IMAGES BY
THE ART OF
MADNESS RETURNS
INTRODUCTION BY AMERICAN MCGEE
Hair is considered a symbol of vitality, as it does not stop growing even after a person's death, this is also shown by the parable of Samson, his physical strength was in his hair, in Germany hair was a sign of the freeborn, slaves and prisoners cut their hair. Hair is associated with the rite of initiation, circumcision during Baptism, haircut in the monastery, In Robert Jordan's fantasy novel "eye of peace", girls from the village of Two Years could braid braids only after reaching "adulthood".
Loose and tangled hair was a constant attribute of mermaids and sirens, who were considered "otherworldly" creatures, in Slavic mythological philosophy, mermaids were considered former drowned women or dead unbaptized children. To get rid of this fate, the mermaid had to drown a person in the same place. Hair has a certain similarity with the water element. and the hair and the water element have such qualities as waviness, water being the tamest of all the elements, if I may so say. Therefore, as water is connected with the other world (the river Styx, water contamination with wormwood), hair (remember Veles) is also connected with the other world. There is a custom to put a comb in the coffin of a dead person (it may be needed during the transition) as if the comb is compared to an oar and can help to cross the river Styx.
