animism

Animism is a term used in anthropology and religious studies to describe a worldview in which the natural world is perceived as being animated by spirits or souls. In this view, beings such as humans, animals, plants, rocks, rivers, wind, and other phenomena may possess agency, personhood, or life force. The concept is often linked to the idea that humans can communicate with, attract, or appease such spirits, and that action in the world is guided by relationships with these energies rather than by impersonal forces alone.

Historically, animism has been associated with many indigenous and traditional belief systems around the world. Practices commonly cited in anthropological descriptions include offerings or rituals to spirits, divination, dream interpretation, and the mediation of specialists such as shamans or priests who negotiate with the supernatural realm. Ancestor spirits frequently play a central role in social life, lineage, and memory. It is important to note that animism is not a single, uniform doctrine but a broad category used to describe diverse ways that people relate to the nonhuman world.

Scholars have cautioned that “animism” reflects a Western analytic term rather than a native religious category, and it has been revised to emphasize variation, context, and interpretation within cultures. In modern scholarship, animism is treated as one dimension of religious expression among many, including monotheistic, polytheistic, and secular worldviews, and it may continue to adapt within contemporary cultural and ecological contexts.