The Promise Key
Encyclopedia
The Promise Key is a Rastafari movement
tract by Leonard P. Howell
, a Jamaica
n preacher. Published around 1935 under Howell's Hindu pen name G.G. Maragh [for Gong Guru], meaning "teacher of famed wisdom", the tract bears some close similarities to an earlier (1926) writing by Fitz Balintine Pettersburg
, the Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy
, but omitting much of the stream-of-consciousness language, long opaque abbreviations, and repetition.
Some lines of The Promise Key were taken verbatim from Royal Parchment Scroll; for example, the slogan "Gross beauty is the Queen in hell" may be found in both works, as part of a general condemnation of western aesthetics.
Most significantly, the identities of "King Alpha and Queen Omega" were transposed from Fitz Balintine Pettersburg and his wife, as in the Royal Parchment Scroll, to Emperor Haile Selassie
and Empress Menen Asfaw
. This was one of the key innovations of the Howellites, and is today an article of faith of Rastafari.
In 1933, Howell started to preach that Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
(Ras Tafari) was the Messiah, that Black people were the chosen people, and would soon be repatriated to Ethiopia. He soon attracted the attention of the colonial authorities, and was arrested in December 1934 for sedition. In March 1935 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment, when he apparently wrote The Promise Key. After he was released he published a newspaper called "The People's Voice". In 1954, his commune was raided and much literature, including copies of this book, were burned. Howell was found dead under suspicious circumstances in February 1981.
Rastafari movement
The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...
tract by Leonard P. Howell
Leonard Howell
Leonard Percival Howell , known as The Gong or G.G. Maragh , was a Jamaican religious figure. According to his biographer Hélène Lee, Howell was born in an Anglican family...
, a Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n preacher. Published around 1935 under Howell's Hindu pen name G.G. Maragh [for Gong Guru], meaning "teacher of famed wisdom", the tract bears some close similarities to an earlier (1926) writing by Fitz Balintine Pettersburg
Fitz Balintine Pettersburg
Rev. Fitz Balintine Pettersburg was a proto-Rastafari preacher, author of the Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy, published in 1926....
, the Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy
Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy
The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy, published in 1926 by a proto-Rastafari preacher, Fitz Balintine Pettersburg, is of historical and religious significance to followers of the Rastafari movement. Along with The Holy Piby, it is today recognized as one of the root documents of Rastafari...
, but omitting much of the stream-of-consciousness language, long opaque abbreviations, and repetition.
Some lines of The Promise Key were taken verbatim from Royal Parchment Scroll; for example, the slogan "Gross beauty is the Queen in hell" may be found in both works, as part of a general condemnation of western aesthetics.
Most significantly, the identities of "King Alpha and Queen Omega" were transposed from Fitz Balintine Pettersburg and his wife, as in the Royal Parchment Scroll, to Emperor Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Haile Selassie I , born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974...
and Empress Menen Asfaw
Menen Asfaw
Empress Menen Asfaw was the wife and consort of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Empress Menen was the daughter of Asfaw, Jantirar of Ambassel...
. This was one of the key innovations of the Howellites, and is today an article of faith of Rastafari.
In 1933, Howell started to preach that Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
(Ras Tafari) was the Messiah, that Black people were the chosen people, and would soon be repatriated to Ethiopia. He soon attracted the attention of the colonial authorities, and was arrested in December 1934 for sedition. In March 1935 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment, when he apparently wrote The Promise Key. After he was released he published a newspaper called "The People's Voice". In 1954, his commune was raided and much literature, including copies of this book, were burned. Howell was found dead under suspicious circumstances in February 1981.
Quotes
- "In King Alpha's Encyclopedia he will explain to us all, how worlds are being built and upon what trigger Kingdoms are set on. He will also explain to us the capacities of generations."