Does your hair hold any spiritual/religious signifigance to you?

[momao]

If so, can you explain a little more in depth what the religious/spiritual signifigance of your hair is? I think this is a fascinating topic, and I'm curious about everyone's experiences!

[auburntressed]

I think there was an old thread about this somewhere...

But no, I’m not religious. I simply have long hair because I love it; and because every time in the past when I have cut my hair, I didn’t feel right. I felt like I wasn’t myself anymore.

Here is the closest I’ll get to my hair having spiritual significance:

Two years ago, I experienced a devastating loss. I considered cutting my hair to help put me in the mindset of starting over fresh with a new identity and a new life. Then I realized that I didn’t want a new identity. I wanted my tragedy to be part of who I am, because I can’t escape it anyways. It will always be there as part of my past. So I decided to keep the same hair that had seen me through it.

Plus I remembered how wretched I always get when I’ve cut my hair in the past, and the last thing I needed was to feel more wretched and lose more of myself.

In retrospect, I am glad I kept my hair. After two years, it would not have grown back to the length that I currently have. I’ve healed and moved on, and I would have been without it if I had cut it.

[Estrid]

I'm not religious, but what started as a "I want long hair because it looks good and is special" has turned into "why cut something that grows".

Maybe I am a spiritual person, despite not being religious? I cut bangs a little more than a year ago and it felt like cutting off a part of my soul. That surprised me a great deal, I wasn't expecting to react that strongly to it, but I did. Now I know that I've come to a point where my hair has become my tie to nature. I feel closer to nature when I let my hair do its thing, when I just let it be.

[Ylva]

I was raised non-religious. In the present, I identify as pagan, but I am still largely non-religious.

I've gone through phases where I've maintained a certain look (for example, I relatively recently had my roots bleached every 6 weeks), worn makeup frequently, worn high heels in everyday life and such things. In the end, I always get bored of it and turn back towards comfort and simplicity again - but in the past, I always thought there was something wrong with that. That I in fact should be doing those things. In recent years, however, it has become evident to me that I am simply not that kind of a person. I yearn for a simple life that doesn't require any specific maintenance other than what can be naturally embedded in my life and doesn't cause me any extra strain.

It has been a long journey to getting to know myself but I've never felt more at peace than I do in the present.

The short story of my long hair is that I isolated myself for a good two years which I spent playing video games. And that's kind of my... style.

If we briefly return to me being pagan, I'm not sure if my hair holds any significance at all in that area of my life. Sure, it looks nice and stereotypical and medieval and whatnot, but I would be just as pagan if I shaved my hair off.

[0xalis]

Spiritual, yes, religious, no. I'm a devout agnostic!

For me my growing hair is evidence that I am still alive and growing, physical evidence of the time that has passed.

Not sure what tribe(s) it comes from, since so much has been homogenized, but many indigenous american people view hair as an extension of the nervous system.
I'm a literal mutt from too many cultures but one of them is Cherokee, (yes for real, not just for "cool points" lmao) so these things interest me.
I think it makes sense even from a scientific standpoint, cat whiskers are literally just thick hairs. Hair are like antennae or whiskers!

Another spiritual aspect of my hair has come about quite recently, I had a growth spurt during my short pregnancy that ended in miscarriage, a silver lining in a very trying time.
Because of this, I can say my baby positively impacted my life, even though I never got to meet them.

[Milady_DeWinter]

I am a deep deep deep atheist - despite being raised somewhat catholic, I always questioned everything. Not spiritual either. So it's a bit no from me.

[cjk]

My hair is neither religious nor spiritual, though in keeping what you said oxalis I have noticed my empathic abilities increasing with greater length.

[Hexen]

If anything, at this point I'd probably say more cultural significance than spiritual/religious specifically.
And I understand that the term 'culture' can encompass both concepts.
Though culture had nothing to do with my initial desire to have it the way it is.
It's just the way I look upon it now that I've grown more informed and accustomed to my ancestry.

[momao]

That's a wonderful story and just what I was looking for! I'm glad that your hair helped you work through such a horrible part of life.

[Ylva]

I think it makes sense even from a scientific standpoint, cat whiskers are literally just thick hairs. Hair are like antennae or whiskers!

I have two hairs growing in the middle of my forehead. I never pluck them out, just trim them and keep them about 5 cm long in the hopes that there is some evolutionary purpose to them. Perhaps one day I will avoid hitting my forehead against something I otherwise wouldn't have seen coming.