animist

(noun)

A believer in animism. Animism is the religious belief that natural phenomena, including animals, plants, and often even inanimate objects, possess a spiritual essence.

Related Terms

Examples of animist in the following topics:

  • Animism

    • Most contemporary animist native tribal people do not have a word in their languages that corresponds to "animism," it is a purely anthropological term rather than one self-designated by tribespeople themselves.
    • Animists hold that there is no separation between the spiritual and material world, and that souls or spirits exist—not only in humans, but also in all other animals, plants, rocks, geographic features such as mountains and rivers, or other entities of the natural environment.
    • Examples of animist art are as varied and diverse as the multiple world religions that have produced them.

  • Senufo

    • They are a very animistic society; they believe that the ancestor spirits are responsible for all events that occur, and if they are not appeased through proper ritual they may cause drought, infertility, and illness.

  • Polytheism

    • Polytheism cannot be entirely delineated from the animist beliefs and art prevalent in most folk religions.

  • Religion as a Theme

    • Some Buddhist art contains animist themes, meaning the depiction of natural elements (animals, nature, earth) as spiritual entities.

  • Cambodian Art

    • Over nearly two thousand years, Cambodians have developed a unique Khmer belief from the syncreticism of indigenous animistic beliefs and the Indian religions of Buddhism and Hinduism.