This summer, my youth pastor preached a series on worldview. His lecture on animism was particularly interesting, as he pointed out just how deeply it’s infiltrated the entertainment of today. In what ways?
Let’s start by defining animism. It was certainly a term I had never heard before. My pastor defined animism as the over-emphasis of the spiritual, usually accompanied by some sort of denial of, or negativity toward, the physical. This serves as an umbrella under which fall religions like gnosticism, pagan mythology, Eastern mysticism, witchcraft, and the New Age movement. Naturalism, and the worldviews that fall under it, is the opposite of this.
Animism has a tendency to reject Western/Enlightenment thought. And unfortunately, it is big in today’s art.
This isn’t a surprising or hidden fact. Animism is present in tons of movies and shows: The Lion King, Star Wars, Black Panther, Kung Fu Panda, Mulan, Mortal Engines, Ninjago, Shang Chi, Raya and the Last Dragon, and more. It’s also big in literature, The Stormlight Archives being an example, and others being far more obvious as they adopt various tribal mythologies, say Percy Jackson. I should think there’s even connections between this rise of animism and, as I call them, ‘chaos’ stories, like The Phantom Tollbooth, or Furthermore.
But, even in stories that aren’t inherently ‘religious’ or that feature obvious cultural mysticism, the influence of animism can still be seen. In particular, my pastor told us, animism emphasizes cyclical time as opposed to linear.
What does that mean and what has it got to do with entertainment?
Cyclical time can be thought of as a never-ending spiral, as opposed to linear, which is a line. In cyclical-time thought, there is no beginning or end, simply the repitition of patterns. It hinges on balance, perhaps between good and evil or wreckage and restoration. Such beliefs as reincarnation fit perfectly into this view of time. Furthermore, it’s highly impersonal. We are little more than a wave lapping up on the beach as part of a neverending tide.
But as I was sitting there listening, a puzzle piece clicked into place. I’m sure you’ve noticed a trend in movies, especially the superhero/sci-fi genre, of multiverses, alternate selves, and ‘canon events.’ It’s this idea that there are patterns that are fate-ordained to repeat, that you are not a singular, unique being created in the image of God but rather only a possibility, just one of billions of other you’s, that nothing you do has meaning because all you’re doing is behaving at random alongside other random possibilities and versions of impersonal repeating blips on a infinite spiral that just happens to be there.
This is something more than elemental spirits or ghosts or even witchcraft, features which can be a part of the magic system of any fantasy story and still not upend the concepts of purpose and self. This sort of animism is a deep undermining of who we are and what our purpose is, and an undermining of who God is and how He works. There is no God in animism. There may be gods, with a little ‘g’, but no ultimate creating force, no great, loving Creator overseeing all of time and knowing it from beginning to end. There are only fickle spirits to please and paths to carve for oneself that have no meaning in the long run. If you lose someone dear, that means nothing. If you mess up, that means nothing. It was fated to happen. Just because. Good and bad mean nothing, as the world needs both to exist and there is always balance between the two that fate somehow maintains.
We believe that things happen for a reason — but not just because of chance or that being the way things are. We believe things happen because of Providence, because of a personal, loving, Creator God Who has numbered our days, Who knows the plans He has for us, Who can count the hairs on our head — He knows us that intimately.
Which would you rather be? One out of an infinite number of Bobs or Joes or Emmas just floating around out there and all hitting the same ‘canon events’ in your life?
Or the one and only you, a special creation deeply beloved by your Creator, Who died on a cross suffering physical and spiritual agony to ensure that you could be made right with Him and share eternity with Him in endless bliss, Who has a handcrafted plan for your life that, fun or not, is designed with your best interest in mind?
Which would you prefer, the impersonal, demanding spirits, rites, and moral haziness?
Or the God Who has reached out and offered you a free gift, one that is right there for the taking and demands nothing of you but reception, one that will make clear right and wrong and bring you into a relationship with the One Who knew you before you were in your mother’s womb?
Now, if you’re a Christian writer like me, what does this mean for you?
Well, I’m going to assume you likely don’t include principles of animism in your writing. Spiritual or supernatural elements might be present but they certainly align with a God-centered view of time, self, and purpose.
But I hope that, understanding the lies of Satan better, you can more directly counteract them. This is the know thine enemy principle.
To the reader, maybe this will change some things for you. I know it did for me. Suddenly, I saw something a little darker in a children’s fantasy series I picked up from the store, saw the normalization of tribalistic cult behavior. It wasn’t limited to a magic system, rather, there was deeper philosophy behind it affecting the characters. That series is now on the ‘return’ pile, and in case you’re curious, it was Cooper’s Dark Rising series. Maybe don’t give that to a tween.
To be clear, I’m not saying that everything with magic or spirits in it is wrong. See this post for more of my thoughts on the matter. It’s the philosophy that underlies it. There are magical, spiritual forces in LoTR, and also Narnia. Indeed, Narnia has several references to Greek mythology, an animistic religion at its core. But you’ll notice the nymphs and Baccus bow to Aslan — they are not independent beings, nor are they even gods. They’re simply more magical creatures in a magical world. Jadis is defeated, Sauron is overthrown. Good and evil are not two sides of the same coin, not forces to be balanced. Good wins in the end, and that’s because God is in control, presiding over all, and is more powerful than any evil.
Animism can be scary. People do dark stuff and mess with things they shouldn’t. Demons are real. But as our pastor reminded us, they know God is real, and they shudder.
Art shapes culture. Right now, art is pretty darn messed-up. So let’s go shine some light into it.
Thank you for reading and have a lovely week. Until next time,
Cheers!
For Further Reading: The Gospel Coalition: Why Multiverse Stories Let Us Down Britannica: One-Way View of Time in the Philosophy of History (It’s Britannica, and it tries to lump us in with false religions, so do read with a grain of salt.)
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