Who is the Green Man?

With the rise in watching television shows and horror movies using pagan influence for pop culture ratings, this iconic Wicca and Pagan deity is now part of someone's shrine alongside Ganesha, Buddha, and Krishna. You can also the same about the Egyptian Gods such as Anubis, Isis, and Osiris. But these former Gods of the past before Christianity and Islam became predominant cultures in regions with former pagan roots in agrarian societies (by agrarian, it is those who celebrate harvests and the seasons by appointing idols and deities for those changes in their environments).

But since we are focusing on the Green man, let's look into the history of this historic and ancient god that is symbolized as the end of humanity in the latest Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 3.

Who is the Green Man?

The Green Man comes from the ancient Celtic religion. He is the symbol of rebirth. He is green and vibrant from the seasons of Spring and Summer and can be sometimes depicted as the dying and aging man of Fall before the Winter Crone makes her way through the land.

Some sources on Celtic and Romano Britain culture say he is similar or related to the Horned God Cernunnos, who was the main fertility icon in Celtic religion or the Romano Britain god Viridios or God of Virility.

The Green Man is tied to the vegetation of the land. It is no surprise that many people worshiped many Gods in the ancient history of early societies where the crops and the harvest are good and plenty. In the modern world, the Green Man is tied to environmental issues and the global climate change of the Earth due to the consumption of fossil fuels and other precious resources. There are modern festivities surrounding the Green Man. You could even say Burning Man which is a large collection of people in the middle of the desert, is symbolic of the change and development of the environment tied to the Green Man and his symbolic fertile nature.

Where did the Green Man come from?

The Green Man is Celtic. He has Roman Britain versions and other versions in many other cultures. But we are mostly focusing on the Celtic origins of this God because I now work in a store full of Irish and Celtic symbols plastered and displayed all over the store. Heck, I even write a Pagan/Wiccan website pertaining to the eight-wheel calendar and their seasons alongside Catholic saints that were ordained from Catholic converters or were originally Pagan based on their origin (with a little dabble in the occult practice of oracle and tarot reading from the Old World's aristocratic courtiers).

The Green Man may also have several other interpretations in the Celtic or Wicca religion. The Holly King and the Oak King. The Holly King is similar to Santa Claus because of the use of Holly and the color red. The Oak King is closer to the depiction of the Green Man. While both those Kings in Wicca religion battle for the mating rights to the Mother Goddess, these versions are accurate with the ways in which vegetation and fertility are tied with earlier rituals of Celtic religion.

The Green Man is nearly 3,000 years old and is one of the most iconic symbols of the rebirth and fertility of the land during harvest seasons. So while he may not be the harbor of evil and destruction like the television series about Sabrina Spellman, he is an iconic and old symbol spanning several cultures and has his own names there too.

Web Resources:

https://ireland-calling.com/celtic-symbol-green-man/

https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/pagan-traveler-the-mysterious-origins-of-the-green-man/

https://salemsmoon.wordpress.com/gods/the-horned-god-oak-king-holly-king-and-green-man/