I wonder if you have seen the tv program The Masked Singer? This features celebrities (of course) dressed in very elaborate costumes and masks to hide their identity. They then take turns to sing a song and a panel has to guess who they are. It's oddly fascinating. We all try sometimes to hide behind 'masks' when we don't want others to know how we are feeling. Putting on a happy face when we are sad or angry perhaps.
Of course at the moment we are feeding a whole new industry in face masks to help us keep COVID 19 infection rates down. I cannot imagine anyone really like wearing face coverings/masks as they can be uncomfortable, claustrophobic, sweaty and lots of other things I'm sure I have not thought of.
It seems that masks may have been used from the beginning of human existence. Masks have held much in the way of spiritual significance over the centuries and many (perhaps all) civilisations have used masks for different purposes.
South American shamans used masks to represent gods and devils and were used to communicate with the afterlife.
African tribes used masks similarly to connect with their ancestors or as a way to transform into an animal or to visit the past or the future. African masks played a very important role in ceremonies and rituals either to represent or invoke spirits. Historians say that masks were believed to fuse with the soul of animals as well as with the human soul. Masks found in several African countries were made of wood, supposedly in an effort to obtain part of the tree's strength as it was a living thing.
The Romans and Greeks would use masks which covered the whole head and would also use wigs, false ears and noses for theatre productions - an early form of special effects.
The ancient Egyptians used masks to cover the faces of the dead to prepare them for the afterlife. Many masks were made from lime, wood, linen and other fibres but the pharaohs were given masks of gold, a symbol of status and wealth. I remember a primary school trip to London to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see the treasures of Tutankhamun's Tomb. The immense golden headpiece which covered the head and shoulders of Tutankhamun's mummified body is just amazingly beautiful and probably the most famous masks in the world.
For 1000 years the Venetian Carnival has used masks to become anonymous - you could do or be whatever you want at the carnival!
Of course masks have other uses - many sports use masks for protection. Hockey, fencing, cricket. For work to protect workers from flying particles or chemical splashes or to protect others from infection - surgeon or dentist and so on.
Now we are in the unenviable position of having to wear nose and mouth coverings to protect the people around us and to protect ourselves from COVID 19. On my way back from New Zealand in March I was struck by the number of people wearing masks in Dubai Airport - it really brought home to me the enormity of the pandemic creeping towards Europe and the UK. It was a little frightening I must admit. However, a few months on and we are learning to live with this virus. Personally I think we are in this for the long haul - perhaps another year of coming in and out of lockdown. This is the price we will have to pay for our misuse of the planet and it's bounty.
Here's a song by the Eagles which is a bit of an American history lesson.