I was Today Years Old When I Learned About Animism

Animism may be prehistoric, but it's presence is still alive today

Hiya!

Have you read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn? I read it in my 20s and can’t recommend it enough if you haven’t read it yet. Recently, my neighbor gave me the second book, which I didn’t know existed, called The Story of B. Both are impactful and offer new perspectives that will likely change how you see the world for the rest of your life.

Anywho, I was reading it last night when the characters began talking about animism. I didn’t know what it was, so naturally, I looked it up, and here we are because I stayed up way too late scouring the internet to learn more about it. Now I’m gonna tell it all to you. Well, not everything because that would fill a book, but I’ll tell you my favorite bits.

Animism Overview

Okay, so it’s a little confusing at first, but bear with me. The basic premise of animists is they believe in the “animation of all nature.” In other words, they believe anything — animals, plants, storms, waterfalls, a rock — can be inhabited by spirits, kinda.

It borders on being a religion but is viewed by most as being more of a precursor for religion rather than a religion in itself. This is mainly because animism is old, like really old, and has been, and continues to be, a belief shared by all hunter-gatherer tribes worldwide.

As far as we can tell, animism, in some form or another, has been around since our ancestors left Africa. Meaning it predates organized religion by a long shot — hence why some believe animism led to mainstream religions. Well, that and because traces of animism remains in most of them, from Christianity to Buddhism.

Additionally, since it’s been around for so long and believed by so many, any traditions, rituals, or stories around animism are often unique to each tribe or area. So instead of being considered a single religion, it’s more like a category to which similar but varying conventions belong.

While specifics may change, animists believe that some (not all) elements of Nature — literally anything in the natural world — are non-human persons whom we can have social relationships with. When I say “some” elements, I mean that some rocks might have spirits, but not all rocks do. Or a specific waterfall is a person, but not all waterfalls are.

Often, but not always, they believe these features to be deceased relatives or community members. But they may also be other Beings that possess their own unique personhood no different than you or I.

Similarly, another reason animism isn’t considered a religion, per se, is because animists’ thinking isn’t about believing in the existence of spirits or that a mindless rock has intention. It’s more like an experience, just another way to live among nature.

Think of it this way. An animist might express that an elephant is a person, but they aren’t stating it as a belief or a hypothesis to prove. If you have a pet, I’d imagine it’s similar to how you don’t need to prove your pet has a soul or personality. You know it does because of your interactions with it.

In other words, if you asked an animist if they are one, they’d have no idea what you’re talking about. Animism is less about worship and more about developing social relationships between people and non-human-persons — that’s it. No Heavens, Hells, Divine judgment or punishment, just forming relationships with other Beings in Nature.