Who is the Green Man? This mysterious figure has a history soaked in speculation and misinterpretation. Today he is broadly recognised as a neo-Pagan icon and a modern symbol for environmentalism. However, his mythology is surpisingly modern and I invite you on a weird and winding trail that connects him to the biggest land grab in human history. Let the Green Man guide us along an astonishing ramble through endangered woodlands, Victorian journals, Christian scripture, Right to Roam, the Witch Trials and a royal coronation.

Is he truly worthy of his green deity status?

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Written and produced by Rosie May. You can support my work by leaving a lovely review, donating at the Wessex Hag Bandcamp and telling a hag-minded mate about the show!

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My recommended places and materials for tracing the Green Man:

VISIT:

Cothelstone church (Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Quantock Hills)

Crowcombe church (Church of the Holy Ghost, Quantock Hills)

Broomfield church (Church of St Mary & All Saints, Quantock Hills)

Hatch Beauchamp parish church (St John the Baptist, nr Taunton)

St Mary Redcliffe parish church (Bristol)

READ:

The "Green Man" in Church Architecture - Lady Raglan (aka Julia Somerset) https://www.jstor.org/stable/1257090?seq=1

Wild Service: Why Nature Needs You - Nick Hayes & Jon Moses (2024)

Queens of the Wild: Pagan Goddesses in Christian Europe - Ronald Hutton (2022)

Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm - Isabella Tree (2018)

WATCH:

The Wicker Man (1973) - obv!

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Autumn begins on 1st August (if you're Anglo Saxon), marked by The Feast of the First Fruits. Harvest time must be the most bucolic time in the rural landscape, but let me tell you about the gruesome ritual sacrifice of poor old John Barleycorn that ensures we get a tot of whiskey and a nice loaf of bread.

Show announcement! Live Wessex Hag storytelling + Blabbermouth: Sunday 26th October - Cafe Kino, Bristol.

Tickets and info here: https://hdfst.uk/e133077

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The perfect Lammas soundtrack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkRiKeg7TPg

Robert Burns's 'John Barleycorn' poem in full:

http://www.robertburns.org.uk/Assets/Poems_Songs/john_barleycorn.htm

Running through the fields of wheat (lest we forget):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNQE4bzFkyU

Find me on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/wessex_hag

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Roadside memorials are a form of folk ritual. We leave offerings and messages for the dead wherever we feel closest to them, and the gifts and imagery we leave in these places are both deeply personal and strangely universal; plastic flowers on an A-road; memorial plaques on the fringes of nowhere. Join me and rambling artist Man in the Woods on a gentle stroll through a diverse landscape of ancient battlegrounds, a public swimming pool, a boyband music video and the eerie expanse of Sedgemoor.

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Links to work by Man in the Woods:

https://www.maninthewoods.co.uk/about

https://www.instagram.com/man.in.the.woods/?hl=en

Articles about Somerset memorials for Princess Diana and Liam Payne:

https://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk/news/14335229.celebrity-look-back-princess-diana-opens-sedgemoor-splash-in-bridgwater/ 

https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/15506691.how-somerset-was-united-by-grief-following-the-tragic-death-of-princess-diana-20-years-on/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5yxw6el05o 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c99yyjd7jddo

Account of the Battle of Sedgemoor/Monmouth Rebellion:

https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/listing/battlefields/sedgemoor/ 

Swan Mussels:

https://mussel-project.uwsp.edu/motm/2004/04-12.html

Weird Somerset:

https://www.instagram.com/weird_somerset/ 

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Maybe you've experienced Glastonbury Festival, but do you know the strange origins of this iconic event? It's weirder than you might think. Follow me on a ramble through Worthy Farm to discover how Somerset came to host one of the world's biggest festivals, unearthing stories of ley lines, wartime Britain, spirit seekers and rebel aristocrats. Reflecting on the month of June, we also observe the cosmic importance of the summer solstice and why midsummer is inherently woven into the history of Glastonbury.

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Written and produced by Rosie May

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Book recommendations:

Electric Eden - Rob Young

Glastonbury Festival Tales - Crispin Aubrey, John Shearlaw

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The origins of the word 'hag' wends its way along ancient hedgerows and exists as a living memento of Old English. From the Anglo-Saxons, to witchcraft, to capitalism: follow me on a linguistic ramble to unveil the political and folkloric meanings behind this word that has long been wielded as a tool for sexism and ageism. In our era of climate crisis, we may observe how it is the perfect time to reclaim the word as a potent symbol of reconnection with the natural world.

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Lucy Wright - Hedge Morris:

https://www.lucywright.art/works/hedgemorris

Icy Sedgwick - hawthorn mythology

https://www.icysedgwick.com/hawthorn-folklore/

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A glimpse at the figure of Saint George, the mysteries of Easter, and how spring mythologies bubble to the surface in Glastonbury town.

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Written and produced by Rosie May

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A wander through this month's celestial and terrestrial stirrings, from the folklore wisdom of wild garlic to the lesser-known ancient names for March.

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Written and produced by Rosie May

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February may often feel like a dreary month of liminal nothingness, but it has a rich multitude of historical customs that have snuck into our daily lives in subliminal ways. As the snowdrops begin peeping out from the mud, light a candle in good company, and say goodbye to the last of the dark months.

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Written and produced by Rosie May

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January is often considered a glum time of year, and we tend to feel pressure to become brand-new, shiny versions of ourselves as we enter the New Year. Let's rethink how we move through this month by examining the rural customs of our ancestors and the importance of keeping the party going through the dark weeks of January. Wæs Hæl! Drinc Hæl!

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Written and produced by Rosie May

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