the country of Ethiopia; peradventure that country shall be blessed through thee; God knoweth. And as for thee, observe what I have told thee, so that thou mayest worship God with all thy heart and perform His Will'…..." - Kebra Negast,(Chapter 31).
This is the stuff Legends are made of.
Sometime after the assassination attempt on his life, whilst living in temporary exile outside of Jamaica, Bob Marley was paid a visit by the Crown Prince of Ethiopia. Prince Asfa Wosen Haile-Selassie, who himself at the time had also been recently exiled from his home following the Mengistu-led military overthrow of the Imperial Crown, met with Bob at one of his homes and presented him with a gift on behalf of his father, H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I. The gift was a ring bearing in gold the symbol of the Emperors of Ethiopia- a crowned lion bearing a cross, signifying the Christian religion of the empire. Indeed the King of Kings of Ethiopia had long been known to the world as the Conquering Lion of Judah, a title popularized by Emperor Menelik II in his correspondence with the nations of the West.
The Prince sat and conferred with Bob in private for some time, what was said is unknown. It is said that he told Bob that this ring was a personal possession of their father, one which he had worn frequently. Perhaps he told Bob of the history of the ring, that it had been passed from generation to generation, from Emperor to Emperor, and from Father to Son since the time of Queen Makeda of Sheba. Or perhaps he delivered a personal message from the Emperor assuring Bob that he had been loved as a son by HIM who he had called father from a far.
Yet what was said and what is unknown is of little importance. What we do know is that Robert Nesta Marley gave voice to the words of the living King. He carried an ancient message, which mankind forgets so quickly and easily time after time, to a new generation. And at a time when his own people were being tossed and driven by the angry storms of political change, the last monarch of the world’s oldest empire bore witness to the rise of a movement destined to shake the very foundations of the Earth.
And when the angel appeared with his trumpet there was silence in the heavens and he spoke with a dreadful voice saying,
“Greetings in the name of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, JAH RASTAFARI”
What greater gift can the son give the father than to do great things in his name? Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned Emperor Haile Selassie I on November 2nd 1930. His name translates literally meaning ‘The Power of the Trinity”. Fifty years later in November of 1980, Robert Nesta Marley was baptized into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church with the name Berhane Selassie. It means “The Light of the Trinity”. Follow the LIGHT and it will guide you to the source of its POWER.
“And if it happen that I obtain seed from thee, this ring shall be unto it a sign; and if it be a man child he shall come to me; and the peace of god be with thee!”.... Solomon, King of Israel.
ETHIOPIA TIMES Vol.1
