Mark Olly discusses his book Revealing the Green Man.

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To many, The Green Man is little more than a chubby face peering through a veil of leaves. Sometimes cute, sometimes vaguely sinister, he is nonetheless widely regarded as merely a meaningless symbol from an age long lost. In reality, however, he could rather be said to be the esoteric embodiment of the very essence of life itself, an ancient archetype once known the world over.

On a journey through myths and legends, magic and folklore, we explore the mystery of The Green Man. From the time of the Celts and Druids, the rise of the Roman Empire, the Anglo-Saxon annals, and the descent into the Dark Ages and beyond, we meet with Robin Hood, Herne the Hunter, King Arthur, and many other colourful characters along the way. It is a tale pregnant with arcane symbolism, cultish rites, the perennial wisdom of 'as above - so below', and the final revelation of the Earth's eternal cycle of destruction and rebirth.

Thousands of years ago, man went to war with nature, and thus to war with himself. Lost to the land as once was, he became Master of the World, for a while. Blinded by arrogance, hobbled by hubris, and emboldened by his technological toys, he brought the biosphere to the brink of oblivion, to exalt himself at the Earth's expense. This is our story, and we are not as clever as we might like to believe. In a timely re-learning of The Green Man's lessons, in the twilight of the industrial age, we are being invited, perchance for the final time, to change our ways, or perish.

Bumper music: Cliff Martinez 'Traffic OST' Clannad 'Herne'