Modern paganism in the UK: cycles and seasons
My journey with modern Paganism
Today, I wanted to share some reflections about modern paganism, including a recent lecture about contemporary paganism by Ronald Hutton historian, given for Gresham College.
If you’re new here I’m Laura, a counsellor, nature therapist, somatic therapist, meditation teacher and I hold spaces that are rooted in my Pagan understanding of the world.. My work is centred around gently guiding people back into relationship with themselves, with their bodies, and with the wider natural world. I’m particularly interested in how we can bring spiritual and therapeutic practices into the present moment, making them accessible, grounded, and meaningful in the context of our daily lives.
I’ve been walking a spiritual path for many years now and it’s taken me through many explorations of belief and practice. In my twenties, I started to connect with Buddhist philosophy, yoga including Hinduism based yogic philosophy, and Reiki. Each of these paths opened something in me: a deeper awareness of energy, compassion and presence. There were a few years in my late 20s and early 30s where my spiritual practice fell by the wayside, but then, in a period of significant challenge in my life, I found my way back to it.
As part of my practice, I felt called to step into a space where I was able to support others on their journey. I trained as a mindfulness teacher, I started thinking about training as a therapist and, for a while, I was feeling called toward the study of plant medicines that are rooted in South American traditions, having had several transformative experiences in those traditions that shaped my understanding of what it means to be in relationship with spirit, nature and myself.
And then Paganism came into my life and, along with it, the realisation that there exists a rich history of spiritual tradition on these lands, that honours the natural world, draws inspiration from the mythology and stories of these lands, and offers insights into our relationship with ourselves and the more-than-human world around us. This felt less like discovering something new and more like remembering something deeply familiar. I was, and continue to be, profoundly grateful to find a path that allows me to root my spirituality in the lands I live on, to honour the rhythms of the seasons, and to align my inner life with the turning of the Wheel of the Year.
I still hold deep reverence for the teachers and traditions from outside these lands that shaped my journey. I still practice yoga, meditation practices that are rooted in Buddhism, and I also share these practices in my offerings, but there is also a special kind of rootedness that comes from connecting with the land, cycles, and stories of the place that you live
Paganism is rooted in the cycles of the earth
For me, Paganism isn’t a fixed belief system, it’s a way of moving through the world. You can be a pagan and a Buddhist or a Pagan and a Christian, or a Pagan and an atheist. I personally do connect with the divinity based aspects of Paganism but I know Pagans who honour cycles, seasons and rituals from a purely secular perspective.
My practice honours living in rhythm with the cycles of nature, the seasons, the self, and cultivating an awareness that the sacred is woven through all things. I also broadly align with these guiding values, which are shared by The Pagan Federation:
Recognising nature as sacred: the Earth is not a backdrop to our lives, we are part of it and it is part of us
Upholding personal autonomy and self-realisation: believing that each of us holds our own truth
Practising non-harm: striving to live in a way that nurtures both human and more-than-human worlds
In the Ronald Hutton Lecture below, he also shares perspectives on honouring the Goddess or divine feminine, which is also part of my practice but I am mindful to challenge gender binaries where ever possible. I always offer non-gendered archetypes in my work. We each hold both masculine and feminine energies inside of us, what ever your gender identity or expression.
Many practitioners also engage in devotional practices, magic and collaborative relationships with deities, whether those deities are understood as archetypal, an ancestor or a living spiritual being. In my practice, this means connecting with ritual and ceremony as a devotional practice, as well as offering gratitude to my ancestors , including ancestors of bloodline, tradition and land. I talk more about what that looks like in this post.
Paganism is typically eclectic, drawing inspiration from a wide range of sources, including Buddhism, Hinduism, feminist spirituality and earth-based traditions. For the most part, it is a tolerant and inclusive path that coexists peacefully with other belief systems, though, as with anything, that harmony can be more complex in practice, and perhaps that’s a conversation for another time.
A living, evolving tradition
When I first started to explore Paganism, I enthusiastically adopted the language and frameworks that are widely shared within modern practice; words like Sabbats and festival names like Mabon. Over time, as I found out more about history of these terms and their origins, I realised that a lot of what we call “the old ways” are actually modern reconstructions. This doesn’t diminish their meaning or significance; a tradition that has been taking place for 10 years is still a tradition! I share some deeper reflections about this in my Wheel of the Year breakdown, along with an overview of each of the celebration days, with themes, reflections and journal prompts.
Many of the spiritual traditions native to the British Isles were lost or suppressed over centuries: through Christianisation, colonisation and the loss of oral cultures that once connected people through stories that were rooted in place. Contemporary Paganism isn’t a simple continuation of those old ways, it’s a revival and a remembering, weaving together fragments from folklore, archaeology, mysticism, romanticism, and contemporary ecology.
It’s really, really important to reflect on the ways that practices might have been shaped by history, colonialism, cultural shifts and reinterpretation. What is the lineage of these practices, how much is a modern reconstruction and how do I connect with practices in a way that reflects my inner landscape as well as the external landscape and the world around me? And how do we acknowledge where practices come from, so we can approach them with integrity, humility and awareness. Especially if we’re offering these practices in community or guiding others through them.
Understanding our lineages with integrity
As someone who works at the intersection of embodied spirituality and therapeutic practice, I believe that engaging with our traditions means holding both heart and mind open. It’s important to ask:
Where did these rituals come from?
Who preserved them and who was silenced?
What histories and cultural exchanges shaped the practices we connect with?
Asking these questions, as well as considering how we actually connect to the natural world in an embodied and reciprocal way allows us to explore all aspects of the story. The felt experience of the seasons turning, the inner knowing, the rituals that nourish you, and the historical and cultural context that shaped how those rituals came to be Approaching these questions doesn’t dim our spiritual connection, it strengthens it. It brings integrity into our work and practises. Especially for those of us who hold space for others; understanding the lineage and context of what we offer allows us to carry it with care.
Learning from the historians of our path
Recently, I listened to this video from the Ronald Hutton Lectures. Ronald Hutton is a historian of British folklore, seasonal ritual and modern Paganism. I’ve shared it below. His work offers a thoughtful lens on how spiritual traditions in the British Isles have developed, showing that much of what we now celebrate as Pagan ritual is both ancient in spirit and modern in form.
What is modern paganism? A lecture by Ronald Hutton.
The beauty and responsibility of revival
Some might find it disheartening to realise that much of what we practise as Paganism is reconstructed. I see it differently. To me, it speaks to the human need to find meaning and connection, to honour the earth and to celebrate life’s cycles.
When we revive and reinterpret, we also have a responsibility: to explore with awareness, humility, and reverence for the cultures and histories we draw from. This includes recognising the distinct roots of Celtic, Germanic, and other Indigenous European traditions and resisting the urge to flatten them into a single, generalised “Pagan” story.
When we hold that complexity with care, our practice becomes more honest, and more grounded.
Walking the path with awareness
If you’re drawn to earth-based spirituality or the rhythm of the seasons, I invite you to explore both sides of the journey.
The felt experience of ritual, intuition, and connection. The embodied knowing that arises when you sit with the turning of the seasons.
The contextual understanding. The history, the influences and the cultural tapestry that brought these paganism practices into being.
Both matter and both deepen our relationship with the sacred.
A final reflection
Whether you are new to Paganism or have been walking this path for years, do check out Professor Hutton’s lecture above. His insights offer a valuable framework for understanding how our contemporary practices came to be and how we can hold them with both reverence and discernment.
And if you’re looking to explore these themes experientially, through the body, you could explore the following resources:
The Rooted Self Connection Sessions. An in person space, in Birmingham, where I weave together Pagan perespective, somatic awareness and seasonal guidance.
My Sacred Somatic Journeys series: audio-guided embodiment practices, exploring ritual, archetypes and nature
If you’re looking for further reading check out:
Working With Archetypes: A Somatic, Embodied Approach
The Wheel of the Year.
You can also sign up for my mailing list, where I share reflections and offerings aligned with the turning of the Wheel of the Year, invitations to root deeper, remember more fully and to move through the seasons with intention.
