[Note: source unknown]


Deep in the ancient forests and fields of Europe,

the Green Man has
long
roamed, free and splendid. The ways of the Green 
Man are the ways of
wild
nature and the seasons of the Earth. He is 
present whenever crops are
grown
and harvested. He is there when animals mate and 
give birth. He is
there
when the seasons change and the Sun shines. The 
Green Man was well-
known to
the people of Europe. Recognition and reverence 
for him, and for the
energy
of vegetation and nature, was universal.

During the Middle Ages, stone masons carved the 
Green Man's likeness
into the
walls and arches of the finest cathedrals; there 
are thousands of Green
Man
heads carved across Europe. By the time of the 
Renaissance, European
indigenous religions were under constant attack 
by the newly powerful
Catholic church. This was also an attack on the 
Green Man and his magic.

Still, the cathedral presence of the Green Man 
was a constant source of

strength to the people. The Green Man's image 
silently echoed the
spirit of
nature. His vigorous masculine energy was at once

mysterious and
familiar.
As the dying and returning god of vegetation, he 
was similar to Jesus.
In
this way the people of the Middle Ages blended 
their traditional folk
beliefs
with the new religion of Christian Catholicism.

The Green Man's wisdom is that of the eternal 
truths, cycles, and
passages.
We all are born, grow, age, and die, each in our 
own time. It is this
deep
and sacred truth that is echoed in the figure of 
the Green Man. The
Green
Man is a magical bridge between nature and us. 
Human in form, he is
also
vegetable and animal at the same time. His 
mysteries are the secrets of
all
growing things. He is present in all natural 
foods--vegetables, salads,

broccoli, corn, and the grains and fruits of the 
Earth. He lives in all

crops and in all things green and growing.

The Green Man is as much a part of us as we are 
of him. His energy
fills the
trees that make the oxygen we breathe. The Green 
Man gives us the
breath of
life. At harvest, he surrenders his essence at 
the height of his
magnificence. Though he dies as a plant, he is 
born anew in the cells
and
tissues of animals and humans. Here he nourishes 
us and grows, until in

time, we cease to be and his energy is released 
again into the earth.
There
it springs forth again as crops or plants in the 
never-ending cycle of
death
and rebirth.

A Green Man Ritual

Practicing the ways of the Green Man means living

in harmony with
nature and
living according to the seasons. It means looking

for the blessings and

gifts that are unique to each time of the year. 
Without winter, there
is no
spring; without summer there is no harvest. 
Rituals of the Green Man
can be
done for many purposes--to heal the environment, 
to restore balance, or
to
ensure abundance and the success of new ventures.

Green Man rituals
should
be performed with green, white, or light blue, 
and yellow candles.
Green
candles are for growth, health, and vegetation. 
White or blue candles
represent air. Yellow candles shine with the 
light of the Sun and its
vital
energy and warmth.

Symbols used in Green Man rituals may include a 
growing plant, a branch,

fruit, dried grains, a small bowl of earth, 
leaves, berries, and acorns
or
other nuts.