The Green Man

What is the green man,  well lhe is interwoven in the legends of the trees which are abundant throughout many civilisations, fear of the forest was the original precursor of many of the Myths & Legends connected with trees and these gave rise to the concept that someone was hiding and watching from among the leaves, sometimes he is known as The Green Man, Green George, Jack–in-the-Green, The Wild Man etc, and some try to make the connection with the Green Knight.

The Green Man and reverence of gods of the trees and vegetation goes back to the dawn of civilization.

 His footsteps lead not only through Britain’s folklore, but also even further back through the Roman, Greek, Assyrio/Babylonian and Egyptian Empires, and he is even alluded to in parts of the Holy Bible. This illusive individual is often represented by actors in Britain’s folklore plays, as being clad from head to foot in greenery, and sometimes keeps company with Morris Dancers at summer fairs.

Right: Dualistic Dionysus, with leaves and horns.

The "Green" or Foliate image is also found in ancient sites throughout Britain, Europe, the Middle East, and even in parts of India, and even arguably in Mexico. Our research reveals that The Green Mans sometimes grotesque foliate image overlies a very dark and sinister past, flourishing particularly during the Greco/Roman period and used in very extensively in Pagan Temple, and Christian Church iconography since then. 

                                 
                                           The grove is the centre of their whole religion.

It is regarded as the cradle of the race and the dwelling-place

 of the supreme god to whom all things are subject and obedient.

Image below; The Ashbrittle Yew, approximately 3,000 yrs old on a Tumulus

The Green Man, is often associated with relics of a bygone pagan past, a past that many religious people like to imagine never existed, however we can learn much from the so called savage pagan past. Sir James Frazer tells us that man was first occupied with sympathetic magic as the vehical to their attainment to the higher being, as time moved on, religion and worship became far more complex. We know that the Druids attached particular sacredness and reverence to certain herbs, such as Mistletoe and Yew. We have images of trees still surviving on ancient Tumuli, and which date from a time before Christianity supplanted the Tree Worshippers, some such trees are between 3-5000 yrs old. The changing of the seasons filled ancient man with respect, awe and hope. 
Spring was a time of endless rebirth, a time of joy and optimism, as it is also for the animals. The emergence into growth of the Hawthorn blossom, was for many the first bit of green vegetation that they could eat, ( leaves were known as bread and cheese ), and as they looked around them, they found good reason to celebrate the rebirth, and resurrection to life, of the lifegiving vegetation.  During the winter food was scarce, and edible green vegetation and other foods was very sparse until some clever man ("or woman" ), learned how make hay and grow and cultivate cereals.

Stonehenge Ancient Agricultural Cathedral.     

 

Stonehenge: evidence suggests it was associated with phases of the moon.

Archaeology reveals that mankind who lived thousands of years ago in the Neolithic age, were far more in tune with nature than what they are today, and prehistoric cave paintings reveal their affinity with the natural world, from time to time carving's on stones and utensils are unearthed which inform us of a special relationship that our ancestors had with the animals.  

Until the time that writing materials became available, people had to learn by experience, and commit to mind knowledge what they had aquired, they would then  pass this information on orally through the generations as to what herbs could be used for eating, and shamanism, and what were not, until such time as skill in breeding and selection, came into being.  The arrival of spring and the warming of the soil for planting, would have been a cause of great celebrations, and in later times these became refined into the Mayday celebrations, these have included many forms of ritual, some remnants of these survive to this day, including dancing around a phallic Maypole, which was once used as a symbol of sex worship (The pole was viewed as the phallus). The gradual transition from hunter gatherer to farmer started to give man more time, and enabled him to further his quest to search for the creator. The reverence and reliance on the changing of the seasons and knowing the different times, caused them to drag great stones together and build enigmatic structures, in ancient britain some stones were dragged over a great distance from the Precelli Mountains ( image above right ) to Stonehenge around 2,200bc. The Blue Stones were particularly sacred and take on the appearance of the starry night sky when they become wet. The Alter Stone is believed to come from Milford Haven, another part of Wales. 

 Image  right.  Keystone, Stonehenge

Though it was formerly thought that Stonehenge was connected with the Sun "the source of all life" some scientists however maintain that it was much rather connected with the phases of the moon, and its changing in form was viewed as a signal to the peoples, as when to plant, and when to harvest, and the time of the solstices.  Many of the ancient religious festivals were also celebrated at the same time earthwide. For example one celebration in the Jewish religion also contains the seeds of the ancient agricultural calendar rights, and was known as the Passover, which they observed, and continue to do, at the time of the vernal equinox. The Christians also have a festival at this time called "Easter", which includes a number of ancient fertility rights. Many great annual pagan festivals were observered throughout the earth at that same time, such as Babylonia, Egypt, Assyria and of course Britain, which celebrated the return of the sun, which prompted longer days, and the emergence of vegetative growth from its lifeless state.   

Stonehenge was built around the time when mankinds search for God in many places was centred around worship of the vegetation and the environment, as seen on the image below.

Below Akkadian Vegetation gods 2200bc ( Note branches and leaves on head and body)

Image right; Protective spirit 800bc

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Image left; Dualistic protective spirit of the Animals and Vegetation 800bc Assyria

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