Basic Elements of Animism

2012-08-10

Animism is the universal belief system, religion, and worldview that people have, where spirits have power over the world, and the people need to manipulate them to make life work and to meet their needs. Every tribal group has some sort of variation of this framework. When you speak to tribal people, they evaluate everything you say through this framework, even if you are fluent in their language.

Animists may or may not have the concept of a creator God. As believers on Jesus Christ, we believe that he has created the world, has ultimate power over the world, and is therefore the owner of the world. In animistic societies, if they have a concept of the creator God at all, he is aloof from the affairs of the world. Spirit beings and impersonal spiritual forces are the entities that are involved in their world.

Moreover, everything in creation is a spirit. The sky, the water, and the animals are all spirits. Dead ancestors are often spirits that need to be appeased. If we begin to try to explain the concept of the creator God, and say that the sky, the water, and so on are not spirits at all, but merely created entities, you somehow are undermining their culture. If you try to explain that the Creator God is the sovereign Lord, they very well may add him to their religious system and remain entirely unchanged.

In addition, every event has spiritual significance. The singing of the songbird may be an omen. The sickness somebody has contracted was because an ancestor was angry, and he needs to be appeased with a ritual.

Mythology is prevalent in such societies. Tribal people do not have access to education or scientific knowledge, and do not have an adequate way of recording anything. They are often illiterate, and their languages are unwritten. Therefore, people create stories to explain the things around them. They create reality with these stories in able to handle daily life. They can hold contradicting beliefs and see nothing wrong with doing so. Western logic is light-years away from animistic reasoning.

In short, these people are not looking for truth. The religious framework from which they interpret the life’s events is pragmatic at its core; they are looking to harness spiritual power. They ask, how can we manipulate the spirit world to get what we need? Manipulation of spirits, forces, and gods is the heart of all world religion. In other words, and I want to be as clear as possible when I say this, the false religious system of this world is animistic at its roots. It is also alive and well in western society.

As a Bible-believing Christian, you must penetrate this worldview that is so radically different from ours. Being cognizant of animistic tendencies will aid you when you seek to minister to these people that God loves and that Jesus died for.