Animism: The World's OLDEST Religion
Dec 30, 2024
By: Greg Schmalzel
Let’s test your knowledge. Which religion is older: Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism? The answer is Buddhism, which emerged in India around 500 BC. But what if I told you there were religions and worldviews that predate all of these by thousands of years and that the remnants of these ancient beliefs still persist today?
The religion I’m referring to here is Animism. Generally speaking, we can define animism as the belief that all things - plants, animals, rocks, rivers, and even the wind - possess a spirit or consciousness. Cultures from all around the globe have been observed practicing such beliefs, and we can trace them back in the archaeological record. It’s easy to imagine early humans looking up at the stars or into the eyes of a wild animal and sensing something deeper... something sacred. But was this really their first form of spirituality?
In this video, we’re diving into the roots of animism – not just as a religious concept, but as a way of seeing the world that stretches across time. From prehistoric burial sites to indigenous practices alive today, we’re uncovering the evidence that suggests humans have always believed the world around them is conscious, connected, and alive.
But animism isn’t just an ancient, non-western relic. It's making a quiet resurgence in modern, Western society in other forms - through ideas like panpsychism, which suggests that consciousness exists in all things. So what is it about animistic beliefs that appeal to the human psyche, and could there be an evolutionary explanation?
Watch the YouTube video HERE.
What is Animism?
The 19th-century anthropologist E.B. Tylor is often credited with popularizing the idea of Animism. Tylor believed religion evolved in stages, starting with Animism as the foundation. In his view, societies progressed from Animism to Polytheism, and eventually to Monotheism, which he considered the most advanced form of belief. He argued that early humans explained dreams, death, and natural forces by attributing them to unseen spirits, which later evolved into gods governing aspects of life. Over time, centralized societies embraced monotheism, reflecting their hierarchical structures.
However, Tylor’s model oversimplifies religious development. Critics highlight two main flaws:
- Linear bias – Tylor’s framework assumes all societies evolve toward monotheism, ignoring the complexity and diversity of religious traditions.
- Western perspective – His model reflects a Eurocentric bias, portraying monotheism as superior. Like many theorists of his time, Tylor misunderstood biological evolution, applying a flawed, unidirectional view to culture. In reality, cultural and religious evolution is adaptive, responding to environmental and societal needs.
Animism is not an outdated stage that societies outgrow. Many indigenous and contemporary cultures still practice or integrate animistic beliefs. The Ojibwe of North America view the world as a community of persons, where animals, plants, and even stars are considered animate beings with relationships to humans. Similarly, the Ainu of Japan believe spirits (Kamuy) inhabit animals and natural phenomena, with the bear holding a sacred role as a divine ancestor. In Sub-Saharan Africa, many traditions attribute spirits to animals, plants, and landscapes, reinforcing the belief that the spiritual permeates the material world.
Animism is not one specific religion. It is a generic name for the collection of these religions sharing such beliefs. These cultures demonstrate that its not a relic of the past but a living worldview still practiced by people around the globe. It challenges the outdated notion that animism is simply a primitive precursor to more complex religions. Instead, animism provides a rich, multifaceted understanding of the world, where humans are deeply connected to the land and its creatures, and where the spiritual and material realms are inseparable.
Despite its presence today, evidence of animistic beliefs does predate evidence of any other form of religion. So, how far back does it go?
Prehistoric Evidence of Animism
Gobekli Tepe
If prehistoric people practiced Animism, what sort of evidence should we look for? Well, we should expect to see examples of it in the archaeological record. And we do. The archaeological evidence comes in three main forms:
- Symbolic art depicting animals, spirits, and natural elements
- Burial practices and grave goods
- Ritual Structures on Sacred Landscapes
Symbolic Art
Early humans created vivid depictions of animals, spirits, and natural elements, suggesting reverence and spiritual significance. The Lascaux and Chauvet caves in France showcase elaborate paintings of animals, possibly linked to rituals. Similarly, San rock art in Southern Africa features therianthropes, blending human and animal forms, indicative of shamanistic beliefs. Portable art, such as the Lion Man figurine from Germany (c. 30,000 BCE), further reflects spiritual connections between humans and animals. In North America, Hopewell effigy pipes (200 BCE–500 CE) carved into animal forms suggest ceremonial use and spiritual invocation, possibly incited by smoking tobacco.
Burial Practices
Burial sites reveal early beliefs in an afterlife or spirit world. The Shanidar flower burial (c. 65,000 years ago) hints at Neanderthal symbolic behavior, though its interpretation is debated. Qafzeh Cave in Israel (c. 100,000 years ago) contains Homo sapiens burials with red ochre and grave goods like deer antlers, possibly reflecting animistic funerary practices. Burial rituals increase over time around the globe, with animal bones and red ochre frequently accompanying the dead.
Ritual Structures
Pre-agricultural societies constructed monumental structures reflecting spiritual beliefs. Poverty Point (c. 1700 BCE) in Louisiana features massive earthworks and ceremonial mounds, aligned with celestial events. Stonehenge (3000–1500 BCE) in England’s solstitial alignments point to sacred engagement with cosmic forces. Göbekli Tepe (c. 12,600 years ago) predates agriculture, with giant stone pillars of intricately carved animal imagery and possible alignments to the star Sirius, indicating deep spiritual and cosmological connections.
While archaeological evidence cannot definitively prove animism, these findings strongly suggest that spiritual engagement with nature shaped prehistoric belief systems.
Why Animism Makes Sense in Prehistory
Animism likely emerged as a natural outcome of cognitive and social evolution, driven by factors that enhanced survival in early human societies. One key explanation is Hyperactive Agency Detection (HAD), a cognitive trait that causes humans to attribute agency or consciousness to both living and non-living things, particularly in uncertain situations. This evolved as a survival mechanism – early humans who quickly detected potential threats, like predators or competitors, had a better chance of survival. Over time, HAD extended to interpreting ambiguous events as caused by spirits or supernatural forces, contributing to animistic beliefs where natural elements were seen as possessing consciousness or spiritual essence.
Beyond individual survival, animism fostered group cohesion. As humans developed language and shared stories of agency, animism evolved into communal narratives and rituals. These rituals strengthened social bonds and aided in coordination for essential activities like hunting, defense, and resource management, much like the large-scale cooperation seen at sites like Göbekli Tepe. Animistic beliefs could also regulate social behavior by embedding norms and environmental respect into the cultural fabric, ensuring long-term survival.
While group selection theory remains debated, it suggests that groups with shared animistic practices and stronger cohesion might have out-competed less cooperative groups. This could explain the deep roots of animism in prehistory and its enduring presence in human societies.
The Legacy of Animism Today
Animism persists in many non-Western societies, like the Ainu of Japan and the Kikuyu of Central Africa, and its influence can be found in major world religions. In Judaism, the land of Israel holds spiritual significance, while Buddhism reflects animistic respect for animals through vegetarianism, recognizing the kinship between humans and other beings.
A modern revival of animistic thought is emerging in Western philosophy through panpsychism, the idea that consciousness is a fundamental and universal property of the universe. Unlike materialism, which views consciousness as arising only in complex systems, panpsychism suggests all matter – from particles to plants – possesses some degree of experience. Rooted in the works of Spinoza and Schopenhauer, contemporary figures like Philip Goff and Iain McGilchrist are advancing this view.
Both animism and panpsychism see the universe as interconnected, dissolving the boundary between the living and non-living. This perspective carries ethical implications, suggesting that if all things possess consciousness, humans have a moral duty to respect and protect the environment and other life forms. Panpsychism, while grounded in modern science, echoes the ancient animistic belief in a world infused with spiritual or conscious forces, offering a holistic view of reality.
A final point I want to address is on the role that psychedelic mushrooms may have played in the early evolution of animism and religious thought. For a comprehensive look at this “Stoned Ape Theory”, which encompasses more than just religion, check out my video What Did Prehistoric People Eat?
Stay curious my friends.
Sources:
[1] Tylor, E.B. 1871. Primitive Culture. John Murray Publishing
[2] Harvey, G. 2013. Food, Sex and Strangers: Understanding Religion as Everyday Life. Durham: Acumen.
[3] Hallowell, I. 1964. “Ojibwa Ontology, Behavior, and World View”. In Stanley Diamond (ed.). Primitive Views of the World: Essays from Culture in History. New York and London: Columbia University Press. pp. 49–82.
[4] Prayer to Kamuy – Religion
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[9] Dalton R. 2003. “Lion man takes pride of place as oldest statue.” Nature 425(6953):7.
[10] Hopewell Culture National Historical Park - The Historical Marker Database
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[13] Bar-Yosef Mayer, D., et al. 2009. “Shells and ochre in Middle Paleolithic Qafzeh Cave, Israel: indications for modern behavior.” J Hum Evol 56(3):307-14.
[14] Poverty Point Culture and the Jaketown Site: New Insights on the Apex of Archaic Monumentality
[15] Darvill T. 2022. “Keeping time at Stonehenge.” Antiquity 96(386):319-335.
[16] Magli, G. 2016. “Sirius and the project of the megalithic enclosures at Gobekli Tepe.” Nexus Netw J 18:337–346.
[17] Guthrie, S. 1995. Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion. Oxford University Press.
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