Alan G. Hefner Animism Summary
Animism
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by Alan G. Hefner and Virgilio Guimaraes
The term animism is derived from the Latin word anima meaning breath or soul. The belief of animism is probably one of man's oldest beliefs, with its origin most likely dating to the Paleolithic age. From its earliest beginnings it was a belief that a soul or spirit existed in every object, even if it was inanimate. In a future state this soul or spirit would exist as part of an immaterial soul. The spirit, therefore, was thought to be universal.
There has been sharp divisions of thought as to the original concept of animism held by primitive peoples. An British anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor in his "Primitive Culture" (1871) defined animism …show more content…
"as a general belief in spiritual beings and considered it 'a minimum definition of religion.'" He stated all religions from the simplest to the most complexed shared some sort of animistic belief. According to him primitive peoples, defined as those without a written tradition, believed the spirits or souls caused life in human beings. They pictured these souls as vapors or shadows going from one body to another. The souls not only passed between human beings but into, plants, animals and inanimate objects as well.
Tylor reasoned primitive man arrived at his animistic belief to help him explain the causes of sleep, dreams, and death. There naturally aroused a need to distinguish between an individual who was awake and one who was asleep, or an individual who lived and one who did not. Also there was a need to give a reason for the pictures some saw when they slept. The spirits were the early man's explanations.
Tylor was criticized by another British anthropologist Robert Ranulph Marett (1866-1943) who was convinced that primitive man had not developed the intellectual to form even such simplistic explanations as Tylor proposed. Marett suggested early religion was more emotional and intuitional in origin. He theorized that early man recognized some inanimate objects because they had some particular characteristic or behaved in some unusual way which mysteriously made them seem alive. He believed early man treated all animate objects as having a life and will of their own, but they never distinguished the soul as separate from the body, and could enter or leave the body. Marett conceded early man possessed the belief of animism, but it developed from the idea that some objects seemed to be alive like man.
It is insignificant how men and women gained the belief that a spirit or soul resides in all objects it is historically evident that they did. Trees and plants were worshiped as totems or because of their usefulness and beauty. In many cultures certain trees and plants have been feared. In some ancient cultures "trees were generally regarded as maternal deities or forest spirits, to be respected even when their lives were sacrificed for human use (pagan woodcutters never felled a tree without first begging its forgiveness). Female tree spirits live on in myth and folklore as dryads, the Greek version of the tree-worshiping druid priestesses."
Plants and trees have been considered sacred by themselves because, as some have thought, they are home to certain spirits.
Both the soma plant of India and the coca shrub of Peru are worshiped for the intoxicating properties of the products made from them. Field crops, thought to harbor spirits of infertility, has been honored by ancient tribesmen and peasants throughout Europe. Traces of these cults can still be found.
The above describes nature worshipers among which many occultists are numbered. They view life as being in everything, and everything, even man, supporting life. Life is sacred -- all life. "One of the foremost characteristics of Neo-Paganism (or occultism) is the return to the ancient idea that there is no distinction between the spiritual and material, sacred and secular." Everything is still one as it was to primitive man.
Animism may also be the unconscious fabrication of a spirit manifestation by the medium. It is not a fraud as the medium actually believes that he is channeling a spirit. It usually happens when the medium is put under pressure to attend a request or works in a spiritualistic circle where spirit phenomena are expected to occur. The spirit of the medium then fabricates a manifestation and it is interesting to notice that the medium´s body undergoes all the usual changes that happen in an actual spirit communication, such as altered breathing, contortions, and such …show more content…
procedures.
Ancient religious philosophy
Animism is the belief that everything in nature – living and non-living – contains a spirit or soul. In ancient Chamorro society, the Chamorros held animism as a religious philosophy that supported the concept of the interconnectedness between people and nature. All native cultures practice some aspect of animism.
The practice of animism
In the Marianas, animism is manifested through the ancient Chamorro creation myth of a celestial brother and sister – Puntan and Fu’una- who created the universe and people.
Puntan asked his sister, Fu’una, to help him create the universe with parts of his body. When she completed the tasks, she fell to the newly created earth at Fouha Bay near the southern Guam village of Umatac and turned into a monolithic rock formation where the first people of the earth came from.
There is historical documentation of this story including from Catholic priest Diego Luis de San Vitores whose evangelical efforts in the latter half of the 17th century yielded a contemporary predominantly Catholic congregation on Guam and her neighboring Mariana Islands. San Vitores recorded the pilgrimage of ancient Chamorros to the site – Fouha Bay – where Chamorros believe human life originated. Renown anthropologist Laura Thompson noted that:
Elsewhere Sanvitores… stated, ‘Fuuna [a point on the coast of the southwest Guam] is celebrated among these natives for there is in it a rock, or stone, from which they believe all men had their origin…’ This is apparently an explanatory element in the same creation myth.
The Chamorro legend of Chaife, an evil underworld lord, brought in elements of animism to explain natural phenomena such as tidal waves and typhoons as Chaife tried to destroy a soul which he mistakenly believed escaped during his creation of
it.
Animism is further exemplified in the Chamorro people’s reverence of the tronkon nunu(banyan tree) believed to be the dwelling place of taotaomo’na that Chamorros believe were “the people of before; the ancestral spirits that inhabited the earth along with the living.” Many Chamorros still avoid going near banyan trees. At the University of Guam, and other local government facilities, structures were built around the trees to protect them. Thompson also wrote:
In modern Guam the abode of the ancestors is believed to be the banyan tree. Safford… wrote, ‘Don Jose told me that on a spot where we were standing there used to grow a greatnunu (banyan tree). It was thought to be a resort for manganiti (plural of anite)…, and people were afraid to pass by, especially after nightfall.’ This belief appears to be a survival from ancient times.
…The beings, which inhabit the banyan tree, are often called bihu (elders) today, and the bark of the banyan is used by some herb doctors to cure illness, especially that believed to be caused by supernatural agents.
Modern animistic residual
Further examples of how semblances of the ancient practice of animism has prevailed throughout the centuries is shown when a person of Chamorro descent – or those who have lived in Guam or the Mariana Islands – will ask for permission in the form of a chant before entering the hålomtåno’ (jungle) or relieving themselves in the jungle. It is believed that thetaotaomo’na that inhabit the space will cause them harm or make them fall ill if they do not show the proper respect for the land.
Even in present-day Guam, despite the prevalence of the Catholic and other Western religions in addition to the availability of modern medical assistance, if a person falls mysteriously ill, and it is possibly the result of angering or offending the taotaomo’na, they seek the help of a suruhana, a Chamorro medical healer, to help cure their ailments. Chamorros believe they must return to the site where they the offense occurred and ask for forgiveness of the infraction before they can be healed.
________________________________________
by Alan G. Hefner and Virgilio Guimaraes
The term animism is derived from the Latin word anima meaning breath or soul. The belief of animism is probably one of man's oldest beliefs, with its origin most likely dating to the Paleolithic age. From its earliest beginnings it was a belief that a soul or spirit existed in every object, even if it was inanimate. In a future state this soul or spirit would exist as part of an immaterial soul. The spirit, therefore, was thought to be universal.
There has been sharp divisions of thought as to the original concept of animism held by primitive peoples. An British anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor in his "Primitive Culture" (1871) defined animism …show more content…
"as a general belief in spiritual beings and considered it 'a minimum definition of religion.'" He stated all religions from the simplest to the most complexed shared some sort of animistic belief. According to him primitive peoples, defined as those without a written tradition, believed the spirits or souls caused life in human beings. They pictured these souls as vapors or shadows going from one body to another. The souls not only passed between human beings but into, plants, animals and inanimate objects as well.
Tylor reasoned primitive man arrived at his animistic belief to help him explain the causes of sleep, dreams, and death. There naturally aroused a need to distinguish between an individual who was awake and one who was asleep, or an individual who lived and one who did not. Also there was a need to give a reason for the pictures some saw when they slept. The spirits were the early man's explanations.
Tylor was criticized by another British anthropologist Robert Ranulph Marett (1866-1943) who was convinced that primitive man had not developed the intellectual to form even such simplistic explanations as Tylor proposed. Marett suggested early religion was more emotional and intuitional in origin. He theorized that early man recognized some inanimate objects because they had some particular characteristic or behaved in some unusual way which mysteriously made them seem alive. He believed early man treated all animate objects as having a life and will of their own, but they never distinguished the soul as separate from the body, and could enter or leave the body. Marett conceded early man possessed the belief of animism, but it developed from the idea that some objects seemed to be alive like man.
It is insignificant how men and women gained the belief that a spirit or soul resides in all objects it is historically evident that they did. Trees and plants were worshiped as totems or because of their usefulness and beauty. In many cultures certain trees and plants have been feared. In some ancient cultures "trees were generally regarded as maternal deities or forest spirits, to be respected even when their lives were sacrificed for human use (pagan woodcutters never felled a tree without first begging its forgiveness). Female tree spirits live on in myth and folklore as dryads, the Greek version of the tree-worshiping druid priestesses."
Plants and trees have been considered sacred by themselves because, as some have thought, they are home to certain spirits.
Both the soma plant of India and the coca shrub of Peru are worshiped for the intoxicating properties of the products made from them. Field crops, thought to harbor spirits of infertility, has been honored by ancient tribesmen and peasants throughout Europe. Traces of these cults can still be found.
The above describes nature worshipers among which many occultists are numbered. They view life as being in everything, and everything, even man, supporting life. Life is sacred -- all life. "One of the foremost characteristics of Neo-Paganism (or occultism) is the return to the ancient idea that there is no distinction between the spiritual and material, sacred and secular." Everything is still one as it was to primitive man.
Animism may also be the unconscious fabrication of a spirit manifestation by the medium. It is not a fraud as the medium actually believes that he is channeling a spirit. It usually happens when the medium is put under pressure to attend a request or works in a spiritualistic circle where spirit phenomena are expected to occur. The spirit of the medium then fabricates a manifestation and it is interesting to notice that the medium´s body undergoes all the usual changes that happen in an actual spirit communication, such as altered breathing, contortions, and such …show more content…
procedures.
Ancient religious philosophy
Animism is the belief that everything in nature – living and non-living – contains a spirit or soul. In ancient Chamorro society, the Chamorros held animism as a religious philosophy that supported the concept of the interconnectedness between people and nature. All native cultures practice some aspect of animism.
The practice of animism
In the Marianas, animism is manifested through the ancient Chamorro creation myth of a celestial brother and sister – Puntan and Fu’una- who created the universe and people.
Puntan asked his sister, Fu’una, to help him create the universe with parts of his body. When she completed the tasks, she fell to the newly created earth at Fouha Bay near the southern Guam village of Umatac and turned into a monolithic rock formation where the first people of the earth came from.
There is historical documentation of this story including from Catholic priest Diego Luis de San Vitores whose evangelical efforts in the latter half of the 17th century yielded a contemporary predominantly Catholic congregation on Guam and her neighboring Mariana Islands. San Vitores recorded the pilgrimage of ancient Chamorros to the site – Fouha Bay – where Chamorros believe human life originated. Renown anthropologist Laura Thompson noted that:
Elsewhere Sanvitores… stated, ‘Fuuna [a point on the coast of the southwest Guam] is celebrated among these natives for there is in it a rock, or stone, from which they believe all men had their origin…’ This is apparently an explanatory element in the same creation myth.
The Chamorro legend of Chaife, an evil underworld lord, brought in elements of animism to explain natural phenomena such as tidal waves and typhoons as Chaife tried to destroy a soul which he mistakenly believed escaped during his creation of
it.
Animism is further exemplified in the Chamorro people’s reverence of the tronkon nunu(banyan tree) believed to be the dwelling place of taotaomo’na that Chamorros believe were “the people of before; the ancestral spirits that inhabited the earth along with the living.” Many Chamorros still avoid going near banyan trees. At the University of Guam, and other local government facilities, structures were built around the trees to protect them. Thompson also wrote:
In modern Guam the abode of the ancestors is believed to be the banyan tree. Safford… wrote, ‘Don Jose told me that on a spot where we were standing there used to grow a greatnunu (banyan tree). It was thought to be a resort for manganiti (plural of anite)…, and people were afraid to pass by, especially after nightfall.’ This belief appears to be a survival from ancient times.
…The beings, which inhabit the banyan tree, are often called bihu (elders) today, and the bark of the banyan is used by some herb doctors to cure illness, especially that believed to be caused by supernatural agents.
Modern animistic residual
Further examples of how semblances of the ancient practice of animism has prevailed throughout the centuries is shown when a person of Chamorro descent – or those who have lived in Guam or the Mariana Islands – will ask for permission in the form of a chant before entering the hålomtåno’ (jungle) or relieving themselves in the jungle. It is believed that thetaotaomo’na that inhabit the space will cause them harm or make them fall ill if they do not show the proper respect for the land.
Even in present-day Guam, despite the prevalence of the Catholic and other Western religions in addition to the availability of modern medical assistance, if a person falls mysteriously ill, and it is possibly the result of angering or offending the taotaomo’na, they seek the help of a suruhana, a Chamorro medical healer, to help cure their ailments. Chamorros believe they must return to the site where they the offense occurred and ask for forgiveness of the infraction before they can be healed.