In the recent years November in some countries of the Anglo-Saxon world has been declared a month of the moustache with the characteristic name Movember. Men’s unions and groups in the social networks have urged their friends and associates to stop shaving for a month as a way to back various causes and  to escape from the imperative of fashion trends, the norms of society and the demands of girlfriends and wives. This fact suggests that growing a nice beard or a prominent moustache though a marginalized habit in the western culture today, is still the brand of male identity. With women, hair is quite important – whether long or short, straight or curly, natural or dyed. Well, let us not forget the traditional rivalry between blondes and brunettes either! So, in the coming minutes we take a look into the traditional notions of Bulgarians to see what role hair, beards and moustaches had to play in folklore.

As everything else in folklore, hair, beards and moustaches are not simply part of human anatomy and physiology but signs that convey messages and have deep meaning. One legend goes how God created the first humans who were covered with hairs allover, just like animals, and therefore were not ashamed of their nudity. After they sinned and their sin was disclosed, their hairs fell out and hair only survived in spots that they had been able to cover. Frightened by God’s anger they bent and covered their heads, and Adam also covered his mouth. So humans ended up with hair on their heads and men in particular still grow a moustache or a beard.  Hair is an important part of human appearance. Where women and girls are concerned, the hair is a sign of beauty and feminine dignity. Songs and tales usually extol the beauty of blond hair often compared with silk, however dark hair is also mentioned here and there and is presented as fallow land or tar. The change in hairstyle heralds important changes in the life of a woman. When the girl is fit to marry, she begins to wear plaits. While preparing the bride for the wedding, her hair is plaited in a special way that denotes her new social status. Usually the unmarried girl wore an even number of plaits, while the married woman wore an odd number. With Muslims henna is used to distinguish women – girls have to apply red henna and married women black henna. 

In the traditional culture the woman should always wear her hair plaited, otherwise she manifested some sort of a transitional status. The plaits were undone during mourning up to 40 days after the death of a family member. Witches also let their hair loose. Long and loose hair was associated with demonic creatures such as bad-fairies and wood-nymphs as well as with disease, hence the proverb “as disheveled as plague”. 

While feminine dignity was hidden in the hair, male dignity was very much into the moustache. Growing a beard and a moustache is a sign of the sexual maturity of the young man, a long moustache was a synonym of an adult man. The proverb argues that “a man with a moustache and a woman with breads should not be told what to do”. In more recent folklore, “a man without a moustache is like an egg without salt.” In folk songs, sporting a dark nice moustache was a good way to attract girls. Great folk heroes sported a prominent moustache. The moustache of Krali Marko for example was compared to “a six-month lamb”. In a heroic gesture the brave giant threw over his blonde moustache across his white shoulders. Unlike a youthful and charming moustache, the beard was and still is a symbol of wisdom and is characteristic of old men, monks and saints. For this reason old Bulgarians cannot accept the trend of young guys wearing long beards like ancient 100-year-olds.  The ritual shaving marked some turning points in the life of a man: the bridegroom was shaved as he was prepared to get married. By the same token, a dead man would also be shaved to prepare him for his journey to the yonder world. Merchants and vendors still practice and ancient ritual. The money from the first profit is rubbed against the beard so as to multiply the way hairs grow. And here is a riddle for you to end Folk Studio: “Its roots are upwards, its ends are down. What is it? 

Translated by Daniela Konstantinova