I am posting about both Animism and Animatism so the differences and similarities can be seen.
I am using 2 terms, animism and animatism. Both are a philosophy. Neither are a religion. But either can fit into almost any religious belief system.
There are two styles of belief in animism:
One) A belief that natural objects are inhabited by spirits.
Each rock, tree, and cloud may have its own unique spirit. Individuality in spirit as well as in the material world.
Two) All things in nature may be thought of as having the same spirit. The belief here is a ‘part of the whole’ ideals. All are a part of one divine entity. This version of animism was characteristic of many Native American cultures.
In both forms of animism, the spirits are thought of as having identifiable personalities and other characteristics such as gender. A belief in a powerful, mature, or protective, personality. The spirits may be benevolent, malevolent, or neutral. They can be lovable, terrifying, or even mischievous. They can interact with humans and can be pleased or irritated by human actions. As such, people must be concerned about them and will likely try to avoid displeasing them.
"Mother nature" is an example of giving a persona to the concept of nature spirit/s.
The second is Animatism:
It is a belief in a non physical essence or force or power or whatever you want to call it. For those who hold this belief, the power is usually impersonal, unseen, and potentially everywhere. It is neither good nor evil, but it is powerful and dangerous if misused. It is something like electricity or "the force" in the Star Wars movies. This Star wars analogy is commonly used to describe this force, so don’t laugh at me for using it because I already did that!!
Among the Polynesian cultures of the Southern Pacific Ocean, this power is called "mana". For them it is a force that is in all objects, plants, and animals (including people) . Some things or people have more of it than others and can be potentially dangerous. For example, a chief may have so much of it that he must be carried around all of the time. If he were to walk on the ground, some residual amounts of his mana may remain in his footprints to harm ordinary people if they later stepped on them. Volcanoes were thought to have varying amounts of mana and thus they had different levels of the threat as to their ability to destroy.
In closing,
Both Animatism and Animism may seem to be the same thing. In fact both beliefs are often found in the same culture. You can even have the two beliefs combined in one object. To some people, a tree may have a individual spirit and also hold a impersonal force. The same can be said for a rock too. Plant, animal, inanimate objects, can all be part of animism and animatism.
The difference, remember, between the two beliefs is that Animatism does not have a personality. It is impersonal.
Animatism is a energy. Animism is a spirit.
Animism can have gender and/or personality characteristics similar to people, or not.
This philosophy can not be proven nor is there any written rules regarding individual perspectives. Animism and animatism are a personal truth one discovers on their own. If you feel your beloved pet has a spirit of his or her own, no one is going to prove you wrong because its impossible. You have your own feelings and nothing else to tell you what is right or wrong.
