Animism/Manaism

Animism vs. Manaism

 

 

Animism is the individual souls within nature where as Manaism is the power behind all things.

 

 

Animism comes from the Latin anima which means soul/spirit. It is also the belief that individual spirits exist not only in people but also in all individual things in nature, whether they appear to be alive or not; individual animals, plants, rocks, thunder and lightning, and mountains, lakes and rivers (Van Voorst, 30).

 

Cultural anthropologists held that the first stage of all human religion was Manaism. Manaism is the belief that there is a spiritual power and energy that permeates the world. Manaism is pre-animistic because the power is not connected to spirits or a species (Van Voorst, 32).

 

 

I like the idea of Manaism most. It seems more correct that there is a power that circles around the earth rather than a soul or a spirit controlling power