Animism

General Information

Animism is the belief that a spirit or divinity resides within every object, controlling its existence and influencing human life and events in the natural world. Animistic religious beliefs are widespread among primitive societies, particularly among those in which many different spiritual beings are believed to control different aspects of the natural and social environment.

The British anthropologist Sir Edward B. Tylor developed the concept of animism in the late 19th century. Tylor regarded animism as the most primitive stage in the evolution of religion. He suggested that the contemplation of dreams and trances and the observation of death led primitive peoples to conceive of the Soul and of human spirits, and that these spiritual conceptions were then projected onto the natural world. Although he developed no fixed evolutionary sequence, Tylor postulated that a belief in animism led to the definition of more generalized deities and, eventually, to the worship of a single god. This evolutionary view of religion has been rejected by many 20th-century anthropologists, who tend to stress the collective, social aspects of Primitive Religion.

Christian Clerk

Bibliography
Frazer, J. G., The Golden Bough, 3d ed. (1935; repr. 1966); Lowie, R. H., Primitive Religion (1948; repr. 1970); Tylor, E. B., Primitive Culture (1871; repr. 1970).

Related ideas: Shaman; Totem.