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The Green Man
Introduction
Who or what is the Green Man whose image is
to be found carved in churches and cathedrals all over Britain and Europe?
There has certainly been an upsurge of interest through the medium of
television programmes, radio and books about this foliate figure recently.
But is he simply an historical pagan god of the woods or is there a deeper
significance behind this symbolism?
As part of most May Day 'Sweeps Festivals' in various areas within the
United Kingdom, at least one of the Morris dancers will dress in a wicker
framework totally covered in leaves. Called Jack in the Green, this figure
appears several times throughout the day as part of the celebrations in
the British town of Rochester.
Although the dancers will probably tell you that they are continuing a
custom going back hundreds of years, in fact there is no record of Jack in
the Green appearing before the industrial revolution. Similarly, although
the country abounds with pubs called the Green Man, this only came into
popular usage after the 1930's.
Origins of the Green Man
In some instances the name refers to the ancient countryside or 'greemans'
as it was called in earlier days. Again, many landlords will probably
claim that the name is steeped in antiquity and tradition although most
pub signs actually depict a picture of Robin Hood and are fairly recent in
origin.
The same cannot be said about the images carved in churches and cathedrals
however. Artistically he is most often sculptured in the form of a
full-faced head with leaves and tendrils growing from his features and
hair. Sometimes he has antlers appearing from his head; on other
occasions, plants grow from within his mouth. One of the earliest known
examples of this type of foliate face is carved on a tomb in France and
dates back to 400 AD.
Foliate heads are common before this date, however. Similar images appear
earlier in art, stemming from ancient Greek and Roman mythology: Silvanus,
the Roman god of the woods, and Dionysos (Bacchus). The ancient Celts,
too, depicted their god Cernunnos with horns and leafed hair.
The most famous example of the latter is shown on the Gundestrup Cauldron
in Denmark. Magic cauldrons formed an important part of old Celtic tales
and this beautifully worked gold and silver bowl, made 100BC, would
certainly been regarded as a sacred object.
The ancient Celts worshipped the land and it is possible that the true
origins of the Green Man stem from this source. However, similar figures
are to be found in India, ancient Babylon and Islamic art.
In medieval and later periods countless thousands of Green Men were carved
and painted as part of the ornamentation of many, if not most, of the
churches and other important buildings. In Chartres Cathedral, for
instance, this figure is depicted in over 70 places and several examples
can normally be found in nearly all old English High Streets, especially
in cathedral towns.
The Green Man and Christianity
What, then, is this pre-Christian pagan figure doing in so many churches?
Representations of the Green Man were used in the borders and decorations
of bibles and other religious works and he is even carved, under the
instruction of Michelangelo, on the tomb of Pope Julius II in Rome.
One theory is that the faces were formed by non-Christian carpenters and
stonemasons; the implication being that they were included without the
knowledge of the Church who commissioned the building work, almost as a
joke, Yet this cannot be the case because the sheer proliferation of the
carvings proves that they were there by the original intent of the
designer.
It is also sometimes suggested that the images are satanic in origin,
intended to frighten people away from the devil. This too is incorrect
because, unlike many of the gargoyles that were carved for this specific
purpose, the features of the Green Man appear friendly and are situated in
places where a fiendish effigy would be inappropriate.
Historically, the 4th and 5th centuries BC are labelled the Dark ages for
two main reasons. One is the decline of organised society after the Romans
left Britain and the subsequent raids carried out by various warring
groups; the other is that not very much is known about the period, mainly
due to lack of surviving documentary evidence.
However, one event during the period did have a profound effect on our
history; the conversion from the 'Old Religion' to Christianity. This
obviously did not happen overnight and wisely the church incorporated some
of the aspects of the Old Religion into the new Christian symbolism where
possible.
Feast days, for example, often coincided with the old pagan festival days.
Christmas had previously been celebrated as the Winter Solstice; Imbolc
became St Bridget's day; Easter is derived from an ancient Spring goddess,
Eostre; Samhain, the start of the Celtic year , became All Souls.
Retaining the old yearly partitions was a pragmatic decision because these
provided the people with an intuitive calendar to divide up the seasons
for agricultural purposes; times for sowing, reaping and harvesting etc.
So, for a period of time the new Christian and old pagan (this word comes
from the Latin and originally meant 'of the land') religions coexisted,
quite happily together; in fact, they had much in common.
People were spiritually inclined, ready to accept the Christian teaching
of life after death, and their sacred places and grottoes became the sites
for churches and shrines. Traditional teachings were not dismissed
immediately but rather adapted: sacred water became holy water; plants
such as holly, ivy, rose, thorn and vine were symbolic to both religions.
Other examples of dual symbolism are virtually endless: the cross, birds,
chalice or cup, the Moon and Sun, the Lamb and, of course, the tree (Tree
of Jesse). The vesica piscis or mandorls, a boat-shaped figure formed by
overlapping two circles, is a mystical representation also shared.
It was not until much later that some Christian theologians declared the
antlers of Cernunnos to be the devil's horns. The Green Man image,
previously regarded as one of many gods, became a symbol of the spirit of
nature within the total creation of the one god.
In medieval, pre-Reformation days the Catholic church was politically and
socially very powerful. It had its own edicts and laws which often did not
coincide with those of the monarch and certainly would have touched the
lives of most ordinary folk because religion played a far more significant
role in everyday existence than is the case today.
Much that is taken for granted now because it is so easily explained by
science must have appeared mystical or miraculous to our medieval
ancestors. We know, for example, that a rainbow is formed by the
refraction of light through water but what a marvel this must have seemed
once. Many such natural, but at the time inexplicable, phenomena were
regarded as magical or wondrous events which became embodied in plays,
stories and art.
Medieval literature was largely a curious mixture of Christian belief and
old pagan tales and legends. One of the most famous, Gawain and the Green
Knight, incorporates the knights of King Arthur, severed heads, the Green
Man and the etiquette of courtly love and flirtation, all in one story.
Another vital aspect of peoples lives was the land which, through farming,
provided physical nourishment and growth; in short, survival. The image of
the Green Man was associated by tradition with regeneration, rebirth and
the gifts of nature. In these times the Church would have been involved
with such practical, day-to-day issues as in spiritual matters for
communities tended to be much smaller and people were more reliant upon
one another.
The Green Man of Now
Today the Green Man is still with us, whether illustrates on tins of
sweetcorn an the 'Jolly Green Giant' or as a deeply spiritual instinct
within. A respect for nature has always been an important part of most
religions, pagan or otherwise. Communities of different people from many
countries with diverse beliefs have aspired and learned to be
self-sufficient by living directly from the land.
Concerns such as genetic engineering, abortion, artificial means of
controlling birth and fertility, euthanasia and a belief in the
preciousness of life are important issues in most religious teaching. We
live in an age of pesticides, nuclear weapons, factory farming, the
destruction of rain-forests, damage to the ozone layer and the deliberate
pollution of our land by industrial and nuclear waste.
Our intuition warns us that we are heading on a collision course with
nature. Maybe this is why the concept of the Green Man has reappeared
today under a new name: ecology.
Written by Peter Balanck
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