Gods, wish I'd done something more interesting at Uni Pip Radish!

This whole thread is way too scholarly and well-read on t'subject for me to engage in any sensible way in, but your comments on the Green Mans Lair, seem to strikingly echo classic Shamanic Otherworld gateway themes. Sounds like your lecturer was using some kinda comparitive study maybe, from which he drew that conclusion?

I'm afaid I get a little Gnostic and resultantly academically lazy regards a lot of this folk-lore stuff (or of course just plain lazy and resultantly Gnostic, which is possibly rather more correct).

Just stare at it with an empty brainbox for long enough... And see what it does to your head. It's so much easier that way, and it aches much less grey-brain-gloop ;-)

Just playing fool here, no intended offence to those discussing the topic in seriousness.