Hair as Communication with the Divine

 

I've never excelled at styling my hair. For most of my life, I left it long and hanging in whatever state it happened to be. There were a few times I had it cut short which required more styling finesse than I have been want to give. Only a handful of years was I willing to use styling products, and, for about ten years, I insisted on dyeing my hair, partly due to it graying and a few times for fun. 

Generally, hair, as both secular and religious history calls it, is a woman's "crowning glory." I'm not sure what led me to my search, but I became interested in hair coverings for women according to the Bible. Why have so many religions or denominations required a head covering for women? That search led me to all things hair particularly when I found a Nazarite's vow seemed to be rather similar to the requirements for a woman's haircare. 

First off, I've spent my entire life with the understanding that Nazarites were a separate religious group from biblical text when, in reality, it refers to anyone (aka Jew) who made a certain vow of purification to God. When a Nazarite is specified, the Hebrew word נֵזֶר, nēzer (H5145), a masculine noun, has been used. The etymological root comes from נָזַר, nāzar, verb (H5144). While the first, nēzer, can refer to crown and hair (as in our crowing glory), both words encapsulate the idea of a separation from worldly desire and a consecration or dedication of the self to the Lord.

Neither of the above words, however, are used as the first mention of hair. Technically, it's an assumed usage coming from עֵז, ʿēz (H5795), meaning the hair of a goat. But, how does that relate? Well, Exodus here happens to be talking about the Tabernacle and spinning goats' hair for the making of curtains for its sides and the tent that will cover it. (The Tabernacle was constructed as a place for the Lord to dwell among the people. Its function was no longer needed when Christ was crucified and resurrected). The goat, in the time of the Old Testament, had been an accepted sacrificial offering. The last presumed mention of goat's hair can be found in Revelation 6:12 under the Greek τρίχινος or trichinos referring to the material sackcloth (a symbol of mourning) is made from. I say presumed because, traditionally, goat hair was used in its production but camel hair was also. 

In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul writes about the importance of the covering on the head. When men cover their heads, it dishonors God but if a woman leaves her head uncovered, it dishonors God and her husband. Is this a misogynistic rhetoric on the part of Paul or is there something more happening here? One thing to point out is Paul specifies, in that same chapter, that "if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering" (KJV). And, if we know anything about those who took the nēzer vow, men aren't allowed to cut their hair. So, to review: 

1. Men cannot grow out their hair because it dishonors God but, if having taken the vow, it will then honor God

2. Women cannot cut their hair, for if they do, it'll dishonor God. Also, her hair is the covering; thus, a covering will not be needed to cover the covering.

A wee bit confusing, isn't it? For this to make any sense, we probably should start with an understanding of masculine and feminine from the perspective of energy. Masculine energy is active, logical, asserts, directs, and contains. Feminine energy, on the other hand, receives and is intuitive, fluid, creative, and nurturing. According to the Bible, the Lord directs the man, but the man directs the woman ("the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God," 1 Corinthians 11:3). In able to understand this from a contemporary, post-feminist-movement world, seeing this from that energy perspective can help. The feminine receives ideas and intuitive impulses in order to create and nurture those around her. The masculine directs that energy into a more focused, logical, and assertive manner directed outward into the world. It contains the feminine because this energy resides in the space of the external as movement forward, whereas the feminine resides in the space within, the internal. 

In the above context, man, as masculine energy revealed, resides in the space of the external, the world that can sully the godly man. Woman, as the feminine component, resides in the home, the internal. She is contained within and, therefore, remains holy. If the man (masculine) must interact within a world that revels in consumerism, falsehoods, and sin (basically, being without God) then a nēzer vow would become imperative periodically to cleanse himself of his impurity. He would become like a woman, adorned with a head covering (uncut hair growth) to reprogram his holiness and rededicate or reconsecrate himself to God. The Nazarite vow emulates a separation from the world and all worldly things. The priestly caste was required to maintain these holy orders according to Leviticus 21:5 and 19:27. Before Samuel and Samson of the Old Testament were even conceived, there was a vow made by their mothers to never allow a razor to touch their heads (1 Samuel 1:11 & Judges 13:5). Both were Judges (or magistrates) and both raised according to that vow. Samuel began serving with the Levite priests as a young boy and went on to become a priest and prophet. Samson, on the other hand, began breaking his vows as a young man, first by insisting on marrying a woman from an uncircumcised (unholy) people. When Delilah (not his bride) cut Samson's hair, he lost his strength due to his vow to God (the third one, mind you) being defiled (Judges 16:19). Not only was the cutting of one's hair an act of separation from God while observing the nēzer but to have one's hair ripped or shaved off while not under this vow was a visible shaming of sins committed. This idea then presents us with a double entendre. Samson had been breaking his vows continuously since his marriage (as shown by his affair with Delilah) so the shearing of his locks operates as an act of shaming.

Judgment of one's place with God was seen in the hair. "And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair: (Ezekiel 5:1). This command went on to allude to how their sins would cast the lots of their death. The spiritual significance of the hair can also be read in Matthew 5:36, "Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black" and Job 4:15, "Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up..." In the first verse, by oath we presume that what we say declares absolute truth. But, if our hair is not only a crown of glory to God but an expression of our relationship with Him, then it stands to reason that only He knows for sure the truth of our words according to our hearts. As for the second verse, it implies that the hair recognizes the presence of the supernatural. The hair obeys Spirit and is meant to reestablish and realign our individual identities to the Divine.

In the books of Luke and John, we can find perhaps the most profound verses, if not confirming then at least, recognizing the significance of that last sentence:

"And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment" (Luke 7:38)

"Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment." (John 12:3)

In this scenario, Mary uses her hair as a tool of ritualistic holiness for the Son of God. Biblically, foot washing was used as a form of ridding the impurity of the world from the self upon entering a home, in order to maintain the sanctity of that home (compare to the woman/feminine in relation to the man/masculine). As an added mention of this holiness, the last verse of the Bible that mentions hair comes to us from Revelation 9:8, "And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions." This line helps to describe the locusts sent to purify the world of its sin in the final days. 

So, when hair hangs like a cloak upon a woman, it signals her divine and unsullied state within the vows of her marriage - both to her husband and as a bride of Christ. When a man has made a vow in his renewal of holy alliance to God, his uncut hair will be one way that symbolizes reconsecration and cleansing from all things of the world. In this spiritual act of circumcision, he renews his vow as the "bride of Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2, "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ"). While of the world, he will neither allow it to grow long that it mirrors the Nazirite vow without the sanctification nor will he shave his head. In the stripping of all hair, we would lose that divine connection with God and it would symbolize shame, defilement, and mourning. The contrariness of the tonsure in which the shaving of the head became standard practice for monks leaves many questions on the authenticity of biblical teaching by the Catholic Church, no matter the explanation of symbolic significance. Though perhaps confusing, the Bible remains consistent. Paul even acknowledges this when he makes known his own vow in Acts 18:18, "... having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow."

Whether or not we choose to follow the sometimes confusing dictates of the Bible, in each instance of divine reflection we are asked "Is this for the glory of God?" In everything we do, we either fish and claim the Lord's light or affirm our alignment with the world. There is a story in Joshua chapter 3 about crossing the Jordan River. Moses, who had been denied by God to pass on into the promised land, had just died. For the people to cross, the Levite priests are ordered to take the Ark of the Covenant into the waters for the river to stop flowing long enough for the people to cross. The evening prior, all had been required to consecrate themselves before stepping one foot onto the pathway created by the Levites. If we desire that promised land (ie. a confluent and symbiotic union with God) then we have to make a choice on if we cross over or not. In the end, we can't remain in the waters of the Jordan; a choice must be made "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26). There's no one foot in the Jordan and one foot in the Holy Land to be had here.