Around Halloween many people are thinking about costumes and many types of masks can be seen everywhere at this time. It is noteworthy that the word “mask” refers to two types of face coverings–one for the purpose of “becoming” something or someone other than yourself and one being for the purpose protecting yourself. As a COVID-cautious person masking since 2020, I would submit that both uses point to different aspects of the spiritual power of masks.
History of masks
Masks—of the costume or ceremonial variety—first appeared in the archaeological record about 30,000 years ago. At some point in prehistory, people began to realize the immense power of putting on a ceremonial mask and becoming someone or something else.
Masks in ancient Pagan practice could have a lot of purposes. One was for the person to assume a role. Some shamans might have used them to let the spirits know that they were there to do shamanic work. In Africa people donned masks during initiation rites and other seasonal festivals. And in both Africa and Europe, people would put on masks of certain spirits or deities and end up feeling like they have become that entity. I read a modern day experience of someone who put on a mask of the goddess Eris, a Greek goddess known for creating strife, and who got so into the act that she needed to spend about an hour coming down from that experience before she could feel like herself again. One can only imagine the spiritual power of masks in such a case.
Pagan veiling
The masks that us COVID-conscious people wear are for protective purposes, but even here, there is some parallel in the Pagan world. The origin of costuming for Samhain and Halloween was the desire to hide people’s faces from the spirits, a practice known in Scotland as “guising”, so there is a sense of protection there as well.
While some people might be more likely to associate Paganism with nude dancers under the moonlight, believe it or not Pagan veiling is also a thing. If you watch enough YouTube videos by Pagans, you’ll see some of them tying their hair back in a scarf, though they usually don’t try to hide their hair like Muslims do, and modesty is usually not the point. Modern Pagans veil entirely by choice Any gender can do so and will do so for a number of reasons. For some people it can be as simple as a bandana or hat, some will get nice scarves. Most don’t cover all their hair. A few do, and even a small percentage will cover their faces at certain times.
Many Pagans who veil to shield themselves from negative energies often attest to the spiritual power of masks. Some people who are very empathic have found that wearing a veil actually protects them from absorbing the energies of people and the environment around them. Many people who are neurodivergent are extra sensitive to the external environment and find veils comforting. Many find veils to be grounding. Some say that the veil protects their crown chakra and third eye . Some say that veiling helps them to focus. There are some Pagans who feel that the deity they worship has actually encouraged them to veil. Many people report this coming from the Greek goddesses Hekate and Hestia. I was reading a forum on Hekate where people were surprised to find out that they weren’t the only ones veiling for her. And some people—well, it just feels right and they need not have any other reason. Some Pagans veil all the time, while others will veil only during ritual. Yet others only remove their veil when engaging in ritual work. So Pagan veiling is a form of spiritual protection.
Protective masks
Protective masks as a form of physical protection or health protection have a different history. The first helmets with face masks reportedly appeared nearly 3,000 years ago. It’s unclear when the first masks to filter air evolved—over the millennia it’s easy to imagine people devising all sorts of ways to ward off dust and other irritants. We do know that the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder from the first century CE reported using masks made from pig bladders or animal skins to filter out toxins while creating certain pigments. Marco Polo in the 13th century CE observed servants wearing silk scarves over their faces while preparing food for the emperor. We are familiar with the iconic beak masks people used during the Black Death in Europe,
Many different types of masks were invented in the 19th centuryto deal with pollution and later with germs. These weren’t used widely in public, though their industrial use increased. And some people with compromised immune systems and chemical sensitivities have been using them in the modern area. Widespread civilian use of cloth face masks were used during the Spanish flu pandemic over a 100 years ago, and then once again at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Masks as a spiritual discipline
It can be argued that those of us who are continuing to mask are engaging in a spiritual discipline. We have been resisting government and corporate efforts to sweep this pandemic under the rug. In some places, we’re the only ones masking for miles around. Many of us have had our relationships with friends and family members negatively affected because we hold on to scientific truth as our guide, not social truths. We do so because we know our very health demands it. Many of us have found other uses for our masks, such as cleaning a dusty place or protecting against smoke and air pollution. Yet, at the same time, I think we can make the argument that it is a spiritual discipline.
By doing so, though, I don’t want to minimize the dark nature of the times we live in. I think all of us agree that it currently sucks to be living in this timeline and none of us chose this. Millions of people have been disabled by COVID to one degree or another, the adversity has often been very difficult to bear and has been made worse by the abandonment that has often accompanied being COVID-cautious.
My point is that by wearing our masks, we are engaging in very powerful magic. It’s not necessarily different from others who wore those masks around a bonfire during ceremony tens of thousands of years. We are openly saying with our masks that we don’t live in normal times. We know we can’t go back to normal times because it was the so-called “normal” times that have brought us to this point. Many of us see the link between COVID denial and climate denial, and denial of the other human-made problems we are all dealing with. So, let us perform our magic on the world around us with resolve.