The Truth About Hair & why Native Indians would keep their hair long

reply to post by DerepentLEstranger


i wore my hair long in the sixties and i got a lot of stick from the older generation so i used to reply with the following .

men have worn their hair long thoughout history it was only since the first and second world wars that men started to cut their hair shorter because of the problem with fleas and lice plus a secondary reason was that it reduced the risk of the enemy grabing it in hand to hand combat.
this was also the reason why the romans was required to shave off facial hair .

so in a nutshell all the above came from the military .

reply to post by JibbyJedi


Sensory has nothing to do with hair in terms of spiritual energy, but the size of your energy body does. Anything that steps within your energy body range can be felt and detected. This is why many monks and martial artists close their eyes, to feel out where interferences are in their vibrational field. Hair only senses physical contact, or energy that is very close to the body, hence your hair standing on end near static electricity.

Originally posted by k1k1to
if what you say about hair length is true...then why are 95% of women so naive,bossy,controling, and bitchy all the time?

As a coincidence, the other 5% happen to be everywhere I go. Are they following me?
I must be soo attractive

I've known some really brilliant guys with long hair, and I've known some really dumb ones. Same with short hair, and every length inbetween. And I've worn my own hair both long and short. As far as I can tell it makes no difference in intelligence, perception or sensitivity; it's more about style or a personal statement to most people.

Originally posted by DerepentLEstranger
not to mention Michelangelo's depiction of the ancient of days upon the sistine chapel
wich is the image that most comes to mind for most when thinking of god in the west

There's not much in the way of physical descriptions of God in the Bible, mostly it says He cannot be viewed because it would overwhelm us, but there is this description in Daniel which sounds a lot like the Sistine Chapel depiction:

Daniel 7:9
“As I looked, thrones were set in place,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
and its wheels were all ablaze.

Although not hair exactly, cutting whiskers in rats seems to amount to sensory deprivation and detrimental changes in the brain.
www.ratbehavior.org...
Perhaps increased human hair length renders people more sensitive to their surrounding environment.

when I have long hair I seem to be more hungry then when I have short hair.

I'm intrigued-- not convinced, but it fits in the category of speculation I have been pursuing.

I started growing my hair out at the same time as my diagnosis with PTSD.

I cannot figure out why I did that, and why it became important to me.

Is it rebellion against society?
Is it embracing the "me?"
Is it that I like the way I look when it is long?

So, two months ago, I cut it back to military length (not recruit-- just professional length). The feeling of being hunted increased dramatically.

I am letting it grow back out. The Samson story has come to mind, often. There is something spiritual about hair and its length, but I cannot identify why I am certain of this.

When I first grew it out a few years ago, one of my buddies said that he and others had commented about it, and decided that instead of being seen as "long" they decided I had a "mane" and it fit me; then, mixing metaphors, said, some of our circle of friends considered me the "old gray back."

I did not say so, but my friend's words immediately brought about a memory of the way I envisioned the character, "Sam the Lion" in Larry McMurtry's, The Last Picture Show. Ben Johnson played him in the movie, but in the book he was described as having a white mane of hair. Mine is salt and pepper with a bit silver-- not sure I'll live long enough to see it white.

If it somehow serves in a hunting (or hunted) aspect, that fits just as well as the spiritual-- because it is difficult, sometimes, to separate intuition from spiritual experiences.

I'm a city-boy, but have always, since very young, slipped off into the woods whenever I could because I feel safer there-- like the animals, birds and maybe even the trees... watch with me. I can relax. And the hair-- maybe it is a part of this-- maybe it helps direct hearing, senses the vibrations my ears cannot.

And then, just to toss another item into the discussion pot, I have thought how some monks shave their heads or at least wear tonsures, and yet other religious refuse to cut parts of their hair (Nazarites and the Hasdic Jews)-- it means something, and ancient wisdom seems to have understood it-- but I do know what it means, or why I feel compelled to wear it long.

Originally posted by apacheman
If the original story is true, I would suspect that the difference had more to do with culture shock than hair length.

Thats something that nobody else had mentioned.
If the subjects of this experiment honestly and deeply believed that long hair was essential to their ability, and had "known" this cultural story all their lives, then chopping it off would easily be enough to stop them performing well due to the belief alone.
Belief is a powerful thing - many experiments back this up.

Although over told and embellished the story of Samson is telling. Delilah finally found the key to his strength and shore his head. He was still strong maybe, but the hair gave him that something extra. Maybe it is just confidence? Pride male Lions have the thickest mains and it is a show of strength, a sign of age and experience to others. Maybe that is all it does is induce fear in rivals. Not according to the studies done in Nam though.
In the studies it had something to do with the "sixth sense" and "awareness".

"Arise Samson, the Philistines are upon you."

reply to post by JibbyJedi


Yes.....I've noticed a difference in me.
In June was hospitalized. I didn't shave finally the itchiing stopped. Now my beard is not a bother to me. No need to shave and scrape my face and neck with a sharp blade.

I haven't cut my hair for about a year, as well.

I have found I am a much calmer and and sane person, now.

I'm not going to cut my hair or shave my face anymore.

In France it is illegal to cut the whiskers that grow on a horses chin.( Of course you only get caught and fined if you take part in any shows or competitions) It causes them problems in choosing their food (between good grasses and bad ones, that which they need and that which is poisonous), and it causes behavioral problems.

It sounds like what this article suggests is being misunderstood, when we see mentions in responses like being "more intelligent", or else I misunderstood it! I thought it refered to heightened sense of subtle exterior changes in the environment and others. . Which can result in quicker and more efficent reflexes and responses to the exterior and others.

The more I think about it, the more I percieve examples which would indicate some truth to it.
What can be misleading is the assumption that that is somehow automatically desireable to all people! Perhaps a person can wish to develop that, but another might not.
For some people, or at some times in their life, being closed and less influenced by others and the exterior is more desireable. It results in a more stable and predictable character and sense of self. It facilitates undetered focus upon a goal or vision.

When a woman decides to make a radical change in her life, like breaking up with a guy, or quitting a situation in which she feels she has been dominated, coerced, repressed..... what is the first thing she often does?

Haircut. I've watched my girlfriends trying to break out of an addiction to a man go from long hair to short hair in a day and claim that it gave them a huge feeling of freeing herself from her past and starting with a blank slate.

And though being in a situation where enemies are capable of sneaking up on you in the night would make such a sensitivity desireable, if involved in fighting which is fairly upfront and organized, such a sensitivity to others would be not desireable- you wouldn't want your soldier to be very sensitive to others and be distracted by their empathy.

The hypothesis that the result this article claims could indicate a simple difficulty in adapting to culture shock sounds pretty reasonable, but could be countered with the experiements and results of having two native americans put in the same circumstances, one with hair cut off, one who kept it, and seeing radically different results- despite both being thrown into the midst of a very different culture. This article claims that was the case.

Originally posted by Bluesma
I think it is thought provoking.
I have gone through times of my life with very short hair, and times of very long hair, and I must admit there is a correlating difference in how I was experiencing the world at those times.
The short hair times do not correlate with a sensitivity to the physical world, they go hand in hand with times of a spiritual enlightenment that is more of inner introspection and self awareness,
Whereas my long hair times go with times of intense sensitivity to the exterior world and awareness of other.

So I wouldn't see it as necessarily being spiritual or non-spiritual, and do not think the hypothesis would rule out monks who shave their heads, for example. Whether one delves deeply into awareness of other and exterior, or self awareness and interior, ultimately they always lead back to each other in extremis (know theyself, you shall know other/ know other and you shall know thyself).

Interesting hypothesis, anyway.

Is it possible this is a chicken -- egg issue? Rather than the length of hair making the difference, it's wholly possible that you had your hair at different lengths because of a difference in you that was already there. Rather than the hair making the difference.

But there's plenty of native tribes with short hair who still hunt and need to be good trackers. Australian aboriginies, Kalahari bushman in Afirca etc. They have no problem though they've short hair.

From the OP link:

Hair is an extension of the nervous system, it can be correctly seen as exteriorized nerves.

Nerves that feel no pain when you cut them. Of course! How on earth did we never realize this before?

Originally posted by Astyanax
From the OP link:

Hair is an extension of the nervous system, it can be correctly seen as exteriorized nerves.

Nerves that feel no pain when you cut them. Of course! How on earth did we never realize this before?

Some people miss the obvious to you.

This is one of those, " threads like this, are why I come to ATS " threads.
hair

Samson was said to draw strength from God thru his hair.

I suspect its more of a cultural thing.

over the years have met and studied with various monks at times all shave their heads.
up until made the mistake of going into the military when was young and stupid wore my hair in the traditional japanese manner.. after went in had to cut it. when got out took to shaving my head and still do. am fully aware of my surroundings at all times.. can tell without looking around me exactly how many people and animals are around along with their mood/intentions - one of many reasons why I hate cities / crowded places.
between practicing martial arts and meditation the ability has grown stronger over the years.
lastly women love bald guys

reply to post by JessopJessopJessop



Yes, that could be possible too. I meant to state a correlation, not causation (did I not use that word? I don't remember)
checked to see- yes I did. I chose my words carefully.

Originally posted by Astyanax

Nerves that feel no pain when you cut them. Of course! How on earth did we never realize this before?

The suggestion was that vibration travels along the hair shaft, and stimulates the nerves in the scalp.


There are nerve fibers which run alongside and parallel to the hair follicle. Many mechanoreceptors are around hair follicles (these are touch receptors).

It is useful to consider that like hair, and nails, the outer layers of the epidermis are dead cells too ! And yet we feel through them, they transmit pressure and vibration to the nerve receptors.

In fact a simple experiment could be to see how vibration travels through a layer of flat material (as skin is) compared to how well it is transmitted through a string or thin wire ! Maybe even seeing if there is a difference between a short wire and a long one.