Michael
Mar 22nd 2010, 02:25 PM
I'm just posting this here for the micro-small number of people who might be interested in this article (i.e. Greendruid).
Richard Hayman traces the changing significance of the Green Man, a term coined in the 1930s for a medieval image of a face sprouting foliage, the meaning of which has transformed itself across the centuries.
...
The Green Man appeared in churches from the 11th century as part of the Christian visual iconography and declined after the Reformation when the visual culture of medieval Christianity collapsed. He enjoyed a fresh lease of life in the 19th century as part of the Gothic Revival and the appetite for all things medieval. He has attracted little attention per se from professional historians in recent decades but formed the focus of a respectable pedigree in scholarly work of the mid-20th century before developing a life of his own in the counter-cultural movement of the late 20th century. Since then the figure has proved a simple medium through which to explore human relations with the forces of nature and has been taken up by poets including Charles Causley and Andrew Motion. The subtitles of popular books give a fair clue as to what the Green Man has come to mean in recent years: William Anderson’s The Green Man (1990) describes him as ‘the archetype of our oneness with the Earth’, while John Matthews’ The Green Man Tree Oracle (2008) promises ‘ancient wisdom from the spirit of nature’. It is also a simple image attractive to the branding mentality of consumer culture: there is even a music festival named after the Green Man.
Article (http://www.historytoday.com/MainArticle.aspx?m=33897&amid=30306150)
Just thought I'd share this for others who might find it interesting. :)
Richard Hayman traces the changing significance of the Green Man, a term coined in the 1930s for a medieval image of a face sprouting foliage, the meaning of which has transformed itself across the centuries.
...
The Green Man appeared in churches from the 11th century as part of the Christian visual iconography and declined after the Reformation when the visual culture of medieval Christianity collapsed. He enjoyed a fresh lease of life in the 19th century as part of the Gothic Revival and the appetite for all things medieval. He has attracted little attention per se from professional historians in recent decades but formed the focus of a respectable pedigree in scholarly work of the mid-20th century before developing a life of his own in the counter-cultural movement of the late 20th century. Since then the figure has proved a simple medium through which to explore human relations with the forces of nature and has been taken up by poets including Charles Causley and Andrew Motion. The subtitles of popular books give a fair clue as to what the Green Man has come to mean in recent years: William Anderson’s The Green Man (1990) describes him as ‘the archetype of our oneness with the Earth’, while John Matthews’ The Green Man Tree Oracle (2008) promises ‘ancient wisdom from the spirit of nature’. It is also a simple image attractive to the branding mentality of consumer culture: there is even a music festival named after the Green Man.
Article (http://www.historytoday.com/MainArticle.aspx?m=33897&amid=30306150)
Just thought I'd share this for others who might find it interesting. :)