Any Animist might describe their experience in a unique way, yet there are striking similarities between our experiences.
Wikipedia says:
Animism (from Latin animus, -i “soul, life“)[1] is the worldview that non-human entities (animals, plants, and inanimate objects or phenomena) possess a spiritual essence.[2][3][4]
Specifically, animism is used in the anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system or cosmology of some indigenous tribal peoples,[5] especially prior to the development and/or infiltration of colonialism and organized religion.[6] Although each culture has its own different mythologies and rituals, “animism” is said to describe the most common, foundational thread of indigenous peoples’ “spiritual” or “supernatural” perspectives. The animistic perspective is so fundamental, mundane, everyday and taken-for-granted that most animistic indigenous people do not even have a word in their languages that corresponds to “animism” (or even “religion”);[7] the term is an anthropological construct rather than one designated by the people themselves.
The following statements describe Web of Life Church’s particular approach to Animism. Welcome Home!
The Stories of the Earth Tribes
ALL people are naturally connected to the balance of all time.
When one looks at the stories of human cultures all over this beautiful Earth, one sees many similarities between them. For many thousands of years, on any continent and in all bioregions, there have always been dynamic differences in land, language and the way people look, but our ancestors did very similar things. People wisely used fire. People decorated themselves. People told stories of how they came to be.
While groups of people tend to see the differences between themselves and others “We are not like them over there!”, the similarities in the human cultures that sustained life for thousands of generations far outweigh any differences.
People lived in family groups. They hunted, gathered, and cultivated their food. They knew that animal and plant beings were alive, just as humans were. They also believed, in their own unique ways, that Divinity was revealed in Nature, actually that Divinity was Nature and that humans were/are a part of that Divinity system.
Other Animist principles include:
~An understanding that there are unseen elements/helpers/spirits that can speak to, help or hurt a person or group and that humans can communicate with, and hopefully gain the favor of, these elements.
~Powerful teachings can and do come through dreams and visions.
~If a person or group displeases or goes against the spirits in Nature, consequences occur.
~Female Dieties and Ancestresses are as present and important as Male Dieties and Ancestors, often times more so.
~In recent times there have been many changes in human culture. More people have moved into cities, thereby separating themselves from the systems of Nature. Humans have begun to use more and more brain altering chemicals. Human Gods and Goddesses emerged alongside the Nature spirits, and then, in many lands, they were forcibly replaced by one stern male God. This is the pattern of human “history”, (his-story) but the oldest truths have not gone away. Nor have they been forgotten.
Nature whispers to us so we may remember.
Today, many people who are decendents of these forgotten ways and tribes are being called upon, in their dreams and through their intuition, to remember who they are and from whom they come. What they are finding is that while human stories are unique, everyone’s common ancestor is EARTH.
Many modern people use technology (from light bulbs to holograms) and go to the grocery store for food, but it doesn’t mean that humans have become separate from Nature’s Truths, they just believe they are. Everyone comes from beautiful human paths of this sacred Earth and those who have forgotten can re-align themselves with ancient wisdom. When this alignment occurs, a person feels at peace and balanced, even in this unbalanced version of reality.
Whoever listens within, and to the land, will hear all the teachings they need to feel fulfilled personally, and to re-establish the Earth Tribes in their new forms to heal human hearts, and bring balance back to the lands of this modern Earth. This creative re-emergence is “Ourstory”.
Listening to the wind holds value.
The trees want to share their knowledge .
We are not crazy when we hear voices.
We are bringing the strengths of the past into the present.
The future is in our hands.
This site is dedicated to this learning and sharing.
Honor to you and your quest. Power to the Peaceful
Wind and Water
Stone and Stream
Ancestors calling to us
from the Dream.
“Remember” they whisper,
to the cells of our souls
“Remember the secrets of
Creatrix and Crone.”
So we call to you butterfly,
snake, coyote and bat.
Honey bee, fish, beaver, bison and bobcat.
Help us old wise ones of wing, fur and fin.
We know you can help us remember our Kin
Those who knew how you speak
and who heard their own voices within.
So we ask in prayerful voices because our people have strayed,
we ask that you forgive us,
and help us remember
your ways.
Poem by Quynn
~Web of Life Church~ 