Antique Green Men in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

I had the opportunity to visit the "City of Brotherly Love" today -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA to see Isaiah Zagar's incredible art at his "Magic Garden."  See: http://www.philadelphiasmagicgardens.org/

While perusing South Street, my friends and I found: C. Neri - Antiques and Lighting.  It's a fabulous antique store crowded with many treasures.  In the dark, dusky and dusty upstairs, I commented that this was the kind of place where one could find Green Man furniture.  I moved a stack of books and there it was:

 

 

With further sleuthing we found six leather chairs with Green Man carvings:

 

and an incredible Green Man chandelier:

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I was not able to purchase these items, but if you're interested, visit:

C. Neri Antiques & Lighting

313 South Street,

Philadelphia, PA 19147

USA

215.923.6669

www.neiriantiquelighting.com

 

Someday...

 

Green Man Symbolism

Excellent overview on the Green Man:

Green Man artist

Surfing the internet, I stumbled across this artist and their rendering of the Green Man:

http://www.thefairygathering.com/mickie-mueller-greenman.shtml
by artist Holly Edwards

I especially like her depiction of the Green Man's skin as living wood.  This is the closed rendition I have found to the description in my book:  The Greening: http://www.amazon.com/The-Greening-Green-Man-ebook/dp/B0084TH53Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372031313&sr=8-1&keywords=the+greening+sharon+brubaker  and
The Leafing: http://www.amazon.com/The-Leafing-Green-Man-ebook/dp/B00C8UIXZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372031365&sr=8-1&keywords=the+leafing+sharon+brubaker

Native American Green Man

Life takes us down funny roads.  In a cursory search of interesting and unusual Green Man facts, I found a reference to Ngen-Mawida, the Native American keeper of the forests.  As of this writing I have not been able to locate a picture of this god, but there is very interesting information below from the Native American Encyclopedia and the SpeedLook Encyclopedia.

From SpeedyLook:  "The mission of these Ngen is similar to the one of a ranger; that is to say, they protect the life of its flora and fauna promoting its well-being and continuity, and raising animal and wild birds. For it, the Ngen-mawida must prevent in the forest the excessive operation, its contamination and destruction by means of the cutting or the fire. When they destroy or they burn a native forest, the wild life without continuity options finishes steeply, also the ngen-mawida one goes away. "  http://www.myetymology.com/encyclopedia/Ngen-mawida.html

From the Native American Encyclopedia:

"The Ngen are those that manage, govern and arrange the different features of nature; but also those that nature takes care of and protects. The Ngen were created by the Pu-am (the representation of the universal soul), who wanted the Ngen to assure the order and the laws of admapu (rules of the Mapuche tradition); and that they prevented that a commotion such as the one caused by the battle of the pillan before the beginning of the time. The Ngen receive orders of the Pu-am and of Antü (the most powerful pillan spirit).
If a Mapuche needs to obtain something from nature, they must respect and give an offering to the specific Ngen spirit."
http://nativeamericanencyclopedia.com/ngen/

The Ngen appear to be a race of Nature Spirits.  What great characters for future novels!

One interesting depiction of this spirit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/a_b_c/2183109646/

The Merry Month of May and Jack in the Green

Traditionally May has been a celebratory time for "Jack in the Green."  A "Jack o' the Green'  epitomizes the Green Man in a foliated costume or a pyramid-like, foliage covered framework.  Hastings, England has a festival devoted to Jack: http://www.hastingsjack.co.uk/prog.html

Some revelries can be viewed via youtube.com.  Below is a video from the 2013 festival:

 

Another wonderful take on Jack is the Jethro Tull tune "Jack in the Green"

In the spirit of Good and the Forces of Green

Reminiscent of The Leaf Man and the Brave Good Bugs by William Joyce 
a new movie has been created where brave, green warriors watch over and protect us.  The warriors who battle for the forces of Good are small, Green Men.   This family movie is from Blue Sky productions and entitled "Epic."  Here is the link to the site: http://www.epicthemovie.com/  and below is the trailer.  Enjoy!

Real LIVE Green Men

In the April 8th edition of Time Magazine this photo was posted of men with green faces:


The colors on their faces and bodies make them look like live Green Men.  In truth they are celebrating the Hindi Lathmar Holi celebration that takes place on March 22nd.  Below is the history of the festival:
The colorful celebration has its roots in Hindu mythology. It's said that darker-skinned Krishna was jealous of fair-skinned Radha and pestered his foster mother Yashoda about it so much that she told him he could change Radha's skin by dousing her in colors.
Thus, each spring Holi revelers hurl neon powder (known as gulal) and colored water into the air, tie-dying participants into spirographs of color. The vibrant hues are said to represent energy, life, joy and the coming of spring.
Celebrants light huge bonfires to ward off evil spirits and commemorate the victory of good over evil on the eve of Holi. On the day of the main event, men typically wear white kurtas, while ladies don white saris or shalwar kameez. Of course, these clothes don't stay white for long. Children have free range to smear colors on friends and neighbors while adults toss dyed water and gulal in a riot of color.  (from: http://www.ibtimes.com/holi-2013-indias-festival-colors-photos-1153855 )
Another celebration of Spring and live and good over evil. Perhaps next year I can convince friends to toss about some neon powders on March 22nd in a small copycat celebration in the States.
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"The Leafing" is available

The adventure continues! 

The second book in the Green Man series, entitled: The Leafing has been uploaded to www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com

After solving a grisly local murder the previous year, Sylvia thought her life had settled into a happy and predictable routine. Instead, changes occurred that caused her to doubt everything: her job, her relationships, and her entire existence. Finding her neighbor’s body on her beach along with subsequent attacks on other women in her community made her wonder – would she be next? Could the Green Man help her find her answers?



http://www.amazon.com/The-Leafing-Green-Man-ebook/dp/B00C8UIXZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365383260&sr=8-1&keywords=the+leafing+sharon+brubaker

Please read, please enjoy, please write a review.  Thank you!

Green Man Superhero

 

Many thanks to James for finding this Superhero Green Man in the He-Man episode "Orko's Garden."  The Green Man in this episode is called "Moss Man."  His evil nemesis "Evil Seed."  There are two or three episodes with this Green Man character.  Check out this wiki with additional information:  http://he-man.wikia.com/wiki/MossMan  and information on his action figure: http://www.storiesfromthetoyshelf.com/2012/09/a-rolling-stone-gathers-no-moss-man.html

 

Here's another youtube video of the Moss Man review:

 

Enjoy!

 

Irish Green Man?

Happy St. Patrick's Day 

Tis the wearin' o' the Green for many and only appropriate that there is a post on Irish Green Men.  Here is an interesting article regarding Irish and Scottish Green Men: http://www.kheper.net/topics/mythology/gm.html

Also, this bit of information is out there on the internet:

The Green Man

Friday, November 6th, 2009

The Green Man, also known as the Man in the Tree, is a Druidic icon that represents humanity’s kinship with the woods and the trees, the cycle of birth and renewal, and irrepressible life.  Also known as Derg Corra, the Man in the Tree is accompanied by a stag. He is known as the Celtic guardian of Knowledge.  The Green Man is a symbol whose existence pre-dates that of Christianity.  He is usually shown as a male head formed as a leaf mask.

http://irelandsown.net/thetree.html

Posted in Ireland, Irish Mythology | No Comments »  from: http://ireland.nmhblogs.org/category/irish-mythology/

We can toast the Green Man with "Green Man Imperial Stout" from: http://www.greenmanbrewery.com/history.php quaffed in a Green Man mug from: http://www.zazzle.com/green_man_green_man_green_man_the_sacred_pub_mug-168331564830340161  or Irish Coffee from this Green Man (Old Sage) mug: http://www.cafepress.com/outinthegarden.677570482

and listen to Celtic music from: http://greenmancelticmusic.com/index.html

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Jarilo

I have been totally fascinated by the Green Man character of Jarilo since learning about Zeleni Jurai.  At http://www.paganroots.net/myth/slavic/item/jarilo, the author states: "He was a fairly typical life-death-rebirth deity, believed to be (re)born and killed every year. His mythical life cycle followed the yearly life of various wheat plants, from seeding through vegetation to harvest."   There is a wonderful story at the link above with a matching tale at: http://epika.org/house-of-mythology/23-jarilo.  There is another excellent article that compares Jarilo to the epic "Jason and the Argonauts" at: http://www.argonauts-book.com/kresnik-perun-and-jarilo.html.


from: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://tpeople.co.il/mythology/myth/Slavic/jarilo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://tpeople.co.il/mythology/myth/Slavic/slav_gods.htm&h=952&w=750&sz=124&tbnid=7AG0T7a9JIzLfM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=75&prev=/search%3Fq%3Djarilo%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=jarilo&usg=__yDqPDdZvrHEmcs4IwcIHYKDHQeo=&docid=TTV6MdqLrDBAvM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=eDI5Ud7bLsqt0AG_3IGIDQ&ved=0CEsQ9QEwBQ&dur=292

Jarilo is also known as Yarilo.  Below is a youtube video on Yarilo:

The Green Man on Facebook

Found this lovely quote:

"Our ancestors said to their mother Earth: ‘We are yours.’ Modern humanity has said to Nature, ‘You are mine.’ The Green Man has returned as the living face of the whole earth so that through his mouth we may say to the universe: ‘We are one.'"

 

on a Facebook Page to the Green Man: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Green-Man/48153073014#!/pages/The-Green-Man/48153073014?id=48153073014&sk=info

and this lovely painting of a Green Man:

 

http://watercolormuse.blogspot.com/2010/12/green-man-wip-forever.html

 

Green Man Music

Thoughts of the Green Man's return in the Spring hinge on the peep of snowdrops through the snow, the crocus that bloom in the winter's sun and the lilt of birdsong that grows greater with each warming day.

I ran across this lovely folksong about the Green Man waking in the Spring by Lauren Raine at: http://www.rainewalker.com/thegreenman.htm

and a favorite song about the Green Man by Martin Donnelly on youtube.com:

Modern Day Green Man

Fabulous film snippet of Paul Stamets.  Paul Stamets has much wisdom to share in this brief and elegantly beautiful film at: http://www.wimp.com/importantmushrooms/

(Image from: http://www.tellurideinside.com/2011/04/telluride-institute-news-mycowizard-paul-stamets-returns-to-shroomfest-in-telluride.html)

This film is from an amazing site: http://www.movingart.tv/screeningroom/
Enjoy!

The Green Man and the Trees

When discussing the Green Man, conversations often branch out into conversations of the Green Man and trees.  Some thoughts turn to the infamous "Ents" in Tolkien lore, tree people and the worshiping of trees.  An article on Ents can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ent 

This is fabulous renditon from:  http://lawrencegarcia.org/tolkiens-mythology-the-recovery-of-wonder-for-creation/ents1/

Tree people are a world-wide archetype. Much of ancient Celtic and Druid lore is devoted to tree worship.  Here's a link to the "wisdom of trees:" http://merganser.math.gvsu.edu/myth/trees.html

Here's an excellent article on Myths, Legends and Trees: http://www.nativetreesociety.org/myths/index_myths.htm
                                        

The Leafing

I am happy to announce The Leafing, the second book in the Green Man series has been finished.  Editing will commence and it will be uploaded to Amazon and Nook in the next month or so.  Thank you for your support!