Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I  think of myself as a  Nemophilist, which means a ‘haunter of woods’. I spend as much of my time as I can walking in the wildest remotest lands, places that still make the gods tremble, I love the challenge of finding connection through nature to the divine. I am a pilgrim advocate – that is,  my mission is to encourage as many people as possible to take pilgrimage seriously as a spiritual practice. I write prolifically, read equally, have a passion for learning, taking photos, growing things, and spending time with my wonderful family.

How would you describe your spiritual pathway?

I am a Heathen. I follow the Norse pantheon of gods and try to follow Norse traditions as far as I am able. I find the greatest way to connect to the gods is through nature and spending time with the land.

How and when did your spiritual journey begin?

I think I have always had a deep resonant connection to the land and nature, which began as a small child. I spent most of my formative years outside, until school tried to contain me.

What does pilgrimage mean to you?

Personally, pilgrimage is one of the greatest ways of connecting deeply and profoundly to the gods, the spirits of the land and is the most intense ways of being at one with the world and nature.

What do you think makes a place pilgrimage worthy and why do people focus on certain places?

Any place can be pilgrimage-worthy, the specific place is entirely personal to the pilgrim themselves.

Certain places have  many layers of belief, built over millennia’s of worship or devotion, such as churches and sacred sites. These places have a strong sense of the divine.

Other places are very much liminal, places which exist between our world and others, these attract travellers and pilgrims enabling a powerful deep experiences and connection.

What has been your favourite pilgrimage so far?

It really depends on what you mean by favourite…the one that has most profoundly changed me is one I undertook in 2023 in north Norway. I had already walked two segments of the St Olav’s pilgrimage route to Trondheim’s Nideros Cathedral. For those who don’t know, St Olav’s is the most northerly pilgrimage route in the world, and one which takes you to the most remotest and isolated parts of the world. It is truly magical.

After the two stints on St Olav’s, we travelled northwards, over the Arctic Circle and past Bodo to a desolate part of the coastline. As soon as we arrived along the seashore, it began to thunder and lightening was striking the sea, as though Odin was cracking Gungnir into the world to split it in half,  the clouds we so black it seemed like nighttime, and looked as though they had swallowed the sun. I half expected Jörmungandr to rear up and swallow me whole!

It was exhilarating and frightening at the same time. I prostrated myself before this spectacle (partly for safety I will add,) and knew I had found a place that only gods can walk. 

The whole experience brought me a deep sense of my place in the world and taught me not to complacent with my beliefs.

What or who inspires you on your spiritual pathway?

As a Heathen I can say that the gods and the vaettir watch and guide me. Nature and the land is my greatest inspiration. Within myself it is my inherent wanderlust and desire to understand and see as much of this rich and beautiful planet as possible.

Do you have any regular spiritual practices you can share with us?

Every morning, without fail I spend five minutes outside, rain or shine, enjoying the feeling of being fully present within the world. Sometimes I recite Sigrdrifa’s Prayer in the Poetic Edda:

Hail to the Day!

Hail to the sons of Day!

 Hail to the night and her kin!

 With gracious eyes may you look upon us (two),

And give victory to those sitting here!

Hail to the Aesir!

Hail to the goddesses!

Hail to the mighty fecund earth!

 May you give eloquence and native wit to this glorious (pair) one

 And healing hands while we live!

I find this prayer powerful and uplifting.

Is connection to the landscape important to you and why?

Yes of course! The landscape IS the connection! Landscape to me is completely intrinsic,  it makes everything I do, pilgrimage, spiritual practice and connection to the world around me, whole and real.

I could not be without the landscape.

Do you have any new adventures or projects planned?

Yes I always have adventures and projects on the go.

I have been spending time re-connecting to my local landscape through walking, mindfulness and honouring the landvaettir around me. I found that I tend to spend my time these days, in other places – (Norway, and Denmark this year for instance.) but I have a strong sense of place here where I live and felt a deep need to reestablish my relationship with my local neighbourhood.

I am currently studying a master’s degree at the University of the Highlands and Islands, which is my main writing focus generally at present.

I have just had a second fiction horror-story accepted for publication in a magazine at the end of the year, which I am made up about. I plan to write a few more short stories over the summer break.

I am speaking at my first conference in October, invited by the Scottish Pagan Federation to Edinburgh to give a talk about winter pilgrimage, (dark pilgrimage) ancestral connection and the road to Hel.

Next year I am going to be spending an extended amount of time in Sweden part study, part walking and part immersing.

For more details: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/authors/thea-prothero