16 December 2024 – Church Buildings and Christian Pilgrimage
In the session we completed looking at early church building carvings and decorations then started on Christian Pilgrimage.
1/. Church Buildings – Kilpeck
We know that some church buildings were placed on existing pagan sites and that church buildings had a mixture of Christian and pagan images. One example is the green man, a pagan image, which occurs in a lot of churches. We considered in detail the portal and décor at Kilpeck church built in mid-1100’s in Herefordshire.
Most people in 1100’s would not have been able to read and would have been reliant on visual symbols. Over the portal there were peculiar looking heads and beasts and some traditional Christian symbols. There seemed to be the tree of life/world tree, which is very common in religions. On the corbels around the church there were a few which were directly Christian for example the lamb of God but many appeared to be of hunting.
There is also the Sheila-na-gig which was a common motif in pagan times, there are 18 known survivors of this in churches around Britain. It’s a crude female figure for which the symbolism is not clear but may have been a joke by the stonemasons, a warning to lustful women, a link to its pagan past as a fertility figure, echoes of the earth mother/creation goddess. Newly married couples would visit the Sheila-na-gig.
It was not clear what the original intention was for the décor but their experience and knowledge would have been different from ours so we need to be careful in our interpretations.
2/. Christian Pilgrimage
By the end of 4th Century Christianity was the official religion in in the Roman empire. At the end of the Roman occupation Christianity was forced to retreat but continued in the West and consolidated in the western fringe. The early saints were people who founded churches etc. Augustus brought Roman style Christianity to Saxon royal families in the south-east. Some took on the religion alongside their current gods. Others such as King Ina of Wessex became very fervent. King Ina gave up his throne to a kinsman and went on a permanent pilgrimage to Rome. Many wealthy Englishmen followed his example. Those who lacked the means to travel so far and so long went to Canterbury, Glastonbury and many other sites. These sites offered shrines and relics of their founder saints and often other saints. Relics could be bones, items of clothing or something special associated with them such as the true cross. This reached its peak by the late 13th century.
Pilgrimage sites were very competitive with each other and needed relics to attract visitors. The relics were given as gifts, looted, bought or by translation. They became so valuable protection had to be built for them. There were disputes over who owned what and which was authentic There were several heads of John The Baptist. Enough wood in parts of the true cross for a forest.
Glastonbury Abbey claimed to house the remains of St Dunstan, St Indract, Gildas, St Patrick, St David, St Paulinus, St Ursula, St Mary, St Martha, St Lucia, St Gertrude, St Cecilia, St Aidan, The Venerable Bede, St Hilda of Whitby and the Holy Innocents. They also claimed to possess two miraculous crosses and an image of the Virgin Mary which could withstand fire.
The relics brought a lot of people to the pilgrimage sites, these people needed somewhere to eat and sleep, somewhere to pray. It got people into the church for conversion and education. With the numbers of people came income, status, authority, political power and influence.
18 November 2024 – Church Sites
In the session we continued looking at the early church buildings and the sites that were chosen for them and then at carvings and decorations.
1/. We recapped the topic referring again to the famous letter that was sent by Pope Gregory to Augustine by way of Abbott Mellitus in the year 601, with the instruction that they were not to destroy the " temples" of the pagan Angles and Saxons in England, but to purify them and rededicate them to the true religion. The Pope hoped that if the people were encouraged to keep coming to their accustomed places, they would more readily convert to Christianity.
We had considered the physical evidence and discussed that we should be careful when looking at the evidence as it does not necessarily follow that it was a deliberate move to locate a church on a pagan site and that there may be other factors such as the local geography/topology.
We moved on to looking at folk tales and legends relating to building churches of which there are many.
For ease of discussion these were broken into broad groups
i/. Chosen by supernatural animal
There are numerous examples of these. Visions of stags, pigs and piglets amongst others, often white; animals moving building materials to their preferred site.
One example was a church at Winwick in Lancashire where foundations were laid on another site, but a pig moved building materials to a mound and this was where the church was built. There is a carving on the wall of the church which shows the pig and the saint.
White unusual creatures have suggestions of the Celtic other world, pigs are sacred, white stags are common. It is possible references to white heifers refer back to druid sacrificial rituals and cult animals. It is possible the carvings in churches came first and the story was a later ‘explanation’ of why they were there.
Another church looked at was in Breedon in Leicestershire. The church is built on a prominent hilltop which is difficult to access, the story attached to it is that it was originally to be built on a different site but a flock of doves chose the hilltop site. The real explanation is that originally it was a monastic site which was reused.
ii/. Building sites disrupted by supernatural forces
In this folklore unseen forces, fairies, witches, the Devil move building materials overnight to another site. Sometimes the pagan sites won, sometimes the church.
The church in Knowle Staffordshire - every night ‘fairies’ moved the materials off a hillside which had a holy well dedicated to St Anne until the builders gave in.
There were plenty of examples of the supernatural forces winning out over the Church. We discussed it was too simplistic to see them as tales from the medieval world view, these being the powers of evil. They may have been original pagan sites such as sacred pools.
iii/. Mundane explanations
These tales covered reasons that churches had been moved or found to be in what is now in a strange or different location. The real reasons had been forgotten.
The church at Olney in Buckinghamshire is on an ordinary site with nothing of note about it. It has a wandering buildings materials legend attached to it. The church was located at the north end of the town and later a replacement was built on another site and the existence of the original church was forgotten about.
Villages centres move away over time, grow and retract so churches appear to have been built in strange locations.
Others may be ‘explanations’ of carvings in churches. Others may be disputes over the sites at the time where one party was thwarted.
We looked at why these were so popular. These may be tapping into the folk memory of the early Church v pagan conflict.
iv/. Pagan spirits encouraging the building
There are legends in which ‘pagan spirits’ seem to encourage the building of Christian Churches on old sacred sites.
In St Chad’s, Rochdale Lancashire every night the building materials were carried from the bottom of the hill to the top by mysterious forces, or the Devil, or the fairies.
These may have been the agents of divine will or Christian PR work, i.e. pagan opposition overcome.
2/. Carvings and Decorations
We looked at interesting and exuberant carvings in and on churches. These were located in both clergy and lay people areas. They are many and various and include gargoyles, stone carvings, roof bosses, stained glass windows, wood carvings, the green man, imps, animals and some were rather funny, disrespectful and crude.
i/. These could be to provide visual messages as the majority of people at the time could not read or write. These would explain the Bible stories and church doctrine or could offer warnings to the people of the dangers of sin.
ii/. Folk memories, resistance or survivals from the pagan past alongside the Christian symbolism. The pagan past was not completely forgotten as it was too deeply embedded and preserved in the folklore. It could be the medieval craftsmen indulging in humour and subversion.
Next time we shall look at the carvings at Kilpeck church and then move on to pilgrimage.
21 October 2024 – Holy Wells and Church Sites
In the session we continued looking at Holy Wells and the potential connection to pagan and Christian origins.
1/. Wells Associated with Severed Heads
We finished off our discussion of the folklore traditions connecting holy wells with severed heads. According to Celtic mythology, wells and springs could gain miraculous powers if severed heads were deposited in the water. In the Christian era, these powers were said to derive specifically from the severed heads of the saints. We finished off the story of St Oswald and his supposed connection with holy wells in both Oswestry and Winwick in Lancashire. We also examined the folklore traditions associated with the deaths of St Ethelbert and St Kenelm, both of whom were credited with the creation of wells with miraculous powers.
2/. We then moved on to consider a new subtopic of the early church buildings and the sites that were chosen for them. We cited again the famous letter that was sent by Pope Gregory to Augustine by way of Abbott Mellitus in the year 601, with the instruction that they were not to destroy the " temples" of the pagan Angles and Saxons in England, but to purify them and rededicate them to the true religion. The Pope hoped that if the people were encouraged to keep coming to their accustomed places, they would more readily convert to Christianity.
We began by considering how much evidence there is to show that this happened: that churches were built on significant existing prehistoric sites - mounds, henge monuments, enclosures, etc. We also suggested some practical reasons (rather than spiritual or religious) why these sites might have been chosen - ease of access, defendable if necessary, raised on high ground to avoid flooding or to "make a statement” etc.
16 September 2024 – Holy Wells
In the session we continued looking at Holy Wells and the potential connection to pagan and Christian origins.
In Christian times the powers would expect to be derived from a saint, if they are pagan the powers would come from the water spirits, goddesses of the water or whatever were there before.
1/. Healing Wells contd
We completed this sub section. We considered St Nun, she was the mother of St David, there were three wells connected to her, two in Cornwall and one in St David’s. The one in St Davids was said to rise and fall with the tide and was strongest on St David’s day. Offerings were made and placed on the side or thrown in. Every wish would be granted if the person remained completely silent whilst at the well. These could be seen as an example of a well with pagan origins
- Rising and falling made it an unusual site
- Special date associated with it
- Ritual – remaining silent was a common pagan ritual
We then looked at St Anthony’s well in the Forest of Dean and discussed the pagan like origins. This was said to cure eye problems and skin diseases as well as mange and distemper in dogs. There was a ritual observed the first 9 mornings in May and the dog was thrown in 3 times to affect a cure.
This discussion raised the concept of a circular argument. Some folklorists would say that this was pre-Christian and taken over, but it may not necessarily be so. Just because it was done at Christian times it does not necessarily mean it must have been done at pagan times.
We then looked at St Walstan’s Well. He has had 2 ‘lives’ written about him. They say he was the son of a King who with his parents’ approval decided to live a life of poverty, spending 30 years a labourer, giving away his earnings. Whilst out in the fields with a scythe he had a vision of an angel who prophesied his impending death. Another person stepped on the scythe and was also able to see the vision. He requested certain things to be done on his death and this included using 2 oxen to decide where his body should be buried by pulling his body, where they stalled a spring sprung up, they were able to cross water without getting wet and to go through walls before eventually stopping.
Animals choosing the place where a person is buried, the other labourer being able to see the vision by touching the scythe seem to be clearly of pagan origin however we looked at it more deeply. We know from previous sessions that the monks etc writing the ‘lives’ of the saints embroidered the stories and used Celtic hero attributes and ideas. This may have happened here. Around the same time, they were looking for funding to build an Abbey nearby and would have been looking at way to attract pilgrims to bring in revenue. This could result in the using of pagan ideas in mediaeval times.
St Withburga’s Well in Dereham Norfolk has a story of two deer appearing at a time of famine and providing milk to keep the nuns alive. A huntsman who pursued the deer fell from his horse and died. After St Withburga died her remains were stolen and taken to Ely Cathedral and a well is said to have issued from her empty grave. This resulted in it becoming a pilgrimage site. There is a suspicion that the story was being used for their own purposes.
2/. Wells Associated with Fertility in Animals and People
Well of Fertility on Isle of Skye was said to cure sterility in cattle, and it just did, there were no pagan influences on it.
St Patrick’s Well, on Isle of Man young women would take a mouthful of the water and walk tree times clockwise round the well just as the sun was about to rise whilst reciting the holy trinity. This is rich in pagan influence and likely to be of pagan origin.
3/. Wells Associated with Severed Heads
For context the Celts believed that all characteristics came from the head, and these could be transferred if the head was taken, perhaps as a battle trophy, but also if displayed. The strength, courage and wisdom would be carried over. In Celtic society there were cannibalistic rituals which involved using the skulls for drinking, or eating the brains. The cult of the severed head, skulls were credited with the power of speech and prophecy.
We looked at a number of these wells. The heads were believed to be good at promoting fertility and health and were put in the water.
There are different arguments over whether these were of Celtic origin or used for revenue generation so were more likely to be connected to the mediaeval period. A lot of sites were concocted but for some there are pre-Christian connections and these were regarded as special before.
St Brigid’s Well in Dumfriesshire developed healing powers after a severed head rolled into the water. An unworthy suitor was chased away, they fell and were accidentally decapitated and their head fell into the well. Brigid was the pagan earth mother, so this is likely to be of pagan origin.
St Winifride’s Well in Holwell North Wales is the most famous of all Welsh healing wells. It is of uncommon size and water has been flowing there for over 1300 years.
The subtopic of Holy Wells associated with severed heads will be completed at the next session and then we shall look at the sub topic of church building and if and why they were associated with pagan sites.
19 August 2024 – Holy Wells
In the session we looked at the origins of Holy Wells including pagan origins and how they were split geographically.
The West, Wales and Cornwall are more likely to be pagan sites which have been co-opted into Christian sites.
The East, South-east, North-East are not necessarily the same. There are lots of sites which were built in Medieval times along with new churches which needed water and then dedicated to a saint, so these are much less likely to be of pagan origins than in the West. Legends and traditions were added to these.
Many wells were associated with rituals. There are different types of wells and these were loosely categorised into types for the session.
1/. Wells With Unusual Characteristics
These have a long history with associated folklore. It is likely that these have always been special places. An example of this is the Ebbing and Flooding well in Giggleswick.
2/. Wells that Could Grant Special Favours
These are associated with offerings and evidence has been found in archaeological investigations. They took various forms. Some of these were metal pins which were ornate and specially made for offerings, these were never made to be used as a pin. We looked at a number of examples of is type of holy well. One was Lazayre spring on the Isle of Man which for the offering of white stones would influence the wind for fishermen.
3/. Cursing Wells
These were used to action curses. The Sulis well is a hot spring which was used in Roman Bath, inscribed lead tablets were rolled up and thrown in, some have survived and can be read.
4/. Healing Wells.
This is a big group. There are a lot located in Wales. These were not spas where drinking or bathing in the mineral rich water provided curative properties. Spas do have a long history to the Romans and probably to the pre-Roman Celts.
The wells did not have some special quality in the water but have a reputation as having healing properties.
Sometimes these were linked to the time of the year such as mid-summer, New Year May Day. These times were traditionally times of super strong powers.
Other wells had healing and divination properties which would suggest pagan origins as churches would trust in God.
Some wells treated quite specific ailments, such as lameness, skin complaints.
This topic will be continued at the next session.
15 July 2024 – Arrival of Christianity to Britain
In the session we continued to look at the impact of the arrival of Christianity to Britain considering the early saints.
We considered St Brigid. Unlike David and Patrick, there is no evidence that Brigid ever existed as an historical figure. It would seem likely that she came from Celtic mythology; that originally she was the was Celtic goddess Brigit (or Brighde) as she was known in Ireland, or Brigantia as she was known in mainland Britain, and the early church transformed her from pagan goddess into Christian saint.
In Celtic mythology, Brigit /Brigantia was a goddess of sun and light, and by extension of fire and the hearth. She was also a goddess of wisdom, arts and crafts and the care of young animals, and the patron goddess of poets, smiths and healers. She was also a Mother Goddess and the protector of pregnant women. She was also the Brideog (Young Bride) who represented the return of life and new growth in the Spring. She was often portrayed as a threefold goddess- poet, smith and healer as a three in one.
In the Christian tradition, St Brigid was associated with light and fire. She was sometimes portrayed as three sisters, one a poet, one a smith and one a healer. The three Brigids were known as The Mothers, or the Three Blessed Ladies of Britain. She shared her feast day (1st February) with the pagan goddess Brigit, and she gave protection to women in childbirth. Given that St Brigid and the goddess Brigit shared so many characteristics, a Christian takeover of the pagan goddess would seem to be clear.
Although the evidence is not so clear cut, it would seem that the Welsh Saint Monacella, or Mellangell started out as a pagan goddess of fertility and healing. St Mellangell was regarded as the patron saint of hares (symbol of fertility) and also of young lovers. She also had healing powers. Similarly, St Dwynwen was the patron of lovers and of healing. Pilgrims at her holy well at Llandwyn on Anglesey, could receive both cures for their ailments and fortune telling with regard to their love lives.
Possibly St Mabon started out as a pagan variant of the Great Goddess' consort the Spring God.
17 June 2024 – Arrival of Christianity to Britain
In the session we continued to look at the impact of the arrival of Christianity to Britain considering the early saints.
We completed looking at St David and started looking at St Patrick
1/. St David contd
After defeating the Druid Boia and his wife at what became St Davids he spoke at the Synod of Brefi. According to ‘the Life’ he restored a dead boy to life. This boy converted to Christianity and went with David to the Synod, wearing his shroud. When David could not be heard the boy laid his shroud on the ground, a miraculous mound was formed, and all could hear.
St David’s name became attached to sites all over Wales. The people had great affection for him, and he lived a simple lifestyle and unpretentious behaviour. This would suggest he was being established as a folklore hero. According to the stories there were portents of his death and strange phenomena.
2/. St Patrick
There are debates over his dates, but it is likely to have lived in the second half of the 5th century, with his death around 493. By 650 he was already revered in Ireland. He worked in areas not touched by the British Church.
His story is documented in the Annals and Patrick’s own writing, along with two ‘lives’. He was born in Northwest Scotland or Wales to a well-placed Romano/British Christian family. Aged 16 he was abducted by slavers and taken to Ireland where he was kept prisoner for 6 years. He managed to escape and return home. During this time in Ireland his faith had increased, and he had visions and dreams. He knew God was guiding his life. He trained as a priest, was consecrated as a bishop and returned to Ireland to convert the people.
The two ‘lives’ about Patrick were written in the late 600’s. According to these two ‘lives’ Patrick came to Ireland and converted the chieftain Dichu, cursed the family of Michu who had kidnapped him, confronted the High King Loigaire at Tara and through the power of God killed the Druid Lochru and scattered the warriors. Patrick had known he needed to tackle the Druids
Patrick did have to do some fighting, was good with a curse, had magic powers, could shapeshift and had premonitions.
According to tradition Patrick spent about 30 years in Ireland and retired to Glastonbury where he died.
In Ireland St Patrick became linked to many aspects of the old beliefs for example, St Parick’s Day 17th March was linked to the Spring Equinox.
20 May 2024 – Arrival of Christianity to Britain
In the session we continued to look at the impact of the arrival of Christianity to Britain considering the early saints.
There is archaeological evidence of Christianity in Britain dating back to the late 200s and it gradually spread. In the early 400s the Romans left and people who arrived in the south-east and north-east after they left were pagan, so Christianity was reduced. However, this did not happen in the west, where it consolidated and expanded. Roman-style Christianity then slowly expanded in the south-east and east, while British/Celtic Christianity remained strong in the west. The Celtic form had a more mystical approach and was perhaps more open to the folklore. Up until the eighth century, the British church remained independent of Rome
In early medieval times people were still following the pagan ways. The Roman church had an aim to convert all heathens to the faith so in 601 instructions were sent by the Pope to the British Clergy to take over existing pagan sites. In 669 a letter from a different pope was sent which instructed them to clamp down upon existing pagan practices.
We looked at the ways the Church did this using the early saints and religious converts.
The lives of the saints were written by Monks in various centres, these were not historical documents. They were in a position to be able to manipulate the stories. There was not a lot of concrete information on the early saints and they filled in with the folklore.
1/. St Brynach – had very little known about him. He probably lived in the second half of the fifth century, studied in Ireland and then moved to Wales as a missionary and was credited with founding the Church at Nefyn. In The ‘Life’ written by the monks he outsmarted a Celtic wise woman, created a healing well, built a church in ancient woodland and followed a white sow to a site in the Nefyn Valley where he built another church.
This story had ancient sites and echoes of Celtic stories. A saint can do anything a Celtic hero can do. It also made the stories understandable to the people who read about them.
2/. St Cadoc. Again there were very few facts, he was brought up in a Christian home and then came under the influence of a hermit. In the ‘Life’ Cadoc had royal origins and was very like a Celtic hero. He changed the colour of cattle in a clash with King Arthur and won against him.
King Arthur had a difficult relationship with the church at the time, in the early days he was pagan.
3/. St Carannog – had an encounter with King Arthur who was so influenced by Carannog he persuaded a local chieftain called Cato to provide land on which Carannog built a church.
4/. St Padarn – also encountered and overcame King Arthur.
5/. St Illtyd – founded a monastic centre in Llanilltyd. According to ‘Life’ he was a cousin of King Arthur and was a warrior but gave up his warrior life to live as a hermit after St Cadoc caused his men to be buried alive.
6/. St David – very little is known about St David, he trained under St Illtyd at Llanilltyd and founded a monastery.
In the ‘Life’ his mother is Non a granddaughter of King Uther Pendragon, his father is a Prince and his birth is surrounded by portents, omens and strange phenomena, prophesied by Merlin. He trained as priest and followed an austere lifestyle, had a magic bell and horse. He travelled widely. He was directed by an angel to Glyn Rhoslyn where he defeated the druid Boia and his wife in a way which echoed the old testament plagues or Celtic Mythology. There he built a monastic settlement, the origins of St Davids.
15 April 2024 – Arrival of Christianity to Britain
In the session we started to look at the impact of the arrival of Christianity to Britain
1/. According to the early histories, Christianity reached Rome in the year 60 CE, when Paul arrived to preach the gospel. Christianity reached Britain in the late 200s CE, during the years of Roman occupation. With the end of the occupation in the early 400s and the arrival of pagan Angles, Saxons and Jutes, Christianity declined in the south east and eastern parts of the country, but continued in the west.
In the year 597 Pope Gregory in Rome sent Augustine on a mission to convert the pagans in Kent. Roman-style Christianity slowly expanded in the south east and east, while British/Celtic Christianity remained strong in the west. Up until the eighth century, the British church remained independent of Rome.
2/. According to the folklore tradition (as opposed to the historical account) Christianity reached Britain in a number of different ways:-
i/. Long before St Augustine’s mission, Christianity was brought to Britain by St Paul (version favoured by the British church).
ii/. Long before St Augustine’s mission, Christianity was brought to Britain by Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph founded the first church in Britain at Glastonbury (version favoured by the British church).
iii/. Long before St Augustine’s mission, Pope Eleutherius in Rome sent St Fagan and St Dyfan to Britain. They revived Jospeh’s church at Glastonbury and spread the faith from there (favoured by the Roman church).
iv/. Christianity was brought to Britain by the Welsh princess Elen of the Hosts (version favoured by the British church).
The British church favoured versions i, ii, & iv because they cut the Roman church out of the picture. The Roman church favoured iv because it gave the credit of spreading the faith through the country to Fagan and Dyfan.
18 March 2024 – Dragons
In the session we continued Dragons.
We looked at folklore stories and legends from various parts of the country concerning dragons and their preferred habitat of woods, pools, wells, and hills. We considered the theory that originally the dragons could have been pagan gods or spirits that were venerated at these various natural sacred places. On a similar theme, the many encounters recorded between the dragons and the saints could represent a battle between Christianity and paganism.
We also traced the links between the dragons and Norse and Celtic myths, and suggested a possible link to earlier cycle of the seasons and creation mythology, with the dragon representing winter, or an original chaos and anti-universe force.
19 February 2024 – Plant Lore and Dragons
In the session we completed Plant Lore and started Dragons.
1. Plant Lore
i. Fern/Bracken
Has protective powers against evil, storms. Protective amulets could be made from the dried and treated root of the Male Fern dug up on Midsummer Eve, a ritual had to be properly followed. These looked like hands.
This led us to a rather gruesome side topic of healing and protective hands. There were gifted healers who could heal by touch. These healing powers also applied to dead hands, which were best obtained from an executed person, a hand from the ordinary dead could be used but were not as powerful. The ‘Hand of Glory’ was a charm used in the United Kingdom and most of Europe by sorcerers or occultists. Cut from a criminal body and dried and pickled until hard it could be used as a holder for a candle made from dead man’s fat and other things, which had the power to stupefy any person who sees it, as if dead and unable to move, so was used as protection.
According to Nicholas Culpeper Adder’s tongue fern cures snake bites, ailments of the tongue, cuts & wounds, sore eyes, stomach aches & toothache
Fern seeds (bracken spores) will bring good luck, find hidden treasure, detect veins of gold, aid fertility, foretell marriage etc. if collected following a strict ritual on Midsummer Eve, these could not be collected by hand, a hazel rod had to be used.
ii. St John’s Wort
It has been used as a treatment for various ills for a very long time and its name is now associated with St John the Baptist, a Christian church reference.
Nicholas Culpepper believed it was a treatment for fevers & palsy, bruises, wounds, vomiting, bleeding, internal obstructions, melancholy & madness, and to get rid of intestinal worms.
If collected in the proper way on Midsummer Eve it would foretell marriage.
iii. Mandrake (Mandragora)
There are a lot of legends about it. It has physical attributes which can make it look like a crude human figure.
Nicholas Culpepper thought it looked like a carrot/parsnip. He thought the leaves could be used in ointments and other applications and the dried root could be used as an emetic.
According to folklore it is a dangerous plant that screams when it is pulled up causing the person to drop dead or go quite mad. One could use a hungry dog to pick the mandrake by tying a thread to the loosened mandrake and then to the dog, putting some meat by it, letting the dog loose and running. The dog would pull out the mandrake and it would be the dog that died.
The dried root was said to promote fertility, cure insomnia, to relieve pain and promote visions.
2. Dragons
Prominent in Britain and large parts of the world.
The terms dragon, worm and Serpent are interchangeable. They can be composite beasts, with scales, legs, snake like, forked tails with optional wings and are formidable. Found by or closely associated with water, seas, rivers, lakes, bottom of wells, caves, dens in woods, high ground.
They were not always hostile to humans, in the East they are associated with good luck and prosperity, the New Year Dragon in China and Japan.
In western lore they are mostly hostile to people. We started to look at why there were so many stories in the folklore and why there was a split between eastern and western folklore.
15 January 2024 – The Green Man
In the session we covered the Green Man.
There are traditions relating to the Green Man in France. Switzerland, Germany and across continental Europe as well as Britain.
They are mostly in religious settings such as churches and cathedrals and spread between late 1100’s – early 1500’s.
They were located in all parts of the church, the choir, roof, chapels, private chapels, roof bosses, sacristy which showed that they were accepted by the church authorities as well as the carvers and congregations.
We looked at why they were so popular and possible origins. Were they supposed to ward off evil spirits, products of the imagination of the workmen who created them, linked to the Tree of Mercy mythology, reminders of the consequences of sin?
These seemed too simplistic for the widespread use of the images within the churches and across both Britain and Europe and felt it was likely to be the co-opting of pagan beliefs by the church. The church had to work reasonably hard to get the people to join them.
We looked a number of likely examples of these including Jack in the Green which Lady Raglan was convinced was the origin of the Green Man. The term the Green Man was coined by Lady Raglan in the 1930’s, prior to that they were known as foliate heads.
May Crosses which were done on May Day. Not all were benign, the Burry Man from South Queensferry was sinister and involved the proper following of a ritual and discomfort for the man dressed as the Burry Man.