Animist Paranormal Belief

Most animist paranormal belief hold that the spirit survives physical death. In some systems, the spirit is believed to pass to an easier world of abundance. Still others believe that the spirit remains on earth as a ghost, often malignant.

It is believed that there is not a separation between the material and spiritual world and that spirits (souls) exist in humans, animals, plants, rocks, thunder, mountains, bodies of water and other parts of the environment.

It is theorized that early man recognized in himself a life force or spirit which was present in life and absent in death and this spirit was noted in dreams and visions but absent in death. It is believed that recognizing this in themselves they then recognized it in animals, plants and inanimate objects.

Since it is believed that the dead survive it grew into what is known as ancestor worship with the offering of food or shedding of blood at the grave site being an accepted sacrifice.

The passage of the soul to the after world is often not the end as spirits my return to discover who murdered them and to wreak revenge on such. These spirits are believed to linger near the area of death and contact with such may be fatal. If the malignant spirit transmigrates to another person they may take the form of a predatory animal to exact revenge.

Animist traditions are as listed:

African traditional religions, a group of beliefs in various spirits of nature, are not commonly described as animistic.

Shinto, the traditional religion of Japan, is highly animistic. In Shinto, spirits of nature, or kami, are believed to exist everywhere, from the major (such as the goddess of the sun), which can be considered polytheistic, to the minor, which are more likely to be seen as a form of animism.

There are some Hindu groups which may be considered animist.

Many traditional Native American religions are fundamentally animistic.

The New Age movement commonly purports animism in the form of the existence of nature spirits and fairies.

Modern Neopagans, especially Eco-Pagans, sometimes like to describe themselves as animists, meaning that they respect the diverse community of living beings and spirits with whom humans share the world.

Religious Paranormal Belief

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