Long Hair and Higher Consciousness

Today I want to talk about hair. This is not about fashion or beauty or the culture of consumerism. This is about long hair and how it aids us on our spiritual paths. Yes, I do mean just that: how I believe our hair can help or hinder us as we evolve as spiritual beings.

Years ago, when I started a spiritual journey apart from the Catholicism in which I was raised, I noticed that most Hindu practitioners, sadhus, gurus, and teachers have very long hair. I noticed too that the indigenous peoples of the Americas and other lands like New Zealand and Tibet – both women and men - wear their hair natural and long. And while the hair of all these people is beautiful, I learned that it’s not connected to a worship of beauty. It’s about spiritual journeys.

Spiritual practices from Judaism to Hinduism and Earth Lodge religions, to polytheism, henotheism, Rastafarianism, animism, and more all have techniques that include keeping the hair long. In some practices, the hair is never cut nor trimmed and is worn extremely long.

As my own spiritual path evolved, I learned why. Our hair rests atop the seventh primary chakra – the crown chakra, called Sahaswara (‘thousand petals’ in Sanskrit). Sahaswara gives us access to wisdom and higher states of consciousness. Sahaswara is driven by awareness and connects us to the universal. Its auric color is commonly recognized as violet, but it can also appear as bright white, gold, or clear light. Its location is at the top of the head, or slightly above the top of the head. Sahaswara is connected to the pineal and pituitary glands. Because if its location, it’s carefully aligned with the brain and nervous system. It’s a powerful region of the body.

Raising the crown chakra’s vibration is known to induce bliss. By meditating on our crown chakra, we can commune with greater states of consciousness. We can connect with the formless. We can recognize what’s sacred and what’s present around us. In learning to see auras many years ago, my Reiki Master taught me to strengthen this extreme end of the chakra system. She also instructed me to grow my hair as long as possible.

The hair’s location at the top of the head, aligned with Sahaswara, makes it significant as an aid in developing strength and awareness of the transcendent. Remember the Old Testament story of Sampson? With his long hair, he was the most powerful man in the world. Once his hair was cut, his strength was lost, his link to the infinite was broken, his divine self was defeated.

All yogic and tantric practitioners know that a weak or imbalanced Sahaswara leads to a dulling of intelligence, strength, and courage, and a disconnection from the sacred and spiritual. People with Sahaswara imbalances – including those with long hair - are often close-minded, materialistic, angry, vengeful, depressed, fatigued, and obsessive. They cling to old grudges and painful memories. They seek to hurt or punish others. Their health is generally compromised and they can become obsessively concerned with their physical bodies.

The electromagnetic energy in everything is tied to the pineal gland, our brains, and by way of connection, our hair. This evolution we’re always in in our human form calls us to do everything we can to unblock and heal the crown chakra. Unlike other chakras, there is no healing food specific to the crown chakra. So, for many billions of Hindu philosophers and spiritual practitioners through the ages, hair was a portal – the needed food - to achieve beneficial spirituality - increasing abilities in the crown chakra and enhancing our connection to all there is.

As the human race strives to deepen its connection with spirit - and I do believe that tide is rising - I see men everywhere growing their hair long. My own brother is growing his hair long. Many wear natural dreadlocks or the ridiculed ‘man bun’, which I happen to think is beautiful not because it enhances sexuality, but because it often is an indicator that this person is seeking the sacred, tapping into his higher self.

Long hair and higher connection are strong associates, with the former acting as an antenna to the divine. I believe that if we grow long, healthy hair, we also serve our purpose of expanding in spirit and as a consequence, being of service to everything that lives. Try it and see what I mean.

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Namaskar and Welcome to Strawberry Papaya

Why a name like Strawberry Papaya? I'll answer that with a question. Do you have at least one memory – a moment, an event, an impression, a sight, a smell, a taste, a sound, a word – that inscribed itself in your heart, that you can summon at any moment and bring back all the good and warming feels? I do.

As a child, I lived for summer. One of the things that I loved was the Good Humor truck’s evening rounds, when our moms would give us money to buy something sweet and cold. Growing up vegetarian, I periodically ate dairy, but didn't really like it, and often chose dairy-free. My favorite treat was a dreamy ice pop – that sadly, is no longer made – a swirl of clear pink and bright orange on a wooden stick. It was yummy, but in truth it was the colors of the ice pop that captivated me. There was something about that pink and orange swirl I adored, and that today, brings back all the warm, cozy feelings of a childhood spent in summer with my young friends, my family, and the community where I felt safe and free and loved.

Now fast forward to young adulthood. Traveling through the Caribbean right after high school, I was introduced to the intoxicating tropical fruits native to the hot climates. One of them was the strawberry papaya. The sweetest of all the papaya varieties, its flavor is an amalgam of fresh berries and peaches, with a hint of butterscotch and vanilla. Heavenly.

But it was its color that wooed me. When ripe, a strawberry papaya has a bright orange skin and pure pink flesh. The first time I ate one, on the side of a roadway between Ocho Rios and Port Maria, every good, cheering memory of childhood was triggered, and the endorphins flowed. Strawberry papayas became my symbol of all things good: pink and orange, sweet, refreshing, soothing, nourishing, and delicious. All the good feels of childhood were reinforced by the fact that my partner and I were on a moped, on a tear in a beautiful country, young and strong, grateful and happy. The spell was cast.

Strawberry Papaya is going to reach for all those good feels: the moments of meaning, the journeys we’re on, the things that matter, the services we can render, the things we stay alive for. Whole-hearted living. Topics of discussion may include healing and forgiveness, mystery and wonder, purpose and meaning, imagination, our lineage to the Earth, transcending anger, letting go, protecting ourselves and our loved ones from toxic people and situations, spiritual training and wellness, food choices, compassion, and love. I may dwell on specific ideas and personal practices like why you should let your hair grow, eat more fruit, grow from adversity, or sleep on the floor instead of a bed.

I have no interest in website traffic and numbers, only that what I share may be of service to others. I hope you’ll visit now and then and add your thoughts. Let me know if there’s subjects you’d like to see. Tell me if I’m hitting the mark or missing it. Don’t be afraid to criticize. Don’t be afraid to love.

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