The Green Man

The above is the scariest green man I could find but I couldn't discover the artist. If anyone knows please tell me. When I was very young I was afraid to be alone in the woods. I didn't know why or what I feared. It wasn't a fear that threatened harm; it wasn't a fear of the boogeyman. I sensed a watchful presence full of distrust; I felt like my every move was being monitored. I didn't understand this feeling and couldn't articulate it until I'd grown older. I still feel this when I'm in the woods and I feel it most strongly when I'm alone. I perceive it now as the Green Man. I don't experience the same fear as I did when I was a child but I do still feel his eyes upon me. He doesn't threaten, he just knows how destructive these pesky humans can be and must watch out for his charges. The trees and other plants, the animals and insects, the fungi and the mold are all in his care. It's an important job with far-reaching effects. If the Green Man doesn't take care of his own the world would be a vastly different place and all life would suffer for it. I don't get to walk in the woods like I once did as this place has no forest. So I'm left with little opportunity to enjoy the wonder of the woods. On the rare occasions when I do get to visit a wooded area I sometimes wonder if the trees themselves are watchful, but maybe that's just wishful thinking from this Lord of the Rings fan. The Green Man has good reason to distrust us human beings, we do a lot of clear cutting and burning, we leave our trash all over the place and we kill the animals for no other reason than sport. Even we pagans are not exempt from his watchful eyes. We may be as green as we can be but we will never be as green, as wild and full of life as the Green Man and his lands and his living charges. Our blood runs red while his runs green. That said, I still try to forge a relationship with the Green Man. I still try to show that I mean no harm and that I honor him as well as all of nature. But we humans have a lot to make up for and I don't expect trust to be established by little 'ol me in my little lifetime. But I'll keep trying in this life and the next. My blood is red but the waters of my soul are green.