HEADS ARE TURNING (Repost from Halupi, January 13, 1987) and a rejoinder

This is an article culled from a compilation of short essays of a very prolific Filipino writer, Felice Sta. Maria. "Clean tresses should be enough to make a man take a second look, shampoo advertisements explain. Once upon a time, that second look could have been fatal and an unfavored suitor's head could have rolled from the headman's axe or the guillotine. Elders the world over warn against bare heads ha can fall prey to morning dew and cold. In the Philippines, where the same healthy head-counsel remains, most men wore headcloths. The turbans were wrapped and folded in a variety of ways-- each style signifying rank and ethnic lineage. The Bukidnon epic about hero Agueo's clan describes three seas-- one of betelnut for the living and two others of red and black made for the "turbans" of mortal men and women warriors. Early Spanish Christian missionaries recorded that pagan priests resembled horned Satan. Actually the native male clergy were simply garbed complete with a square head-cloth wrapped so that two tips stood up like horns. The masculine head gear is called by a variety of terms including putong, tubao and pis. Because pis is used in the Mindanao area "peace cloth" might be the more apropos reference, although in the 1970s new collectors of ethnic textiles inadvertently called the turban 'piece cloth'. Bukidnon ladies wear a headcloth but onl to cover their chignon. Use of the vehil among Muslim and Christians varies. Yet it is veil which unites both religions with Visnu. Hindi bridal couples exchange sampaguita garlands and tie head veils and shawls together. Muslims keep an ornate silk cloth over the heads of bride and groom during nuptials, and also keep a knotted garland around them. The Philippine Christian ceremony maintains this Asian custom with the veil and the cord-- not part of traditional Latin marriage rites." A study of head gears especially those which are still in use would be interesting especially to a Mindanao observer. In a place where centuries-old customs and traditions are still being practiced, it is best written about and chronicled especially by our young to better understand their cultural and heritage. The story suggestion for this topic gets a prize!