64 Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard
around 300 million years ago, in the form of the ear-
liest seed-bearing plants, or conifers. Florus is the pol-
linator, and seeds and grains are associated with him.
As the garden god, he is a generous spirit of vegeta-
tive fertility who teaches us nurturing and sharing,
providing bread, juice, and wine from his body and
blood for our tables and sacraments. He is also the
forest god, providing safety and refuge, nuts and ber-
ries, homes and habitats for all the wild creatures. In
all his attributes, he remains consistently benevolent,
though he is considered a guardian of the forest.
The essential characteristic of
the Green God is his an-
nual vegetation cycle of
death and resurrection,
and so his rites have
been at the heart of
many of the ancient
initiatory mysteries.
Initiates accompanied
the Green God at harvest
as he died and journeyed
through the Underworld,
eventually to be reborn in the Spring. Thus he be-
came the Initiator, as well as the spirit guide, accom-
panying the soul on its journey through the Under-
world to eventual rebirth.
The Green Man has been most particularly iden-
tified with those plants, such as grains and grapes,
whose fermented juices provide intoxicating alcoholic
beverages. Thus his spirit directly influences mortals
by affecting their very consciousness. I refer to him
by his Latin name, Florus, although he is much better
known throughout the Western world as Jack, a name
that comes from the ancient Greek Iacchos, whom
the Romans called Bacchus, the god of wine and ec-
stasy. Jack is an English nickname for John, as in John
Barleycorn, whose famous song tells of the growing
of barley and the brewing of whiskey. In ancient Egypt
he was Osiris; in the Middle East he was called
Tammuz; and in Africa he is still called Ochosi.
Kokopeli is his Native American name.
In Spring, when he is just raising his little green
head out of the forest floor, we call him Jack-in-the-
Green, or Jack O’Green. He may be found in early
Summer surveying his congregation as the flower
Jack-in-the-Pulpit. The fruit-flavored brandies fer-
mented in late Summer are called Applejack, Boot-
jack, or Smokejack. At Samhain, or Summer’s end,
we carve his empty pumpkin skull into a spooky Jack
O’Lantern, to stand guard on All-Hallows Eve and
scare away unfriendly spirits. And through the bitter
cold of Winter, his ghostly spirit reminds us of his
continuing presence as Jack Frost decorates our win-
dows with beautiful crystal designs. We see his fa-
miliar leafy “foliate face” engraved on ornate build-
ings and in gardens.Task: Make a Green Man Mask
Here’s a cool mask you can make that will put
you in touch with the Spirit of the Green. Masks are
an ancient form of shape-shifting. You might not feel
any different at first wearing a mask, but everyone
else sees only the mask and relates to you as the face
you show. There are many occasions besides Hallow-
een when it can be fun to wear a Nature Spirit mask.
Parties, plays, rituals, celebrations, and Renaissance
Faires all provide opportunities to put on another face.
A wonderful Green Man mask can be made quite
easily. First, go to a craft or costume store and buy a
cheap blank mask for the upper half of your face. The
mask should not cover your nostrils, lips, or chin. If
you cannot find one exactly right, you
can always get a full-face mask and
cut off the part below the nose and
cheeks with scissors. Also cut the
eye holes larger (Fig. 1). Also at
craft stores, you can find plastic
leaves of all kinds and sizes. Buy a
batch of fairly large ones, with a few
smaller ones thrown in. You will also
need a tube of clear silicon glue, such as is used for
aquarium cement, and a heavy-duty stapler.
Starting at the outside edges of the mask, glue
and then staple a complete border of the largest leaves
into place, with stems pointing toward the center—
which will be right between your eyebrows. Be sure
to staple from the inside, so the flat side of the staples
will be against your skin, and not
the points (Fig. 2)! Then glue
the next layer of leaves over
the first (staples are used only
on the outermost layer), and
further inward, making sure
to position them carefully
around the eye holes. (Clamp
them until the glue sets.) Con-
tinue another layer inward with
smaller leaves, and finally place one just the right size
and shape over the nose. You will now have a classi-
cal Foliate (“leafy”) Face—the most common image
of the Green Man! (Girls may do the same thing with
plastic leaves and flowers to make a Flora mask.)The Red Maid (Fauna)
(by Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart)Fauna is the Latin name for the Queendom of
the Animals. She is the wife of Faunus, and the femi-
nine personification of the Spirit of all Animals, in-
cluding, of course, human beings. She is called the
Red Maid because of the red blood coursing through
the veins of animals. Fauna is the Lady of the Beasts—
Potnia Theron in Latin.Fig. 2Fig. 1- Nature.p65 64 1/14/2004, 3:33 PM