At this holiday time of year, many places of worship have a ceremony for “the hanging of the greens.” There is a holiday mashup as a new popular trend incorporates “the wearing of the greens” that is quite different from St. Patrick’s day’s “the wearing o’ the green”.
The December holiday greens symbolize everlasting life and resurrection,
typical of what we think of the symbol of the Green Man.
In fact, there is the mythical battle between Summer and Winter and the Oak King and Holly King on the Solstice. In the ceremony of hanging greens, cedar represents royalty, pine boughs represent everlasting life, holly represents Jesus Christ’s death, and ivy represents resurrection.
These ultra-feminine and very beautiful dress forms lead my mind to think of Gaia, the Green Man’s consort in many cultures. [button href=”https://www.etsy.com/listing/250910085/tutorial-diy-super-easy-dress-form?ref=listing-shop-header-1″ icon_size=”15″ animation_delay=”0″ class=”” target=”_blank” color=”flat-red” dimension=”mini” icon=”adjust” animation=”” animate=”” ]CLICK HERE FOR MORE[/button]
There’s a wonderful explanation of the Greek goddess Gaea as the mother of everything here. Also, there is an interesting discussion on the Green Man and Gaia at this blog post:
As our daylight becomes fleeting, as we head towards the Winter Solstice, greener thoughts and literal greens fill our minds and our eyes with delight.
[button href=”https://www.pinterest.com/pin/65231894579603077/” icon_size=”15″ animation_delay=”0″ class=”” target=”_blank” color=”flat-red” dimension=”mini” icon=”adjust” animation=”” animate=”” ]CLICK HERE FOR MORE[/button]
“What is the Hanging of the Greens?” Find out more here.
