ABSTRACT
There has been a resurgence in recent decades in contemporary forms of ancient European paganism. That recovery can be credited in part to widespread honoring of experiences in nature as sacred, to a lack of attention to nature in traditional Western religions, as well as admiration of the rituals and religious traditions of indigenous peoples. Underlying many of these discussions is the term “animism,” which carried connotations of primitive belief in spirits frozen in a timeless traditionalism. Often used to separate traditional tribal peoples from the monotheistic religions, the category of animism was also used to underscore theological arguments against syncretistic influences on the Abrahamic traditions. In these arguments, any borrowing from pagan “animists” was seen to subvert scriptural revelations from a divine transcendent source.
