Head Coverings

I've drawn to the idea of head coverings for quite a few years now. Besides having a small amount of knowledge on The Amish and Quakers, I didn't really know a thing about it. One day while I was out perusing the Interwebs for information on how to live frugally, I found the website of a woman who besides being incredibly good at stretching her dollar, wore a head covering on a daily basis. Now, no offence meant to anyone of course, but if you read her page you would notice right away that she was very right wing and very devout in her faith. Nothing wrong with that really. But when one has been a practising Pagan for 13 years I found it a little disconcerting that I was so interested. It was one of those "AHA!" moments. Now I know that just because I am not a Christian or a Muslim for that matter, that I am forbidden to wear something like that for Spiritual reasons as well as practical. But I'm big on not stealing bits of another persons culture just because I think it's cool.

The majority of information out there pertains to Christian and Muslim faiths, and as stated above, I do not want to be a culture vulture. I have found information on the Irish and the Scots wearing head coverings, but it seems to have come about during the conversion of the Celts to Christianity, or LONG after they had already been converted. So I could say that yes, there is a cultural basis for my desire to wear a head covering. But as I said, I'm a Pagan, and I am very conflicted. I HAVE found a few blogs written by Pagan women who practice this, but I've yet to find any other information. So, I am on the hunt. Would love to hear comments, ideas, etc. on the subject. I'm open to all ideas at this point.

Pretty much since I was a 16 year old I have worn some sort of head covering regularly. In my more tomboyish days it was a baseball cap, then I switched over to bandana's. Most of the time I would have my hair in a bun and tuck all the end bits in. Sometimes I would put my hair in a ponytail and let the bandana be a veil of sorts. I do still wear a baseball cap from time to time, I have an awesome Seaforth Highlanders of Canada hat. And just the other day I bought this awesome green had since I seem to have misplaced my other one that I bought last year. Besides being army green(one of my favourite colours) it only cost me $2. What's even cooler is that I bought a scarf at the same time that was also $2 and matches the hat perfectly. Earlier this year my Mum gave me some money from the inheritance that she had gotten when my Grandfather had passed away on October 3, 2010. With some of that cash I bought myself a great shawl, brown and black with a paisley design swirling about it(have I mentioned I have a rabid love of paisley?). It was after I began wearing this one regularly that I realized how much I like it. I've also discovered "snoods", which I think may be my new favourite word, which are like veils/bandanas but they capture ALL your hair up. Which is awesome, because all Spiritual issues aside, my hair is damn unruly sometimes, and getting it all tucked up makes me happy.

Here is a perfect example of why I'm having issues:

Question: "Should Christian women wear head coverings?"

Answer: 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 addresses the issue of women and head coverings. The context of the entire passage of 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 is submission to the God-given order and "chain of command." A "covering" on a woman's head is used as an illustration of the order, headship, and the authority of God. The key verse of this passage is 1 Corinthians 11:3 "But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." The implications of this verse are found in the rest of the passage. The order is: God the Father, God the Son, the man or husband, and the woman or wife. The veil or covering on the head of a believing Corinthian wife showed that she was under the authority of her husband, and therefore under submission to God.

Within this passage is also verse 10: "For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels." Why is that important to angels? The relationship of God with men is something that angels watch and learn from (1 Peter 1:12). Therefore, a woman's submission to God's delegated authority over her is an example to angels. The holy angels, who are in perfect and total submission to God, expect that we, as followers of Christ, be the same.
Found HERE

The reasons I have for wanting to wear a head covering have NOTHING to do with my submission to anyone, the Gods or otherwise. The passage above deeply offends me, but to each their own I suppose. Then I found this quote, which cover a lot of the reasons as to why I want to do this.

Most often to pagan gatherings or rituals I just wear a long scarf tied around my head and let the ends drape. Speaking of gatherings, I was shocked by how many pagan women cover in some way or another - I'd say at least one out of three, if not more, were covering in one way or another at the summer gathering I went to this summer, and the group of pagan women writing about the topic on a popular forum I visit, exceeded ten pages of replies, all of them along the lines of, "wow, you cover too? I had no idea! I thought I was the only one who did! I feel so powerful when I cover!" etc etc. I think it's really telling that so many pagan women have independently reclaimed head covering as a source of feminine power. (Incidentally, covering when you leave the house and letting your hair down at home also beautifully delineates the home as a safe, sacred spot to come home to after being out in the wider world.)
Found HERE

Now this is a positive take on the whole head covering thing. I have also found forum posts and such berating women for wearing head coverings. That's my thoughts for today on this topic. I'm sure there will be more in the near future. And as I said above, and comments, ideas, etc. would be greatly appreciated!