I am referring to my own inner landscape. Last night I had a dream, although, really "dream" doesn't do it justice. I guess I had a vision, a visitation. It was slightly "nightmarish." I mean that is how I experienced it. I was in a deep sleep, awoke with a start, got up and walked towards the kitchen of our expansive apartment.
There, standing in the doorway of the kitchen was "The Green Man:" - “This figure I am convinced, is neither a figment of the imagination nor a symbol, but is taken from real life, and the question is whether there was any figure in real life from which it could have been taken. The answer, I think, is that there is but one of sufficient importance, the figure variously known as the Green Man, Jack-in-the-Green, Robin Hood, the King of May and the Garland King, who is the central figure in the May Day celebrations throughout Northern and Central Europe.”
I must say, my Green Man was intimidating, scary, fierce, super-intelligent:
He didn't speak, he just looked right thru me. I could feel a chill, a shiver run thru my body. I was animated with fear and a certain awe. He was covered in leaves and branches, he was totally silent, but he opened his mouth and showed me his gritted teeth. He seemed to be in the prime of life, but at the same time, he was older than the hills, primeval, from another time and place. I retreated. Scurried back to bed, shivers of fear percolated thru my body. After a few minutes, I fell back asleep.
What to make of it? Attend to Nature? Attend to my own Nature? Re-connect to the Natural World? I don't know. The Green Man seems to me to be an emissary from another realm that co-exists with us. He lives in the landscape, the forests, the mountains, and in our bodies. We can't ignore him. Or, maybe we ignore him at our own peril. I like this idea: "Some Green Men are shown with fronds of vegetation issuing form their eyes (such as at Bolton Abbey and Crediton church in England, for example), which can perhaps be interpreted as the artist’s ability to create what he sees."
Ok cool. Maybe I'll go with that...