Animism is the belief that all things are spirit and that all spirit is One. There is no separateness, no hierarchy. All spirits are equal, because all spirits are part of the One.

Animism lacks the duality of later belief systems: good/bad, negative/positive. In animism, values exist more along a scale---from less powerful to more powerful, from less harmonious to more harmonious.

In animism humans are not the center of the universe--not at all. For example, many animals are stronger, fiercer, faster, or smarter about certain things than humans. Many animals can do things that humans can't, such as fly through the air, live underwater, and so on.

Trees are stronger than humans, and they live much longer. Trees have their own spirits and knowledge and are revered by many cultures.

Stones are known to be much older and wiser than humans. Their vibrations are not disturbed by ours, but they can affect us. Mountains have been revered since time immemorial as wise, powerful, and spiritual beings. And so on.

Animism Is the Oldest System of Spiritual Beliefs

Animism is the oldest spiritual belief system that is known. Anthropologists and archeologists have found evidence for animism going back at least 50,000 years, and they believe it is much, much older.

Modern human beings like us have existed for about 250,000 years. Originally humans foraged or scavanged for food. Tbey were gatherers. Eventually humans learned to hunt animals instead of just scavanging dead ones.

Until around 10 to 12,000 years ago, all peoples were gatherers and hunters. In the classic, so-called hunter-gatherer cultures, the gatherers, the women and children, provide 75 to 85 percent of the food. More in some cultures, less in others.

Anthropologists know from intensely studying indigenous gathering-hunting peoples that the belief system for such peoples, all over the world, is generally animism.

The oldest peoples were and are very small. Even now there are indigenous people in Central Asia (Nepal), in South America (Peru, Equador) and in Africa (the Bushmen) who are under 5 feet tall. Many animals are much larger, faster, and stronger.

Early humans lived through ice ages when many animals were huge, such as10-foot-long sabertooth cats and 14-foot tall wooly mammoths. Even after the ice ages ended, large predators such as lions, tigers, leopards, pumas, and bears were much larger and fiercer than humans.

Humans were humble. They were not the top of the food chain. They could not run as fast as cheetahs or deer, did not have claws like big cats or badgers, could not fly like eagles--or even the tiniest insect.

Early humans (like traditional gathering-hunting peoples today), knew that the animals were their older brothers and sisters, from whom they could learn many important things by observation and in dreams and visions. They knew that the trees were even older and held special knowledge. And they knew that the stones, the mountains, the rivers, and the oceans were older still, and each had its own spirit and special knowledge.

Spirit in Everything, Messages Everywhere

In animist cultures all people get messages in dreams and visions from animals, plants, stones and other spirits. In order to be in harmony with spirit and nature, to be happy and to survive, they pay attention to those messages.

Much more info on animism is coming soon.

Home * What is Shamanism? * Origins of Shamanism * Spirit World & World Tree * Animals, Plants & Stones * Journeying to the Spirit World * Energy Cleansing * Shielding & Protection * Drumming & Rattling * Toning & Chanting * Ecstatic Trance Postures * Divination, Dreams & Visions * Shamanic Healing * Soul Retrieval * Soul Release (Psychopomp) * Altars & Sacred Places * Masks & Shaman Regalia * Other Resources * Amazon Book Shop * About Shamanista * Site Map