What Does Earthstrong Mean?

The tradition of honoring birthdays has its roots in sources as diverse as pagan beliefs, ancient Greek texts and German children's celebrations of the 1700s. Various cultures celebrate birthdays differently like the Chinese tradition of eating long noodles and breaking open the Mexican birthday pinata. People from around the world also put their own linguistic spins on this special day. In Jamaican Rastafarian culture and derivations of the Patois language, “earthstrong” refers to your date of birth.

The Development of a Language

Earthstrong and other Rasta-influenced words come from a long linguistic history. The Rastafarianism spiritual movement and its linguistic background grew in Jamaica after the 1930 coronation of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, followed by the first community in 1940 founded by Leonard Howell. Rastafarians between the 1950s and 1990s developed their own version of the English dialect Jamaican Creole or Patwa, a language that chiefly developed from the interaction of British colonists and African slaves in the 17th century. The Rastafarians' language is known as "Iyaric," and, as Ras Dennis Jabari Reynolds explains in his Jabari Authentic Jamaican Dictionary of the Jamic Language, the language developed in the "spirit of self-determination."

Earthstrong In Use

As a term for birthday, earthstrong -- pronounced “urt-strang” -- focuses on the Iyaric principles of empowerment through words and sounds. While the word “birthday” is literal, referring to the day of your birth, earthstrong alludes to the concept of cultivating a stronger connection with the earth each passing year, where earth means the international community. According to Reynolds' the words “birthstrong” and “earthday” can stand in for earthstrong. Earthstrong may be used much like “birthday” in phrases such as “happy earthstrong, breda,” meaning “brother” or "happy earthstrong, sista,” for the informal “sister.”

More to Know

Earthstrong is not the only Iyaric word that refers to the concept of earth. In fact, earthstrong itself is an “earthical” word, meaning it deals with the power within the earth. Similarly, the term “earthforce” references the mystical or almighty presence of God. Both “earthquake” and “earthwine” play on the natural properties of earth. The first refers to the concept of damnation while the second simply means water especially that of a well or spring.

Other Uses

The 1 Love Earthstrong Festival, a California-based Reggae music concert and celebration of the Caribbean lifestyle, takes its name from the Iyaric word. The festival that originated in 2011 features Jamaican food, art and Rastafarian musical guests like Stephen and Damian Marley.