animism
Objects have spirits
Animism is the belief that natural objects, phenomena, and the universe itself possess souls or spiritual essence.
Rivers, mountains, trees, and animals are understood as animate beings with their own consciousness or agency.
The term describes indigenous and traditional religious worldviews, though it was coined by Western anthropologists and can carry condescending overtones.
Animism shapes how many cultures relate to the land.
Mediation between worlds
- totemismBelief linking clans to symbols
- tribalOf a clan
- ancestralOf one's forebears
- aboriginalIndigenous to a place
traditional · precolonial · folklore · dreamtime · ethnographic · autochthonous · elders · kinship
Soul, mood, or liquor
- soulInnermost animating essence
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
- afterlifeExistence beyond mortality
- reincarnationSoul's rebirth after death
cosmology · worldview · vitalism · immanence · life-force · sentience · consciousness · indwelling
Formal event marking occasions
- shamanIndigenous spiritual healer
- offeringSomething presented or given
- altarSacred ritual table
- incantationSpoken magical formula
sacrifice · libation · mask · drumming · chanting · trance · divination · appeasement
Arrange letters correctly
- mediumMiddle size or state
- conjureSummon by supernatural means
- séanceSpirit communication ritual
- channelingDirecting flow or energy
necromancy · exorcism · curse · hex · charm · talisman · fetish · amulet
Quality of being inviolable
- reverenceProfound admiring respect
- venerationProfound admiring respect
- tabooCultural or social prohibition
- shrineSacred devotional place
holy · numinous · sacredness · profane · prohibition · purity · defilement · blessing
shamanism
Mediation between worlds
aboriginal · traditional · precolonial · folklore · dreamtime · ethnographic · autochthonous · elders · kinship · land-based
spirit
Soul, mood, or liquor
- soulInnermost animating essence
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
- afterlifeExistence beyond mortality
reincarnation · cosmology · worldview · vitalism · immanence · life-force · sentience · consciousness · indwelling · mana
ceremony
Formal event marking occasions
incantation · sacrifice · libation · mask · drumming · chanting · trance · divination · appeasement · propitiation
spell
Arrange letters correctly
channeling · necromancy · exorcism · curse · hex · charm · talisman · fetish · amulet · possession
sanctity
Quality of being inviolable
- reverenceProfound admiring respect
- venerationProfound admiring respect
- tabooCultural or social prohibition
shrine · holy · numinous · sacredness · profane · prohibition · purity · defilement · blessing · consecrated
landforms
Natural geographic features
- elementsFundamental parts or substances
- Folk ReligionsSanteria, Shinto, spirit worship, folk belief, folk magic
- beliefsbelief, beliefs, creed, creeds, faith
- personificationpersonification, anthropomorphism, talking trees, talking toys, human traits
- tribal beliefsshamans, ancestral spirits, nature spirits, spirit worship, totemism
- tribal religionsshamans, healers, medicine men, witch doctors, spirit mediums
- ancient religionsGreek religion, Zoroastrianism, paganism, mystery cults, Norse paganism
animismmaterialism
Prioritizing goods over spirit
physicalism · naturalism · atomism · reductionism · secular humanism
animismatheism
Rejection of deities
monotheism · deism · agnosticism · secular humanism · transcendentalism
animismmechanism
Means by which something operates
anthropocentrism · human exceptionalism · instrumentalism · disenchantment · industrialism