[Woodcarver] woodspirit history

[sally nye]

Great explanations.  I love the history of things like this.  I have a 
book, The Winter Solstice: The sacred traditions of Christmas by John 
Matthews, The Theosophical Publishing House, 1998.  There are several 
traditions associated with this type of thing.  Fascinating.

I'm not sure if it was that book or an article of Chris Pye's in the 
British WoodCarving magazine but I read that the original Green Man 
represented the holly tree.  I have never seen one made with holly 
leaves but think it would be beautiful.  Does anyone know about this?
Sally
http://www.geocities.com/fancarving/home.html

On Jun 21, 2004, at 8:49 AM, Classic Carving Patterns wrote:

Wood spirits are a kin to a much older motif/image called the Green 
Man.  The Green man dates back to circa 50 A.D. in Roman carvings.  He 
first appears as a profile image with the leaves or vines emanating 
form his mouth and nostrils.  By 200 A.D. he has become much of what we 
think of today with the full front facing male face that uses leaves in 
place of hair.  This motif appears in just about every culture as 
a symbol of man being part of nature or man coming from nature, he is 
nature personified.  It also implies man's control over or dominance 
over nature. Variations include leaf masks, American Indians wearing 
wolf skins, and the China's Shen Nong emperor.
 
Mike is quite correct about it's appearance in Europe, some of the 
earliest are a pair of leaf masks in a frieze at Trier Cathedral, circa 
200 A.D.  The Green man eventually became a major repetitive theme in 
Cathedral sculptures during  the Medieval era.   "The Green man" by 
Kathleen Basford, published by D. S. Brewer of Suffolk, UK, reprinted 
1996 is an excellent source guide for both information and historic 
imagery.
 
The Wood Spirit, a version of the Green Man, can be traced to the Pagan 
religions with one of the best known called the Apple Man.  Now the 
legend goes that the gods lived on earth and traveled among us.  Each 
god or goddess had their specific influences upon nature and man.  The 
Apple Man was the guardian for tree especially orchard trees and was 
said to reside inside the oldest Apple Tree in the orchard.  Therefore, 
the oldest tree was both protected and revered by the orchard 
owner. Should the oldest apple tree die, then the Apple Man would die 
and so would the orchard. 
 
Several of the Pagan gods sleep through winter, not finding much 
enjoyment in the cold weather.  These gods take up their winter 
residence inside a fir or pine tree ... that's why the pine and fir do 
not lose their green needles during winter as the sleeping god protects 
the trees from the cold climate. So where deciduous trees appear dead 
having lost their leaves the pine still appears alive even in the worst 
weather conditions.  Because early man considered winter the 'small 
death' for earth he used superstition to try and protect himself from 
it and to hopefully insure the return of spring.  This was done by 
cutting a pine or fir tree, which of course had a sleeping god (Wood 
Spirit) inside it, then he brought the tree inside his home.  The pine 
became the center of several rituals and was carefully tended to keep 
the god happy and safe.  When it was about time for spring to come the 
tree was taken back outside to 'release' the god. Since the faithful 
Pagans had served/cherished their god well through the cold months, 
that god naturally rewarded his people by returning life to the earth.
 
And that, my dear friends, is why Christians have Christmas trees!!!  
The Christian church during their expansion era would enter a new area 
then begin to incorporate many of the area's religious practices and 
rights into their own rituals. That way the Pagan rituals and beliefs 
got sort of swallowed up by the Christian faith, making conversion more 
acceptable to the Pagans. 
   
:) One day I'll tell you all about All Hallows Eve and the English 
Catholic Church  :)
 
Susan
 

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-----Original Message-----
From: woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net 
[mailto:woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net] On Behalf Of Mike 
Bloomquist
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 7:35 AM
To: [Woodcarver]
Subject: Re: [Woodcarver] woodspirit history

Al,
 
Here's something that's on the tag that's on the woodspirits I sell at 
Artworks.  It's a condensation of things read in several sources.
 
*************************************
The Woodspirit
 
Being fierce and powerful protectors of the forests, woodspirits  
encourage respect for their world.  One does not wish to cross a 
woodspirit, but are counted as fortunate and charmed to have seen one.  
Carving woodspirits is a European tradition which predates the 
colonization of America.  A frequent project of Swiss and Austrian 
woodcarvers is to carve their interpretation of the woodspirit, and 
that tradition has caused them to migrate into our homes to be 
protectors of house and hearth.
 
*************************************
 
Keep on Carvin'
-Mike Bloomquist->
 
Wooden Dreams Woodcarving
http://www.borg.com/~bloomqum
----- Original Message -----
  From: Al & Sue Pilsl
To: [Woodcarver]
Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2004 12:58 PM
Subject: [Woodcarver] woodspirit history

Hello Everyone,
 
Am giving a cottonwood bark woodspirit/housespirit to a friend as a 
gift, and thought it would be nice to include a short 
history/explanation of them.  Can anyone point me in the right 
direction to find a concise explanation of woodspirits?  Have tried a 
Google search, but didn't come up with anything that seemed 
appropriate.
 
Thank you very much for any and all answers.
 
Al Pilsl
 From Beautiful Hancock, WI
pilsl at uniontel.net