Dreadlocks, also called locks, a ras, dreads, or Jata (Hindi), are matted coils of hair. Dreadlocks are usually intentionally formed; because of the variety of different hair textures, various methods are used to encourage the formation of locks such as backcombing. If the hair is not brushed or cut, it will tangle together as it grows, eventually resulting in the twisted, matted ropes of hair known as dreadlocks.
Dreadlocks are associated most closely with the Rastafari movement, but people from many groups in history before them have worn dreadlocks, including many Sadhus of India and the Sufi Rafaees, the Maori people of New Zealand, the Maasai of East Africa, and the Sufi malangs and fakirs of Pakistan.
Dreadlocks are associated most closely with the Rastafari movement, but people from many groups in history before them have worn dreadlocks, including many Sadhus of India and the Sufi Rafaees, the Maori people of New Zealand, the Maasai of East Africa, and the Sufi malangs and fakirs of Pakistan.
Sadhu with jata (long locks) twisted in a knot on top of the head.
Similarly, among some Sadhus and Sadhvis, Indian holy men and women, locks are sacred, considered to be a religious practice and an expression of their disregard for profane vanity, as well as a symbol of their spiritual understanding that physical appearances are unimportant. The public symbol of matted hair is re-created each time an individual goes through these unique experiences.[citation needed] In almost all myths about Shiva and his flowing locks, there is a continual interplay of extreme asceticism and virile potency, which link the elements of destruction and creation, whereas the full head of matted hair symbolizes the control of power.[citation needed]
Gangadhara Shiva captures and controls the river Ganges with his locks, whose descent from the heavens would have deluged the world. The river is released through the locks of his hair, which prevents the river from destroying earth. As the Lord of Dance, Nataraja, Shiva performs the tandava, which is the dance in which the universe is created, maintained, and resolved. Shiva's long, matted tresses, usually piled up in a kind of pyramid, loosen during the dance and crash into the heavenly bodies, knocking them off course or destroying them utterly.
Locks in India are reserved nearly exclusively for holy people. According to the 'Hymn of the longhaired sage' in the ancient Vedas, long jatas express a spiritual significance which implies the wearer has special relations with spirits, is an immortal traveler between two worlds and the master over fire:
The long-haired one endures fire, the long-haired one endures poison, the long-haired one endures both worlds. The long-haired one is said to gaze full on heaven, the long-haired one is said to be that light ... Of us, you mortals, only our bodies do you behold. ...For him has the Lord of life churned and pounded the unbendable, when the long-haired one, in Rudra’s company, drank from the poison cup (The Keshin Hymn, Rig-veda 10.136)
The Shaiva Nagas, ascetics of India, wear their jata (long hair) in a twisted knot or bundle on top of the head and let them down only for special occasions and rituals. The strands are then rubbed with ashes and cowdung, considered both sacred and purifying, then scented and adorned with flowers.
Traditionally, it was believed that in order to create dreadlocks, an individual had to refrain from using conditioners, brushing and/or combing. This method created dreadlocks that varied greatly in size, width, shape, length, and texture. The method has come to be known as "Organic," "Neglect," or "Patience". Similarly, "Freeform" dreadlocks are created by allowing the hair to knit together naturally into locks of varying sizes. However, freeform locks are patterned to a degree, as the hair is pried (not parted, just pulled apart in "chunks") into fairly determined sections after washing, as opposed to organic dreadlocks that tend to bifurcate and coalesce haphazardly.
Salon dreadlocks created with two-strand twists.
A variety of other methods have been developed to offer greater control over the appearance and shampooing frequency of dreadlocks. Together, these alternate techniques are more commonly referred to as "salon" or "manicured" dreadlocks.[11]
As with the organic and freeform method, the salon methods rely on one's hair matting over a period of months to gradually form dreadlocks. The difference, however, is in the initial technique by which loose hair is encouraged to form a rope-like shape. Whereas freeform dreadlocks can be created by simply refraining from combing one's hair and occasionally separating matted sections, salon dreadlocks use one of a variety of established hairstyles or tool techniques to form the basis of the dreadlocks.
Salon dreadlocks can be formed by evenly sectioning and styling the loose hair into braids, coils, twists, or using a procedure called dread perming specifically used for straight hair. Backcombing, twist-and-rip, and twist-and-pin are also some of the more popular methods of achieving dreadlocks. The palm-rolling technique, involved in retwisting the roots of highly textured hair, is considered the foundation technique for lock maintenance. One can also utilize tool techniques such as interlocking, involving a latch-hook to draw the dreadlock through its un-matted root repeatedly in varying directions in order to manually and instantly weave the hairs at the base. The latch-hook is also used to create dreads in straight hair by drawing loose hairs into the body of section of hairs that have been teased together (either by back-combing or irregular plaiting) and maintaining loosened hairs from the resulting dreadlock the same way. Once installed, the dreads are groomed every few weeks, typically once a month using either natural or commercial products. Once the hair is styled into a defined pattern, the locking process occurs as the hairs begin to knot.
"Sisterlocks" and "brotherlocks" are a particular patented genus of dreadlocks that are created in Afro-textured hair that are installed in needle-thin twists to create very fine locks. "Sisterlocks" or "brotherlocks" are maintained exclusively by tightening the roots, or "new growth" with the latch-hook tool as the tension created by excessive twisting encourages locks to thin and potentially break off.[12] Another method is the rub method which is best used on very short Afro-textured hair by washing the hair in circular motions going in the same direction and also drying the hair (with a towel or fibre cloth or sweater or sponge etc.) in circular motions going in the same direction. This will create tiny neatly parted coils around the head and will grow into small locks resembling sister-locks but with more of a circular coil-like diameter.
Regardless of hair type or texture and method used, dreadlocks require time before they are fully matured. The locking process is continuous as the hairs within the dreadlocks continue to form tighter and tighter knots and the un-matted hairs at the base of each lock continuously begin to follow the pattern of the more mature sections of the lock.
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