One of my favorite authors, Terri Windling (author of The Wood Wife [my long time favorite book of hers] and many other fine books) edited a series of short stories with different aspects of the Green Man several years ago (see: http://www.amazon.com/Green-Man-Anthology-Mythic-Forest/dp/B003F76FMM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340191170&sr=8-1&keywords=green+man+windling). She also has an outstanding treatise of art and philosophy on her Endicott Studio site on the Green Man and the Green Woman: http://www.endicott-studio.com/gal/galgreen.html which includes fantastic art by Brian Froud of Faerie fame. The image below is copyrighted to Brian Froud and there is a link to his other Green Men on the Endicott Studio site listed above.
With all of his many faces, I have found the Green Man as a guide — a loving, fatherly type figure. I suppose this is why/how he is portrayed in the Green Man series to Sylvia. Years ago, I knew a storyteller from Gambia. He told me of his cultures views on God and Christ. He said that God is a laughing God who chuckles over his children and all of their antics on Earth. I have always enjoyed this positive, warm image of an omnipotent being. Madeleine L’Engle speaks of “The Laughing Christ” — a statue that portrays an important piece in her book A House Like a Lotus. Another portrayal.
