Christ the Redeemer Greenman in Philadelphia

I was walking down Catharine Street between 7th and 8th Street (near the Fleisher Art Memorial) when I was startled by a looming, superhuman form towering above. At first glance it seemed menacing, a wraith with long arms stretched in flight. But instead of swooping down upon passersby, it peacefully remained upright, arms raised defiantly to the setting sun. It conjured the massive Cristo Redentor, or Christ the Redeemer, that sits atop Mt. Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

No one seems to have claimed it as a Christ figure. There are no weeping pilgrims. Ironically there is a large parking lot beneath this Homem Verde Redentor, or Green Man Redeemer, upon which the masses might lay wreaths and come to honor some higher power.

Philadelphia is a town of Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Quakers, Atheists, Paesanos' Arista Pork Sandwich devotees, and more... but this Green Man should transcend all that. He should be, like all Green Men, a reminder of the great power and primacy of the natural Earth. Let's make the parking lot in front of this living statue a sacristy of Green worship.

I'm going down there tonight with a bottle of Yards Brawler to watch the sunset, and to breath in the holy oxygen pouring off Homem Verde Redentor's shoulders.

Here is the location, with the green tree icon signifying the spot:

 
View Catharine Street Green Man in a larger map


 And the statue in Rio: