The Mythic Forest The Green Man And The Spirit Of Nature

Download or read book The Mythic Forest, the Green Man and the Spirit of Nature written by Gary R. Varner and published by Algora Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mankind has given a recognizable face to the awesome and impalpable forces of nature in the image of the Green Man and the nature spirits that this book explores. The ways in which different societies and different craftsmen have depicted these spirits display the wide creative range of the human imagination, but the persistence of the theme suggests that in all their many facets these spirits represent a deep, primordial sense that humans have shared since civilization began. For the very origin and message of these images have remained the same, even if somewhat altered over time. Traditional customs from around the world, from the rites that celebrate spring and egg on the forces of fertility to folk health remedies and the use of talismans to ward off illness and other evils, show some surprising similarities and hint at the shared origins of human culture. Even though the original significance of many customs has been lost or diluted, they still hold an appeal and many towns even today are re-introducing seasonal fairs to recreate the link between man and nature. Varner presents examples, ancient and new, from Europe and Asia, East Coast and West, and identifies in particular the different guises of the Green Man who has figured in architecture since before the advent of Christianity and still makes his appearance today, peering out from behind his leaves on California banks and New York brownstone houses.

Download or read book The Green Man written by Ellen Datlow and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2020-03-24 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the mythology of the Green Man and the power of nature, Neil Gaiman, Jane Yolen, and others serve up “a tasty treat for fantasy fans” (Booklist). There are some “genuine gems” in this “enticing collection” of fifteen stories and three poems, all featuring “diverse takes on mythical beings associated with the protection of the natural world,” most involving a teen’s coming-of-age. Delia Sherman “takes readers into New York City’s Central Park, where a teenager wins the favor of the park’s Green Queen.” Michael Cadnum offers a “dynamic retelling of the Daphne story.” Charles de Lint presents an “eerie, heartwarming story in which a teenager resists the lure” of the faerie world. Tanith Lee roots her tale in “the myth of Dionysus, a god of the Wild Wood.” Patricia A. McKillip steeps her story in “the legend of Herne, guardian of the forest. Magic realism flavors Katherine Vaz’s haunting story. Gregory Maguire takes on Jack and the Beanstalk, and Emma Bull looks to an unusual Green Man—a Joshua tree in the desert” (Booklist). These enduring works of eco-fantasy by some of the genre’s most popular authors impart “a real sense of how powerful nature can be in its various guises” (School Library Journal). “A treasure trove for teens and teachers exploring themes of ecology and folklore.” —Kirkus Reviews “The stories are well-written and manage to speak to both the intellect and the emotions.” —SF Site

Download or read book Green Man written by William Anderson and published by Harper San Francisco. This book was released on 1990 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Green movement and the women's movement have picked up on the scientific Gaia hypothesis, which suggests that the planet Earth is a single living organism. The next stage of the ecological revolution begins with the reawakening of the male counterpart of the Goddess, the Green Man, and archetype found in folklore and religious art from the earliest times, and especially linked with Christian origins of modern science. Long suppressed, the archetype emerges now to challenge us to heal our relationship with nature.

Download or read book Children's Literature and the Posthuman written by Zoe Jaques and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-02-11 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An investigation of identity formation in children's literature, this book brings together children’s literature and recent critical concerns with posthuman identity to argue that children’s fiction offers sophisticated interventions into debates about what it means to be human, and in particular about humanity’s relationship to animals and the natural world. In complicating questions of human identity, ecology, gender, and technology, Jaques engages with a multifaceted posthumanism to understand how philosophy can emerge from children's fantasy, disclosing how such fantasy can build upon earlier traditions to represent complex issues of humanness to younger audiences. Interrogating the place of the human through the non-human (whether animal or mechanical) leads this book to have interpretations that radically depart from the critical tradition, which, in its concerns with the socialization and representation of the child, has ignored larger epistemologies of humanness. The book considers canonical texts of children's literature alongside recent bestsellers and films, locating texts such as Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Pinocchio (1883) and the Alice books (1865, 1871) as important works in the evolution of posthuman ideas. This study provides radical new readings of children’s literature and demonstrates that the genre offers sophisticated interventions into the nature, boundaries and dominion of humanity.

Download or read book The Green Thread written by Patrícia Vieira and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2015-12-24 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Green Thread: Dialogues with the Vegetal World is an interdisciplinary collection of essays in the emerging field of Plant Studies. The volume is the first of its kind to bring together a dynamic body of scholarship that shares a critique of long-standing human perceptions of plants as lacking autonomy, agency, consciousness, and, intelligence. The leading metaphor of the book—“the green thread”, echoing poet Dylan Thomas’ phrase “the green fuse”—carries multiple meanings. On a more apparent level, “the green thread” is what weaves together the diverse approaches of this collection: an interest in the vegetal that goes beyond single disciplines and specialist discourses, and one that not only encourages but necessitates interdisciplinary and even interspecies dialogue. On another level, “the green thread” links creative and historical productions to the materiality of the vegetal—a reality reflecting our symbiosis with oxygen-producing beings. In short, The Green Thread refers to the conversations about plants that transcend strict disciplinary boundaries as well as to the possibility of dialogue with plants.

Download or read book Renaissance Ecopolitics from Shakespeare to Bacon written by Elizabeth Gruber and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-06-14 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Rethinking Cosmopolis -- 1 Richard III as Nature's "Black Intelligencer"--2 The Gravid Earth: Exploring the Ecological Imaginary in The Spanish Tragedy and Titus Andronicus -- 3 The Problem of Indistinction in Measure for Measure and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore -- 4 Vanitas and the Ecopolitics of Despair in Macbeth -- 5 "Desolate Strangers": An Ecocritique of Vulnerability in The New Atlantis -- Bibliography -- Index

Download or read book Gargoyles, Grotesques & Green Men written by Gary R. Varner and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2007-04-10 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The symbols and strange images that we find in our cemeteries, religious structures, banks and in our parks are the same symbols that have been part of the framework of the human psyche for thousands of years. While contemporary man may think that they are simply decorative manifestations of a by-gone era, they represent the fears, dreams, ideas, beliefs and struggles that humankind has endured since we began to walk upright. This book surveys many of these icons and will give a meaning for them both in the context of ancient history and folklore as well as a meaning that is suitable for our contemporary times. Illustrated with dozens of photographs, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in historic preservation, ancient symbolism, the Green Man and the universal application of imagery. Gary R. Varner has written numerous books on ancient traditions, folklore, the environment and contemporary issues. He is a member of the American Folklore Society and the Foundation for Mythological Studies.