Also known as Cernunnos, Pan, The Oak-King, The Horned god, Some say he was the was the green knight that helped king Arthur.
Some pics of him are shown with hornes where the name horn god came from. He is the personification of the spirit of nature. Its vegetation form, the living heartbeat in every cell of a plant, Shrubs or tree and the flowers, divine essence of the seasons. He is also the infinite wheel of life.
The druids known for their vegetation cult, received prophetic messages,
and inspiration through communication with the greenman.
Greenman usually has a human face, surrounded by leaves, grapes, and he in some pictures has horns as well, or ears of the goat like pan.
In one version, leaves sprouted from his mouth, eyes, ears, or nose, it is said that he is naked, but actually no one really knows, since the leaves and branches that surround him clothe him. Often in pictures his face is surrounded by Oak leaves, that is why he is also given the name Oak-King, master of the heavenly King of Trees.
He is worshipped in regions covered wth trees, wood and nature in general, such as England, Holland, Germany, France, Italy, and Europe, (The romans depicated him). He is also known in India and Malaysia. You can find many carvings of the green man in the southwest England, like in the fantastic Exeter Cathedrals.
The Greenman is a less challenging and direct form of Pan. The Horned God, he lacks the unabashed animal sexuality of this important god of nature, but emphasized the fertility regeneration and different life/seasonal phases as shown by the world of vegetation.
In any and all cases his lovely image shows the solar god, the one that rises in spring, and blooms in summer, declines in autumn, and dies in the winter time, which was also the time of his birth. He is the long lasting youth of nature. But his strength should never be underminded. In many ways, he is the form of strength boldness, independence and creativity, a god of great power.
He was born in winter solstice, married the goddess of Beltane and died in the summer solstice.
This god best represents nature any and all aspects, virility, fertility, animals, physical love, warriors, and Knightship.
The Christian tale of the greenman is he is the pan, he is the personification of the devil, The great forces of nature will find a way to come to the surface anyway, and if the animal form is inappropriate, it will resurrect in another form.
