Watercolour by A.P. Barrow
He was never meant to be a cartoon character.
He is a noble Spirit of the Forest
to all those whose minds have remained open
to the Old Gods, the old ways of the Ancestors.
Still, he remains our powerful protector,
one of our greatest teachers: Nature's map
of the cosmos within each Soul,
clothed in leaf and bark and vine.
Vibrant green and composed of Oak,
he is Herne's messenger - less a creation of man,
more pure Elemental: wildly loyal
to the Druids of Clas Myrddin, both past and present.
And how he gasps at our selfishness, bleeding sap, as our
wanton destruction of this precious blue globe tortures him.
Now, more than ever, we need to unearth our roots.
He is our final, our only, hope.
