religious significance of dreadlocks
History and Religious Significance
Permalink Reply by echolynnrain on August 12, 2009 at 1:51amDelete I wanted to add this...the story of Samson and Delilah. A lot of you have probably heard the story even if you're not a Christian. If you don't know the story...in a nutshell it is this...Samson has super strength from God...and it's in his locks of hair. Delilah tries to trick him into telling her his secret. She cuts it off while he's sleeping and it grows back. She eventually brings him down by tricking him one again and he prays and then brings down the pillars on the people who wanted to kill him. There are scholars and Christains I know who believe that the locks were in fact dreads. When I get dreads going I may have to use this if I'm discriminated at a church, lol.
Reply to ThisPermalink Reply by soaringeagle on August 12, 2009 at 3:04amSend Messagetell them u took the vow of the nazerineThe Nazirite vow involved 3 things - no alcohol, including all products of the grape vine, uncut hair for a time, and no contact with the dead:"And The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the people of Israel, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to The Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins. All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the time is completed for which he separates himself to The Lord, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long. All the days that he separates himself to The Lord he shall not go near a dead body. Neither for his father nor for his mother, nor for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean; because his separation to God is upon his head. All the days of his separation he is holy to The Lord." (Numbers 6:1-8 RSV)When the period of the vow ended, the Nazirite then burned his shaven hair and presented a number of offerings to God (Numbers 6:10-21). While Nazirite vows in most cases were quite temporary, usually 30 to 100 days, there were also those who were Nazirites from birth to death e.g. Samson (Judges 13:7) and John The Baptist (Luke 1:15-17)Nazirite vows were not just a pre-Christian practice. The apostle Paul, a man who wrote much of the New Testament, took a Nazirite vow on occasion (Acts 18:18, 21:22-26) (see also On The Road To Damascus and Paul's First Missionary Journey and Paul's Second Missionary Journey and Paul's Third Missionary Journey).Fact Finder: After the angel announced to Samson's parents that he would be a Nazirite from birth, how did the angel go back up into the sky?Judges 13:20this is the christian texts that support dreadingevery religion has someecholynnrain said:I wanted to add this...the story of Samson and Delilah. A lot of you have probably heard the story even if you're not a Christian. If you don't know the story...in a nutshell it is this...Samson has super strength from God...and it's in his locks of hair. Delilah tries to trick him into telling her his secret. She cuts it off while he's sleeping and it grows back. She eventually brings him down by tricking him one again and he prays and then brings down the pillars on the people who wanted to kill him. There are scholars and Christains I know who believe that the locks were in fact dreads. When I get dreads going I may have to use this if I'm discriminated at a church, lol.