Books: The Great Turning

The Great Turning:
Crop Circles & Their Message To Humanity

By Michael Green
The Squeeze Press, 2023 (paperback RRP £19.95)

‘I recognised symbols familiar to ancient man about the nature of Deity, the spiritual character of the Cosmos and the role of mankind. The crop circle phenomenon really is about the ‘meaning of life and everything’, now conveyed by a Cosmic Intelligence, in simplistic terms ‘God’…’

Michael Green is a name that will be instantly familiar to old school croppies, but some relative newcomers may be left scratching their heads. Green was a founder member, and chairman of, the Centre for Crop Circle Studies back in the nineties, and a very familiar figure on the scene in those days. Surprisingly The Great Turning is his first published book.

First off it has to be said that this is an absolute brick of a tome, about an inch and a half thick and beautifully produced, printed on quality paper and in full colour throughout. The publishers have done a great job, and it’s impossible to fault in terms of production values.

On the downside, the text itself consists of reprints of articles originally published in The Cerealogist and The Circular back in the day, i.e. likely nothing that those interested in Green or his work won’t already be familiar with. No circle more recent than 2000 is featured. Reading these articles again is like opening a time capsule. It really was a different and more innocent age, one when crop circles could be authenticated by dowsing, were laden with goddess and esoteric symbolism, and when croppies were generally civil to each other.

I’m not entirely sure what I expected from this book, given its author has been dead for five years. Maybe unpublished essays or texts he was working on before he died? I don’t know. It’s definitely worth picking up to add to the cerealogical library, but I was hoping for something more.