The Houses of Hair Man and Bald Man

 This concept of the "Bald Man" has been a bit of a mystery to me.

I mean, I had a bit of a negative experience with one Bald Man who I have dubbed Doug, but that didn't seem to fully account for this overall storyline and set of themes relating to some characters and their baldness.

Whether with the symbolism and story of Walter White, the imagery of Jeff Bezos and his black feathered and ball-less rocket, or other interesting characters, events, dreams, etc. involving baldness (such as my Mr. Potato Head dream or my post on Bald Men Phobias where some things rolled up into a few strange syncs), it has been a theme that has had me wondering just a bit.  The references keep coming up.

I should have recognized the first clue as to what this could refer to with the mention of Harkonnens.  Although, after I typed that sentence I did a search on my blog for where I mentioned them, but alas, it looks like I only thought I had written something about them.  So, a few quick paragraphs for background...

Harkonnen was a name that came up a couple years ago, and I didn't really do anything with it.  For those of you familiar with Dune, this is the House that fought against and almost eradicated House Atreides.  I tried reading the book once, but I couldn't get too into it, and at the time I knew that JRR Tolkien hated the book, so that was enough for me to have an excuse not to pursue it further.  What I know of the book comes from some vaguely remembered scenes from David Lynch's movie adaptation, and the new Dune movie, Part 1. I haven't seen Part 2 yet.

Anyway, there is something strange and relevant for our purposes with respect to the Harkonnens.  In the new movie adaptations, the conscious choice of the director was to make them all bald.  A complete race of hairless, bald Beings.  This was not how it was in the book, I believe, nor how they were conveyed in the Lynch-1980's version (red or blonde hair was the thing).  But in this recent version, they were made to be all bald:

And they were bad guys, and the Bald Man theme in my dreams and various connections seemed to also be tied to bad guys.

But why?  Does this all go back to Doug?  That would be a bummer.  But no, I don't think so.  This is a bigger problem

Before I go further, I should also clarify that to be Bald is different thing than being bald.   Meaning the Bald that I am concerned with has to do with one's identity or House from a very long time ago, and not whether one has male pattern baldness in their physical body here and now.  There is Bald, and there is bald.   Doug is both, by the way, Bald and bald, but that doesn't mean you have to be, necessarily.

But again, with the Harkonnens we have a whole race or family of Beings that are cast as Bald Men.  I can't remember what I was thinking about last week, but I landed on Finwe, and I remembered that a variant of his name was also Finn.

Then it hit me.

Finn means "Hair", and this also goes for Fin (with just the one N), and this is our second clue. Traditionally, Finwe's name has meant something like Crafty or Skillful Man (Fin-we), but alternatively it can simply mean Hair Man or Hair Being.  

I have guessed that Finwe is likely the name for the Being we know as Israel, and that this is also the Being who Jesus called Father, and we would know as God the Father.  Thus, "Israel", in this sense, would refer to the House of the Hair Man, or literally the House of God.  Which would obviously be the opposite of Bald Man, or House of the Bald Man, who is the bad guy and evil.

The possession of or absence of hair, then, in this story becomes a symbolic marker of a character's association with Israel or their enemies.  Hair = God and his family.  Bald = the enemies of God's family.

Anyway, I think this is it.  When I have seen Beings in my dreams, or in some of these symbolic representations, I believe it is mean to illustrate the Family of which one belongs.

Let us also, then, call these Bald Beings "Gentiles".  These Beings fought against and tried to destroy God' Family and people in a time long before this world.  This world is an extension of that conflict (a continuation of a much different version in my mind of the "War in Heaven" than is found in LDS theology), and it is here where the House of Finwe finally prevails, through means previously not thought possible or likely.  A curious work of redemption.

And this redemption extends to the Gentiles, but the way, in the story in my head.  Just because someone was Bald doesn't mean they can't switch sides and choose to be good.  It is all choice, and although past choices may make future change less likely, it is not impossible.  Repentance is extended to the Gentiles, and they can be forgiven and be numbered among Israel.  Israel will have all of the 'hairs' or their heads restored to them - that is their promise, to be reunited with their Family - and the Gentiles that repent and come to Jesus may find hair growing on heads that used to have none.

Lex Luthor

In this game and ultimate struggle between Good and Evil, there may also be Beings who disguise themselves as being of the House of Hair Man, but are actually not.  The character of Lex Luthor brought this to mind.

In the first Superman movie, Gene Hackman plays Lex Luthor.  Luthor is traditionally a Bald Man - the enemy of Kal-El on this Earth.  However, for most of the movie, Luthor actually has hair.  The real reason for this is that Hackman refused to shave his head for the part.  So, as part of the plot, Luthor is portrayed as having hair the entire movie, though we get random shots of wigs in his underground hideout below Metropolis for no readily apparent reason.

Only at the end is the big reveal made:  The wigs were there because Luthor is actually Bald.  He was just pretending to have a full head of hair.

Why is that detail important?  I just mention it because I think at this time it is very hard to, for certain, tell who is or is not Bald, and some disguises are pretty good, spiritually speaking.  Remember my dream of Mr. Potato Head, where the big message is that this ultimately Bald and Smooth Being can don many different faces and disguises.  Sneaky.   So, we have to be a bit careful, I think.

Thin Spaghetti

The definition of Finwe with Hair might also at least partially explain the 'thin' imagery with respect to people and places.  This has come up over on William Tychonievich's blog, as well as over here.  For instance, my son drew that picture of a monkey named Spaghetti, a long, thin noodle.  William writes of a skinny planet, with little skinny people and Beings.  Lots of skinny references.

"Finn", besides meaning Hair, can also just refer to a single strand of Hair, or a filament, as Eldamo points out.  Or, a long, thin thread.

So, when we speak of Beings, or even places, and refer to them as being thin or skinny, we may also be referring to the same thing as when we speak of Hair in our analogy above.  The Beings in question are the threads the comprise the tapestry of God's House.  I don't know - just thinking creatively at this point, but there could be something there.

In any case, I do think that to be Bald, in the sense I am describing, is to not be numbered among God's house:  Hair-less.  But, this is a redemptive work, and it doesn't need to remain that way.  Even enemies can repent and become Hairy.