The Green Man

In modern Wicca the Green Man is often seen as an aspect of the Horned God, especially in his Celtic Cernunnos form. Yet is he really an ancient Celtic figure or a Medieval Christian one?

As presented at Kaleidoscope gathering July, 2010

What We'll Cover (Agenda)

What a Green Man is A brief review of the historical record What we think he may have represented to those who carved him A look at the Mysteries of Dying and Rebirth

The Whitefield Green Man

Things to Remember

• We know almost nothing about the Green Man

• Now a central figure in Mayday lore & celebrations throughout North and Central Europe (from 18th C.)

• Pagans use him as an emblem of life, death and rebirth

Who is He? Frequently found in

church architecture; also in municipal buildings

Term dates from articles written in the 30's "The Green Man in Church Architecture", The Folklore Journal, 1939 – Lady Raglan

No idea what, if any, name originally given

a.k.a. Robin Hood, King of May, the Garland & Jack-in-the-Green

central figure in N. & Central European Mayday celebrations

Types of Green Man

Foliate (the head turning into leaves)

Spewing, Uttering or Disgorging(spews vegetation from its mouth)

(Blood)Sucker (branches coming from eyes, ears & nose)

Jack In The Green (face appearing in a bower of leaves)

Earliest Records

c.100 Viridios, Ancaster 2 inscriptions - (Proto-Celtic Wirdjos - 'Green Man'?)

c.500 Nicetius decorates cathedral w. Green Man from a Roman temple

Others follow suit Reformation: not seen Now been seen as a

hidden decoration mostly in churches & cathedrals

Cylenchar, 'the hidden one'

disgorging woodland & meadow spirit of Spring rebirth & renewal a.k.a. Jack-in-the-Green, Welsh Gwrddni

located high up by the roof or in dark corners but also hidden in plain sight amongst carvings e.g. leafy designs beside every doorway just one of which will have a face

What Might He Represent?

Resurrection - hope of new life, green leaves sprouting from a sometimes obviously dead head

Creation - uttering leaves into being Wood Spirits - leaf masks in particular seem to show

beneficent face shining with energy of Nature Protection - if Celtic, its use beside or above doors

may protect the building from evil spirits or luck Fertility - some, especially cat-like ones, seem to be

associated with harvest (cat as corn spirit)

(continued)

Portraiture - some have such character it appears to be taken from life. Are these portraits of clerics, sponsors, masons etc. involved with the building?

Decoration - Renaissance foliate heads merely a formal decoration & found everywhere

Wealth - 19th C. Banks frequently feature Green Men. Not only is such carving the preserve of the wealthy, but the lush foliage issuing from a face symbolises the generation of wealth at that time.

Gawain & the Green Knight,

The story-poem of Gawain and the Green Knight was written in the 14th century—a time when many of the foliate heads were being carved on the cathedrals of Europe.

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewArticle.asp?id=13535

Rosslyn Chapel

excess of 110 carvings of Green men in and around the Chapel

progress from E. to W. young in East (Spring) aging as we progress towards the setting sun in the West & Autumn of man's years

How We Use Him

As an archetype of our oneness with the earthhence as a symbol of the Green movement

Son of the God of life & death and of the Goddess of birth & renewal

Some Wiccans see him as the Ever Returning One as opposed to the Horned Lord of death and what comes after

Q & A