British Isles Culture and Ancestral Connection: Reading + Listening Guide

Written By Nourishing Kin

For the island countries of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland

This reading and listening guide is meant to provide you with ample avenues for reconnection with British Isles* culture and traditions. The Nourishing Kin community is full of avid readers and researchers, and we want to share all the goodness we find with anyone who is interested. This list is not comprehensive; it is curated. This means that we have encountered many more resources than what is listed here. For a resource to be included on our guide, it must meet the following requirements:

  • the content faithfully centers the culture/practice/people it claims to represent;

  • the resource and its authors do not condone racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, colonization, etc;

  • the resource has been reviewed by one of our facilitator team members.

We will continue to read and tend to this list. For reference, this collection was last updated: January 5, 2025

Children’s Books

Cookbooks

History

Historical Fiction

Modern Culture + Writings

Mythology + Folklore

Traditions + Practices

Tree Lore

Academic Resources

  • Understanding the Celtic Religion: Revisiting the Pagan Past; Celtic Spells and Counterspells by Jacqueline Borsje

  • Keeping Out the Otherworld: The Internal Ditch at Navan and Other Iron Age “Hengiform” Enclosures by R.B. Warner

  • The Journal of Achaeomythology, Vol 7: Some Goddess Hills in Britain by Michael Dames

Creators of Interest

Social Media Creators

*Helpful notes on British Isles culture + reconnection, books, and resources:

  1. The term “British Isles” describes a particular, though broad geographic area. Alone, the term “British Isles” does not accurately represent the nuances of culture present in distinct countries, counties, and regions. Further, even within those countries, there are distinct regional differences. Scottish folk are culturally distinct from their Irish neighbors, and the Welsh do things differently than the English. Appreciation for the complexity of cultural variations is important. For folks living in the United States, a helpful framework for understanding changes from country to country is to consider the cultural differences between Canada and the US. To further appreciate unique regional cultures, consider the difference between Texas and California. Same country; distinctly separate cultures.

  2. Each of these countries have their own proud and complex histories that must be taken into account during reconnection efforts. Members of the diaspora don’t need to know every minutia of history, but obtaining a general awareness of significant events assists greatly in respectful and knowledgeable reconnection efforts.

  3. Historic (Classical Antiquity Era) peoples of British Isles countries were the Celts and Picts, as well as additional local tribes in the northern part of the island countries. Later, these areas were heavily influenced by the Angles + Saxons (Germanic) and Vikings (Norse).

  4. Unfortunately, many readily-available modern “Celtic Pagan” resources do not provide reliable and accurate information about traditional and folk practices. We encourage folks to prioritize engagement with history, myth, folk tales, and (most especially) living tradition holders over resources published by large American new age publishers.

  5. Books, academic articles, and podcasts are helpful learning resources, but they are not superior to knowledge held by living elders and tradition carriers. This is because living tradition carriers are in relationship with the land from which their culture originates. Members of the diaspora rely heavily on wisdom carriers who are able and willing to teach and translate traditional practices from their native cultures and languages (including Welsh, Irish and Scots Gaelic). Nourishing Kin encourages respect for the patience, generosity, and boundaries of living tradition carriers.

Nourishing Kin
Next

Animism and the Natural World: Reading + Listening Guide