First haircut
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The first haircut for a human has special significance in certain cultures and religions. It can be considered a rite of passage or a milestone.
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[edit] United States babies
In the United States, the first haircut is considered a milestone for a baby which is often marked by saving a lock of the cut hair. The age at which the first haircut occurs varies widely, depending on cultural and religious background, and on the baby's amount of hair.
In the 19th century, the first haircut marked the time when boys would begin to look different from girls.
[edit] Native American babies
Some Native American tribes commemorated the first haircut with a ritualistic dance. The Apache tribe had a springtime ritual.
[edit] African American boys
There is an African American tradition of performing the first haircut on or around the child's first birthday. Hair cutting usually occurs in a barbershop, which has been a core social institution in African American culture.
[edit] African Caribbean boys
Within the African Caribbean community there is the tradition of a child's first haircut. This is performed once the child begins to speak clearly. A gesture of silver money is put in the child's palm, and the ceremony is carried out by the parent.
[edit] Orthodox Jews
[edit] Orthodox boys
Many Orthodox, and most Hasidic Jewish boys get their first haircut after age 3. The hair-cutting ceremony is called the upsherenish or upsherin, a Yiddish word meaning "shear off".
[edit] Hasidic women
Though not necessarily a first hair cut, in many Haredi and Hasidic sects, married women will shave all their hair, often the day after their wedding. This is done, traditionally, by the bride's mother. This custom has its basis in the writings of Rabbi Moses Sofer[citation needed].
[edit] Indian babies
[edit] Hindu babies
Hindus practice a variety of rituals from birth to death. Collectively these are known as samskaras, meaning rites of purification, and are believed to make the body pure and fit for worship. A boy's first haircut, known as choula, is one such samskara and is considered an event of great auspiciousness. The lawbooks or smritis prescribe that a boy must have his haircut in his first or third year. While complete tonsure is common, some Hindus prefer to leave some hair on the head, distinguishing this rite from the inauspicious tonsure that occurs upon the death of a parent. Those that practice complete tonsure generally ritually offer the hair to their family deity. Many travel to temples such as the famed Tirupati shrine of Lord Vishnu to perform this ceremony.
Traditionally, a Hindu girl never has her hair cut, even as a woman; however, some Hindus practice a tonsure ceremony for girls as well. The details vary by sect, locality, and family.
[edit] Kashmiri babies
Kashmiri babies often get their first haircut at Makhdoon Sahib shrine, because tradition holds that toddlers whose bangs are trimmed here can expect a blessing from the 16th century Sufi saint Makhdoon Sahib. (source)
[edit] Maliku babies
At the twentieth day from birth, Maliku babies' heads are shaven and the hair is weighed against gold or silver, which is given to the poor. The ceremony is called boabeylun.
[edit] Chinese babies
A Chinese baby often receives its first haircut at the end of its first month. Traditionally, the baby's head was shaved except at the top of the crown to remove the hair they considered was grown in the womb. The cut hair was then tied with red string and saved as a keepsake. (source)
[edit] Ukrainian babies
Ukrainian babies often have their hair cut on their first birthday as part of the ancient Postryzhennya custom. (source)
[edit] Yazidi boys
In the Yazidi tradition (mainly in Iran), the bisk ceremony envolves cutting of a baby boy's two or three first locks, according to old traditions by his 40th day after birth to be given to the family's shaikh and pir, but in modern practice at 7 to 11 months, and kept by the family. The bisk ceremony is regarded as the central initiatory ritual by most Yazidis from Turkey, Armenia. and Syria. In the European Diaspora, the term is often translated as "baptism." The ceremony is reminiscent of the Moslem `Aqiqa* celebrated on the seventh day after birth, but the Yazidi ceremony takes place at a later stage, when the child has already been named.
