dreadlocks journey vs dreads instillation

for some or most dreadlocks are a journey for others dreads are put in through a dreads instillationso what is the difference? the dreadlocks journey the dreadlocks journey is more about the experience then how they will look in the end, speed is not necessary, or in some cases even desired. its about savoring the changes it causes within you, about growing spirituallyin some cases the dreadlocks arent even a goal, just a result of the spiritual path you are on.a side effect of the life you live.my journey began 20 years ago on a mountaintop in vermont at a rainbow gathering a very spiritual gathering in the wilderness where i spent about a month meditating ding service , and growing my dreads born of love

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at that time this was the only way i was aware of to dread was to allow them to grow from the soul, and i was surrounded by others whiod grown dreads that way for many decades aswellthis is how dreadlocks were born for thousands of years in india sadhus who are dedicated to spiritual persuites grew dreadlocks as a sign of dedicationrastas and nazarites as well grew dreads as a holy vow.others who grew dreadlocks took the dreadlocks journey not so much for spiritual reasonss but for personal ones, a life changing experience, a desire to be more natural and in tune, or for seeking inner wisdom.all these reasons and more make the dreadlock journet, and especialy the natural dreadlocks journey a deeply meaningful onethis can account for some of the attitudes amongst dread wearrers who feel other methods maybe cheatting. really though all they are cheatting is themselves out of the full journey experience. the dreads instillation those who choose the dreads instillation route fall into 2 main catagories (and some fall outside them as well i'll explain later)1: those who feel they have to have a professional look for work, but still want dreads2: those who care more about the look then the experiencethese geraly dont see dreading as a spiritual or lifechanging experience but more sas a fashion trendthey generally want a very specific look they have seen in a picture often influenced by a sports or other idol or celebthey want things fast , instant even without the in between stages of developing dreads.the instillation itself is often very painfull both physicaly having your hair pulled hour after hour, and finacialy often costing 500-700 dollars and then needing revisits every 2 weeks for maintenance.back to the catagories, some feel pressured by society to conform and fear if they have 1 loose hair, 1 kink loop or bump it will cost them theyre career., they may desire the dreadlocks journey but fear taking it all the way so compromise they feel having dreads even without growing them themselves is good enough so they dont see having them installed in a salon as an inferiur experience. as long as they end up with dreads on theyre heads.the other group is often more militantly insistant on dreads simply being a hairstyle and insist that any other meanning is just in the minds of those who believe dreads to be spiritualthis group has absolutely no issues with using the worse methods there are if it acheives the exact look they desire. these are the people who deffend using glue synthetic hair wax crochet whatever as long as it looks the way they want it to look.and then theres those who get instillation but dont fit those groups these are people who are told and believe that there is no other way, that theyre hair type is hard to dread (its amazing how many afro wearing africans believe only a salon can dread theyre hair type) some of these may have tried dreading naturaly for a week or 2 before rushing off to a salon. this group of salon dreads will often fly all over the world to go to a specific loctician they heard about based solly on how the dreads look the day after being creatted.in some cases they can continue going to a loctician constantly for everything including washing, and will never wash theyre own hair unless it is done by theyre loctician at a retightening session.in some extreme cases they can spend over 16 thousand dollars on dread care and eventualy the dreads are so dammaged they begin breaking offlocticians and dread companies exist to convince you that the maintained professionaly creatted dreads are prefferable to those with deeper meanningsome of the business owners will even claim they have a spiritual experience while sitting in front of a mirror grooming theyre dreadsask yourself before falling into the trap..if that way is so spiritual why does it cost so much?now im not trying to sound down on those who go for salon dreads, especialy those who feel they must for a career (you dont really need to though you know natural dreads are just as acceptible) im just saying concider the options carefully, dont feel so pressured into instant dreads and rob yourself of a deeper experiencewhen your on a journey of a lifetime take the scenic route..you'll appreciate it all the more


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updated by @soaring-eagle: 02/14/15 06:27:57AM

Interesting but I would like to ad something.I for one did not want "instadreads" and I am not the type that follows styles or even is worried about how I look or what others might think. Before starting the dreading process I was aware of the time it would take and that I would go through a 'messy' stage. That being said I did not do this for any spiritual reason and I must admit that I did not understand how dreading could be a spiritual experience but since I started the journey I understand now.

I started my journey out of a need to grow my own self acceptance and a rejection of conventional, stereotypical female beauty. I did not brush my hair for about 35 days, and had a few nice natural locks forming. At this point, though, I was having a lot of trouble trying to keep it from congo-ing, so I tnr'ed the naturally formed locks to make them easier to separate. So I guess I did do an installation-ish move by your standard, SE, although I personally don't feel it ruined it or became somehow less meaningful for me. It's still a process, a journey, one that is showing me a lot about which parts of me I love...

I have similar reasons for wanting the locks...to become the primal portrayal of What You See Is What You Get...I also thought it would be a more simplistic manifestation of naturalistic beauty - now i understand theres nothing really simple about any of it. its a dedication.i didnt brush my hair for nine months. then i had dreads "cultivated" or "installed" - but it was every bit of a journey as the whole previous nine months had been. and it was an experience, and an adventure, and added to the story i have been on.i wont say it was right or wrong. i made mistakes with both efforts.but i will say i treasure it as a chapter in my journey. and it has not cheapened my dedication whatsoever.SE. excellent job at collaborating images to illustrate your point. love it

Emmy G said:

I started my journey out of a need to grow my own self acceptance and a rejection of conventional, stereotypical female beauty. I did not brush my hair for about 35 days, and had a few nice natural locks forming. At this point, though, I was having a lot of trouble trying to keep it from congo-ing, so I tnr'ed the naturally formed locks to make them easier to separate. So I guess I did do an installation-ish move by your standard, SE, although I personally don't feel it ruined it or became somehow less meaningful for me. It's still a process, a journey, one that is showing me a lot about which parts of me I love...

.to become the primal portrayal of What You See Is What You Get... I LOVE THIS!
Eva Deva said:

I have similar reasons for wanting the locks...to become the primal portrayal of What You See Is What You Get...I also thought it would be a more simplistic manifestation of naturalistic beauty - now i understand theres nothing really simple about any of it. its a dedication.
i didnt brush my hair for nine months. then i had dreads "cultivated" or "installed" - but it was every bit of a journey as the whole previous nine months had been. and it was an experience, and an adventure, and added to the story i have been on.
i wont say it was right or wrong. i made mistakes with both efforts.
but i will say i treasure it as a chapter in my journey. and it has not cheapened my dedication whatsoever.

SE. excellent job at collaborating images to illustrate your point. love it



Emmy G said:

I started my journey out of a need to grow my own self acceptance and a rejection of conventional, stereotypical female beauty. I did not brush my hair for about 35 days, and had a few nice natural locks forming. At this point, though, I was having a lot of trouble trying to keep it from congo-ing, so I tnr'ed the naturally formed locks to make them easier to separate. So I guess I did do an installation-ish move by your standard, SE, although I personally don't feel it ruined it or became somehow less meaningful for me. It's still a process, a journey, one that is showing me a lot about which parts of me I love...

I struggle with the term spiritual. So many people have their own definition of spirituality, for some it can be religious others it is a supernatural experience or a lifetime of following a set of principals based on a specific philosophy of life. I can see how one can associate the dreading processes with a spiritual journey (growing, learning about oneself, etc...) so I agree that spirituality is very relative. Like I said in my post above I did not understand how dreading ones hair can be a spiritual journey.

Maxe said:

Nice post, but the term spiritual is a very relative term for me and a term that works best if it echoes through every part of your life and not only your hair or your ascesis etc.

Example with the saddhus: Saddhus stated 'natural enemies' are, among others, women and dogs... which for me deducts quite a bit on the spiritual wisdom side...regardless of how they made their dreads.

Not everyone with neglect dreads is a spiritual person or grow with the journey...even though it's a beautiful concept. I'm pretty sure it requires a LOT more than the right hairstyle to become a better person.

And on the other hand, not everyone taking care of their body or caring about how they look (insane vanity created by sick society aside) are unspiritual shallow persons =)

No doubt about that.

Maxe said:

Yea I think dreads can be a great part of a "spiritual journey", but to think that can be the only factor one would kid oneself =)

1st time backcomb wax rubberbands everythingconstant palm rolling and stressing over rubbberbands falling outcombed out about after 4-5 months2nd time twist n ripfretted over sectioning, roots and sizecombed out after bout 6 monthsthis time all natural only products are bs and acv water and timea much smoother journeysleep, wake up and check for dreadsloving checking for day to day progresseverday seems like a surprise cause i never know whats gonna happen next100% highly recommended over any other method

I whole-heartedly agree. The hackneyed stereotypes associated with dreadlocks (i.e 'hippy', 'spiritual', 'rasta'), and the fact that they are being perpetuated within the dread community itself, saddens me. Intentional or not, this discussion reeks of pseudo-elitism; and while I'm sure this was not necessarily deliberate, the connotations used stand as a reflection of it - i.e. 'natural', 'in tune', 'wisdom' verses 'fashion trend', 'conform'. Get the idea? It is erroneous to suggest that one specific method equates to spirituality, whilst the others do not- infact, I would say it is erroneous to suggest that ANY method automatically equates to spirituality. But hey, that's just me

Knottysleeves said:

I'm not a fan of categorizing people or making assumptions about someone's beliefs/opinions/values just because their dreads were started a certain way. That's just as bad as people stereotyping all dreadheads as dirty hippies or rastas, etc.

ALL dreads are unconventional and it's a style that still meets with a lot of social disagreement and disgust. So it takes a certain amount of spirituality, self-confidence and guts to have them, regardless of whether they were "installed" in a salon or developed without any tools or products whatsoever.

And for some people, dreads ARE "just hair" and a hairstyle to experiment with, not some major personal growth journey or whatever. Who cares? SE, I get the points you're trying to make, but this post implies there's something less desirable or worthy about "installed" dreads, or that the person getting them is somehow less "spiritual" (whatever that means). I don't agree with that at all.

I considered dreadlocks for at least five years before committing. Some of the things that gave me pause were that I was working for a Fortune 500 company that would not have allowed that look in my role, a less than budded confidence, and ultimately, a concern that I really did not understand what 'spiritual' meaning dreads would hold for me. I knew that many cultures included this tradition amongst their spiritual acts, but did not know much, and definitely did not know what it meant for me. So it felt wrong somehow to do it.Over the last few years, I have been on a trek towards my own personal freedom and seeking a life that was an expression of my Self in all areas rather than a dualistic existence where my personal life and professional life straddled a line. I finally reached a point where I decided that I was drawn to the look, though maybe I couldn't understand why. I felt "warm" toward it, I connected with dreads, and though I did not necessarily have a lofty understanding, that was enough. Follow your bliss, right?Very soon after I made the decision, it dawned on me that this was the spiritual aspect for me: that I was becoming through and through an expression of my self, my passion, my bliss. Each week, it seems, the experience evolves into something more complex and intimate. And I meet lots of amazing people whose locks mean different things to them, including a dear new friend who feels they are his antennas. One of the beautiful things about a subculture such as this is that even those that start for very different reasons may experience an unfolding, not unrelated to the people it connects them with, of themselves that may be unexpected. We never know what the paths that move us forward will look like, though perhaps, like family, we will recognize them once we arrive.