Esoteric Beards

Beards have been a thing since COVID. I grew one then and still have it. So did many of you. Having a beard these days is really cool, the flag of a modern-day hipster, the remnants of an aging hippy. Although beards appear to be fashion, esoterically speaking, they are more, much more. Beards are part of what Carl Jung called our Collective Consciousness, and so let's look at this Collective Consciousness together. 

Bearded Venus 

Today we see beards on athletes, musicians, actors, etc. Visually, they are associated with aesthetic jews, the Sunnah beard (a beard worn in the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad), and of course the beatnik's of the 50's, hippies of the 60's, and Nirvana grunge of the 80's. These are the external, or exoteric, images we associate with a beard, but esoterically speaking beards were regarded by the ancients of the middle east as a token of wisdom and a sign of power. So much so that even some of the Great Goddesses of the early Mediterranean cultures were depicted with beards, including a number of Bearded Venuses in Greece. 

In ancient Mesopotamia the beard was a mark of virility and many worth, and was carefully shaped and tended to give it distinction. Assyrian beards were meticulously arranged in tiers of circular curls stiffened with perfumed gum. 

In Islamic countries the beard was considered the supreme badge of male dignity for the faithful. Traditionally all the prophets of old before the time of Muhammad. Speaking of Muhammad, in "The Beast Within," by Benjamin Walker, he quotes the honored profit as having said, "Do the opposite of the polytheists, and let your beard grow long." Walker also states that Muslims used to "swear by the beard of the Prophet, and consider it a great insult to have their beard pulled."

Yes, beards were a thing until Alexander the Great forbade his soldiers to grow beards because they provided a convenient handle for the enemy. After that shaving became the thing gentlemen did for centuries leaving beards for the priesthood and nobility. 

In the reign of Elizabeth I there was a tax on beards in England. In Eastern Europe and especially Russia beards remained in vogue until Peter the Great decided to reform his country in line with western Europe and put a tax on beards and personally cut off beards of anyone he came across. 

Besides being a sign of manliness the beard was often regarded as a sign of mature wisdom. It was even believed that stroking the beard assisted thought and deliberations. Hence, the gesture of stroking the beard was often satirized to signify an imminent pontifical utterance that turns out to be worthless.

It has been argued that the beard, being the attribute of a mature male, must require a considerable amount of male energy to help it grow. But when the beard is full grown, the energy normally diverted to grow it becomes available for virile purposes. The beard should therefore never be cut by anyone who wishes to preserve his manhood unimpaired. 

Of courses, being a man who has grown a beard I call bullshit on the beard being anything but facial hair.  I mean, you never saw Buddha with a beard, did you? 

Putting all I've written on beards aside, there is a very real coinkydink with beards and history that should scare us all, and that is how divided our country is today between Right and Left political beliefs.  It is a divide not seen since the Civil War (1861-1865) when the US was torn apart with bloodshed in this country we haven't seen since. Now, consider this fact as reported in Google Arts and Culture, that "The American Civil War (1861-1865) coincided with a rise in the popularity of men’s full facial hair during the mid-19th century. Contemporary photography captured men’s experimentation with an endless variety of styles, including mustaches, muttonchops, underbeards and sideburns. President Abraham Lincoln embraced the widespread trend himself when he grew his iconic beard in 1860."

Yes, brothers and sisters, all the masculine facial hair we see today, is a sign of the inevitable troubles to come if we don't come together as human race, and live together as one. 

~~ Eso Terry