Editing Animism (section)

=== Asian origin religions ===
[[File:Ingrown oval sculpture of human head in a tree trunk in Laos (1).jpg|thumb|upright|Ingrown sculpture of human head in a tree trunk in Laos]]

==== Indian-origin religions ====
{{anchor | Indic | Indian | Hindu | Hinduism | Buddhist | Buddhism | Jain | Jainism | Sikh | Sikhism | Indian religion | Indian-origin religion | Indian religions | Indian-origin religions}}

In the [[Indian religions|Indian-origin religions]], namely [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Jainism]], and [[Sikhism]], the animistic aspects of nature worship and ecological conservation are part of the core belief system.

[[Matsya Purana]], a [[Hindu text]], has a [[Sanskrit]] language [[shloka]] (hymn), which explains the importance of reverence of ecology. It states: "A pond equals ten [[water well|wells]], a reservoir equals ten ponds, while a son equals ten reservoirs, and a tree equals ten sons."<ref name=pur1>[https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/haryana-mulls-giving-marks-to-class-12-students-for-planting-trees-101627242568655.html "Haryana mulls giving marks to class 12 students for planting trees"], ''Hindustan Times'', 26 July 2021.</ref> Indian religions [[Trees in mythology|worship trees]] such as the [[Bodhi Tree]] and numerous [[List of Banyan trees in India|superlative banyan trees]], conserve the [[sacred groves of India]], revere the [[River#Sacred|rivers as sacred]], and [[Sacred mountains#India|worship the mountains and their ecology.]]

[[Sacred tree#Panchavati|Panchavati]] are the [[sacred trees]] in Indic religions, which are sacred groves containing five type of trees, usually chosen from among the Vata (''[[Ficus benghalensis]]'', Banyan), Ashvattha (''[[Ficus religiosa]]'', Peepal), Bilva (''[[Aegle marmelos]]'', Bengal Quince), Amalaki (''[[Phyllanthus emblica]]'', Indian Gooseberry, Amla), Ashoka (''[[Saraca asoca]]'', Ashok), Udumbara (''[[Ficus racemosa]]'', Cluster Fig, Gular), Nimba (''[[Azadirachta indica]]'', Neem) and Shami (''[[Prosopis spicigera]]'', Indian Mesquite).<ref name=vati1>[https://greenmesg.org/nature/trees/sacred/panchavati_trees.php "Panchvati trees"], greenmesg.org, accessed 26 July 2021.</ref><ref name=gr1>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/peepal-for-east-amla-for-west-193-villages-set-to-get-panchvati-trees/articleshow/84741664.cms "Peepal for east amla for west"], ''Times of India'', 26 July 2021.</ref>

[[File:Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden - Howrah 2011-01-08 9728.JPG|thumb|[[Thimmamma Marrimanu]] – the Great Banyan tree revered by the people of [[Indian religions|Indian-origin religions]] such as [[Hinduism]] (including [[Vedic]], [[Shaivism]], [[Dravidian folk religion|Dravidian Hinduism]]), [[Buddhism]], [[Jainism]], and [[Sikhism]]|upright=1.2]][[File:Vat Purnima image by Raju Kasambe DSCN6393 07.jpg|thumb|During [[Vat Purnima]] festival, married women tie threads around a banyan tree in India.|left|upright=1.2]]

The [[banyan]] is considered holy in several religious traditions of India. The ''[[Ficus benghalensis]]'' is the [[national tree]] of India.<ref name="National Symbols of India">{{cite web |url=http://india.gov.in/knowindia/national_symbols.php/national_symbols.php?id=5 |title=National Tree |publisher=[[Government of India]] |access-date=2012-01-16}}</ref> [[Vat Purnima]] is a [[List of Hindu festivals|Hindu festival]] related to the banyan tree, and is observed by married women in [[North India]] and in the Western Indian states of [[Maharashtra]], [[Goa]], [[Gujarat]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kerkar |first=Rajendra P. |date=7 Jun 2009 |title=Vat-Pournima: Worship of the banyan tree |work=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Vat-Pournima-Worship-of-the-banyan-tree/articleshow/4625988.cms |access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref> For three days of the month of [[Jyeshtha (month)|Jyeshtha]] in the [[Hindu calendar]] (which falls in May–June in the [[Gregorian calendar]]) married women observe a fast, tie threads around a banyan tree, and pray for the well-being of their husbands.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2 June 2015 |title=Mumbai: Women celebrate Vat Purnima at Jogeshwari station |work=Mid Day |url=https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/Mumbai--Women-celebrate-Vat-Purnima-at-Jogeshwari-station-16259170 |access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref> [[Thimmamma Marrimanu]], sacred to Indian religions, has branches spread over five acres and was listed as the world's largest banyan tree in the Guinness World Records in 1989.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.backpacker-backgammon.com/news_banyan_trees.html |title=Backpacker Backgammon Boards - Banyan Trees |access-date=2015-01-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710100822/http://www.backpacker-backgammon.com/news_banyan_trees.html |archive-date=2012-07-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.anantapur.com/travel/thimmamma.html |title=Thimmamma Marrimanu – Anantapur |website=Anantapur.com |access-date=19 March 2019}}</ref>

In Hinduism, the leaf of the banyan tree is said to be the resting place for the god [[Krishna]]. In the [[Bhagavat Gita]], Krishna said, "There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down, and the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas." (Bg 15.1)

In Buddhism's [[Pali canon]], the banyan (Pali: ''nigrodha'')<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |publisher=[[Pali Text Society]] |location=Chipstead, London |date=1921–1925 |editor1-last=Rhys Davids |editor1-first=T. W. |editor-link1=T. W. Rhys Davids |editor2-last=Stede |editor2-first=William |dictionary=The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary |url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:96.pali |page=355 |title=Nigrodha |access-date=22 November 2008}}</ref> is referenced numerous times.<ref>See, for instance, the automated search of the SLTP ed. of the Pali Canon for the root "nigrodh" which results in 243 matches {{cite web |url=http://www.bodhgayanews.net/pitakaresults.php?title=&start=0&to=10&searchstring=Nigrodh |title=Search term 'Nigrodh' found in 243 pages in all documents |website=Bodhgayanews.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202012916/http://www.bodhgayanews.net/pitakaresults.php?title=&start=0&to=10&searchstring=Nigrodh |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=22 November 2008}}</ref> Typical metaphors allude to the banyan's [[Epiphyte|epiphytic]] nature, likening the banyan's supplanting of a host tree as comparable to the way sensual desire (''[[kāma]]'') overcomes humans.<ref>See, e.g., [[Samyutta Nikaya|SN]] 46.39, "Trees [Discourse]", trans. by Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000), ''Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya'' (Boston: Wisdom Publications), pp. 1593, 1906 n. 81; and, [[Sutta Nipata|Sn]] 2.5 v. 271 or 272 ([[Viggo Fausböll|Fausböll]], 1881, [http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe10/sbe1034.htm p. 46]).</ref>

[[Mun (religion)|Mun]] (also known as Munism or Bongthingism) is the traditional [[polytheism|polytheistic]], animist, [[shamanism|shamanistic]], and [[syncretism|syncretic]] religion of the [[Lepcha people]].<ref name="Bareh">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Sikkim |year=2001 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of North-East India |editor-last=Bareh |editor-first=Hamlet |volume=7 |pages=284–86 |isbn=81-7099-787-9 |publisher=Mittal Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jrr7HPr8NAQC}}</ref><ref name="Ferrari">{{cite book |first=Davide |last=Torri |year=2010 |chapter=10. In the Shadow of the Devil: Traditional patterns of Lepcha culture reinterpreted |title=Health and Religious Rituals in South Asia |pages=149–156 |editor-last=Ferrari |editor-first=Fabrizio |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-84629-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OyKFM2qrNUEC}}</ref><ref name="West">{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |page=462 |series=Facts on File Library of World History |editor-last=West |editor-first=Barbara A. |publisher=Infobase |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4381-1913-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC}}</ref>

[[Sanamahism]] is an [[ethnic religion]] of the [[Meitei people]] of {{langnf|mni|[[Kangleipak]]|[[Manipur]]}} in [[Northeast India]]. It is a polytheistic and animist religion and is named after [[Lainingthou Sanamahi]], one of the most important deities of the Meitei faith.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gourchandra |first=M. |date=1982 |title=Sanamahi Laihui |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.465618}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Revivalism of Sanamahism |url=http://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.Manipur_and_Religion.The_Revivalism_of_Sanamahism |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=e-pao.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nilabir |first=Sairem |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.465239 |title=Laiyingthou Sanamahi Amasung Sanamahi Laining Hinggat Ihou |date=2002}}</ref>

==== Chinese religions ====
[[Chinese folk religion|Shendao]] ({{Lang-zh|c=神道|p=shéndào|l=the Way of the Gods}}) is a term originated by Chinese folk religions influenced by, [[Mohism|Mohist]], [[Confucianism|Confucian]] and [[Taoism|Taoist]] philosophy, referring to the divine order of nature or the [[Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)|Wuxing]].

The [[Religion of the Shang dynasty|Shang dynasty's state religion]] was practiced from 1600 BCE to 1046 BCE, and was built on the idea of spiritualizing natural phenomena.

==== Japan and Shinto ====
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{{Shinto}}
[[Shinto]] is the traditional Japanese folk religion and has many animist aspects. The {{Nihongo|2=神|3=[[kami]]}}, a class of [[Spirit (supernatural entity)|supernatural beings]], are central to Shinto. All things, including natural forces and well-known geographical locations, are thought to be home to the kami. The kami are worshipped at kamidana household shrines, family shrines, and jinja public shrines.

The [[Ryukyuan religion]] of the [[Ryukyu Islands]] is distinct from Shinto, but shares similar characteristics.

==== Kalash people ====
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[[Kalash people]] of Northern Pakistan follow an ancient animistic religion identified with an ancient form of Hinduism.<ref>Zeb, Alam, ''et al''. (2019). "Identifying local actors of deforestation and [[forest degradation]] in the Kalasha valleys of Pakistan." ''Forest Policy and Economics'' '''104''': 56–64.</ref>

The [[Kalash people|Kalash]] (Kalasha: {{Lang|kls|کالؕاشؕا}}, romanised: {{Lang|kls-latn|Kaḷaṣa}}, [[Devanagari]]: {{Lang|kls|कळष}}), or Kalasha, are an [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]]<ref name=West-2010-b>{{cite book |last=West |first=Barbara A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA357 |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |date=19 May 2010 |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]] |isbn=9781438119137 |page=357 |language=en}}</ref> [[indigenous people]] residing in the [[Chitral District]] of the [[Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa]] province of [[Pakistan]].

They are considered unique among the people of Pakistan.<ref name="www2.unitar.org">{{cite web |title=The Kalash – Protection and Conservation of an Endangered Minority in the Hindukush Mountain Belt of Chitral, Northern Pakistan |url=http://www2.unitar.org/hiroshima/programmes/whs07/materials/Country%20Presentations/Pakistan.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707041729/http://www.unitar.org/hiroshima/programmes/whs07/materials/Country%20Presentations/Pakistan.pdf|archive-date=7 July 2007}}</ref><ref name="The kalaṣa of kalaṣüm">{{Cite web |title=Richard Strand's Nuristân Site: The Kalasha of Kalashüm |url=http://www.nuristan.info/Nuristani/Kalasha/kalasha.html |access-date=31 December 2022 |website=www.nuristan.info}}</ref><ref>Augusto S. Cacopardo. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DVgrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT28 ''Pagan Christmas: Winter Feasts of the Kalasha of the Hindu Kush'']. p.28.</ref> They are also considered to be Pakistan's smallest [[ethnoreligious group]],<ref name="The Express Tribune">{{cite news |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/988585/earthquake-was-allahs-wrath-for-kalash-communitys-immoral-ways/ |title='Earthquake was Allah's wrath for Kalash community's immoral ways' |work=[[The Express Tribune]] |date=10 November 2015 |access-date=11 November 2015}}</ref> and traditionally practice what authors characterise as a form of animism.<ref name="atalayar.com">{{Cite web |title=The Kalash: Pakistan's last animist tribe |url=https://atalayar.com/en/content/kalash-pakistans-last-animist-tribe |access-date=31 December 2022 |website=Atalayar |date=29 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Searle-2013>{{cite book |author=Searle, Mike |title=Colliding Continents: A geological exploration of the Himalaya, Karakoram, and Tibet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-BLJuEo8lT0C|date=28 March 2013|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-165249-3}}</ref><ref name=Camerapix-1998>{{cite book |author=Camerapix |title=Spectrum Guide to Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZlwOAQAAMAAJ |year=1998 |publisher=Interlink Books |isbn=978-1-56656-240-9}}</ref>{{efn|Nowhere is this more evident than among the pagan Kalash, a non-Islamic community living in the isolated valleys of Chitral whose faith is founded on animism.<ref name=Camerapix-1998/>}}<ref name=Sheehan-1993>{{cite book |author=Sheehan, Sean |date=October 1993 |title=Pakistan |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-1-85435-583-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/pakistan00shee_0 |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{efn|The Kalash people are small in number, hardly exceeding 3,000, but ... as well as having their own language and costume, they practice animism (the worship of spirits in nature)&nbsp;...<ref name=Sheehan-1993/>}} During the mid-20th century an attempt was made to force a few Kalasha villages in Pakistan to convert to Islam, but the people fought the conversion and, once official pressure was removed, the vast majority resumed the practice of their own religion.<ref name="The kalaṣa of kalaṣüm" /> Nevertheless, some Kalasha have since converted to Islam, despite being shunned afterward by their community for having done so.<ref>{{cite web|date=1 March 2021|title=Tribe of Kalash: The Last Kafir|url=http://www.ghrd.org/2021/03/01/tribe-of-kalash-the-last-kafir/|access-date=11 April 2021|website=Global Human Rights Defence|language=en-US|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422022929/https://www.ghrd.org/2021/03/01/tribe-of-kalash-the-last-kafir/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The term is used to refer to many distinct people including the Väi, the Čima-nišei, the Vântä, plus the [[Ashkun]]- and [[Tregami]]-speakers.<ref name="The kalaṣa of kalaṣüm"/> The Kalash are considered to be an indigenous people of Asia, with their ancestors migrating to [[Chitral Valley]] from another location possibly further south,<ref name="www2.unitar.org"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cd0rAAAAMAAJ&q=kalash+tsiyam|title=Folk: dansk etnografisk tidsskrift|last1=Nicolaisen|first1=Johannes|last2=Yde|first2=Jens|date=1963|publisher=Dansk etnografisk forening.|language=en}}</ref> which the Kalash call "Tsiyam" in their folk songs and epics.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-dXlAAAAMAAJ&q=kalash+tsiyam|title=East and West|date=1992|publisher=Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente|language=en}}</ref>

They claim to descend from the armies of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] who were left behind from his armed campaign, though no evidence exists for him to have passed the area.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shah |first=Danial |date=29 September 2012 |title=In the land of infidels |url=https://www.dawn.com/2012/09/29/in-the-land-of-infidels/ |access-date=16 March 2023 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Strand-nuristan-kalaṣa">{{cite web |author=Strand, R. |author-link=Richard |title=The kalaṣa of kalaṣüm Strand |website=nuristan.info |url=http://www.nuristan.info/Nuristani/Kalasha/kalasha.html}}</ref> 

The neighbouring [[Nuristani people]] of the adjacent [[Nuristan Province|Nuristan]] (historically known as [[Kafiristan]]) province of [[Afghanistan]] once had the same culture and practised a faith very similar to that of the Kalash, differing in a few minor particulars.<ref name="saxena">{{cite book|last=Saxena|first=Anju|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vTgv1ZYGZdoC&q=kalash+nuristani+religion&pg=PA72|title=Himalayan Languages: Past and Present|publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]]|language=en|page=72|isbn=9783110898873|date=12 May 2011}}</ref><ref name="folklore">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ienxrTPHzzwC&q=kalash+nuristani+religion&pg=PA318|title=South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|language=en|page=318|isbn=9780415939195|year=2003}}</ref>

The first historically recorded Islamic invasions of their lands were by the [[Ghaznavids]] in the 11th century<ref name="Caocopardo">[https://books.google.com/books?id=DVgrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT29 Pagan Christmas: Winter Feasts of the Kalasha of the Hindu Kush], By Augusto S. Cacopardo</ref> while they themselves are first attested in 1339 during [[Timur]]'s invasions.<ref name="Ludwig">{{cite book |editor-link=Ludwig W. Adamec |editor=Adamec, L.W. |year=1985 |title=Historical and Political Gazetteer of Afghanistan |volume=6 |publisher=Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt Graz |page=349 |quote=He identifies them more particularly with the Gandhari, that is to say, the former inhabitants of what is now known as the Mohmand country.}}</ref> Nuristan had been forcibly converted to Islam in 1895–96, although some evidence has shown the people continued to practice their customs.<ref name="Iranica">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Klimberg |first=Max |encyclopedia= [[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|title=NURISTAN |url= http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nuristan|edition= Online|date=1 October 2004 |publisher= [[Columbia University]]|location= United States}}</ref> The Kalash of Chitral have maintained their own separate cultural traditions.<ref name="Newby, Eric 2008">Newby, Eric. A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush. 2008. {{ISBN|1741795281}}</ref>

==== Korea ====
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[[Korean shamanism|Muism]], the native Korean belief, has many animist aspects.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Lee|first1=Peter H.|title=Sources of Korean tradition|last2=De Bary|first2=Wm. Theodore|date=1996|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=0-231-10566-5|location=New York|oclc=34553561}}</ref> The various deities, called ''kwisin,'' are capable of interacting with humans and causing problems if they are not honoured appropriately. [[File:A Tinguian making an offering to the guardian stones. Wellcome M0005692.jpg|thumb|A 1922 photograph of an [[Itneg people|Itneg]] [[babaylan|priestess]] in the [[Philippines]] making an offering to an ''apdel'', a guardian ''[[anito]]'' spirit of her village that reside in the water-worn stones known as ''pinaing''<ref name="cole">{{cite journal |first1=Fay-Cooper |last1=Cole |first2=Albert |last2=Gale |year=1922 |title=The Tinguian; Social, Religious, and Economic life of a Philippine tribe |journal=Field Museum of Natural History: Anthropological Series |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=235&ndash;493 |url=https://archive.org/details/tinguiansocialre142cole}}</ref>|upright=1.2]]

==== Philippines indigenous religions ====
In the [[indigenous Philippine folk religions]], [[Religion in pre-colonial Philippines|pre-colonial religions of Philippines]] and [[Philippine mythology]], animism is part of their core beliefs as demonstrated by the belief in [[Anito]], [[Diwata (disambiguation)|Diwata]] and [[Bathala]] as well as their conservation and veneration of [[Indigenous Philippine shrines and sacred grounds|sacred Indigenous Philippine shrines, forests, mountains and sacred grounds]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scott |first=William Henry |title=Barangay: sixteenth-century Philippine culture and society |date=1994 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |isbn=978-971-550-135-4 |location=Quezon City, Manila, Philippines}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Crawfurd |first=John |title=History of the Indian Archipelago. 2 |date=2013 |access-date=2025-03-21 |series=Cambridge library collection. Perspectives from the Royal Asiatic Society |edition=Reprint |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-05615-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zialcita |first=Fernando N. |date=2020 |title=Gilda Cordero-Fernando: 1932–2020 |url=https://doi.org/10.1353/phs.2020.0040 |journal=Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints |volume=68 |issue=3-4 |pages=541–547 |doi=10.1353/phs.2020.0040 |issn=2244-1638}}</ref>

Anito ([[Literal translation|lit.]] '[ancestor] spirit') refers to the various indigenous shamanistic [[folk religion]]s of the [[Philippines]], led by female or feminized male shamans known as ''[[Philippine shamans|babaylan]]''. It includes belief in a spirit world existing alongside and interacting with the material world, as well as the belief that everything has a spirit, from rocks and trees to animals and humans to natural phenomena.<ref name="Scott1994">{{cite book |author=Scott, William Henry |author-link=William Henry Scott (historian) |year=1994 |title=Barangay: Sixteenth century Philippine culture and society |url=https://archive.org/details/BarangaySixteenthCenturyPhilippineCultureAndSociety |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |place=Quezon City |isbn=978-9715501354}}</ref><ref name="SoulBook1991">{{cite book |last1=Demetrio |first1=Francisco R. |last2=Cordero-Fernando |first2=Gilda |author2-link=Gilda Cordero-Fernando |first3=Roberto B. |last3=Nakpil-Zialcita |first4=Fernando |last4=Feleo |year=1991 |title=The Soul Book: Introduction to Philippine pagan religion |publisher=GCF Books |place=Quezon City |asin=B007FR4S8G}}</ref>

In indigenous Filipino belief, the Bathala is the omnipotent deity which was derived from [[Sanskrit]] word for the Hindu supreme deity ''[[Batara Guru|bhattara]]'',<ref>R. Ghose (1966), ''Saivism in Indonesia during the Hindu-Javanese period'', The University of Hong Kong Press, pages 16, 123, 494–495, 550–552</ref><ref>Scott, William Henry (1994). ''Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society''. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press. {{ISBN|971-550-135-4}}. p. 234.</ref> as one of the ten [[avatar]]s of the Hindu god [[Vishnu]].<ref>de los Reyes y Florentino, Isabelo (2014). ''History of Ilocos'', Volume 1. University of the Philippines Press, 2014. {{ISBN|9715427294}}, 9789715427296. p. 83.</ref><ref>John Crawfurd (2013). ''History of the Indian Archipelago: Containing an Account of the Manners, Art, Languages, Religions, Institutions, and Commerce of Its Inhabitants''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 219–220. {{ISBN|978-1-108-05615-1}}.</ref> The omnipotent Bathala also presides over the spirits of ancestors called Anito.<ref name="Marsden, William 1784">Marsden, William (1784). ''The History of Sumatra: Containing an Account of the Government, Laws, Customs and Manners of the Native Inhabitants''. Good Press, 2019.</ref><ref name="Marsden, William 1784 Page 255">Marsden, William (1784). ''The History of Sumatra: Containing an Account of the Government, Laws, Customs and Manners of the Native Inhabitants, with a Description of the Natural Productions, and a Relation of the Ancient Political State of that Island''. p. 255.</ref><ref>Silliman, Robert Benton (1964). ''Religious Beliefs and Life at the Beginning of the Spanish Regime in the Philippines: Readings''. College of Theology, Silliman University, 1964. p. 46</ref><ref>Blair, Emma Helen & Robertson, James Alexander. ''The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898'', Volume 40 (of 55): 1690–1691. Chapter XV, p. 106.</ref> Anitos serve as intermediaries between mortals and the divine, such as [[Agni]] (Hindu) who holds the access to divine realms; for this reason they are invoked first and are the first to receive offerings, regardless of the deity the worshipper wants to pray to.<ref>Talbott, Rick F. (2005). ''Sacred Sacrifice: Ritual Paradigms in Vedic Religion and Early Christianity''. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2005. {{ISBN|1597523402|9781597523400}}. p. 82</ref><ref>Pomey, François & Tooke, Andrew (1793). ''The Pantheon: Representing the Fabulous Histories of the Heathen Gods, and the Most Illustrious Heroes of Antiquity, in a Short, Plain, and Familiar Method, by Way of Dialogue, for the Use of Schools''. Silvester Doig, 1793. p. 151</ref>

In ancient Philippine animism, Diwata or Diwatas in plural is a broad, gender-neutral term for supernatural beings, including gods, goddesses, fairies, nature spirits, and celestial entities. Rooted in Hindu-Buddhist influences, the word originally meant "celestial being" or "descent" in Sanskrit word devata (deity).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Daniélou |first=Alain |title=The myths and gods of India: the classic work on Hindu polytheism from the Princeton Bollingen series |date=1991 |publisher=Inner Traditions International ; Distributed to the book trade in the U.S. by American International Distribution Corp |isbn=978-0-89281-354-4 |location=Rochester, Vt. : [s.l.]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Scott |first=William Henry |title=Barangay: sixteenth century Philippine culture and society |date=2004 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila Univ. Pr |isbn=978-971-550-135-4 |edition=5. pr |location=Manila}}</ref>In modern Filipino culture, Diwata is often interpreted and linked to fairies, muses, nymphs, or even dryads.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=Roy Chapman |url=https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.147302 |title=[Mammal field catalog] |date=1916 |publisher=[s.n.]}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=The Peshat is One, Because the Truth is One: |date=2019-01-23 |work=The Dual Truth, Volumes I &amp; II |pages=132–148 |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1zjgb1f.10 |access-date=2025-03-21 |publisher=Academic Studies Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Owen |first=Norman G. |date=February 1998 |title=Historical Dictionary of the Philippines. By Artemio R. Guillermo and May Kyi Win . Lanham, Md.: The Scarecrow Press, 1997. xi, 363 pp. $62.00. |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2659094 |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=273–275 |doi=10.2307/2659094 |issn=0021-9118}}</ref>

==== Abrahamic religions ====
Animism also has influences in [[Yahwism| Abrahamic religions]].

The [[Old Testament]] and the [[Wisdom literature]] preach the [[omnipresence]] of God (Jeremiah 23:24; Proverbs 15:3; 1 Kings 8:27), and God is bodily present in the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|incarnation]] of his Son, [[Jesus Christ]]. (Gospel of John 1:14, Colossians 2:9).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wallace |first=Mark I. |chapter=Christian Animism, Green Spirit Theology, and the Global Crisis today |title=Interdisciplinary and Religio-Cultural Discourses on a Spirit-Filled World |year=2013 |pages=197–211 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |doi=10.1057/9781137268990_15 |isbn=9781137268990 }}</ref> Animism is not peripheral to Christian identity but is its nurturing home ground, its axis mundi. In addition to the conceptual work the term ''animism'' performs, it provides insight into the relational character and common personhood of material existence.<ref name=":2" />

The Christian [[spiritual mapping]] movement is based upon a similar worldview to that of animism. It involves researching and mapping the spiritual and social history of an area in order to determine the demon ([[territorial spirit]]) controlling an area and preventing [[evangelism]], so that the demon can be defeated through [[spiritual warfare]] prayer and rituals. Both posit that an invisible spirit world is active and that it can be interacted with or controlled, with the Christian belief that such power to control the spirit world comes from God rather than being inherent to objects or places. "The animist believes that rituals and objects ''contain'' spiritual power, whereas a Christian believes that rituals and objects may ''convey'' power. Animists seek to ''manipulate'' power, whereas Christians seek to ''submit'' to God and to learn to work with his power."<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Holvast |first=René |title=Spiritual Mapping: The Turbulent Career of a Contested American Missionary Paradigm, 1989–2005 |date=2008 |degree=PhD |access-date=September 15, 2024 |publisher=[[Utrecht University]] |isbn=978-90-393-4829-1 |url=https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/29340/holvast.pdf |pages=24–25}}</ref>

With rising awareness of ecological preservation, recently theologians like [[Mark I. Wallace]] argue for animistic Christianity with a [[Biocentrism (ethics)|biocentric]] approach that understands God being present in all earthly objects, such as animals, trees, and rocks.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-15 |title=Theologian Mark Wallace Explores Christian Animism in Recent Book |url=https://www.swarthmore.edu/news-events/theologian-mark-wallace-explores-christian-animism-recent-book |access-date=2020-12-08 |website=www.swarthmore.edu |language=en}}</ref>

==== Pre-Islamic Arab religion ====
{{expand section|date=July 2021}}

[[Pre-Islamic Arab religion]] can refer to the traditional polytheistic, animist, and in some rare cases, shamanistic, religions of the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula. The belief in [[jinn]], invisible entities akin to spirits in the Western sense dominant in the Arab religious systems, hardly fit the description of Animism in a strict sense. The jinn are considered to be analogous to the human soul by living lives like that of humans, but they are not exactly like human souls neither are they spirits of the dead.<ref name="MagicAndDivination-2021">Magic and Divination in Early Islam. (2021). Vereinigtes Königreich: Taylor & Francis.</ref>{{rp|p=49}} It is unclear if belief in jinn derived from nomadic or sedentary populations.<ref name="MagicAndDivination-2021"/>{{rp|p=51}}