MANILA, Philippines ? Hair braiding was a ritual in my family. My mother, who has always been great at hiring and keeping help, managed during our early years to have three yayas assigned to braid the tresses of her three daughters each morning before school. For years my sisters and I lived with knee-length hair (through all the hair fashions of the 70s!) because Daddy fancied the idea of three daughters in matching dresses and long tresses?and we indulged him for a while, at least with the plaits, until college.

So for many years, we had sat with our yayas as they brushed, braided, clipped and tied our hair, girl-bonding and chattering along the way.

That?s how I learned so much about hair. Not the science or art of hair care, mind, but unlocking the mysteries and secrets of the locks enroute to health, talent and good fortune. It?s all in what you do or don?t do to your hair, it seems. There are hair customs and superstitions galore, and there?s bound to be one for every life event?from womb to tomb as the saying goes. Here?s a list of some of them, gathered through the years and from different sources and regions. Any of them sound familiar?

Conception

? When a pregnant woman experiences itchiness around her belly, it means her baby will be born with a full head of hair. A word of caution to the mother: don?t scratch! It won?t just give you kamot or stretch marks, but it will make your baby allergy-prone.

? Eating balut when pregnant will make the baby balbon or hirsute; eating corn will give the baby long, brownish hair. My youngest child was born with a full head of short light brown curls, but I could not recall eating even a single grain of corn while conceiving.

Birth and Infancy

? Don?t cut the baby?s hair before its first birthday, or the baby will be very sickly. No mother ever dares defy this!

? After baby?s first birthday, let someone whose traits you want the baby to emulate give the child its first haircut?this assures that the child will follow in the footsteps of its first barber. Just recently, my daughter?s classmate had to travel 16 hours to Isabela and back, in the midst of law school midterms, just to cut her nephew?s hair on his first birthday. The child?s grandmother had insisted on it, so that the boy would take after Jackie, a consistent honor student.

? Don?t throw away the strands from the baby?s first haircut. Press them within the pages of a book to make the child intelligent. Better yet, if you want him to be doctor, keep the locks within the pages of a medical textbook; if a priest, within the pages of a Bible, etc.

? It is bad luck to comb?all the more, cut?the baby?s hair while it is asleep.

? If old folks are to be believed, a child?s future is pre-destined by his puyo (hair whirl). One puyo is normal. But look out for the child with two puyos?it means the child will be headstrong, naughty and trouble-bound. Three puyos make for a lucky child. A puyo at the peak of the forehead, like a cleft chin, a dimple or a well-placed mole, may add to the beauty of a face; but among Visayans, it?s a magnet for sudden storms and eventual shipwrecks in the middle of a sea. I learned this from our former yaya?s own daughter, who claims she had to hide her son?s hair under a cap when they got on a ship from Iloilo to Manila, otherwise they wouldn?t have been allowed on board. The belief is true, she added, because every time the cap would fall off, the winds would pick up as in a gathering storm!

Childhood, adolescence, midlife

Washing hair:

? Don?t wash your hair the day before an exam, supposedly because it would wash out whatever learning you?ve managed to store in your head while reviewing.

? Sleeping with wet hair could make you go blind?or turn your hair prematurely white.

? Washing your hair on the first day of your menstrual period could make you go mad.

? Washing your hair at night during a menstrual period will result in much blood loss and make you weak and sickly.

? Braid, tie, or clip hair only when it is completely dry to avoid headaches.

Combing hair:

? If you drop a comb while doing your hair, prepare for a coming disappointment.

? Don?t comb or brush your hair by the window on a full moon?it is an invitation to evil spirits, and you may become ill.

Cutting hair:

? The more often you cut your hair, the faster it grows.

? Cut your hair when the moon is full if you want it to grow thick and healthy.

? Cut your hair on Good Friday to prevent headaches.

? Cut your hair during a storm for good luck.

? Be careful how you dispose of cut hair. If an evil person gets even a strand of your hair, you could be a victim of kulam (hex).

? A quick and easy love potion: Pluck a hair from your head, making sure to include the root, burn it, and mix the ashes into a drink for your intended beloved victim.

Graying hair

? If you pull out a gray hair, ten more will grow in its place.

? If you must pluck out gray hair, don?t bother to count them if you don?t want any more to be added to them.

Illness, old age and death

? It?s bad luck to cut your hair or shave when a family member is gravely ill or in bad health.

? Do not cut the hair of a very sick or dying family member as this could hasten death.

? Among the Pampanga folk, combing one?s hair after the death of a parent will make the parent?s soul restless.

? In certain parts of the Visayas, immediate family members are not allowed to wash or cut their hair when there?s a death in the family until after the burial.

Easter Sunday, they say, is the best day of the year to cut your hair if you want it to grow long and healthy. But if you?d care to know, there are also consequences to cutting your hair on particular days of the week:

Cut hair on Monday, you cut it for health; cut it on Tuesday, you cut for wealth.

Cut hair on Wednesday to hear good news; cut it on Thursday, get a new pair of shoes.

Cut it on Friday and there will be sorrow; cut it on Saturday, you?ll meet your true love tomorrow.

Cut your hair on Sunday, and the devil will be with you all week.