Animism-Religion of Tibet

Animism means “breath, spirit, life” in Latin. It encompasses the beliefs that sprits or souls exist not only in humans but also in animals, rocks, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, and other entities in natural environment such as thunder or wind. Animism is recognized to be the most common and foundational thread of indigenous peoples’ spiritual perspectives. It was developed by the anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor in his book Primitive Culture in 1871. He believed that animism represented the earliest form of religion. Animism is said to be the most ancient religion in Tibet. People burn incenses to show their respect to mountain deities. On prayer flags and paper prints, windhorse or “Lungta” (in Tibetan) appears in the center as a pivotal element of space with four other creatures in the corners. Windhorse is associated with good luck and positive energy. People believe that it can generate merit and increase one’s life force. The other four creatures are tiger, snow lion, garuda and dragon, symbolizing elements of wind, earth, fire and water.