Mythology
Originally, the Great Mother was All-Embracing. The
entire universe was born out of Her "Cosmic Womb", while continuously returning
to its Origin. (Re)Birth and Death were two aspects of the same inclusive life. In the
beginning, myths about the Mother emphasized Her descent into the Underworld, which
symbolized wintertime. The Sumerian Goddess Inanna is the greatest example of it. Later,
the Mother fragmented into various aspects or Goddesses. In the Greek legends it was Kore
who replaced Her Mother Penelope (Demeter). However, it were especially men who took over
this function. We know them as "Vegetation Gods". There is an unbroken!
tradition from Tammuz, Osiris, Attis, Baal and Dionysos to.....Jesus (and Parcival), of
"dying and resurrecting Gods". The older ones embodied the seasons - dying in
autumn and resurrecting in spring - while later ones (Jesus) claimed to have a more
universal mission. This tradition - from ancient times to the current revival - is called
the lineage of "Green Men & Wise Women"
Revival
In 1937 Lady Raglan from Britain rediscovered the
Green Man. She saw one (and later a lot more) on the wall of an English monastery.
Typically, with a sad face and with leaves sprouting out of his mouth. It was Lady Raglan
who called this face "Green Man". Slowly, it became clear that Green Men embody
the suppressed Original Tradition of Europe. Indeed, it was Christianity which had done
everything to hide the fact, that Jesus was part of the pre-Christian tradition of the
Great Mother and Her Son/Lovers. The Churches' ambition was to be a totally unique
beginning in history with no roots in the past whatsoever. The re-discovery of the Green
Man (and Wise Woman) crushed all its illusions. It has become clear that the memory of the
Green Man survived the times. First of all he can be found on/in hundreds of churches all
over Europe (LINK: our European Pligrim Network),
secondly there is one country that preserved i.e. revived this ancient tradition: Britain.
Especially, Green Man as "Spirit in Nature" is emphasized. F.i. the annual LINK: "Jack in the Green" festival of
Hastings is an incredible expression of a new Consciousness
Self-Realization
In these most critical times the rediscovery of Green
Men & Wise Women is a "gift of the Mother". Christianity is dying, leaving
behind a religious and moral wasteland. People turn to either nihilism or fundamentalism.
Neither of the two is able to lead mankind to a new stage in evolution, though. Even
Buddhism shows serious signs of degeneration. So, is there anything we can rely on? The
answer is yes! It depends on how you perceive the current decay. If you consider it as
"a disaster", trying to cling to dead paradigms and values, then you are lost.
If, on the other hand you consider the current decay as the breakdown of ego-accumulation,
a necessary process, that is giving way to the new to emerge, then, the future is
yours....Green Men & Wise Women are taking the lead by going back to the Origin, dying
to the old (ego), while being reborn as New Selves. Transforming the core of The Original
Tradition - Death and Resurrection - into an inner, spiritual event. Once your New
Self is born you become part of the Whole - Heaven, earth and the (new) community - once
again. Until now this process is equal for men and women alike.
Green Men & Wise
Women
Usually we define our identity through disposition
and education. It is a social conditioning. Originally, people defined themselves through
cosmic connections, though. Even Christianity claims that "we are created in the
image of God". (By the way, how can we be "sinners" then?). In our
Tradition we indeed stress the Divine Spark within, as elaborated above. Through this New
Self, all people are identical deep within, sharing the selfsame Divine Realm. Once this
New Self is becoming part of the Whole, once again, men and women have different emphasis,
though. Not because of their socialization, but because of their cosmic connection. You
remember the Great Mother as the Cosmic Vacuum or Womb. She is the Emptiness (beyond
Emptiness) that contains both God and the universe. The latter also being called "the
Mother's Web of Life". This "Web of Life" is ruled and maintained by a
dynamic balance of death and rebirth. The Web itself is the interconnectedness of events,
energy and matter, the stuff that constitutes our "material" world. Both men and
women derive their additional! identity from these two aspects of the Cosmos. Green Men
are reflecting "Death and Rebirth", while Wise Women are the "Web of
Life". It has important consequences for their roles here on earth.....
To derive your identity from "the Cosmos"
is the ultimate empowerment. As stated above this consists of three levels: your Divine
Spark within; to be part of the Whole, both the same for men and women, while having
additional specific male and female callings. The Whole is ruled by the "Law of the
Universe": the dynamic balance between destruction, creation and
"permanence". First "death and rebirth"". Women reflect this
Cosmic Force physically: through the cyclic function of the menstruation. Men don"t
have this. Their bodies are (largely) non-cyclic. That's why in men "death and
rebirth" are manifested on the psycho-spiritual plane, as the necessity of continuous
ego-death. It prevents ego-accumulation, the latter is THE characteristic of patriarchy.
Secondly, Mother's Web. It consists of the interconnectedness between events, energy and
matter, also called the "Whole" or the "substance of life". Women,
through their unique inclusive qualities embody this Whole, (while men are the servants to
it). Living life this way is granting you "Cosmic Resonance", manifested by
great insight, joy, renewal, strength and compassion. All other (moral) qualities are
sprouting from it: love for truth, justice, inner (and outer) peace, community, harmony
with nature....
Green Men & Wise Women have thus evolved from
guardians of the seasons toward symbols of Wholeness: with their spirits in Heaven, their
bodies in the earth and their "souls" as part of the (new) community. Contrary
to Bodhisattva's or Advaita saints, they have "incarnated" into this world, as
Immanent Transcendence. As such they are the new "role-models" to the 21th
century. Life in this century will not be easy. Increasing deterioration, chaos and
violence are to be expected. Therefore, new social units, with Wise Women at their
core, supported by male partners and friends seem to be at least one answer to the
deterioration. For more: see "Healing
Communities"
The consequences of "Cosmic Resonance" for
daily life are manifold. First of all the "Web of Life" materializes itself on
earth into the community. The co-existence of people, together with all other living and
non-living beings. The root of ecology is the Cosmos! The human community is the sumtotal
of all social levels: the individual, the family, the group, the street, the neighborhood,
the commune, the county, the region and the nation. Everything "organically"
linked to each other according to subsidiairity. Which means a bottom-up structure of
self-governing bodies. What a lower level can carry out will be done by them, without
interference by a higher echelon. Only those things that exceed the former's competence
will be delegated to the next. Thus, what a street can do is done by it. What it cannot
do, is carried out by the neighborhood, etc. etc. I have called this "Community
Democracy". The big difference with the current system is, that the people themselves
are the Sovereign Living Body of society, while the State is the
"administration" for only those tasks that cannot be done by the lower levels.
Thus the power of the State is limited by the Sovereignty of the Community
A serious problem incresing everyday is the addiction
to electronics of all kinds - computer, TV, video-games, iPods, cellulars - by our youth.
The result is absorption by the "virtual world" to an extent, that young people
totally become alienated from real life. In large cities there are millions of youth who
has never experienced wild nature. They have no chance to appreciate it, so they
don't know what it is. The consequences are grave, not only for the boys and girls
themselves, but to the whole of mankind. For once these persons are adult they have no
sense of the value of the natural world. Thus, they will do nothing to protect it. If an
entire generation becomes indifferent to the earth..... what future mankind will have?
Living in a science-fiction world could become the horror of tomorrow. Therefore, we will
do everything to motivate young people to become Green Men & Wise Women. A training in
the wilderness - f.i. in the mountains, the tropical jungle - will certainly part of the
overall training scheme
The Living Community is a reflection of Mother's Web
of Life. Women embody the Substance of it i.e. the interconnectedness of all elements
described above. It means that women (and especially mothers) - with their great social
talents - should become the leaders of the New Community. Until now, women who want to
develop their talents have no choice but joining the capitalist rat race. Which has been
proven to be a disaster. Women, on the other hand, flourish in a context of cooperation,
rather than merciless competition. It is here that "Wise Women" are taking the
lead. They are the shining examples to all others, showing that a career - as leaders,
managers, caretakers, coordinators, experts, businesswomen, officers etc. - in and for the
Community is much more challenging and fullfilling. While "(Wise) Women" are the
Heart of the Community, "(Green) Men" - as Servants to the Whole - are the
executives, the hands and legs so to speak. While cooperating closely, both genders have
their own areas of competence and power, both are passionately committed to the Whole,
though....
See:
THE TRANSFORMATORIUM
International Training Centre for Green Men & Wise Women |
