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Animism

Page history last edited by PBworks 15 years, 10 months ago

 

Animism (from animus, or anima, mind or soul), originally meant the doctrine of spiritual beings.

 

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). More simply, the belief is that "everything is alive", "everything is conscious" or "everything has a soul".

 

It has been further extended to mean a belief that the world is a community of living persons, only some of whom are human. It also refers to the culture or philosophy which these types of Animists live by, that is, to attempt to relate respectfully with the persons (human, rock, plant, animal, bird, ancestral, etc.) who are also members of the wider community of life.

 

"Animism" can refer to the religion or beliefs or philosophy of the above interpretations. It can also refer to the culture and practices related to Animism.

 

"Animism" was the term used by anthropologist, Sir E. B. Tylor, as a proposed theory of religion, in his 1871 book, Primitive Culture. He used it to mean a 'belief in spirits' (i.e. mystical, supernatural, non-empirical or imagined entities). Tylor's use of the term has since been widely criticized. Today the term is used with more respect.

 

Today Animists live in significant numbers in countries such as Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, the Republic of Guinea Bissau, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States.

 

See also: Eco-Paganism

 

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