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The word “animism” comes from the Latin term anima, which means “soul” or life force.
Animism is the belief that all living things are endowed with a spiritual essence. Plants and microscopic life are included sometimes. Even inanimate objects are sometimes filled with the animating force of life, according to some animistic beliefs. One distinctive feature of animism is that there is no separation, no distinction between the realms of matter and the realms of spirit.
Animism is present in many of the religions of the world. In certain Hindu traditions, there’s a practice of sacrificing the spirit of the rooster through offering its blood in sacrifice to particular gods.
The traditional Japanese religion called Shinto has many animistic features also. Many Shinto shrines incorporate natural structures, such as mountains or trees, with kami that are honored and revered.
There are elements of animism also in the religion of Jainism. Practitioners practice extreme nonviolence and self control as a principle means of spiritual freedom and spiritual liberation. All forms of life—animal, plant, down to the microscopic level—possess souls, according to the cosmology of Jainism.
Many ancient and contemporary traditions are categorized as pagan religions or paganism. Animism is a central feature here as well. All of nature is believed to be inseparable from the spirit realm. Deity infuses nature, and therefore there’s no distinction.
Pantheism is the idea that a divine spiritual force or god is omnipresent in the created world of matter and therefore resides in every aspect of life in the universe. Pantheism is a way of thinking about the sacred that, like animism, can also often be applied to paganism.
One difference between pantheism and animism is that, usually, pantheists believe in an all-present and immanent divine, whereas animism doesn’t necessarily have specific notions regarding the nature of divinity per se. The foundational structure of animism has more to do with primal spirits differentiated by the form of life that they inhabit.
Source: THIS TUTORIAL WAS AUTHORED BY TED FAIRCHILD FOR SOPHIA LEARNING. Please see our Terms of Use.