The Green Man and Christmas

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.

 

The Green Man -- or the Legend of the Holly King and Oak King has been part of the Wiccan tradition of fighting to rule a portion of the year.  An excellent blog post explaining this can be found at: http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/yulethelongestnight/p/Holly_KIng_Yule.htm

 

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! 

 

A briefer treatise on the thoughts of the Green Man and Father Christmas can be found at this blog: http://historicaldigression.com/2010/12/21/the-green-man-father-christmas-and-the-winter-solstice/

 

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:

Prologue:

 

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.
Robert Frost

            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.