Bob and l really got going on the subject of Bro. lvy's
reason for making us priests. We were remembering
all sorts of little tid-bits that suddenly seemed rele-
vant. Something overheard in a conversation between
Ben and Chad that revealed an important disagree-
ment over details of the import operation. Hearsay
"evidence" that the receiver of the import is looking
into the possibility of doing a DIY, outside the Rasta
"hiway". (As mentioned earlier, the Rastas had set up
a network, thirty-some years before, that made it
possible to deliver Kali inside the U.S. after it had
passed thru Customs). Convenient as that arrange-
ment was for those who received the goods, it also
made them dependent on and subordinate to the
Rastas. It cost them much more to do business with
their other suppliers, but with them, everything hap-
pened on their schedule, at a venue selected by them
and secured by them. And they always made plenty
of money, whatever their costs (they were simply
passed on to the consumer) so they tended to favor
situations that left them in total control.
The day after our ordinations, Bob and l were discus-
sing the subject above and how events which might
transpire in the near future could effect GofE and it's
mission, at a place near the river, grassy, shady and
not easily visible from the Compound. A place which
allowed us private discussions and situated in such a
way that we could see those approaching long before
they could clearly hear any of our talk. While not seen
from there, our spot was still less than a couple of
minutes walk from the Compound, making it easy for
the Rastas to locate us if we weren't found there. l
think l've already noted that Bob, and his S.O. were
the most recent addition to our live-in congregants.
They had arrived only a few weeks before Bob and l
went to Jamaica, so l had very little time to get to
know them. But during our trip, Bob and l were sel-
dom out of mutual earshot and l came to know him
pretty well. ln what l thought was a very short time,
he had become an almost puzzlingly ardent support-
er of GofE in general and of me and my guiding phil-
osophy of it in particular. lt seemed to increase by
the day. At some point during our trip, l remember
thinking that before long, he would be more in favor
of GofE and me, than l was! l had to wonder where
he was going with that.
Our discussion had reached such an intensity that
we didn't notice Bro.lvy approaching our spot until
he was less than a hundred feet away. He was ac-
companied by Bro. Calvert and Bro. Wynn. They
were carrying some brightly-colored fabrics and a
couple of crooked shafts that looked like shep-
hard's staffs. lt turned out that these items were
part of our being ordained: The tri-color banners
(red, gold and green) and the staffs (made of
pimento root, tempered above the Rastas' cooking
fires and polished to a hard, high-gloss black finish)
together, constituted The Staff and The Covenant
and connected our spiritual ordinations to the physi-
cal world. After Bro. lvy completed a brief ceremony
which finalized our ordination, he dismissed Calvert
and Wynn and got down to business.
He had decided he said, to make us a gift of two
hundred kilos of manicured buds. It would be ours
to do with as we pleased. lt would be delivered to
our Divisadero St. digs by State-side Rastas in 8
to 10 weeks hence. He would have us understand
he had tons of the stuff, in the ground and out
and profit was not his motive.(He reminded us that
only the year before he had donated, and arranged
the successful delivery of 50 tons of it to Wood-
stock.) He was motivated by a need to have as
many folks experience the wonders of cannabis as
possible, knowing as he did it's myriad benefits
and desiring to share those benefits with us all.
ln San Francisco, 200 kilos could be converted to
a quick $44,000 at one stop and if sold a little at
a time and/or in a less urban venue it could bring
60 or 70 thousand (1971) dollars.
He went on to say (while both Bob and l failed to
find space in the conversation for any response)
that while he (and fellow Blue Mountain rastas)
had no need to convert cannabis to cash, they had
no problem with those who chose that route. From
what he had learned about us (GofE) he felt confi-
dent that his gift would be used to further our
good works. He would be much pleased if we were
able to purchase property on Blue Mountain as a
vacation home for all of our congregation. We'd be
able to visit regularly and work together on pro-
jects, both in Jamaica and the U.S. Both ears of
both of us, perked up; we certainly didn't want to
find ourselves as the new Western States distrib-
utors, but no way would we say no to a fifth of a
ton of Monster Budd finding it's way to our front
door. We both offered our sincerest thanks for his
very generous gift, the moment we could get a
word in (edge-wise and in unison). Without any
encouragement from us, he shared some of the
details: "The Shipment" (TS) in which the gift to
us would be contained, consisted of five very large
burlap bags , each filled with just over 200 Ks of
manicured flowers. They are first placed each in
it's own small boat at the river dock in the Rasta
compound. They descend the north side of Blue
Mountain, entering the Caribbean Sea on the side
of the island opposite Kingston. the five bags re-
unite as they are all loaded onto a high-speed cig-
arette boat for the quick trip to the Yucatan Chan-
nel where they will be met by and lifted onto a
freighter, of legitimate registry,(this accomplished
while both continue sailing) after which they will
pass thru U.S. Customs at New Orleans.
Once in the U.S., each TS is unique. Seldom do
all the bags in a given TS go to the same address
(rock concerts not withstanding). Whatever the
amount or destination each TS is transported and
delivered by Rasta/American brothers who, by
now (as this is written) know all the l-HWYs bet-
ter than l do and even then (with a mere 20-or-so
years experience) spoke, groomed, dressed such
that they appeared to belong. People who
know their jobs, inside and out.And howto do 'em
without raising suspicion. People as dedicated to
putting Kali in the hands of it's users as Billy
Graham is to getting folks to come down front
and sign up. Maybe even more-so. The TS con-
taining our gift bag would all remain in San Fran-
cisco at three discrete addresses.
Let me just say that after Bro. lvy "shared with
us", the whole idea of actually seeing countless
Budds arriving at GofE, considering the system
l'd just had explained to me, seemed much
more likely. Don't get me wrong; we seldom saw
a shortage of good smoke, though sometimes
keeping it at the ready could be burdensome,
financially. A big part of our goal at GofE was
finding ways to reduce or eliminate the prices
of the things we needed. lf stored properly,
correctly-manicured and dehydrated cannabis
keeps well. We could sell half of our bag, use
the proceeds to buy property in Jamaica as well
as one of the properties among some pieces
we'd recently discovered in Yuba county. The
other half-bag would supply smoke to everyone
involved with us for about 9 to 12 weeks and,
given what seemed Bro. lvy's admiration for
us, he might just be willing to set up a regular
delivery for us. ln truth though, we'd have to
wait for him to suggest as much because we
would never ask him to, any more than we
would have asked him for the 200K gift.
Whatever it was that Bro. lvy had in mind for
us, the more familiar we became with him and
his organization, the more we felt good about
future possibilities in our relationship with
them; their works were like those of master
craftsmen, their faith unwavering and their ded-
ication to distributing the sacrament steadfast.
Their rate of successful deliveries over thirty-
plus years: one-hundred percent. Number of
countries in which that rate of success prevail-
ed: 26. Number that fell short of that rate: 0.
Tell me that you wouldn't want to work with
people like the Rastas. But tell me why. Ok,
the Devout Christian thing. From the outset,
some of the GofE staff (me included) thought
that the differences between our respective
approaches to religion might work against us.
We saw the Rastas as EXTREMELY DEVOUT
and ourselves as moderately entertained,
(though at times enraged) by what we saw or
heard from leaders of organized religions.
Certain followers can also be a big pain in the
ass as well, especially the self-appointed
evangelists. Our experience with the Rastas
at Blue Mountain contained none of what we
expected, though. At night services there was
plenty of religious action but during the day
the rastas have plenty of work and no need
for services. We spoke with all the Rastas
there at one time or another and it was never
about religious dogma. World news and poli-
tics usually held sway in our discussions.
Also, don't forget our mutual admiration of
cannabis.
When Bro. lvy had returned to the compound,
Bob and l started talking at the same time,on
the same subject. One we had visited little
since our trip began: How will this trip bene-
fit GofE and it's members? At this point it
seemed there would be solid benefits that we
couldn't have imagined a couple of weeks
earlier, but had the potential to make large
changes in our lives. At that time we didn't
begin to imagine how big.
end of Visit withRastas in Jamaica 8
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