Modern paganism in the United Kingdom

Stonehenge is an important part of certain modern neo-druidic practices.[1]
Total population
United Kingdom: 126,980 – 0.2% (2021/22 Census)[a][2][3][4] Paganism – 93,686 Wicca – 13,056 Shamanism – 7,904
Regions with significant populations
England	99,500 – 0.2% (2021)
Scotland	19,113 – 0.4% (2022)[b]
Wales	7,033 – 0.2% (2021)
Northern Ireland	1,334 – 0.1% (2021)
Religions
Also includesHeathenry,Druidy,Pantheism,Witchcraft,Animism andReconstructionist
Related ethnic groups
Modern paganism in Ireland

TheModern Pagan movement in theUnited Kingdom is primarily represented byWicca andNeopagan witchcraft,Druidry, andHeathenry. 74,631 people inEngland,Scotland andWales identified as either as Pagan or a member of a specific Modern Pagan group in the2011 UK Census.^[5][6]

A study conducted byRonald Hutton compared a number of different sources (including membership lists of major organisations within the United Kingdom, major events attendance, subscriptions to magazines, etc.), and used standard models for calculating likely numbers of Pagans within the United Kingdom. This estimate accounted for multiple membership overlaps as well as the number of adherents represented by each attendee of a Pagan gathering. Hutton estimated that there are 250,000 Pagan adherents in the United Kingdom, roughly equivalent to the nationalHindu community back in 2001 when it was much smaller than it is today (there are presently over a million Hindus in the United Kingdom).^[7]

A smaller number is suggested by the results of the 2001 Census, in which a question about religious affiliation was asked for the first time. Respondents were able to write in an affiliation not covered by the check-list of common religions, and a total of 42,262 people from England, Scotland, and Wales declared themselves to be Pagans by this method (or 23% of the 179,000 adherents of "other religions" in the results). These figures were not released as a matter of course by theOffice for National Statistics, but were released after an application filed by thePagan Federation (Scottish branch).^[8] With a population of around 59 million, this gives a rough proportion of 7 Pagans per 10,000 inhabitants of the United Kingdom.

The 2001 UK Census figures did not allow an accurate breakdown of traditions within the Pagan heading, as a campaign by the Pagan Federation before the census encouraged Wiccans, Heathens, Druids and others all to use the same write-in term 'Pagan' in order to maximise the numbers reported. The2011 census however made it possible to describe oneself as Pagan-Wiccan, Pagan-Druid and so on. The figures for England, Wales and Scotland are as follows:^[9][10]

The overall numbers of people reporting Pagan or one of the other categories in the table above rose between 2001 and 2011. In 2001 about seven people per 10,000 UK respondents identified as pagan; in 2011 the number (based on the England and Wales population) was 14.3 people per 10,000 respondents.

Research conducted by DrLeo Ruickbie suggested that the south-east of England had the highest concentration of Pagans in the country.^[11]

Pagan movement	England (2021)[2]	Scotland (2022)[3]	Wales (2021)[2]	Northern Ireland (2021)[4]	United Kingdom (2021/22)[c]
Pagan	68,629	19,113	5,104	840	93,686
Wicca	11,946	To be published, only 2011 figures available[12]	867	243	13,056
Shamanism	7,624		265	15	7,904
Heathenry	4,478		243	70	4,791
Druidry	2,268		222	37	2,527
Pantheism	2,158		141	81	2,380
Witchcraft	967		77	0	1,044
Animism	733		69	48	850
Reconstructionist	697		45	0	742
Total	99,500	TBC	7,033	1,334	126,980

Modern Paganism in the UK is dominated by Wicca, the modern movement of Druidry, and forms of Heathenry.

Wicca was developed in England in the first half of the 20th century.^[13] It is generally aduotheistic religion which worships theHorned God andMoon Goddess. Although it had various terms in the past, from the 1960s onward the name of the religion was normalised toWicca.^[14]

Heathenry consists of a variety of modern movements attempting to reviveGermanic paganism, such as that practiced in theBritish Isles by theAnglo-Saxon andScandinavian peoples prior to Christianisation.Asatru UK was founded in 2013 and operates as a country-wide group for all inclusive Heathens.^[15][16]

During theIron Age,Celtic polytheism was the predominant religion in the area now known as England.Neo-Druidism grew out of the Celtic revival in 18th century Romanticism. Its first organised group was theAncient Order of Druids, founded in London in 1781 along Masonic lines as a mutual benefit society and still extant today. It is not a neo-Pagan group. It was followed in 1792 by theGorsedd of Bards of the Isle of Britain, also founded in London. This was the brainchild of Welsh stonemason, student of Welsh language, culture and heritage, and literary forger, Edward Williams, better known by his assumed name,Iolo Morganwg. It also survives to this day, its rituals forming an important part of the annualWelsh National Eisteddfod. Its members included Queen Elizabeth II and former archbishop of Canterbury,Rowan Williams. It is a cultural institution, not a neo-Pagan one. Inasmuch as it has a religious element, that element is Christian.^{[dubious –discuss]} TheAncient Druid Order, founded circa 1909, was the first that could be characterised as neo-Pagan, its founder being influenced by the occult movement of the late 19th century. TheOrder of Bards, Ovates and Druids, which split from the Ancient Druid Order in 1964, began to develop a more neo-Pagan style of Druidry, partly through the friendship between its founder,Ross Nichols, and the founder of modern Wicca,Gerald Gardner. More overtly Pagan Druid groups began to develop in the UK from the late 1970s onwards. These include theBritish Druid Order,The Druid Network and numerous other smaller groups.^[17]

Modern Pagan organisations in Great Britain:

• Heathenry
  • Asatru UK (since 2013)
  • Odinist Fellowship (since 1988)
  • Odinic Rite (since 1973)
• Neo-druidism in Britain
  • British Druid Order
  • The Druid Network
  • The Druid Order
  • Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids
  • Secular Order of Druids
• Other
  • Children of Artemis
  • Pagan Dawn (magazine, since 1968)
  • Pagan Federation (since 1971)
  • Quest Conference
  • Unitarian Earth Spirit Network (since 1990)
  • Pagan Federation
  • Scottish Pagan Federation

• British Traditional Wicca
• New Age travellers
• The Pagan Review
• Religion in the United Kingdom

• Hutton, Ronald (2001). The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft.ISBN 0-19-285449-6.

• Modern paganism in the United Kingdom

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• All accuracy disputes
• Articles with disputed statements from April 2022