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Pagan Gods:The Green Man Resource Page Updated 05/28/03  |
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Pagan Gods:The Green Man Resource Page Updated 05/28/03 |
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The Green man, also Jack-in-the-Green, is a creature from European folklore. It is a symbol of the rejuvenating power of spring or early summer and at those times he can be found encased in a wicker cage hanging in the trees. He is then completely hidden, except for his eyes which are visible through holes cut in the case. He is depicted as a bodiless head with foliage sprouting from his mouth. Also carved in stone or wood, his image can be found in churches throughout the English countryside. The Green Man is part of the traditional May procession in England.
Encyclopedia Mythica |
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The Green Man is the ever-returning energy of vegetation (Spring rebirth)
and wild Nature. His magic is celebrated throughout the world, but he is
most often associated with northern Europe and Celtic cultures. The deity we know as the Green Man has a long worldwide history. In the Indus religion he is the 'Green Thing', in ancient Babylon myth he bears the name, Tammuz. Elsewhere in the Islamic faith he is Ilyas, in Greece, Dionysus; in Sweden, the Pfingstl; 'Green George' is his European name and locally, in the British Isles, he is known variously as Green George, Jack-in-the-Green or Jack-in-the-Bush; the Green Man, Lord of the Forest and Robin Hood. He also has strong connections with Herne the Hunter, Cernunnos, and also in the stories of King Arthur as the fearsome Green Knight who Gawain encounters. In the late Iron Age this deity was known to the Celtic population of Britain as Erriapus and on the continent of Europe as Esus. Under both names, images of this deity have been found on Celtic stone and metalwork as a head emerging from foliage.
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