This is the second mystery reading in the Green Man series – brief texts that illuminate aspects of masculinity through nature while exploring the major masculine archetypes.
Lightning and Wind
Humankind’s first experience with glass was probably the discovery of the filament-like unique shapes that result when lightning strikes the beach. These shapes, half buried into the sand, resemble the random patterns of ejaculate, appearing as they do after the sky-shattering orgasm of a lightning strike with simultaneous thunder. In most cultures, the gods of sky and lightning and thunder are masculine. So too is the wind, because of the extreme force and trajectory it can attain. It’s the wind that playfully blows off the hat or raises the dress or teasingly wafts sensation over our entire body when nude. But it’s also the wind that menacingly spreads fire, roils the waves, snaps the trees and arcs the rain sideways.
Both wind and lightning evoke Xangó, a West African deity and one of the avatars of The Warrior archetype. Xangó’s double-headed axe symbolizes both The Warrior’s prowess and his peril. The Warrior can lash out, can channel violence, to defend, to protect, to attack, to avenge, but he must control his force and use it only when, and as much, as needed. The Warrior can enter the fray of battle externally, but he is also called on to do so internally, summoning the winds of change and the lightning of epiphany to clear the fog of his own internal battles. He must master his own temperament, controlling the explosive energy of his storms and aggressions in order to channel his lightning into activism. In dedication to a cause, whether individual or collective, The Warrior wields the discipline that he has made routine in the illuminating, gale-force defense of his family, his love, his spirit, his goal, his cause.
nudescribe 