Apparently, animism is pervasive, and you might be an animist without knowing it. Not superstitious, are you?
Earth houses more than 3,000 kinds of minerals, some dull and others eye-catching glittery. Fool’s gold, pyrite, is glittery. Some people believe that gemstones, especially ones whose crystal structure refracts or reflects light of particular frequencies, have some intrinsic power. You can visit gemstone sites online or some gem dealers that push the notion that certain minerals exude healing or helpful power. There are even testimonials, reading something like: “I bought one of your sapphires, and my business suddenly improved,” “I am thrilled that my emerald has made decision making easier for me,” and “Within minutes of my putting on my ruby, I received good news I had been waiting for.”
Right, you’re thinking P.T. Barnum, “There’s a sucker born every minute. Who would believe that a gem can exude some power and spend money on one because it will somehow transfer that power to change circumstances or personality? Gotta be the same kind of person who believes that destiny lies in the stars or in Tarot cards. Someone who takes the coincidental for the related. Someone who ascribes coincidence to cause and effect.”
And you’re not like that. No, you wouldn’t put your destiny in the shape or color or brilliance of a gem. You wouldn’t ascribe power to a mineral, and you wouldn’t hang upside down to kiss the Blarney Stone.” Certainly, you wouldn’t buy the idea of a curse lying within the Hope Diamond, some power within a crystal skull, or some relationship, such as one astrologers assign to the life of a “Leo” and ruby, red spinel, rhodolite, or rubellite. No, you’re more sophisticated than anyone who falls for that. You don’t, for example, have a St. Christopher statue on your dashboard, and you don’t mind walking under a ladder. Certainly, you don’t think “deaths come in threes” or that actors should hear “break a leg” before a performance.
You think animism, you think primitive. But here’s a question we all need to answer, even those of us who think we’re above all that primitiveness, who believe we are “civilized” and “educated.” Why are you comfortable with objects and places? I’m not referring to places that people visit because of some aura the way people go to Sedona, or to the top of some mountain, or to some building. No, I’m talking about your favorite stuff, the stuff others ask about: “Why are you keeping this?”
Or we might ask, “Why are you doing this?” Why do you perform some little ritual before you go onstage, go to bat, give a talk, ride a plane, or run a meeting? Just habit? Really? Would you skip that little ritual the next time just to prove that you do not believe some power or spirit lies in the act or object?
There’s a bit of the animist in most of us, but disregard that for a moment to consider other questions: What is it about certain places that draw us in? Why can we find peace in one place rather than in another? Why do some places seem to satisfy us just by our being there? And why do we hold onto stuff that others see merely as junk we hoard?
Look around at your stuff and place today. What’s your relationship with things? Does it bespeak at least a minimal animism in your belief system?
Good luck.
Earth houses more than 3,000 kinds of minerals, some dull and others eye-catching glittery. Fool’s gold, pyrite, is glittery. Some people believe that gemstones, especially ones whose crystal structure refracts or reflects light of particular frequencies, have some intrinsic power. You can visit gemstone sites online or some gem dealers that push the notion that certain minerals exude healing or helpful power. There are even testimonials, reading something like: “I bought one of your sapphires, and my business suddenly improved,” “I am thrilled that my emerald has made decision making easier for me,” and “Within minutes of my putting on my ruby, I received good news I had been waiting for.”
Right, you’re thinking P.T. Barnum, “There’s a sucker born every minute. Who would believe that a gem can exude some power and spend money on one because it will somehow transfer that power to change circumstances or personality? Gotta be the same kind of person who believes that destiny lies in the stars or in Tarot cards. Someone who takes the coincidental for the related. Someone who ascribes coincidence to cause and effect.”
And you’re not like that. No, you wouldn’t put your destiny in the shape or color or brilliance of a gem. You wouldn’t ascribe power to a mineral, and you wouldn’t hang upside down to kiss the Blarney Stone.” Certainly, you wouldn’t buy the idea of a curse lying within the Hope Diamond, some power within a crystal skull, or some relationship, such as one astrologers assign to the life of a “Leo” and ruby, red spinel, rhodolite, or rubellite. No, you’re more sophisticated than anyone who falls for that. You don’t, for example, have a St. Christopher statue on your dashboard, and you don’t mind walking under a ladder. Certainly, you don’t think “deaths come in threes” or that actors should hear “break a leg” before a performance.
You think animism, you think primitive. But here’s a question we all need to answer, even those of us who think we’re above all that primitiveness, who believe we are “civilized” and “educated.” Why are you comfortable with objects and places? I’m not referring to places that people visit because of some aura the way people go to Sedona, or to the top of some mountain, or to some building. No, I’m talking about your favorite stuff, the stuff others ask about: “Why are you keeping this?”
Or we might ask, “Why are you doing this?” Why do you perform some little ritual before you go onstage, go to bat, give a talk, ride a plane, or run a meeting? Just habit? Really? Would you skip that little ritual the next time just to prove that you do not believe some power or spirit lies in the act or object?
There’s a bit of the animist in most of us, but disregard that for a moment to consider other questions: What is it about certain places that draw us in? Why can we find peace in one place rather than in another? Why do some places seem to satisfy us just by our being there? And why do we hold onto stuff that others see merely as junk we hoard?
Look around at your stuff and place today. What’s your relationship with things? Does it bespeak at least a minimal animism in your belief system?
Good luck.
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