Could it be superstition that stops you getting a post-lockdown haircut?
Istill know several people awaiting their first post-lockdown haircut. In one case, it’s due to an abundance of caution. In another, it’s pure dedication to one particular stylist, who seems to attract fiercely loyal customers. Her backlog is so large that she was booked up until September immediately after reopening.
There is an element of superstition to this sort of commitment that reminds me of a passage in The Golden Bough, a history of magic and religion by James George Frazer (a book I’ve mentioned before, as attentive readers may spot). In a discussion of ancient taboos, Frazer records that hair clippings hold a special status in many magical or religious belief systems.
Most commonly, innumerable tribes have believed over the years that anyone who could get hold of a lock of their hair would thereby obtain the power to bewitch or cast harmful voodoo spells on them. They took great care only to cut their hair in specific circumstances and to store
The tribe would select a man whom the chief could eat before a haircut
or destroy the cuttings. Some believed that when the day of resurrection arrived (a startlingly widespread concept across the world), they would be accountable for all their various bodily detritus and needed to know exactly where to find all their old clippings to avoid extra faff on the day.
Few, however, could match the anxiety felt by the chief of a tribe in Fiji, Frazer records. Whenever his need for a haircut arose, it was such a serious matter that the tribe convened a special council to select a man whom the chief could eat before his visit to the barber, to obtain protection from any baneful effects. “Eat out to help out,” as they say.
On which note, one country pub I know found that all of its older clientele were carefully staying away even after it reopened – until, that is, the Chancellor announced meal deals for all. Generously, I suppose one could theorise that Rishi Sunak’s 10 quid offer was a signal that it really was safe to come out. Less generously, perhaps these older pub-goers put a somewhat lower price tag on their lives than Government policy does.