Sophie Buchanan

Sophie Buchanan is an animist living in Somerset with both human and canine companions. Half English and half Norwegian, she blends British animism with Norse Ásatrú in her personal practice—honouring both branches of her ancestry.

She has studied Religion and Ritual in Prehistory at Oxford university and continues her studies under Sam MacLaren of Pretani Wisdom Traditions, whose book The Medicine of the Four Directions: Ancient Signpost Modern Path explores the indigenous cosmology of these islands.

Sophie isn't here to tell anyone their beliefs are wrong. Magic has always been personal, syncretic, and evolving. But she does believe that if you live in Britain, there's something powerful about connecting with the spiritual traditions that grew from this specific land—practices shaped by these hills, these plants, these seasons. Why borrow from elsewhere when there's so much waiting to be rediscovered right here?

Her books grew from a simple question that wouldn't let go: Is any of this actually real?

The need to know the truth, to trace claims back to sources, to separate documented history from wishful thinking—that's what drove the research. The result is books that respect your practice while giving you the facts to make informed choices about it.