The Green Man and the Great Goddess

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Traditionally all fires in the community were put out and a special fire was kindled for Beltane. "This was the Tein-eigen, the need fire. People jumped the fire to purify, cleanse and to bring fertility. Couples jumped the fire together to pledge themselves to each other. Cattle and other animals were driven through the smoke as a protection from disease and to bring fertility. At the end of the evening, the villagers would take some of the Teineigen to start their fires anew." (From Sacred Celebrations by Glennie Kindred) Green Man - Beltane The term Green Man was first used by Lady Raglan (Julia Somerset, née Hamilton) in a 1939 article The Green Man in Church Architecture, published in The Folklore Journal. At Samhain the dark half of the year commences. It is a truly magical time. Death is always followed by rebirth and while this is the end of the old year, it is the beginning of the new year. For the Celts the day did not begin at dawn, it began at sunset, it began with darkness. Light is always born out of darkness, they are inseparable, interdependent, and necessary. Darkness is fertile with 'all potential'. With the beginning of this dark phase comes the opportunity to rest and reflect on the past and to dream of new beginnings. The seed now hidden in the earth will germinate in its season. Look for the seeds in yourself! This is a wonderfully simple ritual which can be shared with both friends and family, or worked alone. You can include children in it - it begins in darkness and ends full of light.

Matthews, John. The Celtic Shaman: A Handbook. Shaftesbury, Dorest, United Kingdom: Element Books Limited, 1991.

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By one, two, three and four, sweep Lammas gifts to my door. May abundance be a constant friend, by my hearth till Winter's end." Stephen Miller’s book, The Green Man in Medieval England (2022), takes as its starting point the existence of Christian mythology surrounding the figure of Adam, the first human being to die, and the one (with his wife, Eve) for bringing death and suffering into the world by eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil against God’s express commandment. The Maypole is a popular and familiar image of May Day and Beltane. A phallic pole, often made from birch, was inserted into the Earth representing the potency of the God. The ring of flowers at the top of the Maypole represents the fertile Goddess. Its many coloured ribbons and the ensuing weaving dance symbolise the spiral of Life and the union of the Goddess and God, the union between Earth and Sky. Take a piece of paper and write your wish on it while visualizing your wish coming to life and growing. You can do this alone, with friends, or as a family. If you want to, decorate the lid of the box, with a triple moon, pentacle, heart, or any symbol of your choice. Poke a few holes in the lid - this will help your wish/plants, to grow. Take your box and sprinkle some earth into it. Put in your paper wishes, wish symbol (see below), and seeds/bark/acorn. Cover with another layer of earth. Mix the rose petals with the seeds and scatter them on top. Cover with a final layer of earth and place the lid on top, leaving enough of the rose petal/seed mixture to scatter on top of the box when you are planting it. In some parts of Europe the tradition was to weave the last sheaf into a large Corn Mother with a smaller 'baby' inside it, representing the harvest to come the following year. Once the harvest was completed, safely gathered in, the festivities would begin. Bread was made from the new grain and thanks given to the Sun's life-giving energy reborn as life-giving bread.

From the fields and through the stones, into fire, Samhain Bread, as the Wheel turns may all be fed. Goddess Bless." Now take your bread and share it with your family and friends and pass on the generous blessings of this festival of completion and beginning. Eat it fresh, as soon as it is made if you can. Stay out all night, gathering the green, watch the sunrise and make love. Wash your face in the morning dew. So, while the Green Man is not Pagan in origin, he is a powerful and vibrant figure in modern Paganism and within the ecological movement. While I do not think that his inclusion in the royal invitation signals a wish to return to a Pagan Britain, I do think that modern Pagans can recognise in it a king who has an eye towards diversity, inclusion and a genuine commitment towards ecology, as well as a desire to draw on the ideas of the past in creating the future.Also known as Queen-Of-The-Meadow, Bridewort and Bride of the Meadow. One of the most sacred herbs of the Druids, this was often worn as a garland for Lammas celebrations and was a traditional herb for wedding circlets and bouquets at this time of year. Also used for love spells and can be strewn to promote peace, and its heady scent cheers the heart. Flowers, flowers and more flowers.This is the festival of Flora. Make a flower crown to wear - the daisy chain in the simplest of all. Make a traditional flower basket. fill it with Beltane greenery and all the flowers and herbs you can find. Think about, and honour, their magical and healing properties while you do so. Give it someone you love. The Cauldron or Holy Grail is closely associated with Samhain. It is feminine, and is the cosmic container for all life and death, of transformation and rebirth. Invitations to the coronation of King Charles III, designed by manuscript illustrator Andrew Jamieson, have provoked much excitement in the media. The debate centres on the Green Man in the centre of the design. Who is the Green Man and what does he represent?

It is important to remember that at the time Lady Raglan was writing, and indeed since the late 19th century, there had been a renewed interest in folklore, with many contemporary scholars theorising that in it could be traced the survival of ideas, beliefs and customs that pre-dated the arrival of Christianity in the British Isles. Matthews, Caitlín and John. The Encyclopædia of Celtic Wisdom. Shaftesbury, Dorset: Element Books Limited, 1994. You see, Blodeuwedd was made specifically to be the wife of the god Lleu. Sadly, she was not in love with him and chose another partner…to her detriment and downfall. As punishment, she was transformed into an owl for eternity. To me, Blodeuwedd’s energy is felt strongly in the Spring, in a field of flowers and is heard in the cry of an owl. She reminds us of the gift of freedom to choose our lovers and our way in life. 4. BrigidIs the Green Man an ancient Pagan woodland god, or is he something far more recent and with a different message?

In her article, Lady Raglan sought to explain why such figures appeared in so many churches, and, because they had so much in common with each other, she wondered whether they were representations of a particular figure or personality. Samhain is one of the major festivals of the Wheel of the Year, for many Pagans the most important festival of all. It is the third and final harvest festival of nuts and berries and a fire festival. All the harvest is in, all is complete, it is the end of the cycle of birth and growth, it is the point of death. The seeds of the harvest have fallen deep into the dark earth, they are unseen, dormant, and thus apparently lifeless. You and your children can make an offering for departed pets by leaving some dog food outside on Halloween night, many night creatures appreciate this offering. Be careful what you put outside - we used to put out bread and milk but are dismayed to find that this is fatal to hedgehogs - and we love hedgehogs!

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Birch is regarded as a feminine tree and Deities associated with Birch are mostly love and fertility goddesses. It is one of the first trees to show its leaf in Spring. Eostre/Ostara, the Celtic goddess of Spring was celebrated in festivities and dancing around and through the birch tree between the Spring Equinox and Beltane. Birch twigs were traditionally used to make besoms (a new broom sweeps clean). Maypoles were often made from birch and birch wreaths were given as lover's gifts. Doel, Fran; Doel, Geoff (2013). "The spirit in the tree". The Green Man in Britain. Cheltenham, England: The History Press. ISBN 978-0750953139.