I spend a lot of time talking with folx about what animism is – the awareness that everything has consciousness, is in relationship, and has agency. Very simple words for such an immense thing. Invariably someone will say, “Do animists believe…” and that’s where I realize that no matter how simply I break it down, it’s hard to interalize that animism is not a belief. It is not a philosophical tenet. It is a way of being, and in the American settler experiment, we have drunk the kool aid of analytical belief so deeply that we’ve forgotten our  felt sense roots.

Literally.

That is its own catch-22. An even bigger one is that belief is a being. Every belief is a being. Every belief is alive, with consciousness and agency, and as we become aware of them are somehow in relationship with them. To be in relationship with something means being aware that we are not separate from it. We give it energy and receive energy from it. Belief consumes energy, it grows, and it influences everything around it. This is why a simple thought can shape your entire reality. The question is, is that energy helpful or harmful? Is it supporting something that truly aligns with our awareness of oneness, does it disrupt our awareness of oneness? Is the way we give energy supportive to that thing or harmful?

The energy hygeine community has long-said that what we give attention manifests, or becomes stronger. My take on that is we are always in relaitonship with everything. Always–even if we intentionally divest our attention of something, we have only changed how we are in relationship with it. Utimately are still in relationship with the being, just on our terms, with intentionality. This is why we need to be very clear on what we believe and why we believe it. We need to be very clear whether belief is even a necessary part of how we function. If it isn’t, what do we value more? Felt sense? Awareness? Intuition? A combination? 

If our beliefs are alive, then we have a sacred responsibility to be discerning with what we feed. We must examine them with care. Does this belief serve me? Is it a life-giving force in my world? Or is it a parasitic conviction, draining my energy and limiting my potential? Am I feeding a belief that is fine for me but harms others (which means it harms everyone…)?

This is the deeper work of animism. It’s not just about seeing the life in a stone or a stream, but in the very fabric of our inner cosmology. By choosing to nurture beliefs that are based in collective responsiblity and starving those that are rooted in harm, we are engaging in a powerful form of soul tending. We are not just thinking better thoughts for ourselves; we are cultivating relationship to meet everyone’s needs.

Now to apply that to thoughts, opinions, attitudes, feelings…

@kelleysoularts

on Instagram

S. Kelley Harrell, M. Div.

Kelley Harrell is an animist, author, deathwalker, and death doula held by Tuscarora, Woccon, and Sissipihaw land. For the last 30 years, through Soul Intent Arts she’s helped others ethically build thriving spiritual paths. Her work is Nature-based, and centers soul tending through the Elder Futhark runes, animism, ancestral tending, and deathwork. She hosts the podcast, What in the Wyrd, and also writes The Weekly Rune as a celebration of the Elder Futhark in season. Work with her in the Runes for Change community or in her intensive soul tending training, The Spirited Path.  Full bio.

#beyourcommunity ~ #youareecosystem

elder well, die well, ancestor well

@kelleysoularts