Animism
Pre-Vedic Animism
Before 4000 BCE
Animism is the belief that all beings and objects have a spirit or soul. This includes everything from the animate to the inanimate, including plants, animals, and even rocks and stars. The term is derived from the Latin anima, which means breath or soul.
Animism is thought to be one of man’s oldest beliefs dating back to the Paleolithic Age. All religions from the most primitive to modern day, share a version of this belief. According to E.B. Tylor, a notorious anthropologist and author of Primitive Culture (1871), primitive people arrived at this concept to help them explain the cause of sleep, dreams and death and to help them understand why some objects had lifelike qualities. Many anthropologists discount this theory and question whether religion developed to explain the universe or rather to fulfill a social-emotional need. Regardless, the concept of animism provides a basis for yogic thought – that there is a soul or spirit within us.
A list of phenomena that was believed to stem from the ideas of animism…
- trance
- unconsciousness
- sickness
- death
- clairvoyance
- dreams
- apparitions of the dead
- ghosts
- hallucinations
- shadows
- reflections
Study Guide Questions and Personal Reflections
- What concept from animism supports the basis for yogic thought?
- Name 3 phenomena that animism seeks to explain..
- Do you believe that plants or animals have a spirit or soul?
Vocabulary
- Animism