Viridos – ‘Green Bones’

Viridos is a seasonal character that is developed around the theme of Transnox (Transition to Dark/Night) on Artiodactyla – Cervid 15th to 16th (November 5th to 6th) for Borealis (the northern hemisphere) (Anura – Hyla 15th to 16th (May 4th to 5th) for Australis, the southern hemisphere).

Viridos means ‘Green Bones’ and is personified as such, being a creature, typically a non-gender specific human, that is a skeleton overgrown with vegetation and hosts small critters within itself. Viridos is mostly apathetic to the moral concerns of the living and as a result of not understanding, questions and talks about cultural taboos with impunity. This often manifests as dark humor. Yet Viridos is adamant about providing portions of itself to aid in bringing physical nourishment and comfort to the living, like providing one of its bones for broth or as a tool, seemingly taking immense pleasure when the offer is accepted and thoroughly used. Even if it becomes damaged, occasionally especially so, depending on the circumstance.

What makes Viridos appropriate for Transnox is that Transnox encourages discussion about typically uncomfortable topics and for really thinking about things that you may have not considered before – to think and act on things before your own death. As a result the celebratory feast focuses on the death phase in the circle of life. Squashes are carved into life-like creatures, clay cups modeled after skulls, and leaves decorating the halls having faces cut into them. Because without death there would be no soil or nutrients in the water, and no soil or aquatic nutrient means no plants, and no plants means nothing for creatures to eat – its the dead that nourish the living.

One simple way this can be celebrated is by making a paper mache skull

that is stuffed with compost soil and seeds and decorated with native seeds, not unlike the way sugar skulls and other skull art (calavera) is decorated for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). And place these skulls where there is neglected land to provide nourishment to that land and new life come spring. When spring arrives your skull may very well remain intact and have vegetation sprouting from it – not unlike depictions of the greenman.

Have a Happy Transnox Everybody!