Symbolic hair cuts

[Heddwen]

Recently a Wiccan friend of mine told me that he had his hair cut for Samhain. This made me wonder whether there are any historical (or otherwise) references to hair cutting at all. Is it a sacred act or a relatively new custom?

[Lily]

in many religions there are traditions dealing with ritual cutting or defacement of hair. If you mean celtic tradition, beats me.

I think it has to do with hair being an important sign of health, thus sexual prowess, strength and outward beauty.

[Dathi]

Hi Heddwyn,

There is some discussion related to this here:
http://www.druidry.org/board/dhp/viewto ... =2&t=37568

Personally, I have a bit of a haircut "ritual". When facing a big challenge or when I have a big "thinking" job to do, I go and get a brush-cut beforehand. Seems to work (although now days, there is not much of a difference between a No 2, and the normal state

Did a quick Google and came up with this. Sacred Hair Balancing, my goodness, must try that! http://www.sacredhealingservices.com/sa ... ancing.php

Cheers,

Dathi

[Lily]

wow. people do project a lot of stuff into hair, it seems.
in our parts it's a common belief that if you cut your hair in the ascending moon phase (nothing to do with waxing/waning) it will keep growing strong. Or was that descending... oh well.

[RedSky]

Hmmm, mythological haircuts.. Samson of course, Achilles cut his hair in mourning.
Aphrodite
Bernice II of Egypt the Hellenistic queen was said to have sacrificed her hair to Aphrodite.


link here http://thehistoryofthehairsworld.com/ha ... ology.html been to the link, it looks safe, haven't verified content much of which is new to me. Wow, more than i ever thought I wanted to know about hair. Thanks for opening this up to me.

redsky

[DaRC]

Hmmm so when will we all be spiking our hair with lime and body painting with woad
Or to go as far as some of the Eastern Germanic tribes which practiced head shaping.

However, much less radically, I grow my beard from Samhuin to Eostre. Mostly because when I cycle to work the frost hurts my face without the beard.
It also means I get an instant ten years younger look every spring when I shave it off!

[Heddwen]

Thanks folks Well at least that lot gives me a selection of haircuts to be thinking about. Not that I am THAT experimental!
I think its more to do with changing image to mark a season or life event, such as weight loss for a wedding,or a new image for turning 40 perhaps. I don't think I'm ready for the woad and lime look just yet though

[Reyna]

oooooooo GREAT POST! I'm debating on getting my hair cut soon-I always said I'd cut it when I reached a certain weight goal as a reward but...yeah...its been four years and I'm still not there. My hair's gotten so dry and nasty looking that I get a little bummed when I look in the mirror (and about all I can do with it is wrap it in a bun or ponytail, its so long and shapeless). Maybe I can combine hair cutting and the moon and solstice

I'm all for lime and woad! Except...if I leave this mess long there's not enough lime in the world to spike it, and if I cut it short I'll look like I stuck my finger in a light socket...or was that the point? hmmm

[Muddy Fox]

I have longish hair at the moment, but may have it cut off at some point. And I know what you mean by hair going dry and lank Reyna, but I have found a good deep conditioing hair mask that seems to help. I did read somewhere that putting yoghurt on your hair helps as well, and getting the right vitamins and minerals in your diet.

[Reyna]

I'll give yogurt a try, the problem is I don't know what I want to do with it (medium, short, bangs, layers) other than to get the dry yuck off. My diet has gotten a lot better in the past year but I haven't seen a big improvement. Since hair is dead would a change in diet now fix the dry yuck part? (I'm thinking no but...)

[Muddy Fox]

No it won't fix the dry yuck part now, but will promote healthy new growth, hopefully. If mine gets too bad, and I don't want to be too drastic in a style change, I have it layered through and the ends trimmed.

[Badger Bob]

I was going to grow my hair long again for the winter but until it reaches about a foot long it just goes into an eraserhead-style up-do. I'm not sure I can cope with a year of looking like the bride of Frankenstein.

As for cutting hair, in classical sources it is sometimes associated with mourning so Samhain would be a good time for a haircut in that respect. I know that in other cultures (modern Greece, Hinduism?) the hair is specifically not cut when in mourning, for up to a year. So you can pretty much take yer pick!

Rimmer: As my father always said, "Shiny clean boots and a spanking short haircut, and you can cope with anything." He said that just before that rather unfortunate suicide business.