Overview: Pagan Portals’ Gods & Goddesses of England is all about unearthing the gods and goddesses of England, with an aim to work and connect with these very special deities.

Verdict: As noted, Author Rachel Patterson unearths and shines light on England’s ancient gods and goddesses - many of whom, until now, had long since been forgotten.

Based on archaeological finds and ancient manuscripts, and including information about the tribes that once made their home in England’s pleasant lands, this book serves as a guide to the gods and goddesses of England, with suggested ways to work and connect with these very special deities.

Admitting early on that she not only lives in England, but has been fascinated by the gods and goddesses from the land she lives, Rachel’s pathway has been a Pagan one for many years now.

Initially she looked to the Celtic pantheon as it made sense to her, given she lived in the United Kingdom. This had its uses, but she quickly noted the majority of these deities were linked with Ireland, Wales or Scotland.

And so with England seemingly a little bit lacking in that department, she opened up to a deity, as a whole, and ended up working with gods and goddesses from across the globe.

My own undertaking, albeit one from back in the day, was that a lot of the British deities came from Romano-Celtic pantheon. The deities found here belong to the period when Britain was a province of Rome Empire. Indeed, much like Gallic Deities, these Celtic deities were sometimes adopted by the Romans, who lived in the region between first and fourth century AD.

Furthermore, sometimes Roman (and Greek) writers described Celtic deities by given them Roman names, sometimes with their Gallic names, and at other times with just the Roman names. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Apollo, Hercules and Minerva were the most common Roman names used, when applying to Celtic deities.

And in the Celtic pantheon, it was Mercury that usually the highest in the order of hierarchy, not Jupiter. Jupiter was also sometimes below in ranking to Mars as well. But I digress.

Broken into two distinctive parts - Part I The History of Humans and Part II Gods & Goddesses - the book then details a veritable slew of all-things connected in-between. Such as sub-sections on Let’s Look at the Isles, Burials, Metals, Offerings, Iron-Age, The Celts, and amongst others, The Pantheons, Meet the Deities, The Three Mothers and the aptly named An English Ending.

Inviting us in to journey alongside her, and these most wondrous gods and goddesses, Rachel hopes we make our own unique discoveries along the way, and I can, for one, attest to the fact that I am now more attune to everything that Rachel has written here; especially given that I am from England, but have resided here in the US for 33 years now, and so leaning back into its mythic heritage was a lovely warm blanket of comforting prose for me to most definitely enjoy. And I know you will think the same way too.

About the Author - Rachel Patterson has penned more than twenty books on the rituals and practices of magic and paganism. She is High Priestess of the Kitchen Witch Coven, and an Elder of the Kitchen Witch School of Natural Witchcraft. A Hedge/Kitchen Witch with an added dash of folk magic, Rachel writes regularly for Pagan magazines and blogs and gives talks at Pagan events. She lives in Portsmouth, UK.

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