There are almost a thousand sites in Britain alone where the Green Man can be found. He is frequently carved in stone in churches and cathedrals. In Exeter Cathedral, there are five times as many images of the Green Man as there are of Christ. Yet the Green Man’s roots reach far deeper, into something much more ancient. In ‘A Little Book of The Green Man’, Mike Harding gives examples of Green Man figures from Lebanon and Iraq that date back to the 2nd century. There are also similar figures in Borneo, Nepal and India. Don’t you find it strange and fascinating that a foliate-faced man should appear from the earliest times, in all these different areas of the world?🍃 Jesus, Osiris, Woden/Odin, the Green Knight, John Barleycorn, the Holly King and Thamuz of the Mesopotamians are all related to the Green Man, symbolising the triumph of Green Life over Winter and Death. And now that time is here with us again. A beautiful time of transformation when all that has been gathering and formenting below in the darkness begins to push🌱forth in order to feel the sharp bright gasp of this world.🌻 Halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, Imbolc - on the 1st February - is the traditional celebration of the start of Spring. Glad blessings to us all who have survived this winter. May many long warm and joyous days stretch out before us, and be kind to us.☺️ 🎨 ARTWORK DETAILS 🎨 Title: "The Green Man" Artist: Red K Elders @rkelders.art Medium: Graphite on Paper Date: January 2021 ***This limited edition print is hand-embellished with 24kt gold leaf*** [The face in this drawing is based on a photograph by @lee_jeffries, with his kind permission. Visit his page and buy his amazing book ‘Portraits’!] ... posted on Instagram - https://instagr.am/p/CLFwdDjjPLy/