A short text I translated from Polish.

Hairstyle as a text of culture. An analysis of the ways of combing and practices related to hair based on Polish folk culture.
The aim of the article is to present various functions fulfilled by hair (their length, thickness and colour) and by hairstyles in the traditional world view (beliefs, superstitions, stereotypes and healing-magical practises. Hair was the symbol of life, power and charm, but separated from the body they could become dangerous and be a menace to one, e.g. when used in black magic.(<em>Did hair protect people form black magic? I don't follow) </em> Until the 20th century a hairdo in Polish folk culture was a significant cultural communicate, informing about the social and matrimonial status and A change of a hairstyle was an important element of many ceremonies and rites connected with the most important moments of the life (birth, first haircut, marriage, dying, burial and the time of mouring). The reflections about the image of hair are connected to many opposites: plaited hair – loosen hair, combed hair – tweaked hair, short hair – long hair, uncovered hair – covered hair, hair growing on the body – hair separated from the body. A careful hairstyle was always a symbol of affiliation to a specific social order. But long and tousled hair meant an immersion into chaos, crossing the borders of the human world (demonic creatures).