Green Man

"Greenman" (sometimes rendered as two words) is the name given to the fire-bearing leader of European processions and festivals, whose fire of choice evolved from simple torch to more elaborate toys emitting sparks or flaming balls. Though the term has some currency among fireworks afficionados today as a figurative term for one charged with the decorous use of pyrotechnics (for instance, a Greenman figures prominently in the logo of the Pyrotechnic Guild International), at one time it was quite literal; the greenman was covered in fresh leaves to protect him from the sparks of the fire source he carried.

Or Green Man. Primarily the name given to a leafy head found carved in medieval churches throughout Europe, particularly in Britain. Believed to be a remnant of a pagan cult.

Related to a character in Mumming Plays and various medieval festivals, called Jack-In-The-Green, where he represents the spirit of spring and vegetation. The two names eventually becoming synonomous.

Also found in folklore as Jack-In-The-Green, Robin-In-The-Green or Robin-In-The-Wood (related to Robin Hood) and many other variants

The image is thought to derive from Roman times. The foliate head is found wherever Roman Legions were based.

One head in France bears the carving 'Silvanus' (the Roman god of the Wild Wood and pastoral animals), but myth experts and archeologists question the authenticity of this attribution (this popular god was never depicted this way elsewhere), and point to the late date of the head. Other candidates include Dionysos (one is carved on a temple to Bacchus in Iraq) and Osiris (painted green in Egyptian tombs). But the deity was probably Romano-British, absorbing many Celtic archetypes.

European Mythological Figure

"His roots may go back to the shadow hunters who painted the caves of Lascaux and Altimira... through Robin Hood and Morris Dances... and Gawain and The Green Knight... but one common theme runs through all, death and rebirth and the Green that is all life." - Mike Harding

Walk through England. Visit her villages, her towns, her cities, and you will find the Green Man. He is celebrated in pub names, depicted in churches and cathedral carvings, remembered in poem and song. You will find him not just in England, although this is where I found him, but in Wales, Scotland and indeed throughout Europe from France and the North down to Roman ruins in Turkey. There are also mythological beings with the same characteristics flung as far afield as India and the Far East.

His appearance varies somewhat, but the theme is always the same - an ample beard and hair of foliage surrounding an ancient visage, in many cases almost obscuring the face altogether. Linking to the Horned God, ccasionally he boasts antlers, as those of a deer, and sometimes leaves and tendrils from his mouth. Here is the first clue as to his origin and nature. He is a being associated with growth, and death and rebirth. The antlers also bear testimony to a connection with Herne the Hunter, recorded in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor.

Origins

Placing his origin in time is as difficult as placing him in location. Certainly, there are depictions of similar creatures throughout history, going back some four thousand years to Babylon, where one avatar of the god Tammuz bears more than a passing resemblance to the Green Man of the Celts. Ancient Greek and Roman mythology also showed some of their gods in similar form, Dionysos/Bacchus often depicted with leaves instead of hair. In Celtic mythology, the god Cernunnos has been illustrated with horns and leafy hair and beard.It is more than likely that the Celts have influenced the British Green Man, as they associated their gods with the land, as well as the flora and fauna dependent on it.

The depiction in churches is more difficult to explain. Mike Harding, the English folk singer and comedian, has identified over 1000 churches with carvings of the Green Man. He has offered one explanation, that despite the buildings being erected to the glory of the Christian god, the builders also wished to propitiate the native gods. Others feel that they were included only as elements of folk decoration. Whatever the truth, they may be found in many mediaeval structures. Cathedrals are not excepted from this, Lincoln and Salisbury being but two cathedrals in which I have seen Green Man carvings.

There are many English pubs named The Green Man, one of which in Giggleswick in Yorkshire, is a favourite with walkers in the area. Most refer to the mythological man, although there is a tendency for pub signs to depict Robin Hood, rather than the leaf-bearded god. Morris dancers also have a character related to him, Jack in the Green, although the character only appears after the 17th Century.

In pagan worship, he comes into importance in spring rites, many areas associate him with the May Day tradition. In some areas, the traditional Maypole dance was associated with a leafy bower in which the Green Man was said to live during the celebration.

Today, many hope that a return to the ideals of the Green Man may yet return, as mankind's effects on our Earth and its environment become more apparent. It is up to us to effect this change, and hope that we can have a rebirth, both in spiritual and ecological terms.

I recently had the opportunity to role-play the Green Man at a men's weekend, as part of a ritual dance. For the first time I experienced first-hand the Horned God and Trickster energy also embodied in this spirit. Naked apart from green paint and a mask given to me by grundoon, I danced and pranced for the delight and enlightenment of probably eighty men, truly an awesome challenge and honour. For me, the Green Man helps me to express many sides of manhood - I have a sense of being tuned in to natural rhythms, I understand the power ofHerne, feel rooted in my own power, and others'.

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http://www.ancient-designs.com/designs/greenman.htm
http://www.pagan.drak.net/paganmen/essays/greenman_factsheet.htm
http://www.mikeharding.co.uk/

The Green Man is also a local legend around these here parts. These here parts being the South Hills of Western Pennsylvania.

The Green Man's Tunnel near the border of two small townships, South Park and Thomas Jefferson. According to my online source, it's off of River Road.* While I have no idea the road name, I've been there, and can navigate there easily.

The "official" legend is that an electrician working in the tunnel was electrocuted (either because he was bad at his job or because lightning struck). He fell into the water under the bridge, and when he haunts, he is either covered in green river slime or glowing green from the electrocution, or both, depending on who's telling the story. In the version of the story I was told, the green man wasn't an electrician but just a local man who was taking a walk through the tunnel, and he wasn't electrocuted, he was knocked into the water by an evil force. His house is supposedly still visible, though overgrown, through the forest. (Told to me when I was in preschool by my best friend who was in elementary school. Of course, I trusted her word! She knew cursive, and multiplication!)

The tunnel itself is not connected to the road, supposedly because of the mystical hauntity things that happen there, but more probably because it's falling down and infested with rodents and other forest life. A second tunnel was built next to the original one, and the second, more modern one is the one that you drive through. It's a one lane bridge with a 90 degree turn in it; if you drive through it, you need to honk your horn before you take the bend to prevent anyone from hitting you. Also, half the inside of the bridge is open-floored, so you can lean over this little brick wall and see the water under the bridge. When I was little, my mom parked the car a few yards down from the bridge and took my brother and I into the tunnel. Sitting on that short wall, looking down at the greenish water, I wasn't much afraid that an "evil force" would come to push me. I was more afraid that a car would come speeding around that bend and smash into the wall, knocking me into the disgustingly slimy water, where the floating vines would pull me down to see the Green Man...

*http://www.route99.org/maps/pennsylvania/allegheny.html