Uprooted: On the Trail of the Green Man

This enjoyable book chronicles the author's exploration of the place of the mythical figure the Green Man in the 21st century. She starts by noting an increased interest in the Green Man in our time and toys with the idea of trying to start a new religion, a sex cult, centered on him. The sex cult idea doesn't last very long, though, before she meanders on to another theme. She visits sites in England and Germany where carved Green Man images are to be found. She also visits a couple of pagan festivals, consults a shaman about communicating with trees, constructs a sacred grove, muses about Christian appropriation of pagan symbols, the roots of Nazism in nature worship, panpsychism, trance music and many other topics. The book moves from topic to topic in an organic way, so that it's hard to tell if you're getting anywhere even though you are surely being entertained.

One complaint: other people in the book are referred to by their first initial only. It's irritating because it raises unnecessary questions: have I come across this person before? Why don't I get to know this person's name? I wish she had not made this editorial choice.