Animism is a big part of our lives, and has been for as long as we have breathed life as human beings. It is older than any religion, on any continent on earth! In fact it is the oldest belief system on the face of our planet!
It is one of the Wiccan beliefs, that every living creature and animal, large or small, every tree, bush or flower, insect and rodent have or do contain a soul, spirit , or conscience. In Wicca Beliefs, all in Nature is sacred and should be cared for, respected and loved.
You may be thinking—maybe of animals. Well, just try leaving a houseplant for two weeks, providing the caretaker with the exact instructions for care that you gave it yourself before you left town. I think you’ll be surprised at how the plant will change! They do respond! Some plants are more sensitive than others, just like people!
Just because they do not communicate in the same manner we do, does not mean they are unable to. Just as people of all continents do not speak the same language, neither do plants and animals! It has been found that at least 45% of the earths population believes in this, or is secretly animistic!
The word Animism is derived from the Latin word anima meaning breath or soul. There are still many cultures that believe all inanimate objects contain spirit or life and soul! The practice of Animism can actually be found being practiced by all religions or cultures at one time or another around the globe.
It is actually quite practical and realistic. It has been acknowledged by our ancestors since time began. I feel that it’s very selfish of us as humans to believe that if a living thing doesn’t communicate in the same manner as we do, that they matter less than we do! One of the reasons why Wicca has come such a long way recently, is because people are reaching out to science and more knowledge for fact finding information. I believe that Animism is just one of many subjects that will evolve in respect to how we see it.
With Wicca Beliefs, we always like to thank a tree before using a branch to construct a Wand, and try to utilize the ones that will soon be dying or falling off. And what about pruning, don’t plants seem to thrive when the less healthy stems and leaves are removed? And I cannot fail to say logic itself is at issue here, after all, do plants live and die? Even as humans, we have skin that is continuously dying off and being replaced by new skin.
I’m certain you have all seen one of those film clips in which it shows a plant or flower growing in faster-than-life speed! Is it not alive? This is Animism! Is there some reason we ascertain that because the proper human-like communication is not present, that it is not alive? Is spirit itself restricted to only living things which have the ability to communicate by a human’s individual standard? Yes, I believe Animism is alive and well.
As you have probably heard, our Ozone layer is going away due to the forests that we are continually destroying. It is a scientific fact that the oxygen plants provide is vital to our very existence here on earth! You may have been thinking that plants are not able to be as productive as humans–think twice!
When they go away, We go away. Please consider one of the new E-book readers like the Amazon Kindle, instead of wasting trees on paper product reading material!
Think about Animism!
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