Green Man
Green Man A pagan deity of the woodlands, usually represented as a horned man peering out from a mask of foliage, usually the sacred oak. The Green man, also called āGreen Jack,ā āJack-in-the-Greenā and āGreen George,ā represents the spirits of the trees, plants and foliage. He is attributed with the powers of making rain and fostering the livestock with lush meadows. He appears often in medieval art, including carved church decorations.
In spring Pagan rites, Green George, as he is usually called then, is represented by a young man clad from head to foot in greenery, who leads the festival procession. In some festivals, Green George, or an effigy of him, is dunked into a river or pond in order to ensure enough rain to make the fields and meadows green.
As the woodlands deity, the Green man shares an association with the forest-dwelling Fairies (green is the fairy color). In some locations in the British Isles, the fairies are called āGreeniesā and āGreencoaties.ā āThe Green Childrenā is a myth of two fairy children, a brother and a sister, whose skin is green, and who claim to be of a race with green skin.
See Nature Spirits.
FURTHER READING:
- Anderson, William, and Clive Hicks. The Green Man: The Archtype of Our Oneness with the Earth. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.
SOURCE:
The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca – written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – Copyright Ā© 1989, 1999, 2008 by Visionary Living, Inc.
