INTRODUCTION

here are timeless things that refuse to remain silent and unknown. They speak through human vessels, even those that are flawed. An ancient spirit presses on, perseveres, and is carried upon the current that flows through time. It will not be denied; it will not be muted. In this book, you will find persistent themes that feel right to the inner spirit. They are markers leading back in time as they trace ancient memories.

I remember reading somewhere that author J. R. R. Tolkien, of The Lord of the Rings fame, reportedly commented that he wasn't writing fiction; he was writing forgotten history. I'm not suggesting that what he wrote has any historical merit, but I want to point out how powerful mythical history is despite its lack of a foundation in what we call reality. Beliefs in ancient forgotten worlds, mystical beings, and fabled creatures of all kinds existed long before anyone wrote anything of a historical nature.

The things of prehistory, and of nonhistorical value, persist in the beloved tales that inspire and entertain us. They have as much impact on us today as anything historical, and perhaps even more so. It seems they convey something that our spirits understand and hold to be true in a way that our intellect can't surrender to completely. As the saying goes, just because something is only in your mind doesn't mean it isn't real.

Unlike many of my previous books, in this one, I don't argue for anything historical nor do I present an alternative history. This is a book about practices, techniques, and ways related to the practice of Witchcraft as a means of working with the Greenwood Realm. Its purpose is to turn our understanding of Witchcraft back to something more primal in nature than the modern forms we read about in popular books today. I place importance on the roots of Witchcraft instead of on the new flowers growing on the old tree, so to speak.

The magical system presented in this book is ever ancient and ever new. Although I've known it in various forms and at various levels, until just a few years ago, it's never been one cohesive system (at least not as presented in the following pages). That being said, we must not lose sight of the fact that basic elements of this magical system have existed since ancient times. This is only important in the sense of roots. It's the roots that provide nourishment.

It was in the year 2006 that I fully embraced the roots of the Rose and Thorn Path. This required trusting in a magical process, one that proved entirely worthy of that trust. It began with the rose, or more specifically with an entity connected to it. This entity is called She of the Thorn-Blooded Rose. It's a very old idea that spirits inhabit plants, trees, and other things within Nature. Therefore, it was nothing alien to my practice of Witchcraft for me to make contact with the spirits linked to the rose. I had communicated with plant spirits long before this opportunity but never to the depth that proved to be the case with She of the Thorn-Blooded Rose.

Her title is connected to the theme of the covenant of the blood, which is based upon the exchange of a few drops of human blood and plant blood. Blood is the essence of the life force, and the intimacy of its sharing is a very powerful bonding. To that end, I obtained some liquid chlorophyll, which is the green blood of plants. Interestingly, a year or two prior to this work, drinking chlorophyll was prescribed to me by a natural healer as a remedy for some very odd symptoms that were plaguing my health at the time.

Part of my initial work with the Rose and Thorn Path was to acquire a rose bush. It was to be used as the sacred connection to She of the Thorn-Blooded Rose, and eventually to all the spirits of the plants used in Witchcraft. More importantly, it became the root system through which the organic memory of the earth could be tapped directly. This is the idea that all living things of the past released their essence into the soil through decomposition. Their memories are held within the crystalline composition of the minerals in the soil. In the Rose and Thorn Path, minerals are called the bones of the earth. In this light, we can tap into the bone memory of the earth.

I planted the rose bush in my yard and dedicated it to She of the Thorn-Blooded Rose. I then performed the simple rite of offering three drops of blood mixed with water. The offering was slowly and reverently poured upon the crown of the bush, which is at the base of the plant. I then poured out a small portion of the green blood, spent a few moments connecting with the idea of this as the entity's blood, and then drank it.

Across from my home, at the time, there stood a strip of woods surrounding a ravine. The locals call such a place the Dingle. It was always pleasant to watch the wildlife come and go through this area. Within a few days of the rose bush ritual, a pattern and a practice developed for me. I found that sitting on my porch in the early morning became a time of transmission, and the period of dusk was a time of interpretation and integration. Just like plant life, I was beginning to respond to sunlight and its diminishment in ways that I had not previously done.

As the sun awakened the Greenwood, something was openly and purposefully communicating with me. Part of my previous training was in maintaining a mental balance in my work with mystical realities so as to not allow either the worldly or the mystical to override one another. Therefore, I was able to discern that this wasn't fantasy or wishful thinking.

In the beginning, most of what was communicated wasn't all that new or alien. Through that inner voice that we all hear, I listened to the teachings about the sentient nature of the woods. This began to expand upon the concept of the Forest having a mind, and that the leaves of the trees were, in effect, cells in that brain. From there it turned to a communication that the leaves are separate beings, and for lack of a better term, I came to call them the leaf people. My intellect looked at this as a metaphor, but my spirit felt a truth that took a while to settle in. It came in the Fall season as the leaves began to drop. The leaf people were abandoning their bodies and retreating into the tree branches. They would be reborn in the buds of the Spring season. It was nonsense that made complete sense.

I began to keep a notebook with me when I sat on the porch and watched the Dingle. It quickly began to be filled with teachings and the transmission of symbols. Odd drawings were guided onto the pages, along with words that didn't belong to any language of which I had any knowledge. They came at first without context or relevance. The Otherworldliness of it all was inescapable. As a well-experienced practitioner of Witchcraft, I knew enough to be an observer of the process and a gatherer of elements. Discernment would come later as the pieces began to reveal a portrait.

Over a period of two months, I found that faces were forming in the bark of the trunks of the trees. Visitors noticed them too, without any prompting or beforehand conversation. Some of the faces were friendly, almost comical, while others were not. The Dingle seemed to be releasing energy all around the foliage in the formation of blurry vaporous bands that outlined the plants and trees. Communication quickened.

With the writing of this book, I've now been working in this Path for six years. Many of the terms, phrases, and titles used in this book came from those sessions on the porch. There was, however, another form of communication that arose. It's called the passing on of Shadow, which most frequently happens in the dream state. In this realm of consciousness, there is no objection to things like being able to breathe underwater, fly through the sky, or have something you're holding turn into something else. It's the perfect setting for spirits to communicate in person, because in the Dream World, it's easily accepted that they can. In the waking state, they find humans quite difficult to talk with and far too resistant.

When you're successfully working with the plant spirits in this book, you will have visits and teaching sessions in the dream state, at least initially. This can and should shift to the waking state as well, although you'll likely find that experience less profound. In the meantime, keep a notebook at your bedside, and upon awakening write down your recollections and your thoughts at the time. Don't think about them—quickly record them. You'll eventually compose a dream-begotten grimoire of Greenwood magic.

Dreams are portals to the mystical realms of the soul; through them, we enter a realm without finite restrictions. The same is true of myths as they reveal to our spirits the truths that physical reality denies us. This is why the epic tales of the hero endure the Ages, for they allow us to recognize ourselves in a separate reality. In this, we believe that we could do what the hero did if our lives had turned out differently, if we weren't burdened with the things that limit us.

Two chapters in this book are devoted to mythical characters and themes within the Rose and Thorn Path. However, the beings that appear in the stories are also part of the immortal race that is embraced in our Path. In this regard, they're not fictional; it's the stories about them that are mythical. These tales are meant to preserve inner teachings that are woven into the myths and to connect occult themes together that are important within the teachings of the Rose and Thorn Path.

In these chapters, you'll be introduced to a host of plant spirits that are connected primarily to the traditional plants of Witchcraft. You'll also encounter the deities of the Path and discover that titles instead of names are used for them. One reason for this is that to place a name on a deity ties it to cultural setting. Doing so causes the deity to be seen through the limits of a specific cultural understanding and depiction. This finite reduction of the divine can be problematic. For example, there's a major difference between the title Goddess of the Moon and the name Selene, Goddess of the Moon. The former is expansive and all-inclusive; the latter is culturally defined and thereby excludes other cultural forms.

As you read through the chapters of this book, you'll encounter several key mystical elements. One that stands out is the idea of the Hallow. In occultism, reality is divided into material and nonmaterial dimensions. The idea of the Hallow is that a buffer exists between the dimensions. This zone is neither of the two in nature. It's a third reality and is in keeping with the occult importance of the number three and the presentation of triformis as one entity with three aspects.

Beyond the concepts in this book, what I want to share are the doorways they open. In working with other people of this Path, I have found it very confirming to observe their experiences. What we've connected with isn't fanciful. It's also not in keeping with things that are trendy, nor is it an elaboration or reworking of modern Wicca and Witchcraft. However, what it does share in common with them is inescapable because despite being modern practices, they do contain ancient elements or pieces as well. That being said, you will find one chapter on modern rites in the Rose and Thorn Path, which contains a Wheel of the Year–style collection of rites.

It's arguable that the model of a Wheel of the Year is a Wiccan concept. I don't personally regard it as a Wiccan copyright, and I note that many modern Pagans who don't call themselves Wiccans celebrate these seasonal rites. Whatever it is, whatever its origins may be, the Wheel of the Year is now an integral part of modern practice. Therefore, it seems important to include the associated rites of the seasons in this book for those wanting that connection to the larger Craft and Pagan communities.

For those readers solely interested in rites not attached to the Wheel of the Year or Wiccan themes in general, I have provided chapter 8, “The Old Rites.” These will introduce you to ways of personal empowerment and will offer alignments to beings such as the Washer in the Night and the Three Daughters of Night. Also included is a rite known as Bearing the Witches' Trident. I believe these will prove not only to be refreshing; they will also help you claim your rightful power as a Witch.

Before closing this introduction to the book, I would be remiss not to include some words on the rose. It's a very important concept in the Path and has many facets that reflect its beauty and value within the system. The rose is a symbol of the inner mysteries of Witchcraft. A red rose symbolizes the mysteries as they reside in Nature, within the living things. The white rose symbolizes the Otherworld and the mysteries hidden in secret places. When a single rose appears with white petals in the center of red petals, this represents the mysteries joined together within one reality. Thorns appearing with the rose represent challenges and the dedication required to fully grasp the enlightenment of the rose.

One of the symbolisms associated with the rose reveals the covenant between the Witch and the Faery. In this, we find that both are stewards of the portal that opens to the inner mysteries. The Faery holds the celestial key, and the Witch bears the terrestrial key. When the two are joined together, they form an X—the sign of the crossroads. In this formation, where the keys cross we find a third point, the in-between place at the center. This is where the portal exists, and this is where it opens between the worlds.

Look at the shape of the X and you can see four pointed tip markers (the V shapes). The upper half of the X points down, and the lower half points up. On the sides of the X, you can see that the left and right halves point to the center. This shows us that when the celestial and terrestrial realms join, they pull together the left ways and the right ways. These are occult terms for esoteric and exoteric modes of consciousness. In the fusion, everything briefly loses its distinction, its ability to mask the opposite reality, and in doing so, the secret third reality emerges in the center of it all. If this sounds confusing or nonsensical, then the guardian of that portal is doing its job well.

The material in this book will connect you with an entity connected to the rose and its mystery. This is the previously mentioned She of the Thorn-Blooded Rose. With her guidance, you can be directed to the portal, and through it you can meet a variety of beings and entities. However, her primary task is to connect you with the Greenwood Realm and the plant spirits within it.

In your journey to encounter these spirits, you will pass through the organic memory of the earth. You'll walk upon roads of mystical concepts and be accompanied by the Old Ones of myth and legend. The moon and stars will bear witness. You need only embrace the best-known secret of all: no mystery is closed to an open mind.