Dread Info #3

The ancient Egyptians wore dreads.
And, if their art is to believed, they looked pretty good.
http://mihomeschool.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Egyptian%20Princess.jpg

I decided to stop calling this series of posts Dread Myths, since I'll probably end up confirming some of what you've heard.  I'm also going to start posting info as I think of it instead of very systematically.  Since we've covered the basics, how they're made and why they don't make you smell bad, I figure I can do this.  (If you missed them, check out Dread Myth #1 and Dread Myth #2 for the basic info on dreadlocks.)

So let's start with the questions I've been asked.  The first was about the name "dreadlocks."  According to wikipedia and some other websites I checked out (who probably got their info from wikipedia anyway), referring to the knotted cords of hair as "locks" has been pretty universal for a couple hundred years.  (Dreads are pretty old, thousands of years.  There's speculation that Sampson had them.  There are even a few brave souls that claim that Christ had them.  But I'll just say they've been around forever and have been worn by people of just about every major religion and culture at one time or another.)  The "dread" part, as near as I can discover, comes from the Rastafarian religion.  The locks were a symbol of a promise to live in awe and dread of the Lord.  Eventually they became known as "dreadlocks," or simply "dreads," or, if you're the internet, "dreds," "dredz," or even "mah dreddies," which is about enough to make someone sick.

Numbers 6:5 "All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no ^arazor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow."
http://www.i-heart-god.com/images/Samson_Jawbone.jpg

The second question was about removing dreads from one's hair.  The easiest method is to cut them off.  But, contrary to popular belief, the internet assures me that cutting my hair off isn't my only option for when I decide to let go of my dreads.  Several companies make some very intense conditioners and claim that if you let them sit in your hair for a long time, your locks can be untangled with a lot of patience.  I assume you're hair doesn't exactly go back to silky smooth and straight afterwards, but it is, at least, still on your head.  This also means that you could cut off all but the last few inches of your dreads and then untangle the remaining, leaving you with a manageable bob, instead of bald.

But, when it comes to my own hair, I think I'm far more likely to to lose my dreads than loose them.  First of all, the inch or so of hair, closest to your skull usually isn't knotted anyway, so cutting your locks off would still leave you with at least an inch of hair.  I've had an inch of hair before, and I liked it.  Besides, back when I was trying to decide whether or not get dreads this summer, my other favorite option was to shave my head (all the way, BIC it completely).  So if I end up cutting my hair off, I don't mind.  If when the time comes I do mind, I'll detangle my dreads instead.

So there you have the answers.  If anybody has more questions, post 'em in the comments and I'll get to them.  otherwise you'll be subjected to more of my ramblings.  I am working on a lengthy, probably philosophical post about why I personally want dreads, and I'll publish that as soon as it's ready.