Its fascinating how powerful #animism was at protecting the environment for most of existence. I just learned recently that the #nymphs in #Greek#mythology really no different than local #Shinto deities, or animal spirits of the Americas. Every rock, stream and tree had a spirit attached to it, and if one wanted to change or use the land, they had to know how to appeal to these spirits and do it sparingly.
Even #polytheists had some variety of lesser animistic spirits that get lost among the big names. Of course, major roman brownies got upgraded to gods when they saw and liked the Greek #pantheon.
To this day even if they don't actually believe in it, Icelanders use the concepts of land #elves as kind of an extra layer of bureaucracy before changing the land. Animists have been looked down on, as the most primitive form of religion. As modern science shows us that the environment is one of the most important things to protect, perhaps it is the most important and advanced form of #religion .
Wanton destruction of the planet only happened when we switched to #monotheism and converted all those spirits into evil #demons in our minds. It opened up many new scientific and technological advances but wrecked the planet. Perhaps we need some form of applied animistic bureaucracy such as giving all things a certain level of rights and autonomy to ensure they survive for future generations to also enjoy. #environmentalism
"Yule is the ritual centre of gravity in the animist year. In pre-Christian reckoning it was also the anchor point between the cycles of the moon and the sun. The New King, the first New Moon after the Winter Solstice, was the first day of the second Yule month (Midwinter Month/January), and the Full Moon of this month was the apex of Heathen Yule celebrations, but with the rise of Christianity the ritual focus moved closer to the Winter Solstice..." From "The Nordic Animist Year" #animism#yule
@donkeyherder liminal indeed! That's great way to think about it... It's so hard not to get sucked into the Christmas is the end of the seasonal celebrations mindset when everything else around is committed to that, but having a community that observes like that would certainly help!
@marnier that's a good idea to have little get togethers like that, and keeping the tree up too! We always got and decorated the tree after Thanksgiving but this year I am waiting until Christmas Eve to do it, to try to make extending it into January a little more emphatic
"There are old folktales and legends of people who can become animals. Animals who can become people. And there’s a lesson for our own time in those shapeshifting stories — a recognition that the membrane between what's human and more-than-human is razor thin."
The clock radio came on to our local #NPR station replaying one of my favorite shows. David Abram inspires me.
Curious if other parents of a more animist disposition find themselves struggling to both explain phenomena according to natural laws and also encouraging, for lack of a better term, the innate magical thinking of their children? I have no idea how to navigate that.
@nathanlovestrees@handmade_ghost You might read him The Sword In The Stone by T.H. White. It is about the education of King Arthur by Merlin. One thing Merlin does is turn Arthur into different animals to see the world through their eyes. Depending on the age of your son, if the book is too much for him yet there is a disney version.
@Oozenet@handmade_ghost I love that movie, probably ruined the VHS tape as a kid haha... And actually I've been reading the vita merlini and have been working on a blog post about this very thing!
This is a great blog. Inspired by "footnotes2plato I once tried to understand Whitehead. I gave up. I can understand Idealism (Schopenhauer and Kastrupp style). But not panpsychism.
As I struggle to live a more enchanted and animistic life, and to nurture those innate tendencies in my young son, I find the two things that trip me up the most are the automatic use of "it" to refer to nonhumans (he/she is only slightly better but not always applicable) and not knowing how to talk about death in ways that aren't completely disenchanted and mechanistic (we found a dead snake yesterday in the woods). Any ideas?
@nathanlovestrees On death, Daniniel Floor has a few video sessions addressing death, grief, etc on his YouTube channel "Ancestral Medicine." Not sure if this will help in talking to a child, but he has a young child too so it might.
@nathanlovestrees I recently read a really fascinating book from a hospice nurse on Tiktok sharing her experiences with caring for dying people, called "The In-Between" by Hadley Vlahos, RN. it seemed to really help me with making peace with death and becoming less afraid of it? to say the least. maybe some of the stories in it would be helpful and cool idk best of luck 🌟
I'm late to the game because I don't know what I'm doing, so a brief #introduction:
I take care of my disabled brother full-time and stress about it the rest of the time. When I have the capacity I like to read and think about #Zhuangzi, #Thoreau, #animism, and #indigenousknowledge like the work of Tyson Yunkaporta and VF Cordova. I also drink too much tea (#gongfucha), am a former classical and folk musician, and wish I could sit under more trees
The only mammal that can fly; they see with their ears; they help produce some great food, control pests, & pollinate flowers; and they're just plain fun! 🦇 🖤
The latest rage among those who are "spiritual but not religious" is animism. That is the religion associated with what used to be called "primitive tribes," the view that animals, plants, bodies of water, and natural forces are animated by spirits, which must be placated and worshiped.
Shapeshifting images run deep in human history, going back to ancient cave paintings. Archeologist Chris Gosden says they're linked to the shaman's ability to cross into the spirit world where humans and animals merge.
I resonate to the new animism because, like the commons, it is about honoring relationality as a core reality of life, a core idea of Free, Fair, and Alive.
In some cultures, life and sentience are believed to exist for only certain beings, such as humans, animals, and plants. In other belief systems, however, places and objects are also believed to have some level of sentience.
Spring has truly come in (even though the chill is sticking a bit longer). Flowers, trees, animals, elements and more dance the season into being. What's more, the old teachers I had thought were done with me have returned. The support being offered to me by the spirits and deities at this time is deeply felt. However, the internal animal part of me wonders what this could all about. I hope this year is a good one.
Jaguar (and black panther) were one of my first teachers/protectors when I was just starting out. I find them coming back into my life and bringing with them a fierce inspiration and new lessons to learn.
A cricket got inside my workplace on Friday evening. After a few tries, I managed to pick them up off the floor and put them back outside to hang out near some tall grass.
