At this time of year, late March - Early April, England goes through one of the most amazing yet subtle transformations this lovely little planet can muster. Of all its intricate and sophisticated feats, Springtime must be the greatest.

The strange creatures which cover our landscape and seem capable of withstanding anything the weather can throw at them begin to wake up again. After months of apparent death, with just the slightest warmth and light from the returning Sun, something quite incredible seems to happen. An alarm clock suddenly goes off and everything erupts into life.

I'm sure a lot of people in this modern age might not really look at trees as creatures, let alone even look at them much anymore. Perhaps they are seen as sources of fruit, things to climb or the home to birds and squirrels. But for millions of years this form of life has played an absolutely crucial roll in the development and balancing of the Earth's atmosphere and, indeed, without them no oxygen dependent life form would even exist. If you look at trees like that, you might understand why they have always been, and continue to be, so important to the ancient Pagan spiritualities all over the world. Through photosynthesis the green colouring of the leaves takes in sunlight and produces oxygen. Quite literally trees are the most crucial part of a kind of biological machine which actually keeps us all alive!

"Pagans have carved, drawn and even composed songs celebrating the life force of the tree. We embody and illustrate this through the Greenman." (Sculpture by Elsie Smith. Used with permission)

Of course that is a fairly new understanding of what trees do for our planet, but throughout our history they seem to have been regarded with almost mystical regard.

Pagan philosophy, being based on observation of the planet around us, has long since looked upon the life-death-rebirth cycle of trees as a perfect example of how all life turns in a cycle. We see death as simply a pause in the physical side of things, like the apparently 'dead' tree, and the beginning of the next turn in that cycle. Not surprisingly, then, when the tiniest of buds begin to knobble the ends of branches we see the first signs of life returning to the dead wood.

So, as a perfect and very visible representation of our understanding of life, the tree has, become very important to Pagans over the centuries. Throughout our early development and through the agricultural age in particular, Pagans have carved, drawn and even composed songs celebrating the life force of the tree. We embody and illustrate this through the Greenman.

If you look closely at some very old churches and buildings today you will see the Greenman peeping out from cornices and from beneath the rafters. Even medieval architects seemed unable to forget this very potent image from their Pagan past and often popped him amongst the modern icons of the modern age.

Greenmangod

Most of the surviving Greenmen are depicted with foliage and leaves sprouting from their mouths and noses, some look quite painful! Is this a reminder that, no matter what we do as a race, no matter how clever, evolved or sophisticated we become, the trees around us, and for that matter, everything which is green on this planet, will never succumb? It cannot, because if it did, the very air we breathe would vanish. Our life support system is shown in every Greenman, life bursting forth from the stone never to be suppressed.

Many modern Pagans, especially men, also recognise this icon as a representation of the masculine side of the Divine. There are many others, mostly incorporating an animal motif and harkening back to out hunter-gatherer days but the Greenman seems to capture something for men which is both virile, masculine and natural and graceful. There is great strength in the Greenman, he has always been seen as the protector and the guardian of the Woodland of England and his face can often be stern and powerfully determined. Although our other God forms might have very positive things to say about masculinity, perhaps the Greengod is more relevant now than he has ever been. This current culture does seem to have largely forgotten the importance trees have to play in our continued survival as a race and might, perhaps, need reminding.