There Is Something Spiritual About Cutting Your Hair
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There is something spiritual about cutting your hair, about literally discarding a part of your past and the watching as the energy of the present replaces it. Yes, cutting my beard is a simple act, but it symbolic of a decision, to reaffirm myself and to choose to live…
Cutting your hair is a clear visual transformation that represents an inner process that’s always taking place - On a cellular level, we are forever changing. Parts of us are always dying, always growing, always responding to the ever present moment.
But it doesn’t look it does it?
From our time based perspective, when we think in terms of minutes and hours and days and years, we for the most part, look and feel the same.
Constant change within gets contrasted against surface level stagnation.
But cutting our hair, or more broadly making an external physical change, can cut through this gap and bring the external in line with the internal.
Note, I’m not talking ego here. This isn’t a work of vanity to ‘look better’ but rather a spiritual realignment to ‘look as I am’.
Fresh. New. Ever changing. Me.
As the hair falls, Atman meets Brahman, alignment occurs, we integrate the shadow and the world resonates accordingly.
The Internal Conflict
I had an interesting experience the other day. I was unshaven and wearing casual clothes. My mental state was of low quality. Stuck thoughts and maya abounded - and the world resonated accordingly; it saw me as I was then and projected myself back to me. The internal conflict expressed.
That wasn’t a great day.
Following my own advice, rather than act from such a compromised place, I went to bed to sleep it off, promising to burn away all that wasn’t serving me.
The next morning I woke with passion. I saw my reflection and recognised its inner representation and immediately cut my hair and changed my planned clothes.
I meditate on loving kindness and reaffirmed my belief in a positive future. I grounded myself in the moment and rose to the day and you know what? The day rose with me.
I realised that there is a deep connection between my inner and outer states and that such states directly impact the world around me.
That night, this poem came:
Reflections Of The Self
The world is a mirror to your soul,
Your happiness will be shown
On the faces of strangers,
Your fear will flicker in their eyes,
Your hope will express itself
In the poetry you read, as too will your ills.
The mirror rejects what you are not,
Thus the world will always be you,
In this way you are trapped,
Rejecting love when you need it most,
And the advice you most need to hear.
Yet you are not stagnant,
And neither is the mood of the world,
What happens in one, distorts the other,
Words can scratch, and actions can crack,
So keep a watch on its surface,
And a polishing rag in hand.
Realise that the mirror is in fact imperfect,
Subject to change, manipulation and control,
Those reflections are more than phantasms,
They have a force that can break.
So watch the mirror,
Be on guard against its influence,
But also influence your guard,
For your actions may inadvertently
Shatter someone’s soul.
- from ‘Reflections of the Self, the Poetry, Insights and Wisdom of Silence’
The Spiritual Meaning Of Beards & Cutting Them
I’ve been moving through a dark night of the soul, two years of inner duress sparked from a multitude of external causes and bad luck combining with lingering mental illness and the ramifications of past trauma.
Over that time I let myself go. I grew my beard long, beyond styled or presently unkempt and into derelict territory.
My beard started to feel like a physical manifestation of depression. Out of control, wild, something to hide behind.
I was losing myself physically and mentally and my appearance was reflecting that. To be honest I was lucky to survive.
The more my beard grew, the more I isolated myself. The more I isolated myself, the more my inner demons gained strength. The more they gained strength, the more the man in the mirror began to represent darkness and failure.
My beard grew and I began to look and feel like my father. This is deep shadow work stuff.
I was in tears, breaking down in front of my mum and my partner, crying in front of my kids and my brother. Feeling unworthy and unable to cope.
I was on the edge of giving it all up when a thought from a past version of myself arose. Blossoming in my mind like an unstoppable wave that just had to be heeded.
‘Try everything first.’
The advice I’ve given to countless people before and to myself countless times.
A Fire Ritual
That night I cut my hair and burnt it for good measure. A fire ritual to symbolically say goodbye to the negative energy that I’ve accumulated and to receive some warmth and light in return.
In the mirror no longer stood my farther. No longer stood the past. But was a representation of the present.
A broken man taking steps to heal and reintegrate. A man with hope and purpose and a drive to seek the help he needed - both physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Should You Cut Your Hair?
Perhaps. But before you take those scissors out, take a breath and another. Check into you in this moment. Look in the mirror and see how much your reflection resonates with your inner feelings.
Then, if you decide to cut your hair, do so with a purpose and a prayer.
Intentionally remove your hair, mindfully watching it fall. With each cut of the scissors state an intention to heal, to connect and to integrate with you as you are right now.
Do not rush this process. You are a proverbial butterfly emerging from the cocoon and as such need to take your time.
Feel.
Feel the lightness as the change arises and feel those vestiges of the past as they try and cling to you. The past will reverberate into the present if you allow it, so just acknowledge these feelings when they arise and allow them to fall away with the hair.
Once complete, take your hair and discard it. You could use a fire ritual, bury it or simply throw it out. But either way, make sure to take a moment at least to acknowledge the act.
You are in a way starting the mourning process for a person no longer with you (your past self). So take some time, acknowledge the feelings, and let go.
Like grief feelings come in waves, and when you touch your fresh hair you may feel things that aren’t entirely pleasing.
This is normal. Feel those feelings without grasping. Integrate them and allow them to fall away in their own accord.
Then, when the moment naturally passes, move on and embrace your new self. A self more integrated, whole, and present.
Read More
- i find myself through poetry
- Why You Should Stop Striving For Enlightenment
- Am I Hitting Rock Bottom?
If you want to dive deeper into the self and spirituality, check out my free shadow work journal PDF. It will help you discover your truth and become whole. Inside you will find a comprehensive guide to shadow work journaling alongside a collection of activities and prompts.
