All Natural Dreadlocks Care how to

Blessed love!

I hope that all Sistren and families are blessed!
I myself am doing okay, taking each day at a time and doing what I can - business, house, homeschooling, the whole shebang.

Today I finally was able to wash Nile's dreads and make her look neat for dance class later - they were just looking dry and in need of a good wash! So I decided to just make a simple little tutorial on how to basically care for dreadlocks. What I do for her i also do for myself but I don't make mine neat I just let them dry. I do it for her because our kind of hair clumps together really easily and I didnt want her to have a massive bongo on her head before she was big enough to really manage such a dread. I only make it neat once a month otherwise it is free and wild when washed and she wears her headscarves when out in public anyways. So it's not that I style up her hair all the time. I just separate and oil her dreads when washed.

Note that it is good not to palm-roll or interlock the dreads at all, or more than every four to six weeks. Salon dreads or "manicured" dreads tend to be thinner than free form dreads, and when they become very heavy, like around waist length, they pop at the root. The root must be thick and tight to support the weight pulling against the scalp. Letting thin weak ones join or fuse will help, as well as tying it up or having a good regular cleaning and oiling regimen. The breakage is inevitable if your roots are not thick enough though.

 Caring for your dreads naturally or in an ital way,  is the best way to go: spring water, aloe vera gel, rosemary water, lime/lemon and natural soap are all you need for the softest cleanest healthiest strongest dreadlocks. Of course I know that most just have to make do

with what you can get readily in your neighbourhood, but it's best to go all natural and forget the commercial shampoos that have cancer causing agents in them.

I use raw Afrikan black soap for both skin and body. It's just a brown-black bar that you tear a piece off of when you are ready. it is water soluble as well.  Black soap you can get at your local rasta culture shop or an afrikan shop! But if you don't have access to buying blacksoap locally and would prefer to order a ready made product I recommend a nice all natural shampoo made by MyCoCreations - it's called Cleanie gel. You can use that for body or hair and you can choose what ingredients you want to add, and it's really affordable and works excellent for an all natural product! I've been using the last of mine of Nile's hair since I got a big chunk of blacksoap.
In trinidad you can get raw blacksoap at various spots in port of spain and at Kamara's culture shop in chaguanas. It costs $25TT per bar or for whole sale about $125 TT which is a great deal!
Same goes for the essential oils - you can get your olive and coconut oil in the grocery and you can
also get the essential oils like lavender, peppermint, tea tree and almond oil from a pharmacy in small glass bottles most times - under $20TT each! otherwise you can just order a bottle of each online and then make a blend and voila you have hair and body oil! your supplies will last by blending.

one more tip I forgot to mention in this tutorial is the aromatherapy scalp rinse - for adults of course because it can burn the eyes and kids wont like it! For a non burning rinse, steep a big bunch of fresh rosemary ( keep a plant for your dread! ) when cool, throw over scalp and dreads that have been washd.  In a big cup of water put 2 drops of rosemary, peppermint or lavender or tea tree oil - no more or it will burn and wont be a pleasant tingle! Pour over scalp, squeeze out water from dreads and wrap in towel turban style. Sit for a while doing nothing or something very quiet while the tingling works on the scalp and opens up your sinuses. I love it!

So here is my tutorial:

JAH Love
Ila

The Timeless Spiritual Sacrament

Greetings and Blessed Love in the Name of the Almighty Creator JAH

Today's post is part of a work I had started on herb and scripture, or the ancient use of herb by the Israelites and Nazirenes. this is part of my introduction which deals with the ancient use of marijuana as a spiritual food of the gods, for enlightenment and connection to the Ivine I.

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred. 

(Solomon in Proverbs 15:17)

          

           There is no question that from the beginning of creation the cannabis plant became the medium through which humanity knew itself to exist in duality: body and spirit, seen and unseen. Whether given to the first Blacks especially by the Creator, or discovered during their quest for materials and food; it is certain that cannabis has always been acquired for its euphoric and thought-provoking powers. “Dr. Ronald K. Siegel…indicates [in his book that] the motivation to achieve altered states of consciousness or moods is [man’s] fourth drive akin to hunger, thirst and sex” (Herer, 2000, p. 73). This is also true for some animals. Henceforth, it is generally agreed that from the time of the very first farmers, ganjah was regarded as the sacred herb of the seed, a sacramental means to commune with JAH, and to gain wisdom and the overstanding of life and our beings.

           Science has discovered that such is possible because Cannabis sativa’s THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) compound binds specifically to a receptor in the brain. These receptor sites are secluded in the areas centralizing man's Higher Consciousness. Because the holy herb only binds to receptors in the brain it is obvious that the premier purpose of marijuana – exclusively the flowering clusters of hemp – is for nurturing the conscience and mind of man and woman by means of enlightenment, rest, healing, peace and euphoria. This is deduced because any and every “medicine” that man ingests must be received by a receptor of the anatomy in order for it to take effect.  Ganjah is specifically for the mind, being the “food of the gods.”

           This scientific fact supports an important Rastafari truth: the holy herb is inhaled so as to absorb and manifest its energy in one’s heavens to bring about spiritual and individual awareness. Herb is used strictly for the development and improvement of self. Rastafari moreover trace our herb usage back to our Afrikan ancestors, namely the Hebrews, making certain links between Israelite practices and the ancient use of cannabis as an enlightener, consecration; and as an internal incense because our glorified Body or holy I is the new Temple of the New Jerusalem.

Cannabis in the form of hashish[1] was employed by every major religion in the ancient world since before the dawn of history until the Dark Ages. Known by the ancients as incense from India’s Indus Valley, it was burned in the temples of Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, as well as in 20,000 censors King Solomon ordered for his temple in Jerusalem…Cannabis was an essential ingredient in many sacramental drinks used by initiates of the ancient Mystery religions. This tradition was passed to alchemical adepts of the Middle Ages (Herer, 2000, p. 270).

           In order to prove the Israelite use of cannabis, we can first begin with the root etymology of the word cannabis.

…The name cannabis is generally thought to be of Scythian origin. Sula Benet in Cannabis and Culture argues that it has a much earlier origin in Semitic languages like Hebrew, occurring several times in the Old Testament. He states that in Exodus 30:23 that God commands Moses to make a holy anointing oil of myrrh, sweet cinnamon, kaneh bosm, and kassia. He continues that the word kaneh bosm is also rendered in the traditional Hebrew as kannabos or kannabus and that the root "kan" in this construction means "reed" or "hemp", while "bosm" means "aromatic". He states that in the earliest Greek translations of the old testament "kan" was rendered as "reed", leading to such erroneous English translations as "sweet calamus" (Exodus 30:23), sweet cane (Isaiah 43:24; Jeremiah 6:20) and "calamus" (Ezekiel 27:19; Song of Songs 4:14).

(The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church: Marijuana and the Bible)

The "m" [in bosm] is a pronounced plural, and the singular kaneh-bos sounds remarkably similar to the modern cannabis. Although often mistranslated as "calamus", the word has been translated as "fragrant-cane" in most modern bibles, and specifically designates the fragrant flowering tops of cannabis (Chris Bennett: Cannabis and the Christ: Jesus used Marijuana).

The Dagga Cult of the Afrikan Bantus believed that their “Holy Cannabis” [Dagga] was brought to Earth by the Gods, in particular from the “Two Dog Star” system that we call Sirius A and B…[The word cannabis] can also be read as “cana;” “reed” and “bi,” “two,” as well as “cana” as in canine; and “bis” meaning two (bi) – “Two Dogs” (Jack Herer, 2000: The Emperor wears no clothes p. 72).

           In other words, in the Ible, where we read sweet calamus or cane, it is supposed to be cannabis. Amidst the various explanations for man’s greatest treasure what certainly stands out is that the term cannabis is thought to be at least of Hebrew Shemite origin.

           The Scythians are related to the Ashkenazim (the latter would have learned the use of the hemp plant and its euphoric flowers from the Israelite traders that moved to their region, and also as they adopted Mosaic ceremonial Laws by State). The harvesting tool called the scythe is named after the Scythians. Historians record that their use of marijuana was often during funeral rituals, as well as for its intoxicating effect during feasts or times of eatery and merriment.

           The Greeks also adopted the use of cannabis mainly from the Egyptians, who they heavily studied and plagiarized. The Greek term “cannabeizein” referred to the inhalation of marijuana smoke from incense burners filled with the most common perfume to date, balsam; as well as frankincense, myrrh and so on. Like frankincense, balsam was one the most famous and ancient perfumes of the world, as well as a preferred perfume of the Hebrews. Balsam is from the terebinth tree family which was Abraham’s favourite tree. It was produced in Judaea, Arabia Felix, and today in the West Indies.

           Therefore, it is clear that culturally the Egyptians, Ethiopians and Hebrews were all closely intertwined; that they naturally shared habits and traditions in close quarters. They were part of the Afrikan blue print that many European nations like the Khazars and  Greeks were built upon. They shared the same cultures when it came to the use of incense, make-up and perfumed oils for one’s body, home, endearment, honour and spirituality.

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[1] Hashish is the sticky resin that coats the marijuana flowers, rolled into a ball or cake and smoked. It is said to be more potent than the flowers.

 

Rastafari guide and Itect,
Ila