I'm starting to grow dreads... Personally for me, it's really a spiritual thing, and I'm just curious if anyone here at that Nexus has them and if so, how your life changed (if it did at all) when you got them? How did they make you feel? I've read that they are like spiritual antennas, helping you pick up/maintain higher vibrations, etc.. Lol.. I don't really know about all that, but I won't necessarily say that I don't believe it because I see how there could possibly be some truth in it.. So what do you guys think? Anyone with any experience?

I thought I got them for spiritual reasons but deep down I just wanted to look cool. I learned after a couple years with them that all they are doing is accumulating attachments (as well as a ton of other stuff, ew) it was more "life changing" for me to shave them off and leave them in a plastic bag in a parking lot for somebody to find. Having dready hair isn't going to allow you to "pick up" "higher vibrations" there is a vast plethora of spectrums of intertwining frequencies passing through you at all times regardless of what kind of hair style you have. So yeah I've had dreadlocks and that's my take on them.

With that said, sometimes I see a girl with dreadlocks and my pants get real tight.

I've started to grow dreads too. Not realy for spiritual reasons, but because I was kind off fed up with my hairstyle. I used to have very short hair for a very long time. I've got pretty curly hair cause I have roots in Angola (Africa).
I never realy liked my hair, and it's turning grey now. So it is a nice experience to let my hair do what it want, and learning to appreciate it. I have like 10 small dreadlocks or so now, and the relationship to my hair changed for the better. I'm starting to love it!
If they make me more aware? I don't realy think so...at least I didn't notice it till now. I probably need more dreads to boost my awareness

Lol, I can certainly see where you're coming from. I figured as much that it wasn't a very little literal interpretation of how it works, but I thought still getting them might somehow improve the quality of your life. And yeah, I do think they look very cool, lol.

That's not the reason I think it's spiritual though. Like I said, that's just something I read. The reason I think it's spiritual is because I think it symbolizes our singularity or unity, our oneness, because if we were all out in "the wild" without combs or all the junk they sell as shampoos in the stores to keep our hair straight, it would naturally dread up. That means we'd all look like these wild ass lookin' monkeys. We'd all have dreads. Like in the wild when you see a bunch of monkeys, we think they all look the same, but really they don't. Some people might say that if we all had dreads we'd all look the same, but I think we'd all look more like our true selves. It looks more real. It's sort of like in Avatar how all the Avatars look the same, yet they were different. We would still have our individuality. I think people look naked without dreads now. I just imagine a bunch of dreadheads co-existing just as harmoniously as a group monkeys in the wild exist, working together to make the world around them beautiful. It would be awesome, and my pants would be very tight quite often.

Also, could you elaborate on what you meant by "all they are doing is accumulating attachments"? I'm assuming you meant something besides the dandruff, etc, you hinted at in parenthesis.

And can you or anyone else tell me was it hard to keep them clean?

attachments to things that don't really matter (cool clothes, flashy car, sexy body (which is different than healthy) and other such things).

Yeah, I figured that's what he meant.

I find that whole attitude a little stifling. The material world is something to enjoy, not detach from. It may be overemphasized in the current paradigm, but it still has its place in a balanced and ideal world, and can be enjoyed in a healthy way without stifling other aspects of your life.

It's the job, school, television, shitty food, the sheeple, the constant bombardment of useless information, the fact that myself and others will lose everything we have and have no hope for a future other than being broke, hungry, and homeless if we quite playing these mindless games; that's what's stifling.

In my opinion, anyway...

I've had dreads for over 23 years.

As such, I have had dreadlocks longer than Bob Marley & Peter Tosh put together.

The main advice I can give is to wash them well and use only natural conditioners. It can take half a bottle of expensive shampoo to really clean dreads (though Dr. Bronners and other super soaps are much more effective). I guess you save money on haircuts and styling products, so you still come out ahead.

I shaved my head and went backpacking for many weeks in Yosemite as my hear was growing back in. I met a Rasta in the parking lot who gave me his secret conditioner and told me I shouldn't have second thoughts... I hadn't mentioned that I was going to try to grow dreads.

After looking really natty the whole time up in the back country, I came down with little dreadies... and I have never looked back.

A lot of people can't handle dreads. They can challenge you. The list of people who had to drop their dreads is huge... Lenny Kravitz, Will i Am, Wyclef Jean etc.

I found that if you wanna wear locks, you have to live roots. It is like the path of the Nazirs... the Universe expects a bit more from you.

I can't really say anymore how they changed me because I have had them so long that I can hardly relate to the brash young warrior I was when I began growing them. I have never cut them off completely, but I have trimmed them from time to time... like when I would start sitting on them or getting them caught behind me all the time. But I realized that I lost something valuable that I had earned when I cut them. (I feel that way about elevation when I climb mountains... I don't want to give it back.)

Anyway, I don't want to neg on what anyone else says or imply that I or other longterm dreadies are superior. It is not like that. What I can say is that having dreads takes courage. In our society it would surely be easier to not have them... getting pulled over a lot and harassed at borders is annoying. But I wouldn't trade it. It is a living archaic revival... a connection to the vast majority of human history when everyone had dreads.

Perhaps having them has increased my telepathic and mystical abilities... hard to say, but I will not be testing the theory.

Dread 4 Life
HF

The High Life

When i had dreads i must say that i was far less concerned about my physical appearance which as extremely positive in helping me detach from my physical attachments. Though when i traveled to India for a month my dreads became really itchy and when i arrived back home it was no longer viable for me to keep them so sadly i brushed them out using some conditioner. Ever since i have missed having my dreads tremendously... though you have inspired me to regain my dreads and maybe add some lovely shells and trinkets to them too, so again thank you ever so much for this thread. ♥


Much Peace and Understanding

Hellyeah, that's the spirit! Lol.. I'm glad I inspired you.

Much love to you too also, and take care!


Hyperspace Fool,

Thank you for sharing. I can totally see what you mean, and I think I'm up for the challenge. I feel like this is meant to be, like I'll finally be my true self, the self that my soul is yearning to become and had in mind when it chose this life and these circumstances, my ideal, whole self. I feel like I'm pretty much there mentally, and having the dreads will externally symbolize my internal state of awareness and by the time I get them, I'm assuming I'll be totally there mentally, not that it's necessary or that I'd be less without them or more superior than those without dreads if I did have them like you said, but... I don't know. It's just how I feel. I respect that not everyone else feels the same way, and understand why that is; it's just not meant for everyone, at least not in this day and age.. But they're definitely meant for me!