As December beckons on the morrow, thoughts turn to the upcoming December holidays. I was thinking about the dwindling of daylight and how the Green Man is connected to the Solstice and the holidays. In my own book,
The Greening, I included a passage where the Green Man steps into a Solstice fire for his subsequent death and then rebirth in the Spring:
It was a clear,
sparkling winter’s night. A full moon
was in the sky, but its light could not shadow the brilliance of the stars that
shone brightly in the blue-black sky.
Marian had lit a bonfire in the meadow.
Its flames leapt up trying to touch the sky, higher and higher in a
mixture of brilliant white, gold and orange flames.
When the Green
Man appeared, several people cheered. He
nodded, king-like, acknowledging his patrons.
Sylvia stared up at him in surprise and pleasure that so many saw and
recognized him. They all waited and
watched the flames.
Finally at the right
moment, the Green Man said, “Good-bye, Sylvia. Veriditas.”
“What?” Sylvia
whispered, dragging her attention back to him.
She had been caught up in the magic of the starlight and the flames.
“I’ll always be
nearby if you need me,” the Green Man whispered and kissed her, his oak leaf
moustache tickling as he kissed. It was a kiss from a friend, a mentor, but
passionate at the same time. Sylvia
caught her breath. “Keep looking and
listening and learning,” he told her.
Sylvia
shivered. The Green Man stepped into the
welcoming flames and Sylvia gave a little cry of “No!” Tears coursed down her face even though the
Green Man was smiling as though the flames were like a cozy blanket. People
around her were cheering and shouting, “May your days grow longer.”
“Goodbye,” she
whispered through her tears.
Without getting too philosophical, this leans on the thought of Ourosboros and Yin/Yang. But, I digress...
There are connections with the Green Man and Father Christmas. John Matthews has researched and written about this tradition in his book:
The Winter Solstice . Wonderful reading!
And one last thought, as I researched for this post, I stumbled onto a fabulous website with Green Man miniatures:
http://www.finestoneminiatures.com/index.htm if your gift giving leans to the symbol of the Green Man kind, these stonemasons have created amazing renditions of classic Green Men.
And in a final note, I leave another passage from The Greening's sequel, The Leafing leaving us with hope that the Green Man will return:
Sylvia
stood staring at the dying embers of the bonfire. Her feet were numb with cold
and hot tears stung her freezing cold cheeks. Owen stood with her, his arm
around her as she stared at the dying fire in disbelief. The Green Man had stepped into the fire smiling
a warm, yet wry smile on his brown face of living wood. She had watched as his tall body which was covered
in rich brocade made of leaves, with a crown of holly bright with scarlet
berries on his head disappear into the leaping flames as though they were a
cozy blanket. He was gone in a flash as
the tall flames engulfed him with a loud whoosh. Tears had coursed down her cheeks while
others cheered the onset of the solstice and toasted the beginning of longer
days. As everyone headed back to Marian’s house for food and drink, Owen supported
her as she glanced back, one last hope that
the Green Man would reappear as he had so many times this last year. It was only when the fire had died down to
charred embers that Owen noticed a large chunk of wood left in the ashes.
“Look,
Syl,” he said amazed, “Look at this.”
Sylvia
gasped at what she saw. It was the wooden mask, almost identical to the one she
had found last spring, now laying among the embers. Owen gingerly pushed away smoldering embers
with his booted foot to get to the chunk of wood. Bit by bit he pushed it through the ashes to
Sylvia. She reached down to pick it up, not heeding Owen’s warning that it
might be hot to touch. The smooth wood
was strangely cool. Yes, this mask was identical to the one she had found, what
was it, seven months ago? It was the
day of her grandmother’s funeral when she had stormed out of the house in angry
grief and found this mask lying on the ground.
It had sprouted one leaf, then two and finally turned into her beloved,
father-like, Green Man. He had guided her these past months as she and Owen
discovered a horrible ecological disaster in the making and solved a murder as
well. He had showed her that she had a
gift of seeing auras. He had been her
rock in times of need. Sylvia already
missed him.
Now
Sylvia stood, holding the velvety smooth mask of wood and a silly smile played on
her lips. It was a message to her from
the Green Man. She was sure of it. She was sure that he would return.
Both
The Greening is available in paperback and kindle format from
www.amazon.com at:
http://www.amazon.com/Greening-novel-romantic-suspense-touch-ebook/dp/B0084TH53Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417346595&sr=8-1&keywords=the+greening+sharon+brubaker+paperback
and
The Leafing is currently available in kindle format at
www.amazon.com at:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Leafing-2nd-book-Green-ebook/dp/B00C8UIXZO/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1C6P7SZXYDBK3WQ9T9JZ and will be available in paperback in early 2015.
