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Animism is used in anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many Indigenous peoples [8] in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organized religions. [9] Animism is a metaphysical belief which focuses on the supernatural universe: specifically, on the concept of the immaterial soul. [10]
Animatism is a belief that inanimate, miraculous qualities exists in the natural world. It also talks about the belief that everything is infused with a life force giving each lifeless object personality or perception, but not a soul as in animism. It is a widespread belief among small-scale societies.
Psychopathological model: religions are founded during a period of severe stress in the life of the founder. The founder suffers from psychological problems, which they resolve through the founding of the religion. (The development of the religion is for them a form of self-therapy, or self-medication.)
The Great Spirit, a central figure in many Native American belief systems, was considered the creator and sustainer of all life, with control over the natural world. Specific tribes also worshipped particular natural forces, such as the Iroquois' reverence for Thunder Beings, who were believed to bring rain and fertility to the land.
Examples of Upper Paleolithic remains that some associate with religious beliefs include the lion man, the Venus figurines, and the elaborate ritual burial from Sungir. [citation needed] In the 19th century, researchers proposed various theories regarding the origin of religion, challenging earlier claims of a Christianity-like urreligion.
The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (French: Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse), published by the French sociologist Émile Durkheim in 1912, is a book that analyzes religion as a social phenomenon. Durkheim attributes the development of religion to the emotional security attained through communal living.
Spiritualism is a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at least two fundamental substances, matter and spirit.This very broad metaphysical distinction is further developed into many and various forms by the inclusion of details about what spiritual entities exist such as a soul, the afterlife, spirits of the dead, deities and mediums; as well as details about the nature of the ...
To Kehoe, citing practices such as drumming, trance, chanting, entheogen and hallucinogen use, spirit communication, and healing as definitive of shamanism ignores the fact that they exist outside of what is defined as shamanism and even play similar roles in nonshamanic cultures, for example chanting in the Abrahamic religions. She argues that ...