Page 6 - Oundle Life March 2025

PAGANISM
Re-discovering nature
Our modern rat-race consumer
society, with its high-pressure
lifestyles and the constant push to do
more, be more, buy more, and above
all to do everything ‘on the go’, often
leaves no time for ourselves, each
other, or the world around us on any
meaningful level.
Now people are turning to the
natural world to find meaning. For
thousands of years we have lived in
harmony with the world around us, dependent
on it for our needs, and in tune with the turning
of the seasons and the rhythms of nature. This
instinct is so deeply ingrained in our
psyche that the modern world cannot
completely eradicate it. Deep down,
we still need this connection. Many
people feeling this ‘call of the wild’ are
spending at least some time in nature,
even just to sit in a park or walk in
the woods. This re-connection with
nature and the sense of something
‘other’ about being in it, increasingly draws us
to explore the spiritual side of our connection to
the natural world. This is Paganism, the beliefs
of our ancestors in the rhythms of the natural
world and their spiritual connection to it.
Despite the pressures over the last nearly
2,000 years, Paganism lives on. It is the fastest-
growing spiritual grouping in the UK at a
Now people
are turning
to the natural
world to find
meaning
time when church congregations
are dwindling to an all-time low
and many are in danger of failing
completely. The census in 2021 found
that Paganism is the 7th largest
spiritual / religious group nationally
in the UK and in some areas,
including Northamptonshire, is the
6th largest.
Paganism covers a range of
connected traditional beliefs. It
includes Germanic, Slavic, Scandinavian/Norse
and Celtic traditions, along with Druidry,
Wicca/Witchcraft, Shamanism, and others. To
be clear, Paganism has nothing to do
with Satanism, evil spirits, etc.
In Britain people have followed
the old ways and honoured the old
Goddesses and Gods for over 10,000
years from the end of last Ice Age,
before the arrival of the first church
missionaries. If you are interested to
find out more about Paganism, what
Pagans believe, and its place in modern society;
then this book explores those topics and more.
‘Book of Shadows’ by WoodWight
ISBN: 9 781739 715267
Available from online bookstores including
Amazon, price £10.00
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