I want a spiritual practice
rooted where I live.

Animism is where you stand.

I want a spiritual practice
rooted where I live.

Animism is where you stand.

For a long time I’ve said animism is where you stand. It isn’t some place else, some when else, or someone else.

The idea that you and place are the same is a fraught concept, though. When you aren’t from where you are, and where you’re from isn’t home that can bring up a lot of feels. Before we can truly be where we are, we have to be able to hold everything that led up to how we got here. As the descendants of beautiful, wise Ancestors, we have to realize the centuries of gymnastics that brought us exactly where we are, and doing so likely involves deathwork, trauma reconciliation (that done to our Ancestors, and that our Ancestors caused), and singing to the power of our lineages.

Because we have never been separate from where we stand, or from where our Ancestors stood. Land relationship stays with us always.

Many spiritual paths teach us how to transcend the world. Few teach us how to belong to it.

You may feel drawn to a practice that grows from the land beneath your feet, the waters that sustain your home, the seasons unfolding around you, and the relationships that shape the place where you live.

Animism offers another possibility.

What if your spiritual practice began with the understanding that your ecosystem is already part of your spiritual truth?

At Soul Intent Arts, we cultivate practices of attention, reciprocity, and belonging. Rather than searching for sacred places somewhere else, we learn to recognize the sacred relationships already present in the places we call home.

For a long time I’ve said animism is where you stand. It isn’t some place else, some when else, or someone else.

The idea that you and place are the same is a fraught concept, though. When you aren’t from where you are, and where you’re from isn’t home that can bring up a lot of feels. Before we can truly be where we are, we have to be able to hold everything that led up to how we got here. As the descendants of beautiful, wise Ancestors, we have to realize the centuries of gymnastics that brought us exactly where we are, and doing so likely involves deathwork, trauma reconciliation (that done to our Ancestors, and that our Ancestors caused), and singing to the power of our lineages.

Because we have never been separate from where we stand, or from where our Ancestors stood. Land relationship stays with us always.

Many spiritual paths teach us how to transcend the world. Few teach us how to belong to it.

You may feel drawn to a practice that grows from the land beneath your feet, the waters that sustain your home, the seasons unfolding around you, and the relationships that shape the place where you live.

Animism offers another possibility.

What if your spiritual practice began with the understanding that your ecosystem is already part of your spiritual truth?

At Soul Intent Arts, we cultivate practices of attention, reciprocity, and belonging. Rather than searching for sacred places somewhere else, we learn to recognize the sacred relationships already present in the places we call home.

You may find yourself here if…

you’re seeking a practice connected to your local landscape
you want your spirituality to reflect the seasons where
you live
you’ve outgrown traditions that feel disconnected
from daily life
you’re looking for practices rooted in relationship
rather than belief
you want to know your ecosystem as a community,
not a backdrop

You don’t have to travel farther to deepen your practice.

You can begin by becoming a better relative to where you live.

A Different Way of Experiencing Place

Where to

begin

Realize that coming into closer relationship with where you live means facing challenging realities about all the life that lives among it. We can’t connect with other-than-human kin while othering human kin.

You’re not

alone

Fifteen years of these concerns from readers wanting to enliven their relationship with place live in Undersong. Yours may already be answered there. Find everything from Nature Spirits, seasonal rituals, and connecting with other-than-humans.

How animism
fits

Not certainty. Not belief.

Animism offers a new way to be in relationship with your experiences, so that you can create a new worldview around them. Animism reminds us that we are the land, and always have been.

The next
step

Confronting biases around human-persons (including Self) is your current challenge. Select field notes are listed below to help you take your next step.