Animism in Gran albionne

''“There is no environment ‘out there’ separate from us. The environment is embedded in us. We are as much a part of our surroundings as are the trees and birds and fish, the sky, water and rocks.”'' ~ David Suzuki

What is Animism?

The Latin animus means “the rational soul, intelligence, consciousness, and mental powers” and the feminine anima means “soul, living being, mind, and breath”. If you collect all the words for soul from all the languages around the world, almost all of their roots simply mean “breath”, insinuating that the soul and spirits in general are invisible and intangible. In the 1670s, the term anima mundi, meaning “soul of the world”, was used to describe the teachings of ancient Greek philosophers Pythagoras and Plato who believed the world and the universe itself was infused with an animate soul.

Animism is the belief that everything has a spirit and a consciousness, a soul, from the tiniest microorganism on earth to the great planets in the heavens to the whole of the universe itself. Animistic faiths usually contain a belief in rebirth & reincarnation either as another mortal, or an animal, tree, or star. Spirits of place (genus loci) are thought to be either the actual soul of the land or a soul who has come to reside in a hill, stream, or grove as its guardian and benefactor.

The people of Gran Albionne have a strong practical everyday animism, personifying everything in existence as a spirit or deity and worshipping spirits of springs, rivers, hills, and forests with a level of devotion with sacrifices, offerings and festivals.

In the world of Gran Albionne, the world religion has an ancestor cult within it and a place of recognition for the integrally interwoven Fairies who are manifestations in comprehensible forms of those spirits. The greatest spirits are apotheosized celestial bodies, land spirits, animal spirits, forces of nature, and ancestors (kings, heroes, healers, and miracle workers).

Animism is not a separate faith standing on its own, it is not a capitalized “Tradition” as defined within the cultures of various Gran Albionne communities, and it is not a clearly defined spiritual path. Instead, animism is the seed of all religion and infiltrates all regional religion. Animism doesn’t exist outside of individual practice and the collective beliefs and practices of a community. Trying to define it and grasp it in a physical form is like trying to catch moonlight with your bare hands.

Animism is a philosophy backed up by practice, it is a way of life and a way of thought. Animism is your personal relationship with nature and with the inmortal spirits who inhabit and compose nature. It is a relationship of respect and value for all things and all beings, visible and invisible. All life is sacred and sentient, even those outside of your current definition of life and even those regarded as malevolent. Within a balanced ecosystem, all life serves a purpose– even those who may seem like the villain at first glance. Animism is the hands-on spirit work of building an awareness of and relationship with the spirits of plants, trees, fungi, animals, insects, waters, forests, mountains, plains, deserts, elemental forces, and the spirits of the dead buried under your feet. When you live within nature you realize you are a part of it, not separate from it. It becomes important to know as much about your surroundings as possible because your survival depends on your knowledge of and respectful treatment of the land, plants, and animals around you.

The Beliefs of Animism

Within the philosophy of animism there is no distinction between magic and mundane– all is magical and all is mundane simultaneously. Animism is made up of shared beliefs, but moreso it is a series of practices and rituals based on these beliefs.

Common beliefs found within animism include fetishism, totemism, the belief in the soul (or multi-faceted soul) and life force, the belief in the existence of noncorporeal or supernatural spirits who can affect mortal lives, the belief in a spirit realm and multiple other worlds, the reverence and worship of the dead, the existence and practice of ‘witchcraft’ or ‘sorcery’and the existence of some form of shaman (Cleric or Druid) with supernatural powers and the ability to travel between realms who acts as healer and mediator between mortals and spirits.

Fetishism in the anthropological sense means the belief that something seemingly inanimate can be the embodiment of a powerful supernatural spirit (anything from a statue to a tree or a mountain), or that an object can be intentionally inhabited by a spirit (a fetish like a small stone, a pocket carving, a ritual tool, a skull). Some fetishes can be very personal and never shown to another person, where only the owner or family members can look upon it and seek help or powers from the spirit within it (such as root alrauns). Other fetishes belong to the community with standing stones, totem-poles, and ancient crossroad herms, ( In many parts of Gran Albionne, there are piles of stones by the sides of roads, especially at their crossings, and on the boundaries of lands called Herms. The religious respect paid to such heaps of stones, especially at the meeting of roads, is shown by the custom of each passer-by throwing a stone on to the heap or anointing it with oil ), being fitting examples.

In Gran Albionne, a more culturally-advanced form of Totemism is practiced among it’s renaissance-European-analog great races. This Animistic Totemism is the belief in an animal, tree, river, supernatural spirit, or other animate being as the original ancestor, creator god, or teacher/benefactor of a community, clan or tribe and used as its symbol. With various villages, regions, areas and towns, clans or houses identifying with the spirit of the raven, eagle, wolf, etc. Each regional people have their own history, stories, songs, symbolism, and physical representations of their totem (i.e. idols, masks, and ceremonial costumes).

Ancestor worship is another universal commonality between Gran Albionne peoples and involves the belief in the existence of the soul after death which leads to a widespread trend of ancestor reverence and worship within each culture. Where ancestor veneration is found, there is also a heavy importance and reverence placed on family, tribe, and elders. Certain Kingdoms have a heavy focus on ancestor reverence and actively practice ancestor veneration and maintain family ancestor shrines. It makes sense to honor the spirits of the dead when following a practice so deeply rooted in working with spirits. It isn’t even debated in the many cultures, the ancestor cult is simply there alongside the people’s animism.

The Rituals of Animism

Living in a world full of spirits leads to very specific sets of rituals with similar formulas followed across cultures. There will always be cultural differences in details and etiquette, but the ritual formulas usually contain similar steps. Before anything is done within an animist community, a ceremony is performed to ask permission of a specific set of spirits and to see if the results of the action will be favorable.

Whether you want to go hunting and foraging in the forest, fishing in a river, cut down a tree, build a new house, or ask approval of the ancestors to marry, you would first perform these steps:

Go to where the spirit(s) live (they can’t hear you if you’re not nearby).

Declare your intent aloud and request permission from the ruling spirit(s) of said place.

Submit a suitable and respectful offering to said spirit(s) and hope it is accepted.

Flatter the hell out of the spirit(s) with sweet words and songs (this can be the offering).

Ask for a specific and realistic sign of approval (the calls of animals, rain, or perform divination).

If you don’t receive the sign or something goes wrong, don’t do the thing.

If you receive the sign and everything seems sunshine and roses, go do the thing.

When you return from doing the thing successfully, thank the spirit(s) and leave a bigger offering.

Another step sometimes included is to threaten the spirit(s). It has to be a good threat though and you have to know which spirits you can get away with threatening and which ones it would be incredibly disrespectful to threaten. Common threats include the withholding of offerings until a petition is granted or that you will tattle on the spirit to a fearsome boogeyman or the equivalent of the spirit’s mom or boss.

Purification & Blessing

Other common ceremonies are of purification and blessing and they will often go hand in hand with the formula above. Purification of the body and soul being performed before approaching spirits so one goes to them physically and spiritually clean as a sign of respect and also to remove any negative influences that may interfere with the petitioner’s intent. A ceremony of blessing is performed before any action is taken to help influence the best possible outcome whether the action is a journey, a marriage, a new baby, building a new house, or as simple as weaving cloth, going fishing, or cooking a meal. The common folk of every kingdom have a collection of oral incantations and rites of blessing covering everything from churning butter and blessing new livestock to waking up in the morning and going to bed at night. Most of the incantations are sung or recited in the hope that fairies will stay away and not mess up people’s work or daily life.

The practice of “Alignment”

In the world, there is no real term for this belief and its rites. Alignment is the practice of attempting to more closely align yourself with a spirit whether it is an animal, plant, or ancestor. This can be achieved by ingesting or smoking a plant (or rubbing on a flying ointment) during ceremony to better connect to that plant or to a greater forest spirit, crafting a fetish from an animal claw or tooth to wear to imbue oneself with the powers of said animal, or even the ancient savage practice of cannibalizing the dead to re-absorb their soul and power into the community. Traditional ceremonies involving costumes and masks depicting sacred animals and supernatural spirits which involve dancing and mimicking the animals and spirits are also a form of alignment.

The philosophy is simply: the closer you are to the intended spirit and the more you work with it, the more you take on attributes and powers associated with it. The more you work with the dead and are around death, the easier it will be to commune with the dead. The more you actively work with an animal spirit, the more you will take on its positive attributes and be able to call it to your aid. Alignment also shows respect as you are consciously seeking out a relationship with spirit through actions and offerings which will likely result in reciprocation from the spirit until it becomes a familiar, ally, or helper.

The Evil Eye

Rituals that involve deflecting or counteracting the evil eye also stem from the pervasive belief in the existence of intentional and unintentional sorcery by both common people or supernatural means. The belief in the evil eye is found world wide and across cultures and it can be inflicted by mortals, the dead, spirits, and fairies. It can be an envious neighbor sending you hateful vibes over how awesome your milking cow is or a case of mischievous fairies. The belief in the evil eye can be so prevalent and strong that an entire community will base its ethics and etiquette around avoiding the evil eye by practicing humility and the deflection of praise. It was once very common to shout a warning and an apology simultaneously whenever emptying the dirty washing bucket or chamber pot outside so any nearby spirits had a chance to get out of the way rather than getting splashed with filth and cursing you for being disrespectful.

Protection

It is a common belief that spirits are generally benevolent and mean us well, though there is always the danger of the opposite. Spirits sometimes need to be appeased to prevent harm, Unseelie or evil spirits are to be kept at a safe distance, and such baleful, malevolent spirits are to be protected against by any means necessary. Spirits are considered benevolent, malevolent, chaotic, or neutral with the benevolent being birthed from beneficial long-term relationships between mortals and spirits. The pervasiveness and endless variety of protective charms and talismans found throughout time and different cultures demonstrates how much emphasis the great races have put on the need to be protected from harm, illness, spirits, demons, ghosts, and fairies.

Protection can be in the form of a ceremony or in the form of a consecrated talisman one is meant to wear or hang in one’s home. It is painting your face white before travelling to the underworld, wrapping yourself in an animal hide before visiting the spirit world, wearing a mask or making loud, offensive noises to scare away evil spirits, the burning of bonfires on dark liminal nights, the creation of spirit traps, the burning of special herbs to deflect spirits. Animistic rites of protection can be anything from a holy person blessing someone with powers of protection in a ceremony, a talisman being crafted and consecrated to protect a person, a family or a home, to an entire community dressing up as demons and processing through the town to scare away spirits and monsters for the coming year (yes, the seasonal Krampus parades!).

A big part of protection is prevention. Gran Albionne cultures tend to try to keep evil spirits away from mortal homes, settlements, agricultural areas, livestock, holy places, and roads and paths. Protections are put up to keep such wicked spirits out, spirits are verbally told they are not welcome, and more respectfully, places are designated for unwanted spirits to have for themselves and have offerings left to appease them (much like how outdwellers are treated in Druidry). You don’t invite the dark fairy to Sleeping Beauty’s baby blessing, but you better make sure to send her a nice gift basket for your rudeness! Only the spirits that you trust and are known to mean you well are invited into one’s home and to a community’s ceremonies. These welcome spirits are usually restricted to the family or tribe’s totems and ancestors and even then they have very specific names they are called by to make sure the right spirits show up an no harm is caused and specific etiquette is followed so these spirits feel respected and willing to be present and bestow blessings to the people.

Animism as an active Religion

There are holy books, churches, doctrines and localized dogma, and scrolls directed to practitioners. As a mortal living in any nation of Gran Albionne, it requires nothing but yourself and what already exists in your character’s traditional culture, in nature, and in the ethereal realms.

While it possesses many Clerics and Druids and Monks, Animism doesn’t require proselytization, it appeals to a mass audience without lifting a finger or even being directly named.

Without the need for conversions, and wars for the spread of faith, Priests are freed-up to practice their ways, perform beneficial rituals and use their spirit-granted powers for the greater benefit of their communities.