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The Mystery of
the Green Man
By Michelle Jones
Who
or what is The Green Man? - We have all seen him, peering through
his foliage, in churches, cathedrals and in virtually every 'New
age' shop in the country. As little as fifteen years ago, there
was only one, out of print, book to be found on the subject; now
there is a proliferation of books, each offering their own theories
and ideas and there are countless 'Green Man' things to buy, from
wall plaques and T Shirts to jewellery and fridge magnets! To
try and discover his origins, we must first look at the great
gothic churches and cathedrals of England and Europe. It is an
astounding fact that the images of the Green Man outnumber the
images of Christ by approximately twelve to one…so surely there
must be some written records in the construction accounts of the
buildings? There is not a single word written, all we have are
the faces, carved from wood and stone. We do know that in England
the concept of the Green Man carving in churches was probably
imported from France via the Normans - and before you all cry
out 'Surely Not!', go and look at pre-Norman churches for yourself!
The image
of the Green Man appears in many cultures across the globe, for
example in China, Mexico and India - and in some ancient Hebrew
Scripts, all these places developing separately from each other
with their own customs and traditions.
He has
been linked with various English customs and traditions, for example
The Morris Dance, Robin Hood, the story of Gawain and the Green
Knight from the Arthurian tradition, tree spirits and tree worship,
The Druids, Herne the Hunter and other 'Wild Men' myths, and the
Jack-in-the-Green festivities. There are many pubs up and down the
country called 'The Green Man' depicting his head on the sign. Incidentally,
until 1939 the images of the Green Man were only known as 'Foliate
Heads', it was a noblewoman, Lady Raglan, who gave him his now familiar
name, which she took from the numerous pubs!
Unfortunately,
again, there is very little written or historical evidence for any
of these links and it is difficult to pin down exactly when these
connections started. Jack-in-the-Green is worth looking at however.
This festival, which is still carried on today, in several towns
and cities in England, is held around the beginning of May and is
closely linked to the fertility of the spring and summer months.
The central figure is a man wearing a sort of giant Christmas tree
made from wicker and foliage. The first written account for this
custom dates back to 1801, but it is clear that the writer is assuming
that it goes back much further. If you go to Hastings for the Jack-in-the-Green
festival at the beginning of May, you will still find the archaic
figure dressed in greenery walking in the procession, along with
gigantic human figures to represent other mythical figures.
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So
where do we go from here? If we go further back into history
we see a link with the masks worn by the priests and shamans
of various cultures, including the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians,
Mayans, Native Americans and ancient Persians. I feel however,
that in order to understand the Green Man, we must travel
even further…
In
your mind, travel back in time, back to the very dawn of mankind…when
life was ruled by the seasons, when we lived hand in hand
with the land and not remote from it as most of us do today.
Our ancestors were in tune with the rhythm of the Sun and
the Moon. During the summers they watched the gradual process
of the Sun lowering in the sky. Then the nights really draw
in and it becomes much colder, the land becomes still as animals
begin the long months of hibernation and the trees lose their
leaves. Then comes the Winter Solstice, the darkest time of
the year, a time to huddle around the fire and pray the food
does not run out before the advent of spring. This was a time
for story telling and ritual to ensure the return of the life-bringing
Sun. Here we do find links with our customs today - the holographic
tinsel that you drape around your Christmas tree is a modern
incarnation of the greenery traditionally brought in, in defiance
of the cold. We know, from archeological remains, that the
ancient shamanic priests wore masks; from here we can easily
imagine that one of these masks might have depicted a 'Green
Man', to symbolize the return of the spring leaves.
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As
the wheel of the year continues to turn, the days lengthen
and the land is warmed by the Sun as it climbs ever higher
until we reach May Day. Now we see an abundance of greenery
about us as everything is fertile - and our ancestors celebrated
the dawn of summer. At Summer Solstice the Sun reaches its
zenith, food is plentiful, but now the Sun slowly descends
once more, the harvests are gathered in and laid up for
the cold months ahead and once more the wheel turns.
The
Christmas carol 'The Holly and the Ivy' which dates back
to the early 18th century, is itself based on an older folk
song, which may go back to medieval times and beyond. In
Scandinavia, holly has been revered since ancient times.
This carol deals with the rivalry between the male holly
and the female ivy and may have ancient connections with
the symbolism that the Green Man would seem to represent,
namely the birth, death and rebirth cycle and the ability
of some plants to withstand the winter months without losing
their leaves.
One
of my favourite stories is that of the Oak King and the
Holly King. The tale is circular with no beginning or ending
and is that twice a year the Holly King and the Oak king
have a battle for control of the land. At the Winter Solstice
the Oak King wins and the land becomes green and verdant
under his reign, at the Summer Solstice the Holly King triumphs
and the land gradually falls asleep, with only the evergreens
to remind us of warmer times.
This
story seems to me to sum up the reasons for the existence
of the Green Man. For all the images of him, there are no
written records - why? I think that once upon a time, we
did not need to be told who he was or what he represented.
We knew, in the same way that we know the cycle of the seasons.
Time passed, and gradually, over the years, we began to
forget. We developed as a society and science took away
the fear that the sun would not return - and as a result,
the need for rituals to ensure fertility died out. Only
in a few remote corners of the land, did the old ways persist,
and even then people only carried them on because it was
'traditional' with no real sense of the reasons behind them.
After many years lying forgotten in the corners of our churches,
he has slowly insinuated himself back into our consciousness.
He is a symbol of continuity, who takes us from the far
distant past into the future at a time when concern for
the fate of our planet in increasing. We need to regain
that instinctive connection with the land - perhaps the
Green Man can show us the way.
  
All
Green Man pieces are handpainted and unique.
Please
email me for details.
Prices
range from £10 for an ordinary mug to £60 for
a large bowl, painted on both sides
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