Place the flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre. Sieve in the blended salt and soda and pour in the buttermilk. Mix well with a wooden spoon until the dough feels springy and then mix in the sprouted seeds. If it feels too sloppy just add a little more flour. Turn it onto a board and cover with a fine dusting of flour. Pat it with your hands until you have a round shape. Take a sharp knife and score lightly into eight sections, one for each festival. Our picture shows the bread cut into five sections, making a pentacle. A late 4th-century example of a green man disgorging vegetation from his mouth is at St. Abre, in St. Hilaire-le-grand, France. [12] Frazer had some Complex Views About Religion. He basically decided that cultures moved through stages—starting with ‘primitive magic’, and then moving to organised religion, and finally arriving at science. How did he know what primitive magic was like? Well, he studied the beliefs of primitive peoples (by postal questionnaire, remember). How did he know they were primitive? Well, he was a Fellow of Classics at Trinity College and this was during the height of the British Empire, so practically everyone who wasn’t him was primitive. Convenient! In his Underworld aspect Cernnunos is The Dark Man, the god who dwells in the House Beneath the Hill, the Underworld. He is the one who comforts and sings the souls of the dead to their rest in the Summerlands of the Otherworld. Cernnunos, as Master of the Wild Hunt, who pursues the souls of evil doers, is not associated with a biblical or even modern morality, but with the protection and continuance of the Land and Nature and the spirits that dwell therein.

We take sunflowers for granted, they are perfectly named and loved by children of all ages. By this stage in the year the flower heads are full and heavy with that wonderful spiral of seeds and they spend the whole day gently turning their heads to gaze at the sun. In the Aztec temples of the sun, priestesses carried sunflowers and wore them as crowns. They symbolize the fertility of the Solar Logos. The Green Man, also known as a foliate head, [1] is a motif in architecture and art, of a face made of, or completely surrounded by, foliage, which normally spreads out from the centre of the face. [2] Apart from a purely decorative function, the Green Man is primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of new growth that occurs every spring. This is a wonderfully simple ritual which can be shared with both friends and family, or worked alone. You can include children in it - it begins in darkness and ends full of light. During the post-war era literary scholars interpreted the Green Knight as being a literary representation of Lady Raglan's Green Man as described in her article "The Green Man in Church Architecture", published in Folklore journal of March 1939. This association ultimately helped consolidate the belief that the Green Man was a genuine, Medieval folkloric, figure. [7] Raglan's idea that the Green Man is a mythological figure has been described as "bunk", with other folklorists arguing that it is simply an architectural motif. [3]Blow the egg. Using a fat needle, pierce a hole in both ends of the egg, making one hole larger than the other. Using the needle pierce the egg yolk gently and swirl it around to break up the yolk. Place a small drinking straw in one end and gently blow through the other hole to help gravity do its work. The Bacchanalia was held in September. But there were other ancient festivals honoring the Roman god Bacchus held in March. Bacchus is the ancient Roman god of wine, revelry, the forest, and fertility. His Greek counterpart is Dionysus. Ever heard of the maenads, the priestess of Dionysus who would enter ecstatic trance? Well, Bacchus has his priestesses too…called the Bacchae. Any god worshiped in the Spring that ruled the forest and fertility often brought a level of promiscuity. Just like the animals and plants in the Spring season. How Do We Work with Spring Goddesses and Gods? The poem Cernnunos Sleeps is by C. Hue Bumgarner-Kirby. The poem appears with the author’s original painting of the same name in a card presentation from Bridge Building Images. Bridge Building Images offers beautiful Celtic and Native American spiritual images. Sprouted seeds - these represent regeneration. Can even be bought in the supermarket now. Frequently found in wholefood shops - or sprout your own.

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.’

Something is wrong

From the Renaissance onward, elaborate variations on the Green Man theme, often with animal heads rather than human faces, appear in many media other than carvings (including manuscripts, metalwork, bookplates, and stained glass). They seem to have been used for purely decorative effect rather than reflecting any deeply held belief. century Romanesque Templar churches in Jerusalem have Romanesque foliate heads. Harding tentatively suggested that the symbol may have originated in Asia Minor and been brought to Europe by travelling stone carvers. [ citation needed] For architectural motif of the foliate head, see Green Man. The sign of the Greene Man pub along Euston Road near Great Portland Street Station in the City of Westminster. We are proud to be a part of a wonderful community. Over the 30 years or so we have watched, taken part in and been a part of, this extraordinary market town called Glastonbury which has become a thriving centre of spiritual diversity. Do come and visit us when you are in the West Country!

Place the flours in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre. Sieve in the blended salt and soda and pour in the buttermilk. Mix well with a wooden spoon until the dough feels springy. If it feels too sloppy just add a little more flour. Turn it onto a board and cover with a fine dusting of flour. Pat it with your hands until you have a round shape. Take a sharp knife and score lightly into eight sections, one for each festival. Our picture shows the bread scored five times to make a pentacle. Zell, Morning Glory. ‘Pan.’ Green Egg: A Journal of Awakening Earth Vol. 27, No. 104, Spring 1994: 12-13, 49.

Latest Posts

This image is derived from a carving on the Gunderstrup Cauldron, as well as other sources, however, I would like to note that Celtic scholar John Matthews in his book The Celtic Shaman states that he believes the image on the Gunderstrup cauldron to be that of a Celtic shaman and not the god Cernnunos. Why are there Spring goddesses and gods from various cultures? Our ancestors were in tune with the earth, the sun, and the seasons. And because of this connection, they believed in deities that were tied to the changing of the earth – it’s plants, trees, animals, and landscape. Some of those deities were even linked or personified specific seasons…like Spring. As the green begins to emerge from the cold earth, we see the crone goddess of Winter reborn as maiden goddess. Replenished and anew. We also see the Green Man come out of hibernation, gifting life to the forests and fields. Read on to learn more about specific Spring goddesses and gods from various pantheons. And why they’re so important at the Vernal Equinox. Spring Goddesses from Various Pantheons 1. Persephone