animism, belief in personalized, supernatural beings (or souls) that often inhabit ordinary animals and objects, governing their existence. British anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor Tylor, Sir Edward Burnett, 1832–1917, English anthropologist. His extensive researches helped to develop interest in anthropological science in England.
..... Click the link for more information. argued in Primitive Culture (1871) that this belief was the most primitive and essential form of religion, and that it derived from people's self-conscious experience of the intangible, such as one's reflected image or dreams. He has been criticized for deducing that the chief function of religion is to explain various phenomena. Robert Marett studied among the Melanesians of the South Seas, noting the concept of mana, or supernatural power independent of any soul. He described the belief in such a force as animatism. People may also use mana; for example, a weapon that has killed many animals may be thought to have mana, and charms believed to have mana may be placed to protect gardens. French sociologist Emile Durkheim Durkheim, Émile (dûrk`hīm, Fr. āmēl` dürkĕm`), 1858–1917, French sociologist.
..... Click the link for more information. , in his Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912, tr. 1965), argued that the roots of religion lay in totemism (see totem totem (tō`təm), an object, usually an animal or plant (or all animals or plants of that species), that is revered by members of a
..... Click the link for more information. ), where certain objects or animals are treated as sacred objects. Although these early conceptions of animism, animitism, and totemism have been contested and revised, the terms are still used by some anthropologists to describe certain religious beliefs and rituals. See fetish fetish (fĕt`ĭsh), inanimate object believed to possess some magical power.
..... Click the link for more information. ; taboo taboo or tabu (both: tăb
..... Click the link for more information. ; amulet amulet (ăm`yəlĭt)
..... Click the link for more information. ; idol idol, an object, frequently an image, which is worshiped as a deity. Idols are usually found in human or animal form and may be treated as though alive; they are fed, bathed, anointed, crowned, and sometimes even provided with a consort.
..... Click the link for more information. ; shaman shaman (shä`mən, shā`–, shă`–)
..... Click the link for more information. ; ancestor worship ancestor worship, ritualized propitiation and invocation of dead kin. Ancestor worship is based on the belief that the spirits of the dead continue to dwell in the natural world and have the power to influence the fortune and fate of the living.
..... Click the link for more information. .

animism

Belief in the existence of spirits separable from bodies. Such beliefs are traditionally identified with small-scale (“primitive”) societies, though they also occur in major world religions. They were first competently surveyed by Edward Burnett Tylor in Primitive Culture (1871). Classic animism, according to Tylor, consists of attributing conscious life to natural objects or phenomena, a practice that eventually gave rise to the notion of a soul. See also shaman.

animism

1. the belief that natural objects, phenomena, and the universe itself have desires and intentions

2. (in the philosophies of the Greek philosophers Plato (?427--?347 bc) and Pythagoras (?580--?500 bc)) the hypothesis that there is an immaterial force that animates the universe
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animism (redirected from Animists)

animism

animism
(redirected from Animists)