The other day I found myself trying to describe the Green Man to someone and it dawned on me that though many people have seen him, most don’t know his significance so I thought I might talk a little about that…
For many, the Green man is an old British character from folklore; a myth; a decoration and a popular name for pubs. For me however, he is a God of Growing, life, decay and death. He is the embodiment and life force behind all vegetation. He is the energy of the plant world and its continuous cycle. He is the intention behind all growth and the result of it.

The Green Man is not a compassionate god. He lives to live. In the Spring he is renewed and happy, growing and progressing. Come Summer, he becomes cautiously optimistic and at full potential but, Fall is coming and he knows the struggle that lies ahead with Winter respite. It is easy to see how the Green Man can influence and guide us in our every day life. All things are cyclical and there is comfort in that.

The topic had come up because I was commissioning a sketch for our family Grimoire and the artist had genuine interest in making this personal to us. While trying to find inspirational images for him I came across this fantastic tutorial (http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/10739/1/1/how-to-draw-the-green-man,-green-man.htm ) and it occurred to me that it would be a fun craft to draw you own and include some of the plants local to your area or yard. This could be a fun way to make him special to you.