What changes when we recognise a river or a mountain as a person deserving of our respect? How do we live ethically within a larger-than-human world? In the midst of ecological crisis, what might we learn from cultures who have never forgotten that the world is alive and animate?
These are the kinds of questions animism invites us to consider. The latest episode of the Embodied Pathways podcast takes a deep dive into animism with Graham Harvey. Graham is a pivotal figure in the study of animism and was also my PhD supervisor. At the heart of his groundbreaking work is the realisation that animism is far more than a belief system. Animism is a sophisticated relational worldview that may hold the key to a sustainable future for all beings.
Animism is not about belief but about how we act, speak, and relate within communities that include “other-than-human persons.” This perspective unsettles conventional assumptions about relationship and invites us to reconsider how we engage with the world around us.
It also raises urgent questions. How might animism reshape our understanding of kinship and responsibility in a culture that so often prioritises consumerism and individualism? The answers are found in relationships — expressed and enacted through ceremony, gratitude, and active participation. My conversation with Graham is a reminder that we have the capacity to cultivate respectful, reciprocal relationships with the wider world, drawing inspiration from Indigenous traditions as well as our own lived experience.
I’m deeply inspired by animism. It is foundational to my spiritual practice, and I’ve written about it here and elsewhere over the years. It weaves together many of the themes I explore in this blog: ecopsychology, ecosomatics, embodied ecology, the power of place, psychedelics, activism, and more. It may even offer one of the most compelling routes through the polycrisis of the Anthropocene.
You can listen to Embodied Pathways on your favourite podcast platform, or here:
https://embodiedpathways.buzzsprout.com/1931957/episodes/18662054-the-new-animism-exploring-a-relational-worldview-with-graham-harvey
