Recycled Paganism

Bran For Breakfast

Green Man/Bran. At it’s core the Green Man, I believe, and so do many others, is an icon for the cycle of the year in the oldest stories by dying and rising gods such as Attis, Osiris, Tammuz and BRAN the Celtic icon.The earliest heroes being Enkidu from the ancient Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh………………..…themes repeat!!......Architects game. In the Temple Bruer enigma we have BRAN cropping up a lot locally, with place names as well as people. River BRANt BRANt Broughton. BRANSton along with the nearby BRANston Mere, site of another templar settlement. Bit further a field to Southwest we find the village of BRANdon. We also have Charles BRANdon , Duke of Suffolk buying Temple Bruer from Henry VIII. The archetype of the Green Man may very well manifest as Green Jack , Robin Hood, Robin Goodfellow, Heren the Hunter, the Green Knight……and characters from the ancient folk plays of Europe. But it’s the same repackaged story. The god brings life force to earth, grows in the grain, is cut down and then springs up again ………….death and rebirth. The sun is symbolically reborn on December 25th when it appears to start its journey back along the horizon to the summer solstice point. Green Man wood, sited at the left arm of the pentacle, is also very near to a large house, now a ruin, that was said to be owned by Lord Londesborough , the successor to Henry chaplain MP at Blankney hall. Remember it’s the Blankney - Carlton le Moorland church alignment that makes the shoulder line of the pentacle. So, what a coincidence that Lord Londesborough is involved not just with the hall at Blankney , but another residence sited at Green Man wood and the left arm of the pentacle itself ! I have also heard a local tale that there was said to be a ‘hanging tree’ once at this site where the left arm of the pentacle meets Green Man Wood. The A15 main road is an old route and a highwayman’s haunt…the misty undulating heath offering many opportunities for surprising the unwary, maybe it’s these villains that were hung here?...who knows ……… I found it an interesting if somewhat gruesome addition to add to the article. I have no proof of the hanging tree……if any comes to light I will post it here.