. The landscape of Britain atthe time The Green Man was being carved in our churches was much different thanthat which we find today. Trees dominated vast areas of the country. The Wealdof Kent, Sussex and Surrey are the remains of a massive swathe of woodland whichcovered much of southern England. Trees were revered, it was believed they hadsouls and as such should be treated accordingly. Trees were consulted as oraclesover important matters. Sacred groves were also planted. Today yew treescan be found in churchyards everywhere, protected and cared for they are a linkto our Pagan past indeed in  some cases yew trees pre-date the age of thechurch. The stand as a symbol of  death and rebirth due in some part to itslongevity and the ability to send branches down into the soil which in turn rootthus giving the tree an new lease of life. 

Could the representation ofthe Green Man be a form of the 'tree spirit'?

SacredGroves & Sacred Trees

Trees were oncerevered in many parts of the world the concept rests on the earliest conceptionsof the unity of life in nature in the sense of fellowship with the divine centreand source of life.The sacred tree is deeply rooted in primitive religions. Trees have beentreated with reverence for many centuries, the Sycamore (ficus sycamorus) andthe Date Palm (pheonx dactyfera) were represented in the temple architecture ofancient Egypt.

Christianisationof the Roman Empire saw the decline of ancient groves. The Emperor Theodosiousll (5 ^th c A.D.) issued an edict directing that the groves be cut downunless they had already been appropriated for some purpose compatible withChristianity. A few of them became monastery gardens and churchyards. Due mainlyto the rise of religions like Christianity and Islam which advocate faith in onegod And were explicitly for the eradication of Pagan practices, the tradition ofmaintaining sacred groves and sacred trees vanished from most countries, thoughBrahmanic Hinduism includes several of the local cults which are oftennature-based.

Outdoor sanctuaries werethe first temples of the gods, a sacred place demarcated for the deity wascalled temenos in Greek and templum in Latin.

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