Dreadlocks

During our review of the various Rastafari symbols, I found the concept of dreadlocks to be very interesting. Religious hair trend/style is certainly not restricted to Rastafari religion, so I decided to look up other religions with similar preferences towards hair.

Dreadlocks for Rastafari symbolize a combination of many meanings/representations of their religious beliefs and culture. Inspiration for dreadlocks as a hairstyle is primarily African-derived. As combs, scissors, razors, etc. are all Babylonian inventions, it is in rebellious response for the Rastafari to not use such tools and is even instructed in Hebrew religious texts that Rasta followers not cut/comb their hair or beards. Dreadlocks reflect the tangled mane of the Lion of Judah as a representation of the diversion from Babylon. Likewise, the process of growing dreadlocks is as natural a hairstyle as one can have, which follows their practice of a natural lifestyle. The longer one's dreadlocks are illustrates the length of time that person has been a Rasta. The donning of dreadlocks has extended culturally as a symbolic rejection of traditional European hairstyle. It can also be found in other religions including Hinduism.

As for other religions and cultures with restrictions on hair, the results are extensive. In Sikhism, kesh is a practice that requires Sikh followers to never cut their hair or beard as one of the 5 K's in outward expression of perfection of God's creation. Quakers grow beards after they have married, but will never grow a mustache as mustaches were popular among the German soldiers who persecuted their religion before they left for America. The Taliban from the Middle East view long hair as a sign of influence from the west, requiring members to have short hair or using forced haircuts as a method of punishment. Guidelines for hair style/length can be found in the New Testament of the Bible "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering." Many Pentecostal sects have women maintain long hair as a sign of seperation between the sexes and outward expression of devotion to faith.

This is just a handful of examples of the presence of hair's importance in religion and culture. Hair serves as a form of expression and seperation of individuals as belonging to a specific group with corresponding beliefs, practices, and ideals.