The Green Man and New Year's

The old year is dying and the new year awaits.  As a naïve American, I am used to large, lighted balls dropping from the sky, noisemakers and revelry on December 31st to January 1st.  The American celebration of things dropping from the sky is tame in comparison to other, more ancient folk festivals that rid ourselves of bad luck, omens and winter to bring on good things and Spring.  (and the tune of "Drive the Cold Winter Away" keeps dancing in my head as I write.  Lyrics here: http://www.allcarols.com/d/drive_the_cold_winter_away.html)

In the wee sma' hour this day, I learned of a Spanish festival on the first weekend of January -- La Vijanera where a man covered in greens is part of the festivities in driving and killing the bear in a festival that represents the triumph of good over evil.  Please follow the link as the photos will not copy or paste into the blog.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/ximenez/11809160806/in/photostream/
These amazing photographs were taken by: Carlos González Ximénez  -- Máscaras de la Vijanera de Silió, Molledo, Cantabria 2014.
Carlos González Ximénez

The Green Men are only a small part of the festival and are called:  Trapajones:

 

Men in costumes made with natural greenery, leaves, bark, corn, beans, etc. are part of the many masked players on this day.

The website for the festival is: http://www.vijanera.com/

Another blog post on this festival: http://blogs.pjstar.com/eye/2013/01/09/spaniards-carry-on-ancient-tradition-of-vijanera-masquerade/   Daniel Ochoa de Olza is the photographer that shares many photographs from the 2013 festival in Silio, Spain.

There are other folk festivals as we work to triumph over the winter worldwide that will be addressed at a later time.  Until then,  Happy New Year to one and all. May your year be full of good and a triumph over evil.