Exploring Paths to Cosmic Wisdom

Celebrate Hair

    The human body is a miraculous apparatus, functioning through  mysteries we can sometimes describe, and rarely replicate.
    When we talk about our physical senses, hair is usually excluded. Despite how little we have compared to most mammals, hair has a role in how we perceive the world.
Mammals
    We are all familiar with the sensitivity of cats' whiskers which enable them to navigate safely, cats also can stand  up the fur on their entire body in a survival instinct which makes them appear bigger to whatever is threatening them.
    Porcupines are an extreme example of the same phenomenon: standing up “fur” as self-protection. Their quills, or spines, are modified hair, each one coated with  keratin, the structural component of our own hair and nails. Quills are embedded in the skin, controlled by muscles;  they grow in different lengths and colors as depending on the species and as the animal matures.
Birds
    Birds do the same with their feathers. Like quills, each feather is rooted in the skin and supported by musculature which can move the shaft to increase the distance from the skin. This expands the insulating layer of warm air around the bird, and it gives the appearance of exaggerated size. As an instinctive response to threats like cold weather, this is also an advantage when predators or other dangers are nearby. By increasing the volume underneath the feathers, a female can protect more eggs or chicks that might be underneath her, and she can appear threateningly large.
Humans
    Human hair has some common traits with the hair of other mammals, yet because our body hair is so sparse, we tend not consider it when we are learning about how we perceive the world. Hairs sense movements in the air and touch by physical objects. Vibration of the hair shafts is detected in the skin by nerves around the hair follicle.
    This week I have been exposed to some very cold April winds, which came after a few days of Spring-like weather. Stepping outdoors wearing short sleeves resulted in some serious  goosebumps on the skin of my arms. The French phrase for this response translates to 'chicken-skin' and recalls that feather-lifting instinct of chickens and other birds. Despite their punyness, my arm-hairs stand up in an attempt to insulate me from the cold.
    Hair interacts with the world around us as an extension of our nervous system. Hair conveys information from outside to within, and back again. Readers of mystery novels are familiar with with the concept that when exposed to unseen hazard the hair on someone's neck might stand up on end, or their scalp might prickle. Our hair, if we pay attention, has wisdom to share.
Globally   
    The powers of hair are recorded in cultural traditions all around the world, and the length or absence of hair can indicate status, revealing choices that individuals have made, or have had thrust upon them.
    Some cultures and organizations set out very explicit rules regarding how long or short hair must be worn.
    For Sikhs, allowing one's hair to grow naturally signifies respect for the perfection of God's creation.
    Some Orthodox Jewish men wear sidecurls or sidelocks, in order to obey injunction against shaving the "corners" of one's head.
    The Old Testament story of Samson suggests that his strength was dependent on the hair on his head, and he was weakened by its loss.
    People required to be obedient, or engaged with physical work have often been obliged to cut their hair. In this way they are not distracted from their task. Long hair has often been associated with historical Ruling Classes, and with rebellion. Buddhist monks, on the other hand, shave their heads and concentrate their focus within.
    Recently released documents have brought to light some of the subtle perceptive abilities of hair, natural antennae for our bodies.
    However we choose to style our own hair, it is never wrong to mindfully consider what modifications we are making to our physical vessel. There is no absolute, beyond what we recognize for ourselves.

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