The Green One

I have a new book out! And I think it is my best yet.

The Green One has just been published by Winter Oak Press – more details here or order online here.

What’s it about? Well, basically I represent The Green One as a universal manifestation of the vital spirit of nature within human culture. Only it does not just represent our connection to the natural world, but our awareness of this connection, our consciousness of the importance of this awareness and our desire, especially in these bleaks times, to reassert that connection.

I was initially inspired by the figure of The Green Man, as it appears in churches across the UK, Germany and France, and by the clearly-related “Jack in the Green” figures who feature in traditional parades across Europe.

But I was also aware of a connection with Khidr, a green life-bringing prophet in popular Islamic tradition, who has some other intriguing links.

I also rapidly realised, while researching the book, that the universal Earth Mother figure, sometimes represented as Gaia or Pachamama, is not only close to the Green Man character but ultimately cannot be separated from it.

In the realm of archetypes and ideas there is no such thing as gender. The fluidity of The Green One in this respect, as well as in terms of all the particular forms he/she takes, lends an enormous richness to the subject matter.

I did a lot of research for this book, online and in print. But I am not a professional academic and this is not an academic work, a fact which is underlined by the style in which it is written. The Green One is present throughout, addressing the reader as “I” and mulling over who exactly she/he is or isn’t.

Furthermore, I use the book primarily to express a strongly-held personal opinion, which of course is a complete no-no for academics!

The Green One, in my vision, is a symbol of human belonging to nature and of human resistance to the nature-destroying forces of industrial capitalism.

As such, she/he can come to life at any time, in anyone who opens themself up to the right energies.

The Green One is us!