Samson and Delilah

Photo Credit: “Samson and Delilah” – Gustave Dore

As a hair shaman, I think that one of the greatest stories ever told about our crowning glory and its magic, mystery, and power is the biblical story of Samson.
Most theologians and philosophers would never realize this. They don‘t see the deeper meaning when the Bible says Samson‘s hair was his link to the divine and his source of strength. But it is so obvious, shouting to us loud and clear! Of course, like all such stories, there are layers upon layers of meaning and information. Although, the story of Samson‘s crowning glory is too important to be just brushed aside. If we keep it simple, not only does the story of Samson tell us about our crowning glory, it also reveals one of the most important features of what it takes to have perfect health and great looking hair detoxification.

According to the Bible, Samson‘s crowning glory was gorgeous and very masculine and powerful. And just like my vision of the grass on the mound of my youth, not only was his Crowning Glory amazing to look at, it was also his source of universal power, connecting him to the Divine. The Bible even says that because Samson was special to God, no hair on his head had ever seen a razor. And through his hair, Samson received the ch‘I, the powerful energies of the universe though his crown chakra. These energies transformed into his physical energy and great strength.

Sometimes we are just too good looking for our own good. We can get careless and forget how the Five Elements in nature support our strength and connection to the sublime and divine, and that we need to take special care for our gifts. And that is what happened to Samson. In his vanity and pride, he didn‘t fully appreciate what God had given him. He became careless with his secret, the secret of his power—his crowning glory. Enters Delilah.

The Bible gives Delilah a bad reputation. She was a temptress, a daughter of the evil Philistines, the sworn enemy of the Israelites. Even her name means “weak.” She was sent to tempt Samson, to render him powerless. And that is what she did. Even though he mocked her and played hard to get, Delilah persisted. She spent time with Samson and wooed him night after night. We can see a great interplay and flow between the masculine and feminine powers as our hero and heroine become closer. Then, through Samson‘s hair, his crown chakra, Delilah is able to take control of her lover. Ultimately, she only accomplished a betrayal of Samson and her inner self.

All shamans know that there are some secrets that should not be told. It‘s not because they want to be stingy or hold special power over others, but because some secrets need to be passed on properly, to people who understand how to use them way they were intended. In the wrong hands, such secrets can go off like nuclear bombs.

When I received my first shamanic teaching from my Brazilian friend at Kenneth‘s, I was sworn to secrecy. I have honored that promise to her to this very day.

Samson knew one of those secrets. His crowning glory, he had a special connection to God and the divine. But one night, to prove his love and loyalty to Delilah, he gave away this precious secret.

The Bible says that Delilah was the cause of Samson‘s downfall. What made Samson vulnerable to her charms and guile was his own pride, toxic emotions, and a disregard for the magic and mystery of his crowning glory and the connection it forged between him and God. During those nights with Delilah, he ate and drank until he was delirious and out of control. He lost the magic, mystery, and power of what should have been cherished and kept secret. Through his habits and attitudes, Samson became disconnected and Delilah had no problem cutting off his Crowning Glory. Without it, he lost his strength and became powerless.

Consider this: what if Delilah did Samson a favor? With his pride and toxic emotions, he had become full of himself. If he was going to get back to his connection to the divine, something had to give. Delilah actually did him the most amazing favor. By shaving his head, she got rid of the history his hair had stored. She detoxified him—and made him open and available for new divine energy to come in.

The Philistines made Samson a slave. He ate very little (like a fast) and did hard, physical labor, causing him to sweat a lot. During this detox process, the Bible says that the Philistines did not pay attention to one little detail of their captive. Samson crowning glory started to grow back! As a result, that new head of hair, and a mind and body freed of toxins, Samson reconnected with the divine. Slowly but surely, the new, non-toxic Samson, with a new and cleansed crowning glory emerged—even more powerful than before.

Not only does the Bible give us the first great story of detoxification, it is also an example of the first great revelation in Western stories of the importance of our crowning glory. This appreciation remains alive in the hands of the masterful barbers I visited in all of the small villages throughout Europe.