New Moon Haircuts by Dad
So once upon a time, when I lived in Mexico before moving back to the US, I have this fond memory of me as a kid and what my version of a haircut was. I also do remember being so young and thinking how bizarre it all was. How can he see what he’s doing?
Now in my adult years, I can maybe piece together that growing up, my haircuts were only scheduled to the full moon phases and at night outside with the moon shining bright. I’m sure you’re wondering all of the things I was thinking when I was a kid. Well, my conclusion now as an adult is it must have been all cultural wives’ tales.
I remember my mother telling me and my sister to go shower, put our pajamas on, and hurry on out to the front door because my dad was waiting for us. Well, as we walk out there, I remember my dad just outside with a comb and some sort of scissors—don’t ask me what kind, but I can absolutely confirm they were not our beautiful luxury shears we all use now.
He would tell me and my sister to stand close together with our shoulders touching and to stand very still. Now mind you, growing up as a little Mexican girl, you know damn well that our hair was already long, luscious, and beautiful, but we needed the extra magic touch from the Aztec gods—also known to us now as the hair gods—to give us more! Obviously, who wouldn’t want bigger, better hair? Duh, we all do, or else hair extensions would not be existent, so let’s clear that.
Anyways, back to my story. While my sister and I stood there as still as we could, I would just feel how my dad combed and combed and combed my hair until it was as straight as it could get. Now mind you, my hair is naturally curly, so I’m sure you can all imagine what was happening! Hahaha! Note to dad: remember, dad, curly wet hair bounces up!! Haha! In his defense, he would only snip about an inch for our magical, majestic haircuts.
As I was saying, after he was done combing, he would start with me, cutting as slow and still as he could. I would just feel the scissors slowly move across my little baby back until he would reach the end of my zero-elevated, straight-across cut and kept going straight to my sister. It was a straight shot cut, starting with me and ending with my sister. And tada! That was the end of our cut, and we would have standing appointments based on the moon phase of the next full moon.
I never did ask my dad why he would do that, but knowing him and his Aztec Indian woman tattooed on his arm since I was little, I can almost guess why. It’s maybe his spiritual, cultural Aztec gods and maybe a little bit of wives’ tales—and let me tell you, I grew up with millions. But in this case, cutting our hair was for us to have more of our luscious, beautiful hair and to preserve it forever… so no going bald for me, or else the Aztec gods failed me! Hahaha!
So with that said, I continue to treasure and keep that beautiful memory alive. Don’t get me wrong, I get a big giggle and am almost certain science will say otherwise, but it’s good to keep some magic in our life!
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