Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

 Losing our hair can be the most emotional challenge of chemotherapy.  Our hair is our power. Our style defines who we are: short & sassy, prim & proper, rebellious, etc. Our hair can reveal our heritage as well as our health. It can reveal who we admire or even our self-esteem.

Hair as power shows up in the description of Esau as a hairy man (Genesis 25:25).  He had the power in the family as the first born, including the right of inheriting his father's wealth.

Hair as power shows up in the story of Samson, whose weakness for Delilah is revealed in the cutting of his hair. Later, as his hair grows back in, he's had time to get over her betrayal, and his strength returns. (Judges 16)

Hair as power shows up in the story of Absalom, who challenged his father, David, for the rule of Israel.  His defeat is symbolically revealed when his hair is caught in the branches of a tree (2 Samuel 18:9; see also 2 Samuel 14:6).

Hair as power shows up in the story of the woman who wipes Jesus' feet with her hair, symbolically relinquishing her power to him (John 12:3).

Hair as power shows up more subtly in the exhortation that women should keep their hair covered (1 Corinthians 11: 2-26).  A woman's power is a threat to men, so Paul first quotes the cultural argument: women should curtail their power. He then counters by explaining the mutuality of men and women (v. 7-12), then proclaiming that a woman's hair (her power) is her glory.

It's no wonder we have so much baggage about our hair!

However, we are less familiar with hair loss as a symbol of a spiritual journey.  Numbers 6 gives the specifics of taking a Nazarite vow. (Nazir means 'consecrated.')  Though we associate this with growing hair, if the person is defiled, they must shave their head to rededicate themselves (Num. 6:9-11).  Likewise, at the end of their period of dedication, they shave their head again (Num. 6:18). Samson and Samuel both were Nazarites (Judges 13:5; 1 Samuel 1:11).

This practice of shaving the head shows up again in early Christianity when monks begin shaving their heads into a tonsure, the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The Eastern Orthodox church used this tradition in baptism, marking the new birth of the newly baptized.

In Judaism, a boy's first haircut doesn't happen until age 3, marking his preparation to study the Torah. This is known as upsherin. In some sects the hair is weighed and that weight in coins is given to the poor. In certain Hasidic sects, most famously Satmar, married women shave their head every month before immersion in the mikveh (ritual bath).

In the Hindu tradition, chudakarana is a baby's first haircut.  The head is shaved except for a tuft at the crown. Traditionally, the hair one is born with represents the undesirable traits of one's past lives.  Shaving it frees one from the past. The tuft is left to preserve memories.

Pabajja is the Buddhist tradition of shaving the head when a layperson is ordained as a novice and joins a sangha. It marks the renunciation of their former life and their intention to seek enlightenment.

We can embrace this perspective when faced with losing our hair, turning it from a humiliation to a proclamation of preparing for new life after our chemotherapy treatments.  We can use this time of decreased physical energy and need to rest as a time to (re)dedicate ourselves to our spiritual journey, using it for prayer, journaling, reading, etc. 

I had hoped to have a head-shaving ceremony as my chemo began, but covid restrictions nixed that idea. Still, I embraced the symbolism of spiritual focus with the goal of new life throughout my treatment.  I read voraciously, listened to podcasts, and spent a lot of time reflecting on my life, especially on those days when I didn't have the energy to do much else!  Consequently the time had a more positive energy for me.

Further Reading:

    Why Certain Words Are Left Out Of Our English Bibles | Keith Giles (patheos.com)

    First Epistle to the Corinthians - Wikipedia