Many cultures around the world, from Native Americans to The Greeks, believe that hair has a special significance.
Cultural beliefs about our hair and how it can affect us go back as far as recorded history. Many ancient cultures believed there is power in uncut hair.
In the Old Testament, the Nazirites would go for long periods of time without cutting their hair to show devotion to God. Samson is one example, his strength depended upon his hair, if it was cut he would lose his strength.
Strict orthodox Judaism forbids men from cutting their sidelocks, but other hair may be kept as desired. Hair is not cut during a time of mourning. The Torah in Deuteronomy 14:1 prohibits removing hair in mourning for the dead.
Muslims regard the Prophet Muhammad as the best example to live by, and try to emulate him whenever possible.
The Islamic Prophet Muhammad reportedly had long hair and he also described Jesus as "having long hair reaching his ear lobes.
In ancient Greece, long male hair was a symbol of wealth and power, while a shaven head was appropriate for a slave.
The ancient Greeks had several gods and heroes who wore their hair long, including Zeus, Achilles, Apollo, and Poseidon. Greek soldiers are said to have worn their hair long in battle for extra strength.
In the European middle ages, shorter hair often signified servitude and peasantry, while long hair was often attributed to freemen, as was the case with the Germanic Goths. The Vikings believed that their hair gave them strength and power from their Gods.
In ancient China and Korea, hair was regarded as a precious legacy passed down from parents. Most people would never cut their hair after they became adults.
Long hair was important to a warrior in China and having it cut would bring him great shame. Cutting off someone's hair was used as a form of punishment.
In medieval Japan, gentleman were not very interested in a woman's physical beauty and rarely had an opportunity to see it. The only physical attribute of interest was a woman's hair, which had to be thick and longer than she was tall.
Native Americans beliefs around long hair are tied to the earth and nature. The long hair has symbolic significance tying them to mother earth whose hair is long grasses.
Many Native Americans believe their hair is a physical manifestation in the growth of the spirit, and some say it allows for extrasensory perception, and connection to all things.
The Sikhs were commanded by Guru Gobind Singh at the Baisakhi Amrit Sanchar in 1699 to wear long uncut hair called Kesh at all times to signify the strength and vitality of the Sikh people.
There is a lot of variation in the shape and texture of modern human hair. Broadly speaking, African hair is mainly coiled and dry as it was 300 thousand years ago.
Asian hair is straighter and thicker and European hair is somewhere in between due to their Neanderthal DNA they inherited when Homo Sapiens entered Eurasia.
A Neanderthal inheritance of straight, thick hair may have helped modern humans to adapt to non-African environments. Straighter, think hair tends to be more oily is insulating, which would have been an advantage in colder northern latitudes.
Somewhere along the line, the hair mankind inherited from Neanderthals transformed into a significant meaning for humans and has continued on to this day.
When African slaves were freed in America, they struggled to reach the social status of whites. Many former slaves tried to change their hairstyles as part of this struggle.
African women, especially felt pressure to make their hair long and straight, rather than keeping the tightly coiled style they had known.
