The Green Man and The Lady
beltane in the woods
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We are nearing Beltane (May 1st), and that means that the woods and gardens are coming alive. No longer snowbound, frozen, sleepy, and slumbering, the life force is erupting in a profusion of green.
The masculine presence in the landscape is palpable. It is urgent, lusty, impetuous, and filled with the fiery passions of pollination and procreation. This is most strongly felt in new growth, new shoots, young saplings, and at least on my property amphibians, namely frogs, but to be fair, also birds. This is the season of the birds and the bees, literally and euphemistically.
The Green Man is also benevolent, wise, and patient. I find these characteristics of masculine energy in mature oaks, beeches, hickories, old stands of pine, and thick clumps of meadow grasses. These things have seen many years and grown large and robust, providing protection and shelter to the young, vulnerable, and newly hatched in the spring. They are a perfect picture of the calling and nobility of the Masculine.
Life and the Lifeforce are good, and they want to assert themselves whenever and wherever possible at Beltane. New life is initiated when the Green Man awakens and roams the woods, marshes, and meadows.
I often feel this presence when I am working in my yard. It is a sheltering presence, quiet and stoic, overseeing my activities, and when I am especially in tune with my commitment to stewardship, I sense his approval.
On the other hand, during Beltane, the raucous, roguish youthful masculine abounds.
Satyr
noun
A woodland creature depicted as having the pointed ears, legs, and short horns of a goat and a fondness for unrestrained revelry.
~The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
These energies work together. Without the impulsive, impetuous, and initiating energy of the youthful masculine the survival of many species would be in peril. Yet, without the restraining, wise, and protective energy of the mature Green Man, the excess would abound and lead to far too much of a good thing. Nature seeks balance and harmony in all things.
In a world that struggles to understand and value masculine energy nature can be our teacher.
The Lady of the Woods, The May Queen
Beltane is about the union of the Lord and Lady of the Woods, the sacred marriage that births all of the verdant goodness of the earth. She is often symbolized by the Hawthorne that blooms at this time of year. Her gentle presence seems to coax out the earliest flowers and draw forth the gentle waters of spring. She is seen in the blossoms of fruit trees and in the bees eagerly sipping nectar and collecting pollen. You can find many trees and shrubs that burst into fuzzy or gently drooping catkins where her energy will reside.
It is no wonder the folk tradition of the Maypole Dance emerged as a way to celebrate Beltane. I have very fond memories of dancing the Maypole during my grammar school’s annual Field Day celebration each year in May.
The pole is of course the phallic symbol and the colorful ribbons that radiate out of the pole create a flower. It’s a beautiful, natural symbol that acknowledges the sacredness of procreation. As a young child I didn’t know any of that but I did sense that the Maypole Dance was a powerful representative of spring, nature, flowers, the never ending cycle of the seasons and a joyful community event.
Without the union of the Lord and Lady, without their mutual need for one another, without the sacred blessing of copulation and pollination sterility and barrenness would prevail all over the land.
It is no mere coincidence that May is a month dedicated to Mother Mary, and in the United States to Mother’s Day. Nature is not a hedonist, despite her superabundance of seeds, eggs and broods produced in the spring. All of that sexual activity is meant for one purpose, to produce new life. Above all, the young must be produced and protected so they survive to carry on the species.
There is a disturbing trend right now that embraces sterility and barrenness. Forty or fifty years ago I would have been pointing out that hedonism was sweeping through our culture. But today that’s not even the case, I see a total rejection of the beauty of the Lord and Lady coming together to produce offspring and raise them. The idea of marriage, pregnancy, birth and raising a family has become repugnant and viewed with disdain and hostility.
And so we see headlines like these
Why U.S. Population Growth Is in the Danger Zone.The U.S. population grew at the slowest pace in history in 2021, according to census data - The Atlantic
U.S. population growth has nearly flatlined, new census data shows. America's population size is standing still, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. ~ The Brookings Institute
The same can be said for Europe, Russia and China.
The archetypal pattern of the Green Man and the May Queen, The Lord and The Lady of the Woods, resides in each of us. Jung would name them the anima and the animus, the yin and yang of our inner being.
A tremendous imbalance has happened, a disturbance in The Force, to use a pop culture reference. Our culture is straying from the very foundation of civilization, to go forth be fruitful and multiply.
When both religion and science, the two great arbitors of how our societies think and relate to the world proclaim that nature is nothing more than dead matter, a commodity to be exploited (science) or when nature is demonized, seen as less than compared to the spiritual life (religion) is it any wonder that we end up completely severed from the most basic of all impulses, to find a partner, create, nurture and raise a family.
We really do need to collectively touch grass. (read last week’s essay)
Of course this always leads me back to the necessity of the re-enchantment of nature in our collective understanding and experience of the world. The earthy goodness of being fruitful and multiplying, of being aligned with the natural ways of the earth and viewing and experiencing them as a sacrament, is why my garden is filled with “pagan” statuary.
It’s not because I worship them but because they are reminders of the natural order the Divine has ordained for all things on the earthly plane. Mothers are to be exalted and masculinity is not to be denigrated but honored. Be fruitful and multiply and find purpose, meaning and joy.
Nature is the most bountiful book of sacred revelation we have. During Beltane The Lord and Lady of the Greenwood teach us about deep union and sensual participation in life. So erect a Maypole and do the dance of life, with gusto and joy.
Have you ever danced the Maypole? Is Beltane new to you? How do you understand the Green Man and the May Queen? Does reviving May Day/Beltane resonate with you?
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Thanks for sharing all your wisdom and insights! I’m learning a lot.
This essay was meaningful to me as I was born on May 1.
I wanted to push back a bit against the end of the essay. I dare say many, like myself, choose not to have children because of our love for the earth and the planet’s sustainability. I find that my mothering energies are best used to nurture creation and other people. I know in the deepest core of my being that procreation is not for me (had I been born thirty years earlier I wouldn’t have had that choice).
And it’s clear that younger people are also deeply invested in helping right our planet.
Perhaps this disturbance in the force might be just what we need rather than something to be feared.
Thanks again.
Thank you for more beautiful storytelling. I would like to comment I think the reason people are rejecting the marriage and kids thing is because women are sick of doing everything, most men do nothing for working in the family home. I am only common law, and if I could re-do it I never would have settled down with 1 person, even though my guy is great. The rage against the patriarchy hit me at 40. It's like I was blind and now I can see it. When you are young and beautiful you are IN IT, you can't see you're being used.