Animism: Respecting the Living WorldGraham Harvey applies the new use of the term 'animism' to the religious worldviews of communities and cultures such as Ojibwe, Maori, Aboriginal Australian and eco-Pagan to introduce the diversity of ways of being animist. The book explores what role deities, creators, tricksters, shamans, cannibals totems and elders play in these religious traditions and relationships? The book also touches on the 'animist realism' of West African literatures, the 'perspectivism' of Amazonian shamans, and the relational ethics of South and Central Asian communities. The notions that 'animism' is about 'beliefs in spirits' are rejected in favour of a nuanced and positive evaluation of indigenous and environmentalist understandings that the world would be a better place if humans celebrated their relationships with the whole of life. |
What people are saying - Write a review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - thudfactor - LibraryThingGraham examines modern animistic practices and how academia treats this religious expression. Often horribly dry, probably requires a pretty good grounding in academic discussion of religion to begin with. Read full review
Contents
FROM DEROGATORY TO CRITICAL TERM | 1 |
From Primitives to Persons | 3 |
Humes sentiments | 4 |
Frazers trees | 5 |
Huxleys antagonism | 9 |
Maretts powers | 10 |
Durkheims totems | 11 |
Mausss gift | 12 |
Animals might be human too | 114 |
Death | 115 |
Hunting and domesticating | 116 |
Death is a transformation | 117 |
Death rituals and myths | 118 |
Spirits Powers Creators and Souls | 121 |
Faeries and other spirits | 122 |
Ancestors | 125 |
Piagets development | 14 |
Guthries anthropomorphism | 15 |
Philosophers panpsychism | 17 |
Anthropologists revisitation | 20 |
Kohdks trees | 22 |
Goodalls chimpanzees | 24 |
Garubas literature | 25 |
Quinns leavers | 26 |
Environmentalists participation | 27 |
Recognising animisms | 28 |
ANIMIST CASE STUDIES | 31 |
Ojibwe Language | 33 |
Grammar | 34 |
Stones | 36 |
Thunder | 38 |
Seasonal stories | 40 |
Ceremonies | 42 |
Tobacco greetings | 43 |
Waswagoning | 45 |
Legs and whats between them | 46 |
Living well | 48 |
Maori Arts | 50 |
All our relations | 52 |
Violence and passion | 54 |
Tapu and noa | 55 |
Maraeatea | 57 |
Whare nui | 58 |
Whare kai | 60 |
Ancestral cannibalism | 61 |
Animist construction | 63 |
Enacting animism | 64 |
Aboriginal Law and Land | 66 |
Expressing the Dreaming | 71 |
Subjects and objects | 73 |
Time and events | 76 |
Visiting Alice | 77 |
EcoPagan Activism | 82 |
Defining Paganism | 84 |
Defining Paganisms nature | 85 |
EcoPaganism on the road | 88 |
Paganism off the road | 90 |
Knowing nature | 92 |
Gods fairies and hedgehogs | 94 |
ANIMIST ISSUES | 97 |
Signs of Life and Personhood | 99 |
Animals are people too | 100 |
Bird persons | 102 |
Fish persons | 103 |
Plant persons | 104 |
Stone persons | 106 |
The Elements | 107 |
Places | 109 |
Humans are animals too | 113 |
Creators and tricksters | 128 |
Life forces | 129 |
Witchcraft substances and energies | 132 |
Souls | 135 |
Embodiment and spirituality | 137 |
Shamans | 139 |
Shamanic cosmologies | 140 |
States of consciousness | 142 |
Ecstasy trance and possession | 144 |
Hallucination or vision? | 145 |
Eating souls | 146 |
Killing life | 147 |
Surviving death | 148 |
Shamans as mediators and healers | 149 |
Animists antagonists | 150 |
Cultural nature and shamans as seers | 151 |
Cannibalism | 153 |
Real cannibals? | 154 |
Arens myth | 155 |
Compassionate cannibalism | 157 |
Eating enemies | 160 |
Cannibals as monsters consumers and carers | 162 |
Animism and cannibalism | 163 |
Totems | 164 |
Ojibwe clans | 165 |
Updating the old totemism | 166 |
Revisiting otherthanhumans | 168 |
Elders and Ethics | 169 |
The good life | 171 |
Wisdom | 173 |
ANIMISMS CHALLENGES | 177 |
Environmentalisms | 179 |
Depths of green | 180 |
Ecofeminist particularity | 182 |
Sitting and listening | 184 |
Consciousness | 187 |
Consciousness matters | 188 |
Cyberconsciousness | 191 |
Knowing bodies matter | 192 |
Relational consciousness | 193 |
Philosophers and Persons | 195 |
Personalist persons | 196 |
Phenomenological persons | 197 |
Feminist and queer persons | 198 |
Free and wilful ethical persons | 200 |
Quantum persons | 202 |
Postdualist persons | 203 |
Conclusion | 205 |
Recognising animism | 208 |
Depth and breadth turtles and hedgehogs | 210 |
213 | |
237 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Aboriginal academic actions activities alive alternative ancestors animism animist argument attempt attention become body cannibalism celebrate central ceremonies certainly challenge chapter citing concerned consciousness consideration considered construction context continue conversation cultures death debates demonstrates dialogue discourse discussion diversity Dreaming embodiment encounters engage especially evidence example existence experience expressed fact forms further gifts given Hallowell human important inanimate indigenous individual interest kind knowledge lands language least living Maori matter means names nature notes notion objects offer Ojibwe other-than-human Pagans participation particular performance perhaps personhood persons philosophers physical plants possible practice present problem question recognise reference relational relationships religion require respect responsible rocks says seems sense shamans significant similar Similarly social sometimes souls space speak spirits stones stories suggest term theory things thought totemism traditional transformation trees understanding various Western worldviews