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.