Plural of animism; various belief systems that attribute spirits, souls, or consciousness to natural objects, animals, and phenomena.
From Latin 'anima' (soul) plus -ism (belief system). Coined in the 1870s by anthropologist Edward Tylor to describe indigenous spiritual practices that view nature as alive with spirits.
Animism isn't a single religion but describes how billions of people across cultures see the world—treating rivers, mountains, and trees as alive—which modern ecologists now say might be more scientifically accurate than we thought!
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