Animism
Animism, (from the latin animus, or anima, meaning mind or soul), generally refers to belief in numerous spiritual beings. Additionally, it is 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. More simply, the belief is that "everything is alive", "everything is conscious" or else that "everything has a soul". The term has been further extended to refer to a belief that the natural world is a community of living personas, only some of whom are human. "Animism" has also been used in academia to refer to the types of cultures in which (or philosophies by which) these animists live, including the wider community of "persons" (human, rock, plant, animal, bird, ancestral, etc.) with whom they live. While the term refers to a broad range of spiritual beliefs, many of which are still extant within human cultures today, it does not denote any particular religious creed or doctrine.
Animism as a Category of Religion
The term "Animism" was first introduced to academic discourse by anthropologist, Sir Edward Burnett Tylor in his 1871 book, Primitive Culture. Tylor used the term to refer specifically to belief in spirits, that is, the belief in any entity described as having a mystical, supernatural, or non-empirical nature. Animist thought, Tylor proposed, served as a starting point for human religious development. That is, so-called "primitive" cultures such as the remaining hunter-gatherers upheld this superstitious belief that everything had a soul, reflecting their supposedly low level of technological development. Originally, these non-Western societies relied on animism to explain the occurence of certain events and processes. However, as technological thought progressed, so too did explanations for events in the physical world. As societies advanced from savagery to stages of barbarism and eventually modern civilization, Tylor believed that they subsequently inherited more complex beliefs, such as polydaemonism or polytheism and eventually the supposed pinnacles of religious thought, monotheism or else atheism. At the time that Tylor wrote, this theory was politically radical because it made the claim that non-Western peoples and in particular, non-Christian "heathens", do in fact have religion. Tylor's use of the term animism was indubitably pejorative, referring to what he conceived as an inferior form of religion, and this usage has since been widely rejected along with his overall theory of religious evolution. The theory reflected, at best, an attempt to make societal development consonant with the development of species described by Charles Darwin. Today the term animism is used with more respect and sensitivity to the obvious viability of tribal peoples and their spiritual beliefs. It is now commonly accepted that religious beliefs function emotionally and socially, rather than purely for the purpose of intellectual explanation, illustrative of the greater problem that Tylor had imposed a Western view of religion upon the tribal peoples he studied.
Many thinkers do not categorize animism as a form of religion at all. They argue that animism is in the first instance an explanation of phenomena rather than an attitude of mind toward the cause of them. Thus, animistic thought is more philosophical rather than strictly religion. The term may, however, be conveniently used to describe a form of religion in which people endeavour to set up relations between themselves and the unseen powers, conceived as spirits, but differing in many particulars from the gods of polytheism. Sir James G. Frazer, in The Golden Bough, has differentiated the character of the animistic pantheon from that of the polytheistic one: "they are restricted in their operations to definite departments of nature; their names are general, not proper; their attributes are generic rather than individual; in other words, there is an indefinite number of spirits of each class, and the individuals of a class are much alike; they have no definitely marked individuality; no accepted traditions are current as to their origin, life and character." Unlike the polytheistic gods, then, according to Frazer, animistic spiritual entities are more general and functional in their character, without a deeply developed mythology. This stage of religion is well illustrated by the Native American custom of offering sacrifice to certain rocks, or whirlpools, or to the indwelling spirits connected with them. The rite is only performed in the neighbourhood of the object, and is not intended to secure any benefits beyond a safe passage past the object in question. The spirit to be propitiated has a purely local sphere of influence, and powers of a very limited nature when compared to those of the polytheist God. Animistic in many of their features too are the temporary gods of fetishism, naguals or familiars, genii and even the dead who receive a cult. With the belief in more departmental gods comes the practice of polytheism, and henceforth what is considered by some to be full-fledged religious thought. Such religious beliefs are viewed as superceding the elemental spirits of the animist worldview. In contrast, those who argue that animism is a religion place focus upon the fact that worship is directed toward the spirits identified by the animist. Even after polytheist religious movements take effect, the elemental spirits may still be conceived of "lesser gods" while receiving this worship. Their help and intervention is sought, sacrifices are made, and their instructions received through divination are obeyed. Thus, these thinkers proceed to claim that animism embodies the ritualistic features of religion, and so should be considered as such.
Common Features of Animism
Existence of Souls or Spirits
The core feature of animistic thought is the belief in souls or spirits, that is, some kind of metaphysical entity conceived to be the life-source of human beings, animals, plants and even non-living objects and phenomena alike. For animistic cultures, existence of such entities with operational and volitional qualities provide explanations for the inumberable changes in the external world. Numerous examples of such entities can be found in human cultures. In Tasmania, North and South America and classical Europe is found the conception that the soul — σκιά, umbra — is identical with the shadow of a person. Similarly, among the Basutus of Lesotho it is held that a man walking by the brink of a river may lose his life if his shadow falls on the water, since a crocodile may seize his soul and draw him into the current. More familiar to Europeans is the connection between the soul and the breath. This identification is found both in Indo-European and within the linguistic roots of the words in Semitic languages: In Latin we have spiritus, in Greek pneuma, and in Hebrew ruach. The idea is found extending to many other cultures in Australia, America and Asia.
Most animistic belief systems hold that the spirit survives physical death. In some instances, the spirit is believed to pass into a more leisurely world of abundant game and ever-ripe crops, while in other systems, such as that of the Navajo religion, the spirit remains on earth as a ghost, which may often become malignant. Still other systems combine these two beliefs, holding that the afterlife involves a journey to the spirit world upon which the soul must not be lost. This journey entails much wandering as a ghost. Funeral, mourning rituals, and ancestor worship performed by those surviving the deceased are often considered necessary for the completion of this journey. For some of the Native Americans and First Nations the Roman custom of receiving the breath of a dying man was no mere pious duty but a means of ensuring that his soul was successfully transferred to a new body. Other familiar conceptions identify the soul with the [[liver] or the heart, with the reflected figure outwardly visible in the pupil of the eye, and within the blood.
Although the soul is most often distinguished from the vital principles mentioned above, there are many cases in which a state of unconsciousness is explained as due to the absence of the soul. In South Australia wilyamarraba, a term which refers to the state of being without a soul, is also the term used for that which cannot be perceived with the senses. Similarly, the autohypnotic trance of the magician or shaman is attributed to their visit to distant regions of the netherworld, from which they bring back a prescriptive account of the discontents of the spirits. Similarly, sickness is often explained as occuring due to the absence of the soul, and measures are sometimes taken to lure back this vagrant spirit. In Chinese tradition, when a person is at the point of death their soul is believed to have left their body. Typically, the dying individual's coat is held up on a long bamboo pole while a priest endeavours to bring the departed spirit back into the coat by means of incantations. If the bamboo begins to turn round in the hands of the relative who is responsible for holding it, it is regarded as a sign that the soul of the patient has returned to their body.
More commonly perhaps than these aforementioned phenomena, is the importance of the daily period of sleep in animistic traditions. The frequent fitful and incoherent ideas and images included within dreams, is interpreted in many cultures to illustrate the fact that the soul journies forth while the body rests. Dreams are sometimes explained in animist cultures as journeys performed by the sleeper, or else as visits paid to the sleeper by other persons, animals or objects. Hallucinations may also have contributed to this interpretation, and the animistic theory in general. Seeing the phantasmic figures of friends at the moment when they were, whether at the point of death or in good health, many miles distant, may have led people to the dualistic separation of soul and body that is common within animism. But hallucinatory figures, both in dreams and waking life, are not necessarily those of the living. From the reappearance of dead friends or enemies, primitive man was led to the belief that there existed an incorporeal part of man, which survived the dissolution of the body. The soul was conceived to be a facsimile of the body, sometimes no less material, sometimes more subtle but yet material, sometimes altogether impalpable and intangible. If the phenomena of dreams were of such great importance for the development of animism, the belief expanded into a general philosophy of nature. Not only human beings but animals and objects are seen in dreams, and therefore it is possible that animists concluded that these entities also had souls.
Beside the doctrine of separable souls with which we have so far been concerned exists the animist belief in a great host of unattached spirits. These are not immanent souls that have become detached from their abodes, but have instead every appearance of independent spirits. These spirits are, at least at first, primarily considered malevolent. Along with them we find the conception that spirits of the dead as hostile beings. At a later stage the spirits of dead kinsmen are no longer unfriendly, nor yet are they all non-human spirits. As fetishes, naguals, familiar spirits, gods or demi-gods (see also demonology), they enter into relations with man. On the other hand there still subsists a belief in innumerable evil spirits, which manifest themselves in the phenomena of possession, lycanthropy, disease, and so on. The fear of evil spirits has given rise to ceremonies of expulsion of evils, designed to banish these entities from the community.
Shamanism
Because of the malevolence of such spirits, as well as the various ills which can befall the individual soul or the community at large, the animist community often sees the need for spiritual healers, or shamans. Due to the great deal of importance placed upon the world of spirits, complex systems of shamanism often arise. Shamanism refers to a range of traditional beliefs and practices that claim the ability to diagnose and cure human suffering and, in some societies, the ability to cause suffering. This is believed to be accomplished by traversing the axis mundi and forming a special relationship with, or gaining control over, spirits. Shamans have been credited with the ability to control the weather, divination, the interpretation of dreams, astral projection, and traveling to upper and lower worlds. Despite the equality of humans with regard to spirituality, some rise above the others, possessing powers greater than or external to the normal human experience. In Native American groups, only the shaman had the power to commune with the gods or spirits, to mediate between them and ordinary mortals, to talk with the souls on behalf of the living. The shaman, man or woman, was often an extraordinary character, both in physical appearance and in acting talents. He would be a mystic, poet, sage, healer of the sick, guardian of the tribe, and the repository of stories. Those who did not possess the full range of the shamanistic attributes became simply "medicine men", and functioned as respected healers. To become a shaman, a person had to "receive the call", to suffer a religious experience, and would then be initiated into the mysteries of the art. By symbolic death and resurrection, he acquired a new mode of being; his physical and mental frame underwent a thorough change. During this period of initiation, the novice would see the spirits of the universe and leave his body like a spirit, soaring through the heavens and underworld. There he would be introduced to the different spirits and taught which to address in future trances.
Survival of the Dead
In many parts of the world it is held that the human body is the seat of more than one soul. On the island of Nias four are distinguished: the shadow and the intelligence, which die with the body, a tutelary spirit, termed begoe, and a second spirit, which is carried on the head. Similar ideas are found among the Euahlayi of southeast Australia, the Dakotas and many other tribes. Just as in Europe the ghost of a dead person is held to haunt the churchyard or the place of death, so do other cultures assign different abodes to the multiple souls with which they credit man. Of the four souls of a Dakota, one is held to stay with the corpse, another in the village, a third goes into the air, while the fourth goes to the land of souls, where its lot may depend on its rank in this life, its sex, mode of death or sepulture, on the due observance of funeral ritual, or many other points.
From the belief in the survival of the dead arose the practice of offering food, lighting fires, etc., at the grave, at first, maybe, as an act of friendship or filial piety, later as an act of ancestor worship. The simple offering of food or shedding of blood at the grave develops into an elaborate system of sacrifice. Even where ancestor worship is not found, the desire to provide the dead with comforts in the future life may lead to the sacrifice of wives, slaves, animals, and so on, to the breaking or burning of objects at the grave or to the provision of the ferryman's toll: a coin put in the mouth of the corpse to pay the traveling expenses of the soul. But all is not finished with the passage of the soul to the land of the dead. The soul may return to avenge its death by helping to discover the murderer, or to wreak vengeance for itself. There is a widespread belief that those who die a violent death become malignant spirits and endanger the lives of those who come near the haunted spot. The woman who dies in childbirth becomes a pontianak, and threatens the life of human beings. People resort to magical or religious means of repelling their spiritual dangers.
Humans Imbedded in Nature
In some animistic worldviews found in hunter-gatherer cultures, the human being is often regarded as on a roughly equal footing with the animals, plants, and natural forces surrounding them. Therefore, it is morally imperative to treat these agents with respect. In this worldview, humans are considered a denizen, or part, of nature, rather than superior to or separate from it. In such societies, ritual is considered essential for survival as it wins the favor of the spirits of one's source of food, shelter, and fertility and wards off malevolent spirits. In more elaborate animistic religions, such as Shinto, there is a greater sense of a special character to humans that sets them apart from the general run of animals and objects, while retaining the necessity of ritual to ensure good luck, favorable harvests, and so on.
It is not surprising to find that many peoples respect and even worship animals (see totem or animal worship), often regarding them as relatives. It is clear that widespread respect was paid to animals as the abode of dead ancestors, and much of the cults to dangerous animals is traceable to this principle; though we need not attribute an animistic origin to it. With the rise of species, deities and the cult of individual animals, the path towards anthropomorphization and polytheism is opened and the respect paid to animals tended to be reduced or lost entirely, especially in its strict animistic character. Apart from considerations of this sort, it is probable that animals were regarded as possessing souls, early in the history of animistic beliefs. We may assume that man attributed a soul to the beasts of the field almost as soon as he claimed one for himself. The animist may attribute to animals the same sorts of ideas, the same soul, the same mental processes as himself, which may also be associated with greater power, cunning, or magical abilities. Dead animals are sometimes credited with a knowledge of how their remains are treated, potentially with the power to take vengeance on the hunter if he is disrespectful.
Just as human souls are assigned to animals, so too are trees and plants often credited with souls, both human and animal in form. All over the world agricultural peoples practise elaborate ceremonies explicable, as Wilhelm Mannhardt has shown, on animistic principles. In Europe the corn spirit sometimes immanent in the crop, sometimes a presiding deity whose life does not depend on that of the growing corn, is conceived in some districts in the form of an ox, hare or cock, in others as an old man or woman. In the East Indies and Americas the rice or maize mother is a corresponding figure; in classical Europe and the East we have in Ceres and Demeter, Adonis and Dionysus, and other deities, vegetation gods whose origin we can readily trace back to the rustic corn spirit. Here we see an example where Tylor's theory seems plausible, as animistic thought progresses, in this case, to polytheism. Forest trees, no less than cereals, may have their indwelling spirits. The fauns and satyrs of classical literature were goat-footed; in Russia, the tree spirit of the Russian peasantry takes the form of a goat. In Bengal and the East Indies woodcutters endeavour to propitiate the spirit of the tree which they cut down. In many parts of the world trees are regarded as the abode of the spirits of the dead. Just as a process of syncretism has given rise to cults of animal gods, tree spirits tend to become detached from the trees, which are thenceforward only their abodes. Here again animism has begun to pass into polytheism.
Some cultures do not make a distinction between animate and inanimate objects. Natural phenomenon, geographic features, everyday objects, and manufactured articles may also be attributed with souls. In the north of Europe, in ancient Greece, in China, the water or river spirit is horse or bull-shaped. The water monster in serpent shape is even more widely found, but it is less strictly the spirit of the water. The spirit of syncretism manifests itself in this department of animism too, turning the immanent spirit into the presiding djinn or local god of later times.
Contemporary Examples of Animism in Human Culture
Tribal Animism
The amount of cultures which have upheld animist beliefs is almost impossible to report accurately, as the belief system has been held in its various iterations throughout innumberable cultures throughout history. Despite what Tylor may have theorized about animism being a mere "stage" that all religious belief must pass through, numerous cultures have held on to animist beliefs and practices, often for many thousands of years. Numerous tribal and hunter gatherer cultures maintaining ancient lifestyles have also maintained animistic beliefs, and still exist in the contemporary world. Today Animists live in significant numbers among tribal peoples in countries such as Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, the Republic of Guinea Bissau, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Although the religious beliefs vary immensely between each of these cultures, they all hold to the basic tenet of animism that every object has its own soul, spirit or consciousness.
Modern Neopaganism
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 (as in the original definition of the word) or because they are persons (the new definition). Because of this multiplicity of souls, modern Neopaganism is commonly concerned with the relation between human beings and the environment. Pagan activism is activism that arises from a person's pagan religious beliefs, often including activism on political issues related to environmentalism, feminism, LGBT rights, pacifism, and religious freedom. Many neopagan environmental activists combine direct action with magic in the pursuit of various social and political goals. There are currently many neopgagan activist groups around the world, dedicated to various causes. One of the longest-lasting and most well-known of these groups is the Reclaiming tradition of Witchcraft started by Starhawk in the late 1970s. Reclaiming combines religious practice with political activism from a generally ecofeminist perspective. Another prominent neopagan group that uses magical practices as a component of their political activism is Isaac Bonewits' Spells for Democracy network.
Furthermore, Neopagan ritual shares many features with the shamanistic rites of the classic animist cultures. Rites of passage, like most forms of Neopagan ritual, take place within a sacred circle. The basic ritual form of the circle casting illustrates the ways in which deity is in the world, not outside it. While different variations on circle casting exist, most circles are oriented with the four cardinal directions, and the four directions are typically associated with forces of nature: fire, air, water, and earth. Some Neopagans address the "powers" of a particular direction, while others address the "winds." Depending on the ritual, specific gods and goddesses are invoked and invited to be present in the circle or embodied by participants. During the ritual, participants are often led on an "astral journey" in which they visualize another realm of existence, the spirit world, or astral reality. The presence of deities, journeys through other worlds, and shifts of consciousness all contribute to participants' experience of the rite. Because it is designated as a safe and sacred space, the circle facilitates initiations, the passing from one phase of life to another, and the shifting from one type of consciousness to another. Much like the initiation ceremonies animist cultures performed on members of their societies, witchcraft covens and Neopagan ritual groups include initiation rites to mark the passage of members from one stage of learning and skill to another.
The new animism
In an article entitled "Animism Revisited", Nurit Bird-David builds on the work of Irving Hallowell by discussing the animist worldview and lifeway of the Nayaka of India. Hallowell had learnt from the Ojibwa of southern central Canada that the humans are only one kind of 'person' among many. There are also 'rock persons', 'eagle persons' and so on. Hallowell and Bird-David discuss the ways in which particular indigenous cultures know how to relate to particular persons (individuals or groups). There is no need to talk of metaphysics or impute non-empirical 'beliefs' in discussing animism. What is required is an openness to consider that humans are neither separate from the world nor distinct from other kinds of being in most significant ways. The new animism also makes considerably more sense of attempts to understand 'totemism' as an understanding that humans are not only closely related to other humans but also to particular animals, plants, etc. It also helps by providing a term for the communities among whom shamans work: they are animists not 'shamanists'. Shamans are employed among animist communities to engage or mediate with other-than-human persons in situations that would be fraught or dangerous for un-initiated, untrained or non-skillful people. The -ism of 'animism' should not suggest an overly systematic approach (but this is true of the lived reality of most religious people), but it is preferable to the term shamanism which has led many commentators to construct an elaborate system out of the everyday practices of animists and those they employ to engage with other-than-human persons. The new animism is most fully discussed in a recent book by Graham Harvey, Animism: Respecting the Living World. But it is also significant in the 'animist realist' novels now being written among many indigenous communities worldwide. The term 'animist realism' was coined by Harry Garuba, a Nigerian scholar of literature, in comparison with 'magical realism' that describes works such as Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Significance of Animism
Animism is an immensely important modality of thought as well as a category of religious classification. Not only has the academic construct of animism helped us to understand many aspects of human culture as it has developed through history, but can also provide insights today: not only is animism representative of one of the oldest forms of religion, but it is still in existence today. While animism is present in tribal cultures of Ghana, Gabon, and even Native American religion, it is also subtly a part of the greater span of human consciousness. For example, the folk psychology which plays such an important part in animist cultures still has affects in our modern positivist psychology. Phenomena such as "emotions", "motivations," and "intentions," just to name a few, are all folk psychological terms which were arguably synthesized out of animist notions of the soul before they came to be tested scientifically. Further, animist thinking often finds its way into our everyday lives each time we blame, for instance, fallible technology for "willfully" breaking down. Thus, a natural affinity for animism does perhaps exist in humans, which we still see in our everyday life. All of the core beliefs of animism persist in decidedly non-animistic religions today. Supposedly more "advanced" monotheist religions such as Christianity and Islam, among others, proclaim the existence of human souls as well as spirits (in the case of angels). All religions believe in some sort of survival of the dead beyond earthly life, whether it be the judgement so important in the doctrines of the Abrahamic religions, or the doctrine of reincarnation so popular in the east. Arguably, forms of shamanism live on within those who perform the rituals in religious ceremonies, whether they be priests or rabbis. And finally, the sense of human relation in nature is becoming increasingly popular in contemporary religion as the importance of the ecological position of humanity becomes more and more of an issue. Thus, the tenets of animism can be said to have, at least in part, formed the bedrock of religion as we know it today.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Bird-David, Nurit. 1991. "Animism Revisited: Personhood, environment, and relational epistemology", Current Anthropology 40, pp. 67-91. Reprinted in Graham Harvey (ed.) 2002. Readings in Indigenous Religions (London and New York: Continuum) pp.72-105.
- Hallowell, A. Irving. "Ojibwa ontology, behavior, and world view" in Stanley Diamond (ed.) 1960. Culture in History (New York: Columbia University Press). Reprinted in Graham Harvey (ed.) 2002. Readings in Indigenous Religions (London and New York: Continuum) pp.17-49.
- Harvey, Graham. Animism: Respecting the Living World London: Hurst and co.; New York: Columbia University Press; Adelaide: Wakefield Press, 2005.
- "Rites of Passage: Neopagan Rites". <http://www.bookrags.com/other/religion/neopagan-rites-eorl-11.html>
- "Systems of Religious and Spiritual Belief." The New Encyclopedia Britannica: Volume 26 Macropaedia. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2002. 530-577.
See also
External links
- Animism and Totem Spirit Animals: Discovering Animal Totems, Dictionaries, Feathers
- Ishmael.org FAQ A database which includes many questions and answers regarding animism (and which conflicts greatly with the definition of the 'old' animism above while illustrating one version of the 'new' animism quite well) on the website of Daniel Quinn, author of My Ishmael. Choose Animism from Topic.
- [1] is a new website devoted to the discussion of the new animism. It arises from the work of Graham Harvey whose book Animism: Respecting the Living World discusses the whole topic, its benefits and problems, in considerable detail.
- [2] A personal view of animism
- [3] Animism in Zambia
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