I Would Love To Hear About Your Take On Animism!! Do You Believe In Souls? Do You Believe Everything

I would love to hear about your take on animism!! Do you believe in souls? Do you believe everything has a soul? Does that apply to inanimate objects? To what extent?

How do you apply animism to your craft and practice!

💚🪲🌿

Hello-hello! Glad to see you!

I am grateful for question, because I now can summarise what I believe in and put it into words.

I am indeed an animist. I could even say, if that term exit, hard animist. I believe everything has if not a soul, then some kind of alive essence.

I don't know if my understanding of soul is universal. Soul feel for me like a spirit, that lives in all of us and around. Everything has a spirit, soul, energy, understandable it for us or not, familiar and easy it is or not.

I do believe that inanimate objects also have soul, it is our choice to notice it or not. My car surly isn't animate, but I greet her every time and thank and praise her for getting me where I have to be, and I say her to rest while I am gone and don't miss me and she was nothing but kind to me. When she is broken she makes it so I won't be stuck in the middle of the road, she fully breaks only at mechanics place, and in the time of car crash she made that I wasn't hurt. My house, my home sure isn't animate, but he waits every day on the same place for us to live, he makes sure that my loved ones and me are safe under his roof. He is mighty and steady, he was build with my father's love and he keeps it still after my father is in the skies. He keeps us safe in the earthquakes and doesn't let bad people stay, he keeps mother's plants on his territory and makes it our little place.

There could be many more examples, but those two are the most strong, that came to my mind firstly.

I really enjoy philosophy of shintoism on inanimate objects and also philosophy of Marie Kondo. Japan has it's own way of seeing spirits in animate and inanimate. There almost everything gets another life after 100 years old. Foxes become kitsune, inanimate objects gain life and become tsukumogami. Shintoism is fantastic in this way, it's whole philosophy on it's spirits, that is so unusual from what I used to see and I love it.

Kon Marie is from Japan, so her approach to it is similar to shintoism. She is not a spiritual teacher of any kind, but dhe teaches how to clean a tidy up. Not in typical way, but with love to every thing. She thanks the home, thanks every thing that made it's purpose, she gives her love go clothes. Her way is not capitalistically driven, her way is driven by love to both people and things. I learnt that in her book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing" gave me a lot with the way I look at things now.

As to which extent it goes, it depends on the object itself and situation. There could be a cap from bottle, and it's continuation of the bottle. It's spirit is one, shared between parts. If we will take this cap on it's own, it still will be having spirit of bottle. But what if we will do something with it? Paint it for our art project or add it into something more for another project, where many other caps are used? It starts to change. With art project it changes it's spirit to something new, with creating project it's spirit becomes shared with other caps to whatever we creating. Beauty of things. Fluid and solid at the same time. Beauty as animate and inanimate, different, but similar lifes.

Something like this. Thank you for your ask, I am really grateful.

Ritual Gestation and Birth: A relatively low-spoons method (at least I think so) of creating powerful* servitors, enchantments, etc

*Powerful as compared to other techniques that work worse.

A common spellcasting method is to immediately deploy the spell once the casting is complete. In fact, deployment is often a part of the casting ritual in and of itself.

A different option is to keep the spell vessel in a state of magical gestation over a period of days or weeks, so that it slowly matures, gains strength, and solidifies, until it's born into this world, ushered by your hands.

This method is opposed to one where huge amounts of energy need to be raised at once. It's not a technique I'm able to manage in a sustainable way, and I find the results to be a little too... jittery.

If you are a witch who must not, or may not, raise lots of energy at once, this technique may be more manageable. It involves supervising a pot of spell, a bit like a simmering pot of stew, but overall I find it to be less of a draining process. Perhaps other people will find the same.

I believe that creating a magical seed (or embryo, if you like), and tying it to a physical object - such as a candle, crystal, piece of jewelry, charm bag, poppet, and so on - is in and of itself a powerful act of magic. This is why a candle can be enchanted, immediately burned, and still result in miraculous effects.

However, I also believe that giving the seed time to magically gestate can produce deeply powerful, effective, and long-lasting (or perhaps better to say, permanent) results. This isn't the same as completing a casting and letting the enchantment sit until you're ready to use it - it's an active process of nurturing.

Instead of immediately sending a spell to go out and work, sending it to a gestation phase is an easy change. If our spellcasting methodologies are anything alike, all you've got to do (in crude terms) is to swap out your targeting/release portion of the spell with an introduction to the magical womb, or egg, or embryonic sack, (&etc), within which the spell will grow and gain strength.

Examples:

If you direct energy as you raise it, instead of chanting, focusing, writing, or affirming that the spell goes to the target as you raise the energy, instead C/F/W/A that the spell goes into the gestational vessel.

If you gather energy and imprint/program it before you deploy it, send it to the gestational vessel instead of the target.

If you fully enchant a spell vessel (such as enchanting a candle, or creating a poppet), after the spellcasting is complete, instruct the new spell to rest and grow strong within the gestational vessel, until it's time to be fully born.

After the spell is cast, and you have magically moved the spell into its gestation phase, the spell components should be placed securely within the gestational vessel and tended to until they're ready to be born.

The "gestational vessel" is a physical object - in Traditional Witchcraft, this is most suitably the cauldron. But the gestational vessel only needs to meet a few qualifications, regardless of its ability to make campfire stews:

The gestational vessel must have a secure lid, even a makeshift lid, which blocks out the light.

It must be large enough to completely hold the physical components of the spell which it gestates.

It must be able to be stored without disruption, where no unqualified persons may accidentally remove the lid or disturb it.

Additionally:

Moving the vessel doesn't seem to typically disrupt what's growing inside. It can be taken down from a shelf, etc.; as long as the lid isn't opened without due cause.

I do not personally consecrate gestational vessels to that special purpose. I tend to use multi-use vessel which I'll use for other things later.

When the spell is inside of the magical egg (tired of saying gestation), it becomes your job to tend to it by providing energy. This can take many forms, and is an intuitive process.

Feeding the spell can be done in any manner which you usually recharge objects, or provide offerings to spirits. The line is blurred here, I think.

Feed the spell more of what you fed it in order to create it; that is, more of the same energy you raised, more of the same emotion you spent, and so on.

If preferred, feed the spell food, candle, and incense offerings. A general offering of "white light," or another creative energy, also does well here.

Intuition may advise that different foods are wanted by the spell at different times. Do with that as you please.

Those able to "tune in" to the energies of their spells and environment may find it to be very easy to keep track of the embryonic spell's hunger. Otherwise, follow a simple schedule.

I usually do not find that spells need to be fed every day, and when they require feeding, I do not find that they respond to huge amounts of energy or offerings.

Feeding about every three days is a safer bet for me.

I notice that an excess of provided energy just seems to pool up and go to waste.

A feeding may be as simple as placing a bit of your dinner next to the gestation vessel along with an offering charm, or if you're able to, lighting a single tea light.

Persons interested in psychism may have an excellent time noting the energetic change in the spell as the gestation develops.

The lid may be carefully opened to peek inside, especially if normally helpful intuition fails without peeking in; but treat the vessel gently, as if a tiny embryonic baby chicken is inside. Be quiet and gentle, and avoid disrupting the lid unless you really need to.

Ahead of time, before you even cast the spell, you should have decided how long you're going to gestate it for. Three days, or a full moon cycle, or dark to full moon, are a good bet; so is one week if you're doing a planetary thing. I find that even a shorter gestation period provides delightful results compared to doing none at all.

Intuition may advise that the spell is ready to be born early, or would like to stay a little longer.

If intuition is not your ally in these matters, follow the schedule you've set. All will be well.

The appointed time has arrived - the spell is to be born! (Celestial enthusiasts may be wise the the idea of birthing their spell at a special hour, day, or election).

Frankly, popping off the vessel lid, saying, "your time of rest is done, you are now at full power, go now and begin your duties" will perfectly suffice.

But better can be achieved.

If possible, consider employing a birthing ritual. Here are ideas, in no particular order:

Symbols of a gateway or passageway are very good, even something as simple as two stones or two candles to mark a 'gate'.

Using an actual doorway, especially moving from indoors to outdoors (or vice-versa, depending on the nature of your spell).

Using a hag stone to represent pulling the spell from the faerie world into our physical one; the reverse process of how such a stone is often employed.

Using a family tradition, or religious or cultural tradition, to celebrate the birth of a new baby; even if this tradition is only symbolically simulated through key points ("I am the grandpa of this family, and as the grandpa, I announce the new baby's name!")

Doing something celebratory and evocative, like that Lion King scene where Rafiki holds up baby Simba, etc.

In general, the spell should be removed from the gestation pot in a ritualistic way, glistening with the gravity of ushering new life into this world.

The spell may be carefully taken from the vessel and passed through a doorway or liminal space; symbolically drawn through a hag stone or other physically impassable space; held up to greet the first light of the day, or the light of a certain moon phase; be passed over a fire; or any number of ritualistic acts to denote movement into a new phase of life.

At this time, you should magically assert that the spell is born, and ready to do its task.

Of course, you do more. And in these matters, I find that more is better.

A christening ceremony, or a baptism, is most excellently employed to further empower this new life to be a living being in our world, capable of great influence and change - as we all imagine our children will be.

A bit of anointing oil, a touch of holy water, a formal naming ceremony ("I name you, My Paycheck is Cleared. Your name is My Paycheck is Cleared."), whatever you like - especially include a small gift to the spell (perhaps a few coins to set it on the right path in life), or - I suppose this post has gotten long enough. You can perhaps imagine what more could be done.

When all is said and done, employ the spell; light it if it's a candle, whisper things to it if it's a poppet, hang it up if it's supposed to be hung up, and so on.

Do mind that such things, having being born into this world and given real life, do not tend to quit it so quickly as only bornless energies that are diffused just as they were raised; like waves, forming and dissipating.

Things with birthdays and names and birthday presents and baptisms and godparents tend to feel as if this world is theirs, too.

I am generally not very much of a "be careful" sort of poster, but for this sort of technique, I'd recommend being careful. It really does work fantastically, and that's the problem.

Feed the spell with your blood at the moment of conception, and at the moment of birth, for something extra delightful.

people talk all the time about “primal instincts” and it’s usually about violence or sexual temptations or something, but your humanity comes with a lot of different stuff that we do without really thinking about, that we do without being told to or prompted to

your average human comes pre-installed with instincts to:

Befriend

Tell story

Make Thing

Investigate

Share knowledge

Laugh

Sing

Dance

Empathize with

Create

we are chalk full of survival instincts that revolve around connecting to others (dog-shaped others, robot-shaped, sometimes even plant-shaped) and making things with our hands

your primal instincts are not bathed in blood- they are layered in people telling stories to each other around a fire over and over and putting devices together through trial and error over and over and reaching for someone and something every moment of the way

🐢 anon here!

What is a part of nature that you feel spiritually connected to the most?

Could be anything!

Spiders, oak trees, urban/city nature, bugs, rocks, rabbits, the oceans and rivers, anything!!!

Hello beloved anon 🐢!!

I think for me it's woodlands! Where I grew up is near a small patch of woods and I spent so much time there as a child with my family and our dogs that it's become really important to me! Whenever I go home, I spend a lot of time there, meditating or exploring and appreciating how familiar it is, despite how much we both have changed.

Where I live for university is beautiful: we have beaches and mountains nearby, but the woodland isn't as accessible as I would like (I don't drive so I'm limited by public transit).

If I am surrounded by trees, with good, deep soil and roots beneath me, I am happy.

I haven't prayed to god in a church in ages. I pray in libraries, in fields, in the summer heat and in the first bite of a warm meal.

I don't pray to god anymore, I don't think I ever did.

I pray to the world around me, to the bugs in the fields, the sunflowers on the side of the road, the water in my garden and to the rain coming down.

I pray to everything beyond this world, to the stars, the planets, all the different masses that fill the space around us.

I actually love hearing about reformed people's stories. I love hearing about people who were in toxic communities or people who used to objectively be dickheads talking about how they got out of that. How they made themselves better.

I hate how most people's initial reaction to stories like that are things like:

"How could you have ever done those things?!" "Oh my god, you believed those things?!" "Well it doesn't un-do the harm you did!"

People incessantly advocate for change but then refuse to allow people who have changed the grace of being acknowledged and given opportunities and chances.

I love hearing about ex-antis talking about how they don't spend their days being angry and sending death threats anymore.

I love hearing about ex-homophobes who realized there's no magic law about what is "natural."

I love reformed bullies talking about how they made amends with their victims and spend their days being considerate of others.

You can't scream about wanting people to change but then expect them to spend the rest of their lives stuck in the past and on who they used to be. You can't expect people to spend the entire rest of their lives grovelling and apologizing and demeaning themselves.

Instead of clinging to who they were, latch onto who they are.

Ask how they got out of it. Commend them on changing. Enjoy that there's one less cause of harm in the world.