By: Robert Barton

 Animism is a term that is applied to a complex belief that we see active in both ancient and modern Druidic religious thought, and is the belief that all creatures, things and places have some type of spirit or spiritual quality *1. In an animistic world-view, animals, mountains, rivers, trees and other objects either have a spiritual quality or they are connected to some type of spiritual quality. Animism leads to the recognition of deities that are associated with these places and objects so that a river, a mountain or the sea are seen as being inhabited by or ruled by an individual god or goddess. 

Dynamism is also a term that is relevant in both ancient and modern Druidry and is the recognition of certain forces and energies in nature or in the universe and the reverence for or worship of those forces, which may take anthropomorphic human forms or zoomorphic animal forms and may even sometimes be living flame, wind, water or any other force or energy in nature. In dynamism, these forces can be seen as individuals and treated as deities, or these forces may be identified with and seen as being under the control of a specific deity. These deities may however have a character, personality and identity that transcends the specific force or aspect of the universe that is under their control.

Pantheism is also a related ‘ism’ in which the entire universe is held to be sacred or divine and sometimes identified and equated with deity. The divine, according to a pantheistic belief is immanent within the universe *2. Theologians have not generally applied this term to ancient religions though it is often applied to modern religions. Pantheism is most often used to describe certain Eastern religions, but it is consistent with what we know of some ancient beliefs and can certainly be applied to a survey of modern Druidic beliefs.

Celtic-speaking ancient people were, like many other cultural groups, animists and dynamists with all objects and forces being seen as having a spirit or spiritual quality. We see this belief active at all levels of the mythic material. The Daghda, 'All Father', leader of a large group Irish Deities, calls to his harp which immediately flies to his hand killing several of the enemy as it comes. The hazelnuts of knowledge that fall into the well of Seaghis are eaten by a salmon who becomes the embodiment of wisdom and passes great knowledge and discernment on to whomever may catch and eat him.

Even the Well of Nechtain itself will rise up to strike down any who would dare approach improperly or unprepared. Only Nechtain and his cup-bearers were allowed near the magical well. The Goddess Boand, wife of Nechtain approached the well and circled it in the left hand direction and it rose up and struck her three times removing an eye, leg and arm. Then the water rushed down to the sea and formed the river Boinne of which Boand is the Goddess.

In the mythic material, objects are often depicted as having special abilities or even as being self-aware. Swords bear names. We see cauldrons that have special abilities and perform vital functions. Each time we find an object that has a special ability or is able to communicate, we get a tiny glimpse of the cultural memory of ancient animistic belief.

By their very existence many of the Gods and Goddesses, themselves, demonstrate culturally active animistic and dynamistic belief. Rivers, lakes, mountains and even the sea have Deities connected to them. These Deities are the spirits of those places. Tailtiu was the foster mother of the God Lugh and she died in clearing a great plain where she was buried and where her traditions of worship continued well into historical times. And so as she gave form to the new plain she became the very spirit and Goddess of the place that she had created.

Another example of animistic thought being present in an ancient Celtic cultural area is found in some of the earliest records of Ireland. While most of the earliest historically attested Irish tribes or clans took their tribal name from an ancestor or legendary ancestor, there are a few tribes known who took their names from animals. Some of these tribal names, such as Artdraige 'bear-people', Scordraige 'boar-people' and Grecraige 'horse-people demonstrate that these people most likely had some sort of spiritual connection with these animals which functioned as symbols in the society. These tribes were listed among the non-ruling tribes of Ireland and so they may represent a model that is older than what we would call the Celtic model that we see in Irish society. That these ancient people thought of these animals has having a spirit with which they could enter into some sort of direct relationship clearly indicates the presence of animism and is consistent with beliefs and practices of animistic peoples throughout the world.

Animism and dynamism are today strong and influential forces in modern theology where they can be seen actively manifest in several forms. Often, groups and individuals form spiritual connections with various animal spirits, sometimes even to the point of being called by the name of the animal with which they have formed this bond. Many ceremonies include an offering to the local spirits of land, forest and the creatures that inhabit these areas. People and congregations are forming long lasting spiritual bonds with their local land spirits as they worship year after year in the same places. The forests, rivers and hills become like old friends that join us at our sacred fires. 

Like our ancestors, we through animism and dynamism see the living world around us not just as a physical reality but we perceive it also as a spiritual reality. Trees, stones, rivers, mountains, forests, animals, the sea and the very forces of our world are all alive. These beings should be treated with respect and honor as we share our world one with another. Some of these beings are our Gods and Goddesses and we honor and revere them *3. 

As a theological principle, pantheism provides the canvas on which a picture of the world and the Gods is painted by animism and dynamism and accounts very well for the function of both animism and dynamism within modern Druidry. In fact, these three principles intertwine within a system of theology *4 that is at the same time both as simple and complex as any other theological system.

 *1 Animism and dynamism are often dismissed as being primitive and so do not need to be carefully examined as viable theological principles. This problem allows many theologians to relegate these to the field of archaic and primitive beliefs not practiced in “real religion” as practiced by modern people. When we engage in  theological debate or discussion we must be careful that we do not  engage in this flawed but common ‘evolutionary’ approach to theology. 

*2 In contrast to pantheism is panentheism in which the universe is believed to be within deity but that deity transcends the universe.  While panentheism is consistent with monotheism, pantheism is not. Monotheism insists that God is not the universe and as creator of the universe is transcendent of the universe.

*3 Some people feel that pantheism will ultimately evolve into monotheism, but we see here that pantheism can be consistent with polytheism and does not automatically lead to monotheism. The difference seems to actually lay in the presence or absence of universalism. When universalism becomes active within a pantheistic belief system then the universe becomes equated with deity and then deity is seen as being the universe and often the separate gods and goddesses are seen as aspects or faces of the one immanent universal deity. However, when pantheism is present without universalism, Druidry can remain truly polytheistic with each god and goddess seen as complete individuals who also happen to inhabit the world but who have special connections to or associations with objects, places or forces of the universe. 

*4These three theological principles actually fall within an area of theological study known as metaphysics which is the examination of the underlying spiritual structure of the world.  The term, metaphysics is often avoided by modern theologians for two reason, the first being that it has a long history,  sometimes attributed to Aristotle, and slightly differing use within philosophical study and discussions the second reason being that in recent decades the term has been grasped by the “New-age” movement and has become a marketing device for the ‘pop’ spiritual medicines that this movement sells.