Animism is a way of seeing the world in which animals and plants — and often rivers, stones and other things too — are believed to have spirits, a kind of inner life. A tree is not only wood; it may be spoken to, thanked, or left in peace. Many old beliefs, and some living ones, have been given this name. Though actually, people who study religions do not all agree how wide the word should go, and some communities do not like the label, because it can sound as if their faith is “simple” or “early”. It is a school and study word, not everyday chat. An older, now rare, use (from a German scientist in the 1700s) talked about a life-force in the body; that is not the sense you meet in a religion class.

泛靈論；萬物有靈論