For Earth Day and May Day Both: On The Growth of the Green Man

As part of our recent spate of posts on ancient and pagan performative rites and their intersection with theatre, a real quick thing today on the Green Man or Jack o’ the Green.

I’m pretty sure a recent viewing of an episode of Midsomer Murders moved this tradition back to the forefront of my consciousness. I probably first learned about it through a favorite book of mine, Sir James Frazer’s 1890 The Golden Bough, although in recent decades, numerous academics have undercut Frazer’s overstated speculations on the topic. I grew up reading old books. One of the dangers of aging non-fiction, of course, is that the information it contains may be outdated. Still, The Golden Bough remains a tome I would recommend to anyone, if only for artistic inspiration. It was influential, and it gives you as many good ideas as it does inaccurate ones. I’d rather have that, than a book that is 100% factually correct but offered no inspiration whatsoever. Sorry, but I would.

Or should I say, I…wood? (No, I guess not).

So, Frazer has been castigated for claiming that the English “Green Man” or “Jack o’ the Green” traditions have their origins far back in pre-Christian times. The reason for the criticism is that there is only DOCUMENTED proof of it going back to the late 18th century. It was Frazer’s wont to lump in together a lot of things that seemed related, including in this case, ancient European Pagan “Wild Man” rituals, and the architectural/sculptural motif of grotesque heads and faces either merged with vegetation or, with leaves and shoots coming out of the eyes and mouth, and so forth. And Druidism is about tree worship, of course. Seems logical that there would be SOME relationship between all of these things. But what is known for certain is that long about the 1770s, it became a May Day practice in London and country villages for people to dress as trees and bushes as part of the annual ritual. May Day festivities of course DID date back to Pagan Times, Green Man or no Green man. Often participants would put garlands, branches and greenery on a framework of wicker to wear (not unlike that of the much larger “Wicker Men”, which also dated back to Celtic times). For some reason, chimney sweeps in particular became associated with the practice.

As part of the May Day festivity, it was clearly about a celebration of springtime and nature and fertility, if only on an unconscious level. In the 20th century, it was well on the way to dying out, but in recent decades, as part of the Neo-Pagan Revival it is once again flourishing at festivals and parades throughout England. Dozens of these celebrations take place all over the U.K. Probably very few people who attend them know that it’s actually a fairly new-ish thing. (Some of the imagery I’ve seen looks distinctly Ent-like, and that’s plainly a modern invention). At any rate, it feels ancient and authentic, even if there’s a strain of local boosterism and ballyhoo running through it.

One local ritual here in NYC I’d like to plug is Earth Celebrations’ annual procession to raise awareness about climate change and the environment. Founded by Felicia Young, it has much in common with colorful art parades like the Village Halloween Parade and the Mermaid Parade, with participants sporting costumes very much inspired by the English Green Man traditions, though with endless variations and elaborations wrought by New Yorkers’ flair for self-expression. This year’s takes place on May 13. There is a wonderful interview and article about the festival and last year’s iteration here. And Earth Celebration’s official site is here.