Dreadlocks are a natural way of wearing your hair that was made world-famous by Bob Marley and the Rastafarians in Jamaica. Your hair forms into what looks like snakes – at least that is how Julius Caesar put it when he saw the Celts wearing them.
Not just the Rastafarians and the ancient Celts wore dreadlocks, but also Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, King Tut, Samson, John the Baptist, holy men in India, the Vikings, the Mau Mau in Kenya when they stood up to the British and many others.
Dreadlocks are the natural state of human hair. Not just African hair, but any kind of human hair. Before the invention of the brush and the comb everyone wore dreadlocks.
If you wash your hair but never comb it or brush it, your hair will naturally form dreadlocks. It will take about a year and they will probably not look so nice, but they will be dreadlocks all the same.
There are several ways – which I will not go into here – to get dreadlocks to form more quickly, like in three to six months. On top of that they will come out looking nicer.
You can go to the right hairdresser to get it done (after repeated visits) or, if you know what you are doing, you can do it yourself. During those three to six months while your dreadlocks form, you will probably have to cover your hair – or put up with people’s comments.
Rastafarians wear their hair that way because of what it says in the Bible in Leviticus 21:5:
They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
For black men in America it is the only way they can wear their hair long and still be in fashion.
For black women the advantages of dreadlocks are considerable:
- Once formed, dreadlocks are way less work than most other ways for a black woman to maintain her hair.
- It is completely natural: no dangerous chemicals needed.
- It is a way to show pride in being black.
Most black women, at least in America, either put dangerous chemicals in their hair to straighten it or they wear wigs or weaves – hair that is not naturally theirs. So dreadlocks are one way to wear one’s own hair in a natural way.
Some companies do not like you coming to work in dreadlocks, but most will accept them if they look nice.
You need a special kind of shampoo to wash dreadlocks. Most shampoos have stuff that will stay in your hair after you wash it. Combing and brushing will get rid of it, but with dreadlocks you never comb or brush, so it will just build up in your hair and cause trouble.
The reason dreadlocks get that grey look is because of the wax that is used to help form and maintain them. You can do it without the wax but it is harder.
See also:
- Those who wear dreadlocks that I have written about:
My wife wore her hair in dreadlocks during the first 12 – 1/2 years of our marriage, and probably a couple of years before that. By the time she cut them off, they were all the way down her back. I personally loved her long, luxurous locks and was sorry to see them go.
I believe that one’s hair strands must be naturally spiral-shaped to truly lock. Dreadlocks work like Slinky’s stuck together. Black hair strands grow in tight spirals. These spiral strands will lock together, as noted, like two Slinky’s. Straigher hair, if not combed. will also snarl and tangle, but not all the way to the scalp like kinky hair can do. Thus, most caucasians who wear “dreadlocks” (like that singer for the Counting Crows) “fake” it by, as Agabond notes, gooping the hair with wax or other goo to make it stick together.
As Agabond notes, locks can be relatively low-maintenance, especially compared to perming or straightening or other things black women do to their hair. However, locks do present a few unique issues. For example, washing them is a hassle because they hold a lot of water and take a very long time to dry. In a cold winter climate this can pose a real risk of hypothermia.
On the other side, dreads contain a lot of hair. They become like a thick hat in terms of insulation. This can make a hot summer feel even hotter.
The bulk created by long locks makes things like fitting motorcycle and bicycle helmets difficult.
To keep them looking even and neat, the locks must be “pinched off” at the base every month or two. This process takes a couple of hours. If done by one’s self, this means holding one’s hands over one’s head for two or so hours. Some nations consider this “torture” if forced upon prisoners. It can certainly cause a long night of back and shoulder pain.
Finally, women who bear children experience a unique problem. Pregnancy causes hair to get alternately thick/thin/thick/thin over a several month period of time. The individual locks, as a result, develop thin segments. Gradually, the locks will begin to break off at the thin places, leaving them looking ragged and uneven.
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I admire people who had their hair in locks and the model, in your picture looks lovely. Although my hair is natural. Locks in not for me though.
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I’ve seen plenty of men and women wearing the natural hairstyle. They’re beautiful.
Steph
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Blanc2: Be glad your wife wore them for that long! My wife refuses to wear them at all!
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Blanc2: I will probably add some of what you said into the post, if that is okay with you.
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That would be fine.
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I got dreds and I look so good damn
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I like this piece, very informative. I knew I was right about Samson, but I didn’t know about John the Baptist. Thanks. By the way, my Locks are 2 years old this month!!! Happy birthday hair!
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Thanks. Happy birthday to your hair!
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Hello all I am starting dreds in my husbands hair.Yes he looks so good in them.The only problem is he has so many grades of hair.I just put rubber bands in them all.Does any one have any tips for me???He has alot of Indian hair but he is black he has wonderful curls and that is how i started them.Twisting and putting twist and lock in it is there any other products i can use to make it get going faster?????Thank you all From flint,michigan
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How can I get my locks to grow in 3-6 months instead of one year? Please help me. I’ve been going to a barber for 5 months and my back row isn’t all the way locked
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dakora is beautiful iluv ur intonation
u are really a star
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My girlfriend has got Dreadlocks and I really like them.
Not long ago she asked me if she should / could cut her hair off to get a short haircut because she wanted change – I hope I can convince her of keeping her Dreads.
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girl i like u, infant i am one of ur fans. i would like to be an actress some like u. i like it,but don’t know how to go about it
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I have locs. When I first started them I looked like a bald headed eagle! My hair is very fine. If nothing else, the process teaches you patience. I initially went to a hair salon to start the process. My locs were started with 2 strand twists. I went back a couple of times for ‘maintenance’. I did this once a month. At sixty to seventy-five bucks CAD a pop, I started looking for ways in which to maintain my own hair. I researched different modes of loc maintenance and experimented accordingly. I also experimented with different products, loc gels, oils, shampoos etc. Before embarking on this my hair had already been natural for about eight years, so I didn’t have to contend with relaxed hair(that’s a whole different start process). I have had them for three years now and I can say I’m very pleased with them. What has it taught me? Patience for one. I’ve also saved a small fortune on hair care products and salon visits(not that I frequented them before). I’ve honed my routine to the point where I maintain my own hair once every month and a half as my hair grows quickly. I latch hook the roots. I purchased two rug hooks from a knitting store for ten dollars. I can wash my hair every day if I wish using this method without the locs becoming unraveled. I do-not use gels or wax. I use Castille soap or shampoo bars. For moisturizing I use Castor oil which can be purchased for minimally six bucks a bottle. You can also use it for your skin but do so sparingly. The more texturalized (kinky) hair is the quicker it will lock. I also use other oils sometimes such as soy, coconut or safflower. If you can’t eat it don’t put it on your body or hair. This is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in regards to hair care!
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Wonderful comment. Thank you.
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I wish I could grow dreadlocks. but I’m losing my hair. Oh well!
There are alot of women that like the bald look!!!
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got locs that will make a year in tthe end of december and man patience is cvital and paramount here.keep up the good work.
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Where can i lock my hair in lagos.Can somebody recommend a good salon?
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Your hair forms into what looks like snakes – at least that is how Julius Caesar put it when he saw the Celts wearing them.
This is an important point, but I am unable to find a reliable source on whether “snakes” are really about dreadlocks. Can you help me here? I can’t find anything- reliable- on the Internet, and even my professors don’t seem to agree whether the story refers to dreadlocks or not.
We do know that some Celts did use comb- we are sure about that. Of course, that doesn’t say anything about the others. But I’d really like to know if “snakes” were indeed dreadlocks.
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There are some scholars who suggest that the Sadhoos (holy men from India) may have influenced the dreadlocks amongst the Rastas. Especially as the first Rastafarians
did not have dreadlocks.
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And with regard to the issue of:
“Your hair forms into what looks like snakes – at least that is how Julius Caesar put it when he saw the Celts wearing them”.
I think this it is derived from scholars like JA Rogers etc
Britain’s Black Background by JA Rogers (pg 39-40, column 3)
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5loEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=Black+Celts+JA+Rogers&source=bl&ots=Ub-7F-WtS1&sig=RN_M-nZidsVnaslR8BHECqLBs1g&hl=en&ei=ANFYS6TtNMyfjAfasPHeBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAkQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=&f=false
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But does dreadlock have any side effects on the brain
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I have recently started my dreads, so would be happy for any advice on maintenance. The fiancee of my fiancee’s cousin also has beautiful dreads so she’s also offered to help me out, but every little good tip is welcome! 😎
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A friend of mine prefers to call them “locks” because she is of the opinion that the word “dread” has a negative connotation. Initially I was under the impression that locks are low maintenance. Blanc2 is right in that in order for the hair to stay neat-looking, the wearer has to have the locked hair pinched and twisted near the root as the hair grows out. If this isn’t done, the hair and scalp area will be a matted mess and look nasty. When locks are well-maintained, the locks will be in neat little sections allowing you to see some of the wearer’s scalp. My long-haired friend once told me that shampooing her hair is major work, and something she does not look forward to.
I’m of the opinion that locks look better the skinnier they are. For women, this allows for more styling options like up-dos, buns, neat ponytails, knots, etc. Also, I think skinnier locks look more professional if the wearer works in a corporate setting. I have noticed a lot of salons specializing in “natural” hair as of late.
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Wearing a scarf at night greatly reduces root messiness. Also in business settings, I think pinning your hair back is fine and I really hate to see my scalp after I retwist. It reminds me of cornrows which are fine but are not locs.My locs are not uniform in size and I’m not a fan of geometric hair anyway. I have a little wildness to them which I like. For getting rid of buildup and potential mildew I do an apple cider vinegar rinse with baking soda (Baking soda is pretty awesome.)
I like sisterlocs okay, but sometimes I think it’s still an aesthetic negation of our hair. It still feels like it’s trying to get little white people hair strands. I mean, I think there are people who look good in them, but I do think it’s a more corporate look. And I don’t work for corporate America so I guess that’s where my preferences lay. However, I understand that many people do and have to adjust to tht.
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in response to the first post…
you do not need curly hair to lock. i am a white woman with slightly wavy hair (more like straight) and i am going on 4.5 yrs with my locks.. i NEVER use wax or any kind of product, never been to a salon either. they took a couple months at first, backcombing and twisting in between my palms but now they are locked tight and i don’t have to do any work besides rubbing them on the scalp once in a while (every couple months). i even get little teeny tiny ones emerging from loose strands.
thanks for mentioning that dreadlocks are a natural hairstyle around the WORLD. sometimes people think that only blacks are allowed, and if not, you are “appropriating” their culture. indeed, sadhus of India have dreaded their hair for thousands of years as a way to renounce the ego that comes with hair styles. of course here in the western world, they may have spiritual/ethnic significance, or sometimes just a hair style themselves!
bless!
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I have locs now–i started in May and with an exception of a few. they are pretty much loc’d.
I let my loctician add very dim strawberry highlights to a few of them..you can only see the color in direct sunlight though. At first they stuck out in all different directions for the first couple of months, but now they are taking on a life of their own. I wear lots of headbands; some cotton and others silk that tie down my back. Now at my job i’m known as the “girl with the dreads”.
Locs do change you–like i am now more interested in buying and wearing used vintage clothes. If classmates from high school saw me now, they wouldn’t believe the transformation.
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It seems to me that people all around the world way to often try to change their appearance than accept the natural beauty God has given each of us. Back home (Croatia) a lot of women will resort to dangerous chemicals to get frizzy hair or burn parts of their hair to form dreadlocks or go to tanning salons which can cause skin cancer. On the other hand, when I lived in South Africa, I was shocked to see so many girls straighten their hair with chemicals which messed up their hair. Also, they applied funny creams on their skin to make it lighter or carried parasols when taking a walk.
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I have dreads and I love them. It feels like me. I feel empowered, sensual and sexy all at the same time. I wish I would have done it earlier in my life.
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The girl in the photo’s are pretty.
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@ mary, oh yes. I love her rather beautiful eyes.
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I remember when Whoppi Goldberg came on the scene, everyone said such awful things about her hair. I find it strange everyone now wears locs and natural hair.
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Waves at Bulanik.
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But locs must be groomed and they can be styled and worn elegantly.
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J. said:
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J. said:
True enough. Hair like this is called “Jata” in Hindi, and the holy men and women have their hair this way: https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/296517_139556482883698_1932361563_n.jpg
I always thought Medusa (Greek mythology) was a reference to dreadlocks, sometimes I have seen depictions of Medusa and her hair looks like dreadlocks, not snakes.
Later, I wondered about this and was fortunate enough to talk with someone who told me that the Medusa story came out Libyan myth. The ancient Greeks mingled a lot with Africans, and the Libya of that Ancient world wasn’t like how we see it these days. The story goes that it’s Perseus who fights the Gorgons in Libya and after he does, he takes the head of Medusa to save Andromeda, who is an Ethiopian princess. That would make sense because interaction and trade happened South and East of Greece back then.
If memory serves, Martin Bernal wrote about this in “Black Athena”
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(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBiHPN5nC4A)
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After viewing that video of Indian dreadlocks, curiosity led me to this text about the “mythology” of Medusa’s dreadlocks:
“….Medusa’s priestesses were as fierce and frightening, beautiful and kind as her. They wore their hair long, in dreadlocks or just matted into rough strings. It was imperative never to cut or interfere with the growth of this hair, because it symbolized their shamanic power, which the priestesses demonstrated by walking across burning coals in bare feet without injury. Often they had extensive knowledge of herbs to compliment their spiritual practice, including contraceptives like the seeds of poplars and willows, silphium from the giant fennel, or laurel berries. These powerful women formed the basis of the Amazon tribe later called ‘the Gorgons.’ The Gorgon high priestess presided over North Africa and Amazon colonies in Italy and Spain.
Some of the Amazon Gorgons seem to have come from lands far from Africa. The mythical Gorgons were painted in two main styles by the time Greek tribes finished taking over the Southern European peninsula: Kretan and Mainland. On Krete, Gorgons were shown with thick, curling hair, fangs, lolling tongue, and wings. On the mainland, Gorgons were shown with snakes for hair that stood out from the head, other features being the same. The Mainland style suggests dreadlocked Libyan Amazons, while the Kretan style contains hints of Anatolian or Indian Amazons, especially when the Gorgon was a Lady of the Beasts.
Indian Amazons were worshippers of Uma, driven from the subcontinent by invaders and probably climate change. The Kali-like nature of Medusa may have been emphasized by their input. Kali destroyed various demons in the form of animals in the tales told by the invaders, suggesting she too began as a benign ruler of the wilds. Her headdress was often made of or decorated with snakes and flames. To this day, there are Indian women who feel called to let their hair grow long and matted, prophesy, and walk barefoot across hot coals, doing so without injury…”
From: http://www.moonspeaker.ca/Amazons/PartOne/chaptertwo.html
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I have a lot of thoughts about this. First there is the subject of cultural appropriation. Should white people wear dreads. I was watching the HBO series “The Highlander” The Scottish warriors had dreads. I wondered if this was true historically. I don’t want to be one of those people who says blacks are the only ones who should be wearing locs. But, I have to be honest, It does make me feel some kind of way to see white people wearing corn rows and other cultural things that are in the African community. It’s crazy, black women have isssues with the texture of their hair. I do get annoyed a little when I see white people in styles of dress and hair styles that are black appropriated. I guess everyone should be allowed to express themselves however they want. But it is a little annoying to me to see cultural appropriation.
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The wearing or natural hairstyles in the work place being unacceptable. There was a little girl in Tulsa Oklahoma, in a black charter school, who was sent home because it was unacceptable. It was ironic, the head of the school was wearing a horrible synthetic curly afro wig. I was heartbroken for that little girl, she was crying because they didn’t like her dreads. Teaching the young ones to hate the texture of their hair. So shameful to me.
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http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreads-Sacred-Rites-Natural-Revolution/dp/157965150X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381002635&sr=8-1&keywords=dreads+alice
The blurb on this book reads:
“Dreadlocks are a modern phenomenon with roots reaching as far back as the fifth century. According to ancient Hindu beliefs, dreads signified a singleminded pursuit of the spiritual. Devotion to God displaced vanity, and hair was left to its own devices.
“Dreads” captures this organic explosion of hair in all its beautiful, subversive glory. One hundred duotone portraits present dread-heads from around the world, in all walks of life. Interviewed on location by the photographers, “jatta-“wearers wax philosophic about the integrity of their hair, and every stunning image confirms their choice. Alice Walker puts words to pictures, offering lyrical ruminations about her decision to let her own mane mat.”
Through my life I have always heard the term “dreads”, “dreds” or occasionally “dreadlocked” used instead of “locks/locs”. I have only heard the latter here.
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I read somewhere that the word dreadlocks came from Europeans who thought the hairstyle was dreadful, therefore the word dread was removed. And now they are just locs. The Europeans always look down on non white styles, but will turn around and hijack them.
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There is nothing dreadful about the texture of black hair.
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@mary, I see what you mean.
What I heard when I was pretty young (from men) was that this hair when in dreadlocks was “powerful” and was enough to strike dread into the hearts of the other men those who they fought. It was a “warrior” style, and a warrior was a “dread”, a man you feared, and there was no dreadfulness about it because it gave the bearer of this hair, strength and advantage, like Samson.
These were Rastafari.
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@Bulanik: That’s interesting, I like your version better.
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Also, the Hindu holy men/women wore dreadlocks, and the general feeling was that it was only when the Indians came to the Jamaica that African-descened Jamaicans started to wear their hair in dreadlocks.
It’s gradually becoming accepted that Rastafari borrows tremendously from Hinduism. The wearing of dreadlocks, according to what I’ve heard, is to replicate the appearance of Lord Shiva, a way to control the power of the goddess Ganja who came from heaven and rested on Shiva’s head, and later she flowed into the river Ganges. The flowing hair and water is symbolic of power.
Apparently, hair like this also symbolizes rebellion and the shaking off of material concerns of Babylon (white oppression).
Another Rastafari told me that Salassie’s guardsmen wore their hair in dreadlocks, too. As did the East African Mau Mau, the Massai, among others. Additionally there is the belief that Jesus Christ also wore flowing dreadlocks.
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sorry about typos, Mary. Hope all is clear. 😀
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@ Bulanik: That is very interesting information. Much appreciated.
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@ mary, you’re welcome. Easy to forget what a big deal hair is!
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I am a young woman and I do want to get dreadlocks in a two or three years. I am sick of spending so much money on braids and weaves. I heard the process of getting locks is long but the only problem to this is:
1) I care way too much what others think as a teenager
2) My mother and family members wouldn’t support my decision to lock my hair in the future.
And my family is Caribbean too, I don’t see why the opposition. I think locks look beautiful on Black women if you can take care of it.
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Love, love, love my locs. It’s been about six years since I did the big chop and had an adorable twa. During that time I went to Detroit and saw an older woman with gorgeous, waist-length locs and I decided I wanted them too. I love long hair, but I also like convenience. Locs provide all that, cost-effectively. No more spending hard earned cash on extensions and weaves. Locs are easy to maintain and very versatile, too. Plus, perhaps most importantly, they demonstrate pride in being black. Personally, I feel blacks wear them best. I don’t foresee cutting mine anytime soon. They reach to the end of my bra stap. Love them!
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@poetess
I’ve seen images of women with beautiful long locs, too. I especially love gray locs on elder Black women. They provide such a lovely silvery frame to dark skin.
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