Abrahamic · branch
Rastafari
God — Jah — present within the person rather than above them, reached through reasoning together rather than through clergy, and lived out in ital diet and an African diasporic identity. Non-creedal by construction, so the dispersions are wide almost everywhere.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional actFurther toward "an intentional act" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B3 Institutional authorityleaning individual conscience decidesFurther toward "individual conscience decides" than most traditions in the matrix.
- A4 Locusfully present within itFurther toward "fully present within it" than most traditions in the matrix.
- A2 Personhooda personal being one can addressFurther toward "a personal being one can address" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly existsRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 1.00 | 0.06 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | a personal being one can addressRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.85 | 0.12 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | leaning strictly oneRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.18 | 0.12 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | fully present within itRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.92 | 0.10 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experienceRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.58 | 0.16 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | between literal and binding and metaphorical, or no text at allRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.38 | 0.16 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | leaning individual conscience decidesRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.78 | 0.12 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | leaning continues in some formRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.78 | 0.20 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | leaning one life, then judgmentRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.30 | 0.20 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | leaning ignorant but fundamentally soundRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.65 | 0.14 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | between given as grace and achieved by effort or insightRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.60 | 0.16 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | between essential and prescribed and optional or absentRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.42 | 0.16 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | between to be disciplined and to be celebratedRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.58 | 0.15 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | between one true path and many valid pathsRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.55 | 0.18 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | an intentional actRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.05 | 0.06 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | leaning a people, inheritedRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.35 | 0.16 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | animate and itself sacredRastafari oral tradition, the Holy Piby, and Chevannes’ ethnography | 0.85 | 0.10 |
Further reading
- Chevannes, Rastafari: Roots and Ideology — The ethnographic basis for most of this row.
- Barrett, The Rastafarians — Livity, ital and the I-and-I formulation behind A4.
Compared with
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.