A haircut can practically make or break your look. You can either look your absolute best, or just about good enough. And while for most of us it is simply an act of refreshing our looks, its history is clouded with old wives tales? Yes, hair superstitions are a real thing and many people believe in them.

Strange, right?

In many cultures, cutting hair (on the head) can have different connotations, from acquiring health to wealth, or good and bad omens, and everything in between.

Here are eight shocking hair superstitions you might not have heard before. 

1. Getting a haircut on Good Friday can prevent headaches

Good Friday in Ireland is a day for penance, fasting, and prayer. But it also brings with it several superstitions and customs. One of which is women letting their hair hang loose to symbolise mourning.

Many Irish men and women cut their hair and let them loose. According to Irish culture and customs, it is believed that haircuts on Good Friday can prevent you from experiencing headaches throughout the coming year. 

2. You should always burn your cut-off hair

A haircut always leads to a bit of an unavoidable mess. And while you might have gotten used to just sweeping it clean, there’s a few superstitious beliefs that say throwing all that away could bring you bad luck. Instead, it’s believed you’re better off burning your cut-off hair instead.

This is in line with the belief that birds may use the hair you’ve thrown away for their nests and with how tightly they would weave it, your fate might get intertwined with the birds’. It’s also said that not burning cut hair could bring upon headaches.

Some also believe that burning your hair could also prevent your cut-off hair from being stolen by someone else with bad intentions and can cause you to experience “evil plots” or “wicked spells.”

Burnt hair can also determine your future. For instance, if hair strands burn brightly, you get to live a long life. Although if it does dissolve quickly, you might face imminent bodily threat.  

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3. A family member might die if you cut your hair at night

Cutting your hair at night doesn’t sound like a good idea in the first place. Doing so when it’s probably too dark could only lead to mess.

Back when people didn’t even have lightbulbs, one of the hair superstitions was created to prevent younger men and women from cutting their hair at night. The fear was that by doing so they could prevent people from harming themselves.  

4. Shorter hair on a Tuesday could mean a shorter life

In Hinduism, getting a haircut and also cutting your nails on Tuesday could possibly shorten your lifespan and may even cause you to have high amounts of debt. This is related to Tuesday, called Mangalwar in Hindu tradition, being a day for arguments, combat and war. 

Seeing as there are six other days in the week anyway, you can just cut your hair the next day.

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5. Your hair grows faster when you cut it during pregnancy

Mummies-to-be normally experience drastic changes to their body, one of which is that their hair can grow faster and even thicker when cut short. 

So if you’re unsure about a haircut you’ve wanted, at least you won’t have to wait too long to grow it out.

6. New year should not mean new hair

According to Lunar New Year traditions, getting a haircut on the new year may not be the best idea. This is because the Chinese character for hair is similar to the first character in the word prosper. 

So keeping your hair as is without cutting or washing it can prevent sweeping all your fortune away for the next year. 

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7. You’ll attract evil if you cut your hair on a Sunday

There are also Catholic hair superstitions that say haircuts on the Lord’s resting day could only bring upon evil. Sundays are believed to be a rest day for everyone with no work that should take place including a haircut. 

8. Haircuts on a Monday may give you good health

Since Mondays usually symbolise a new beginning as it starts off your busy week, it is believed that cutting your hair on this particular day can bring upon both good physical and mental health. 

So if you’ve been wanting a new start with brand new hair, maybe plan a haircut on Monday!

This article was first published in theAsianparent.