Download Animism is the religious belief attributing a spiritual

Animism is the religious belief attributing a spiritual essence to natural
phenomena, including animals, plants, and inanimate objects.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE [ edit ]
Define the religious belief of animism.
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
In terms of its features, animism is defined as a set of beliefs based on the existence of nonhuman spiritual beings: that there is no separation between the spiritual and material world and
souls exist not only in humans, but also in all other entities of the natural environment.
Animism is used in the anthropology of religion as a term for the religion of indigenous tribal
peoples, especially prior to the development of civilization and organized religions.
Examples of animist art are as varied and diverse as the multiple world religions that have
produced them. However, the common element among them is that they depict natural elements
(animals, nature, earth) as spiritual entities.
TERM [ edit ]
animism
The religious belief of attributing a spiritual essence to natural phenomena, including animals,
plants, and sometimes even inanimate objects. (from Latin anima "soul, life")
Give us feedback on this content: FULL TEXT [edit ]
Animism is the religious belief of attributing a spiritual essence to natural phenomena,
including animals, plants, and sometimes inanimate objects. Specifically, animism is used in
the anthropology of religion as a term for the religion of indigenous tribal peoples, especially
prior to the development of civilization and organized religions. Although each tribe is unique
in its specific mythologies and rituals, the term animismis often used to describe the most
common thread of native tribespeoples'
spiritual or supernatural perspectives.
Most contemporary animist native tribal
people do not have a word in their
languages that corresponds to "animism,"
it is a purely anthropological term rather
than one self-designated by tribespeople
themselves.
In terms of its features, animism is defined
as a set of beliefs based on the existence of
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non-human "spiritual beings" or similar
kinds of embodied principles. Animists hold that there is no separation between the spiritual
and material world, and that souls or spirits exist—not only in humans, but also in all other
animals, plants, rocks, geographic features such as mountains and rivers, or other entities of
the natural environment. Animism may further attribute souls to abstractconcepts such as
words, true names, or metaphors in mythology. Animism is a belief held in many religions
around the world, and is not, as some have purported, a type of religion in itself. It is a belief,
such as shamanism, polytheism, or monotheism, that is found in several religions. Examples
of animism can be found in forms of Shinto, Serer, Hinduism,Buddhism,
Jainism, Pantheism, Paganism, and Neopaganism.
Examples of animist art are as varied and diverse as the multiple world religions that have
produced them. However, the common element among them is that they depict natural
elements (animals, nature, earth) as spiritual entities. Some, like the Aztecs, are capable of a
god's destructive violence ; while others, such as the Hindu, hold the cow sacred as a spiritual
symbol . Other groups, most notably the ancient Egyptians, fused animal features with
human limbs in visual depictions of their pantheon .
Hindu Cow
In Hinduism, the cow is not considered a god, but rather, a symbol of wealth, strength, abundance,
selfless giving, and a full Earthly life.
Horus
Horus, the Egyptian god of war, is depicted in ancient Egyptian art as a human figure with a a falcon
head, wearing a red and white crown, as a symbol of kingship over the entire kingdom of Egypt.
Quetzacoatl
Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec man, depicted as a snake devouring a man, from the Codex Telleriano­Remensis.