Art and Knowledge of the Herbarius

Green Sorcery encompasses the cunning knowledge and use of plants in the practice of Witchcraft. This is the Wisdom of the Herbarius- a craftiness, or magical congress with plants and their sacred virtues.

Many books in many ages have been written concerning magic, and the art of the Herbarius echoes many of these precepts- but in addition, it presupposes an semi-Animist (known as Vitalist) framework where animated objects are composed of an infinitude of spirits- each with a different character and power. Thus this Green magic focuses on the dynamic access to, collaboration with, and command of these green Spirits. Among the foci of the modern Herbarius, then, are the learning, practice, teaching, and anamnesis of the green in its many aspects.

As well as the usual charms and spellcraft typically associated with herbal magic, it also includes Divination, Spirit Devotion, Occult Pharmacy, Natural Sciences, and Practical Botany; embraced are the dual pathways of Healing and Poisoning both; Chemistry and Plant Alchemy; Zymurgy; Embalming; Vinology and Viticulture; Aromatics (such as Incenses and Perfuming); Horticulture; Compounding Cosmetics; and the diverse, flavorful rituals of the Culinary Arts; and many more- both practical and spiritual.

These are but a few of the leaves and thorns of this, our Green Arte. Thus the work arises from a thick and deep-rooted Arbor: A Tree of Trees among many kindred ever-fruiting. Many are the Blossoms of Our Work; many their scents and colors; its pantheon embraces the varied races of the Vegetal realm; its Prima Materia the endless precessions from these green allies.

Another essential feature of this tradition of Witchcraft is rural life and its allied corpus of tradition, lore, and custom. It serves as a repository of the practical teachings true to its source- alive and actively engaged by those whose trades are shaped by the land and its laws. And part of this granary of knowledge concerns the immediacy of death in daily life.

Of greatest importance, however, is the praxis which gives rise to the Green Gnosis. Green Gnosis itself is the luminous stream of mystical understanding that proceeds from (and is directly revealed by) the Spirits of the land- also called Phytognosis. It is achieved through the magical and spiritual alignment of the Herbarius with the Rustic and Verdant Hosts, which itself is achieved through the twin sacred acts of Pilgrimage and Hermitage.

This time spent immersed among living plants, both in the Wildwood and Garden (spent in Dreaming, Trance, Prayer, Incantation, and the Arts of the Scribe and Sorcerer both) are equally important. It is this ongoing magical and spiritual alliance between Herbarius and the green that is both the sun and soil of nourishment, nurturing and augmenting the present stream of lore, revealing it to the Herbarius anew.

The path of the Herbarius embraces these green Spirits as guides and teachers; Hylozoistic in stance, it reveres plants as peers and allies, and hails in each plant a wise and intelligent spirituous personality, rather than viewing them as subservients or mere chemical principles to be manipulated. And it is through this complex weaving of relationships and alliances that the art of the Herbarius’ magic is ultimately performed.

From the very act of collecting the plant material with appropriate offerings to the spirits; the enthronement of the worts in separate holding vessels; their blessings with prayer and incantations specific to its spirit, and sigils of representation; the purification of the tools and working space; the invocation and praise of the plant-spirits with incantations, envisionings, and hymns singing their specific virtues- both individually prior to their introduction to the work, and afterwards; the intercession and supplication to the Spirits of the work; the focused praying and the ritual administrations: Our Cunning arises from both the praxis as well as our worts.

Wise is the Simpler who makes of their body a Garden well tended by the Work. Tending this garden requires careful stewardship, lifelong practice, and devotion. Thus let the Art of Summoning proceed, as all things, first from the inviolable truth of the Heart, but also from the cunning of the mind, the fascination of the eye, the gilded tongue, the craft of the hands, the sway of the limbs, and the procession of the feet over beloved ground; thus let the Wayfarer take stock of his house and put all in order: In the work of Purity shall all be accomplished as the sole focus of word, deed, and thought.

To enter the precinct of the Rosarium, one must be of good and wholesome constitution. Prayer and incantation, and the works of Sacrifice and ordered devotion shall serve this holy purpose. And if one would hear the voice of the Woodwose, forget not the importance of speaking with plants, and singing each its proper song.