I’m not blogging about headscarves today, but if I were, I wish I’d written this post by Monica. (Except that she likes rock and reggae, and I like folk and renaissance and boogie-woogie; and that I suspect she covers her head full-time whereas I do it only in church)

Disclaimer: if you’ve come here from either of my relevant mailing lists —you know who you are— and you disagree, please argue here, not there. I don’t want to cause conflict in a safe venue. Also, I’m not seeking debate, I only want to put my thoughts in order and vent them.

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I started wearing a headscarf in church —and kept it up once I’d started— mainly because I wanted to have a visible, tangible sign that church was different from the world outside it. Altar folk have their vestments, and I could have something too. I could think of oodles of reasons not to have it, most of which I will refute in a moment, but the thing that most kept me from just going ahead and covering my head was that I didn’t want to be seen as a wannabe Russian.

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This is only in the ‘Church’ category because all the other posts about headscarves were, and because I don’t have a ‘Fashion’ category.

Slightly over a year ago, I posted that I didn’t have enough headscarves. In fact, only these (after I’d given the garish one away and retired the dark blue one with holes to the spare winter clothes bag):

Left to right: the old synthetic too-small Russian, the black one, the overly large one with leaves, the sheer and pretty georgette.

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I’ve really started wearing a headscarf for services. It wasn’t only an incident. It agrees with me. I’m still finding out when exactly to wear one: definitely for Liturgy, definitely not for ecumenical Vespers, but there’s a large grey area in between. It will probably take me another year to become completely clear on that.

I don’t have enough headscarves, at least not the right kind.

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Thinking I might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb I wore a headscarf to the regular Sunday Liturgy as well. I hope by Easter everybody thinks it’s what I do. For now, it’s a kind of Lenten resolution: if I want to do something that is good (or at least non-bad) in itself, I should do it and not stand around wanting it.

My daughters giggled, and when I asked “do you think it’s silly?” one said “a little” and another asked “why do you do it?” When I answered “because I like it” she was satisfied.

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In the first week of Lent we have Great Compline with the Penitential Canon of St.Andrew of Crete. Usually twice: last year on Monday and Thursday, this year on Monday and Wednesday. We could theoretically have it four times but it’s hard enough on the choir to do it twice.

Last year, I dared wear a headscarf to this service for the first time. This year I did it again. It’s the only time when I’m confident enough not to think of what people will think.

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