Animism: The Forgotten Origin of All Spiritual Beliefs

In the beginning, whenever that was, we evolved to our human-like countenance. Or were we created in this form by a super being? Maybe we are alien visitors that have devolved after our home world abandoned us? So many theories each with their own “evidence” to support them. 

But that’s not what we want to talk about. We want to talk about what we do know. And what we know about primitive humanity is that we were:

• Nomadic

• Tribal

• Innovative

Whether you want to say we started in Africa or Asia, the fact remains that we have been able to trace various nomadic routes across all continents. Today we are improving that with Genome and DNA testing showing where specific lineages originated as defined by Haplogroups.

The most interesting piece of this primitive ancestry though is where some of the oldest things are found. Europe. As of 2024, the oldest cave paintings in the world by hominids (ancestral cousins to our species) are almost 65 thousand years old in Spain. And found with the paintings were also beads and other “jewelry” like crafts. The working theory is that it was Neanderthals who created these. It is also the working theory that the Neanderthals are responsible for the oldest instruments found to date which are between 40-50 thousand-year-old bone flutes. Those were found in caves in France and Germany.

In contrast, the oldest cave art in North America is about 10,000 years old. That’s still pretty damn old though. The next oldest cave art to the Spanish caves is in Australia between 40-50 thousand years old like the flutes of France and Germany.

We can talk about “origins” all we want. We can talk about the cave paintings and tools too. No matter what we want to talk about we realize that the arguing over it still comes to one consensus. Our primitive origins have evidence EVERYWHERE!

Let’s create a bit more perspective before we move on.

The oldest tools and cave paintings around the world are between 65,000-10,000 years old

The oldest continuously inhabited human settlement Jericho is about 11,000 years old

The oldest continuously inhabited established city Damascus is about 5000 years old

More recently, something you would be familiar with was The first Olympic Games in Greece played in 776 BC. That’s about 2800 years ago. Now let's go older than that again.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are roughly between 2000-3000 years old. That’s the age of when the bible was first being recorded through writing. 

Speaking of writing, the oldest documented Hieroglyphics in Egypt are about 5000 years old. The oldest form of writing, Cuneiform from Sumerians of Mesopotamia, is thought to have first been used about 5500 years ago.

The oldest manmade structure in Europe is the stone Cairn of Barnenez in France which is a little over 6000 years old. 

I know this is a lot of head-spinning information. I want to point out from all of this that I want you to look at the gap between what is considered “primitive vs. civilized.” The oldest “established” settlement is the same age as cave paintings in North America. The oldest “established” city with architecture and permanent residents came 5000 years later. 

All of this points out one simple truth that we seem to refuse to look at. We are all the descendants of tribal people. We all come from the same kind of background. And that background is being in communion with nature. From this intimacy with our environment, we learned survival, dependency, cooperation, community, etc. 

As time progressed, we developed a reverence and respect for nature and the forces found therein. We began to understand the connectivity between us and everything else around us. This grew into what is termed Animism. Animism is the first spiritual belief system. At its core is the simplicity of the notion that everything that exists has a spirit. Think of Disney’s Pocahontas and the song Colors of the Wind. The lyrics of that song are not explaining a Native American belief, they are explaining the belief of Animism. 

Every person that exists can trace their ancestry to Animist people. It existed everywhere and is the bedrock behind Polytheism, Pantheism, Monotheism, and Religion. The most amazing thing about Animism is that it still exists today and can be recognized under the name Shamanism.

Shamanism is going to be the first time we need to talk about “Appropriation.” There is a movement happening that is saying that certain groups of people are “not allowed” to practice shamanism because it is culture-specific. There is a small degree of truth to that but not in the way people think…nor will they like.

First the origin of the word. Shaman is a Germanic word from the late 1600s. It is the most contemporary iteration of a word that has been passed around and reconditioned for centuries or millennia. If Shaman is the most modern evolution of the word the earliest “recorded” version is from Sanskrit in India as Sramana-s. But the most credited “origin” of the word is from the Tungus people of Siberia and the word Saman. Coming from the Sanskrit, Saman is the 4th iteration of the word. And the Sanskrit Sramana-s is still only the first recorded which means the origin can go further back still. ( https://www.etymonline.com/word/shaman) The origins of the word have been debated though for a long time. For more information here is a 1917 anthropological study of it. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/660223?seq=1) 

Because Sramana-s means Seeker while Shaman is commonly referred to as “one who sees in the dark,” the connotation of the word despite the passage of time or debate maintains a similar meaning. And the most interesting part of that is it is a word bestowing a title or mantle upon a venerated figure of a community. So whether the origins are “incorrect” or “spot on” the congruency between the words shouldn’t be considered a coincidence.

Shaman is an umbrella term for a person who is recognized as a skilled and true Animist. Essentially, a person who has a relationship with an “unseen world” and the information they gain from this relationship yields results in the physical. Those results get recognized by a community and the community bestows the title of Shaman. The person practicing does not give themselves the title. That’s all it comes down to. 

The controversy is that certain groups should not claim to practice Shamanism because of ethnicity. Specifically, the people targeted by this speech are Caucasians. And much of the rhetoric comes from young generations of Native American people claiming that Caucasians are stealing their “thing.” And this is bleeding over to the rest of the bandwagoners who don’t help any cause they jump onto. Once again, the entire world was Animistic. That is why it is found in the history of every continent including Europe with the Sami people of Scandinavia, the Celtics, the Druids, and the Gaelic. Those tribal people of Europe were Animistic as they had very few defined deities. The Norse would be the exception and they were located more in the center between the Celtics and the Sami people. This explains why the Norse had multiple Pantheons because their belief system was based on insights gained from the Animist neighbors sharing stories of spirits they would encounter.

The sad fact to realize though is that the majority of the anger is specified over the use of the word “shaman,” and yet it’s not a Native American word…It was applied to Native Americans much later by Europeans colonizing the Americas. Therefore, to adopt the term is fair because the Animistic practice is still there. To then weaponize it as a tool of hate, discouragement, and prejudice against others is when it becomes appropriated. It wasn’t “yours” to begin with so you can’t use it against others. 

And this is not to cause hate or backlash against Native Americans. They have faced more than enough hate through history as it is. This is an example to show how double-edged a sword the topic of appropriation can be. We will see a much worse example of appropriation through weaponized beliefs in a later post. And that one is 100% at the hands of Caucasians. Culturally and ancestrally, no person on this planet should be discouraged from animistic practices if they find that route to be their path. It is where we all came from spiritually. Animism is our origin story of belief. 

All of that being said, mainstream “shamanism” is a problem because there is real appropriation happening. The word Shaman is not being appropriated and while animism is a worldwide practice evidenced from every continent; regional traditions and variants are steeped in cultural heritage passed down from generation to generation. Each individual who practices though will have a unique spin on it based on their energetic patterns. Much of Caucasians’ cultural history of our practices has been lost due to events we will discuss in a later post. There are efforts to do things respectfully by locating artifacts or slabs with ancient writings through European archaeology and attempting to piece back together more of the animistic practices of Europe. At the same time, there are self-appointed “experts” who offer classes to become “certified” as a shaman over a single workshop. First off there’s no such thing as certification for animism or shamanism. You either do it or you don’t. If strictly personal practice, you are an animist. If you are sought out by others you are still just an animist and if others call you a shaman they are bestowing that title on you as what they see you as. It's not like a coronation for a king. Just one person calling someone a shaman doesn’t make that person a shaman to others. 

The second way appropriation is happening is people want to learn about animism and travel to regions more steeped in it to experience it firsthand. They then return home to Europe or North America and begin “performing” the ceremonies they experienced as a person receiving a session. They weren’t students and did not go through training. They just remember what motions were performed and then attempt to reproduce the actions. One of the biggest examples of this as of 2024 is the use of ayahuasca. Just because someone goes to the Amazon and has an Ayahuasca Ceremony performed on them does not mean they know how to administer it SAFELY or have permission from the original people to administer it. There needs to be experience, study, instruction, personal introspection, time practicing under supervision, and initiation if not more steps in the process. Exposure does not grant permission to administer and more importantly, permission to administer does not grant permission to teach. There has to be a line drawn there.

I know I went a little long-winded about that but appropriation needs to be fully understood before people start accusing others of this. It is a serious offense in spiritual circles and can have major ramifications on not only you and your practice but also on others if they begin coming to you for help or guidance. It's like Carl Jung and The Red Book. Many people preach from The Red Book and it has caused so much disparity in information. Which is the natural course of action for the energy coming from that text. The reason is because Jung’s dying wish was that NO ONE ever read that work. He instructed his family to lock it away and never let others see what was inside. They went against his dying wish and had it published anyway years after his death. That is an automatic conflict of energies and will only serve to confuse or hinder rather than help and guide. And this isn’t speculation from me, it is included in the published work. I decided to get it through Audible and the entire introduction details the history of the road to publication for that book. I listened through that part of the audiobook, stopped it, and said I would not read this any further. It's about having discernment and knowing when you are in breach of respect for others. 

All of that was necessary to be said at this time because we should be purposely lifting each other. We should be sharing freely in our knowledge. The idea of hiding it away and making things “elite,” “chosen,” or “forbidden” adds to the Power Over culture that we are quite frankly suffering under today. I do understand why people are acting like the seagulls from Finding Nemo screaming, “Mine, mine, mine.” I do. Some things have been taken from them and there is the fight response in our society right now that says hoard it and protect it. The truth is that’s how things die. If you cover a candle it suffocates and the flame goes out. There are thousands of years of history that we are trying to piece together because they have been erased, changed, destroyed, etc. Don’t go after others for their personal practice if you don’t even know the history of your own.

This is exactly why the following posts detailing the historical evolution of spiritual beliefs and concepts are critical to helping you find your path. By knowing the history of how we got to where we are you can better determine the way you need to go. And, as is the case with Animism, it starts by understanding everything around you is alive and has a voice. Animism, once again, is the bedrock upon which all other practices are built.

Shamans are the community-acknowledged “priests,” for lack of a better term, for the practice of Animism. Animism practices are as varied as the people who practice it. Animism can be defined by a few stand-out characteristics:

• The belief that everything is connected on a deeper level. Not just cause and effect

  • There is a term called Synchronicity which is heavily emphasized in Animistic practices. Examples include reading Omens and Signs.

• A relationship with guiding forces or spirits that is not necessarily transactional.

  • Can be informational and informal. To the point of just having invisible friends. 

• A reverence and respect towards nature and even man-made structures.

  • The understanding that everything has life and even man-made structures or intangible things, like businesses, have a spirit to be tended to.

• A knowledge of “spiritual beings” that may or may not have names

Animism is the simplest thing to explain in history because it is simplistic at its core. Simplistic yet potent which is why it has survived from our primitive origins into modern society. I know I said I wouldn’t get “practice specific” in the Pathworking series and it may seem like I am from this post but I’m not. Breaking it down I described the historical importance of Animism and its defining characteristics. The Shaman is a community-recognized leader who practices Animism is all that was for. Practices of Animism are so varied it is one of the few true impossible tasks to make a “practice-specific” list for Animism. You would quite literally need to track down every Animist and name a style after each of them to do that. And good luck if you’re that person who said, “Challenge Accepted,” when you read that. 

As we move into the formation of Polytheism and Pantheism we will explore how Animistic ideals shaped those. But before we go there I want to circle back to Appropriation, Ancestry, and Culture taking out the specific practices and talking about those three topics more in-depth. Understanding the differences between Culture and Ancestry and how that ties back to what is and what is not appropriation will be extremely important to start wrapping your head around now before we get to the events that, in my opinion, shattered this world spiritually.

With that, I will thank you again for reading. This post was probably one of the harder ones to digest yet, but we are at a pivotal point in history and the truth needs to be spoken without fear. Until next time I wish you a bountiful and full life.