Animism: The First Religion?

Animism is also common in pop culture. Watch my analysis of religion in the Mario series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhXHl2iMnOs&feature=youtu.be

Anyone who spends any amount of time in the woods will be shocked at just how fast you naturally fall into animistic thoughts.

People still ascribe emotions to object, especially when googly eyes are involved

As much as people might dismiss animism intellectually on a gut level in our daily lives many people embrace it. How many people assign gender or even proper names to their cars? Or their knives? I dated a girl who would apologize to her car after hitting a pothole really hard!

I've always been fascinated by how intensely social humans are. We're so inclined to view the world in terms of people and relationships that even those actively committed to scientific rationalism can't help but describe nature as acting with agency. Imagine if a less social alien came to visit and heard us saying things like "nature abhors a vacuum" or "ugh, my computer just refuses to work today" as if 'nature' or a computer were an independent entity with desires and volition. They'd think we were mad!

I am an Anthropology student in Iran and i cant describe how vile educational system here is. As a result we literally dont learn anything valuable in our classes and i cant thank you enough for this information you sharing. You are teaching me what i had to learn in university but i dont!

Reading: "Braiding Sweetgrass", where an native American biologist is reconciling her ancestral tongue, which sees the trees, forest, river, as her brothers, with her scientific background, was really fascinating. It showed me that scientific enlightenment has something to gain from a familiar and holistic approach to its subject, rooted in respect.

Ancient peoples had a bond with the land that most people today can’t even fathom. They were deeply tuned in to the passing of the seasons and the changes occurring all around them in such a world it’s quite possible to see how someone would build a deep spiritual relationship with the world around them. I think this is where the root of animism is.

That dream argument was really weird. Specifically because you can dream about other people... while they’re alive. If the “primitive human” had a dream about their friend, and woke up and talked about the events of the dream to their friend, they’d soon realize it didn’t happen. Most people learn that dreams aren’t real well before a loved one dies. Also I highly doubt that humans at some point couldn’t distinguish dreams from reality.

isn't Shinto a form of animism?

I think it’s extremely interesting to look at religious beliefs differing from polytheism and monotheism. Pantheism, Animism, and other religious beliefs are so different than the Abrahamic and Familiar faiths, it’s amazing to see the variety of beliefs that have evolved over such a long amount of time.

We were just discussing this a few weeks ago in my anthropology of religion class. Perfect timing

My tribe has been following animism for thousand of years. We believe there is spirits in everything in this world. We worship land, water (river, rain), plants. We hold holy ceremony before planting crops and also during its harvest. I would rather believe in nature than god.

That’s an interesting jump in deductive power Tylor makes—that a “barbarian” wouldn’t be able to distinguish between a dream and being awake

I think the evolution of species can be a good analogy of the evolution of religion. A big misconception is that evolution works towards some sort of goal or something than better than there was before. But it does not, it just...goes. Some things just work, in a particular place and time, but not in another place and time. Everything is perfect and nothing is.

Thank you. Have usually associated Animism with a fundamental relationship towards, and respect for Nature. And even beneath the Hinduism and Buddhism in most westernized Asian countries today, there are still many rituals and celebrations derived from much more ancient Animist traditions. Once while walking around downtown Bangkok, Thailand, mainly a Buddhist country, I stumbled on a huge banyan tree, located next to a stream behind a Hilton Hotel of all places, complete with candles and dozens of 'phallus-shaped' wood carvings, all stacked like so much cordwood... apparently as offerings to the Animist spirit residing in the tree, left by 'hopeful' women, or those already pregnant, seeking a healthy pregnancy and birth.

I live in the United States and my co-worker is from Algeria. He is a Berber. He says his culture's religion is one of the oldest indigenous religions and their focus is nature and freedom.

I'd identify as animist. I spent most of my childhood alone in the woods. The trees became more like my home than my house. I had special trees and clearings and stumps and boulders. They felt sacred to me and I miss them dearly.

I mean ... it makes sense to see "Animism" as "the first religion", simply because of the function. It's (like RFB said) basically the pattern recognition of the human brain including non-human into the "we can make decisions"-club. This basic thought of "the mountains might be alive" is a good base for more specific believes like "This mountain is called Baharum, who is the son of the sky and the earth." So seeing "Animism" as the baseline of religions is arguably correct. Even if the name is a bit misleading in this context.

I’m sámi and our religion is called animism by a lot of people. great video