Animism

Animism has been used in a number of ways since Edward Tylor used it (in 1871) as a label to define the essence of religion as the 'belief in spirits' (i.e. metaphyisical, non-empirical or imagined entities). The majority of this entry discusses the original term, and the changes in its definition over time. The more recent use of the term derives from a more respectful engagement with people who treat the world as a community of living persons, only some of whom are human. This animism labels particular cultural attempts to relate respectfully with the persons (human, rock, plant, animal, bird, ancestral, etc.) who are also members of the wider community of life. This 'new animism' is discussed in more detail towards the end of the entry. The adjectives 'old' and 'new' relate to the theorising / writing about whatever it is that is labelled 'animism'. The data or practices or cultures or whatever may be contemporary or ancient.

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The old 'Animism' is the belief that personalized supernatural beings (or souls) inhabit all objects and govern their existence. One indication that someone is still talking 'old' animism, or is utterly confused, is when they say things like "animists believe inanimate objects are alive". Such an absolute contradiction in terms shows only that the writer is not thinking about what animists might actually be doing / saying. Instead, the likelihood is that real animists differ with others about what/who is a person or alive and what/who is not. Thus, to grapple with animism is to think carefully about modern/Western understandings of the world - and not just to ponder what some odd people might (wrongly) 'believe'.

Related Topics:
Supernatural - Soul

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Animism (from animus, or anima, mind or soul), originally means the doctrine of spiritual beings, including human souls. It is often extended to include the belief that personalized, supernatural beings (or souls) endowed with reason, intelligence and volition inhabit ordinary objects as well as animate beings, and govern their existence (pantheism or animatism). This can be stated simply as "everything is alive", "everything is conscious" or "everything has a soul".

Related Topics:
Mind - Spiritual beings - Supernatural - Reason - Intelligence - Volition - Pantheism - Animatism - Everything - Alive - Conscious

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Modern Neopagans, especially Eco-Pagans, sometimes describe themselves as animists, meaning that they respect the diverse community of living beings with whom humans share the world/cosmos. Some, however, use the term to refer to the idea that the Mother goddess and Horned god consist of everything that exists. This Pantheism in which God is equated with existence is different from animism because it imputes value to individual living beings and/or objects because they might reveal a larger reality or divinity behind everything. Animists respect beings for their own sake - whether because they have or are souls (the old Animism) or because they are persons (the new Animism).

Related Topics:
Neopagans - Mother goddess - Horned god - Pantheism - God - Existence

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The term is also the name of a theory of religion, proposed by the anthropologist Sir E. B. Tylor in his 1871 book, Primitive Culture.

Related Topics:
Religion - Anthropologist - E. B. Tylor - 1871 - Primitive Culture

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