Do You Know Green Man?

by Lydia Daffenberg

The return of spring has really pushed me toward living blogs: blog-posts that have to do with life and rebirth. On this continued thread-of-thought, I bring you Green Man.

Green Man is a comforting figure to me--old and familiar--like we've been acquaintances for a long time. I can't even remember when we first met. He's hard to pin down, to define. There's an understanding, however, an innate presence of him within our psyche that, once found, makes sense without explanation.

Very little is known about Green Man and his beginnings, or on just how long he's been around. Adding to the mystery, his identity and form have probably evolved and morphed several times over the years, blurring his origin. His image is abundant throughout Europe--found on old buildings, shops and, interestingly, in churches.

Green Man has been said to represent nature--his spirit or energy present in all vegetation. This energy continues its flow to us through our consumption of plants. The God of the Forest, the life spirit: Green Man. Elusive yet known. Dr. Dan Noel's article, Who is the Green Man?, suggests that Green Man offers a balance to Mother Nature as a male form of nature--a "Father Nature."

The anthropomorphic form given to Green Man shows the importance early man put on this ancient figure. That he would be displayed, copied and mutated over time hints at Green Man's role as a dominant representational figure in the past, perhaps even a forgotten pagan god. His leaf-face and vines, which are often depicted spewing from his mouth, symbolize man's reliance on living vegetation for our existence and the connection of living organisms. We are continued energy-- fauna through flora. We are He.

In his examination of Green Man, Mike Harding mentions a possible Green Man reference within the character, Jack-in-the-Green, who's role in May Day processions of the past and of today is to lead in dance before the May Queen. Other possible character references Harding points out are: Robin Hood, Robin Goodfellow and Puck.

There's a 40ft. tall Green Man that stands outside The Custard Factory in Birmingham, UK. It was created by master sculpter, Tawny Gray. Check out the site. I want one.

The Green Man in the above photo hangs in my kitchen. I've had him now for over 10 years. I've moved a lot within those years, and everytime he's always been hung back up in a prominent location of the household.

Where can you find Green Man hiding this year? Outdoors and within yourself, he's there.