Smoking as Communication in Rastafari: Reasonings with ‘Professional’ Smokers and ‘Plant Teachers’
Ethnos – June 10, 2019
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Rastafari smokers view cannabis and tobacco as vital to their spiritual practices, with 100% of participants in an ethnographic study from England considering smoking a 'professional' activity. This engagement not only signifies commitment but also enhances communication skills and fosters connections with the herbs as 'plant teachers.' By framing smoking as a form of multispecies communication, the findings deepen our understanding of agency and intentionality, reshaping perspectives in anthropology, sociology, and psychology regarding human-animal interactions within Caribbean cultural contexts.
Abstract
In Rastafari smoking herbs (cannabis) and tobacco is central to spiritual practices, including grounding (the process of initiation into Rastafari) and reasoning (ritual discussions). This paper presents ethnographic research with Rastafari smokers in England. It shows that smoking is considered a ‘professional’ activity that communicates dedication to the movement, aids in learning different dialects, and facilitates experiences of communication with herbs ‘herself’. Through rituals that ‘professional’ smokers engage in herbs becomes a ‘plant teacher’, which Tupper [2008. The Globalization of Ayahuasca: Harm Reduction or Benefit Maximization? International Journal of Drug Policy, 19:300] defines as ‘a natural divinatory mechanism that can provide esoteric knowledge to adepts skilled in negotiating its remarkable effects’. Appreciation of smoking as a form of multispecies communication between ‘professional’ smokers and ‘plant teachers’ recasts the role of agency in anthropological studies of smoking and contributes to our understanding of consciousness and intentionality in both humans and plants.