Dear Beltane Fire Society Members

The time has come once again for us to begin the search for the Green Man to take part in Beltane Fire Festival 2013. This email is therefore an invitation to those who feel this role is for them: to step forward and note their interest for the role.

Notes of interest should be made formally to blues@beltane.org by 6pm on SUNDAY 3rd FEBRUARY. We’ll acknowledge receipt of your application and wish your Imbolc was revelatory. All Applicants MUST be available for interview on the evening of TUESDAY 5th FEBRUARY.
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But what is the role? We cannot completely define this for you. Each Green Man has their own journey, their own story to lay down. But we can give offer some thoughts for the purposes of context.

Our Beltane celebrates the turning of the wheel of the year, from spring into the beginning of summer. We celebrate each step of the cycle with our festivities. Our festivities change from year to year, but as an element of ritual some things retain familiar elements.

One of these unchanging points is the presence of the Green Man. For our festival the Green Man is the embodiment of the earth, the personification of the world around us. People’s lives have always depended upon the condition of the earth; upon how we treat it and upon the way it behaves.

Intrinsic to how we behave upon the earth are the cycles, the seasons which change throughout the year. Our Green Man on Beltane night demonstrates for us one of the changes within this year of changes.

The Green Man character is common the world over, present in many different cultures. As global location changes so does the personality and traits of the Green Man of that locality. But always there is this link between humankind and the earth we live upon.

The main purpose of the Green Man is observed by all at the Festival, and is shown through a ‘death/rebirth’ or ‘sacrifice/resurrection’ ritual at the end of the procession. This ‘death/rebirth’ ritual is also common to the Green Man character. This is representative of the old giving way to the new, of a leading figure giving up something for the continuity of the community. It is a very powerful depiction of not only seasonal change but also of a spiritual belief.

Therefore this role is intrinsically important to our Festival as it represents not only the change, but also the potential and the future.

That is just a snippet of information about the Green Man, and we encourage you seek out information if this topic interests you.

The role of Green Man is both solitary and social, and it is as much of either as you wish it to be. However, we ask two things of you:

1. The Green Man is expected to be involved in actively preparing the main storyline along with the May Queen. This assists the whole society vision and also the understanding of the Green Man’s journey.

2. A Green Man applicant should consider their entire journey and should be prepared to share their character vision with the society and also to share their preparation plans with the Blues and producer.
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If you are considering this role but are swithering we suggest that you contact blues@beltane.org for a chat about the role. As always, email us if you have any questions.

Applicants are all individually interviewed and are selected following careful consideration. Should there be a multitude of applications we may not be able to interview all applicants.

Thank you,

Your Blues