Yes, I agree that animism is far more prevalent in shamanistic beliefs than in pantheism. Shamans believe that all things are 'spirit' but that there are seperate 'gods'. Such as Great Spirit. They believe that there is one creator who made everything that is before us. In patheism however, (as I believe it)every thing is an aspect of the divine. There is no creator seperate from the totality of the Universe. Everything is Divine and the Divine is everything. Having said this there are several types of Pantheism that I have read about. One of these is a very Darwinian approach and could possibly relate to the beliefs that you express.

I have studied with shamans before, and I would not call myself a shaman. I would not even say that I was rooted in that belief system. I find the seperation between that which is god and that which is earthly to be a huge divide for me. I cannot accept any kind of hierarchical spiritual system. To me, all things are equal in their spiritual energy and being.

All of this rubbish being said - pantheism is a very free approach to spirituality and therefore I don't think it really matters what you believe, as long as you believe in the infinite spirituality inherent in the Universe that surrounds us.

that's interesting, I can see where people might consider it condescending. I was unaware of "hylozoism", I'm glad you brought it up so I can look further into it.

I tend to be very similar in my beliefs as The Bibliophile. it's generally a combination of animisim and pantheism. I see everything as being a seperate and individual spirit, but they are all just a facet on the gem that is The All. that includes ourselves. one thing I've been thinking about a lot recently is how even though everything is a part of the whole, in my view, each individual spirit has it's own unique conciousness in order to experience a different aspect of existence. but since we are all part of the whole, the experiences are shared. I've been reading some interesting things to back this up recently. one thing that really got me thinking was the idea that The Great All, in an effort to further understand it's own existence and existence in general, divided itself into each seperate entity in order to most efficiently experience everything it can. and hence we share those experiences with eachother. even in real life, when you think about it, humans only really talk to eachother to share an experience. there's really no other reason to communicate other than to share an experience with someone else. there's been some studies that suggest we share experiences on a subconcious level as well that I found interesting.

all this makes sense to me. my own belief system is based soley on my own personal experiences. I don't ever take what others say and blindly believe it. I might explore it, but will not consider it part of my own beliefs until I fully experience it. it's ok to not fit into a label. besides, spirituality is a personal thing, and all that matters is what you make of it, no matter what that is.

I think the use of the term "animism" by people who are not animist themselves could be viewed as condenscending, because of the attitudes of the people using the term and how the term is used. This might be true nearly any time a person defines a group of people they don't belong to or identify with - especially if they personally feel the the group they are describing is primitive, superstitious or morally flawed.

I think that sometimes people compare themselves to people with different beliefs, and instead of just saying, "That doesn't work for me," they get into a "better than" mindset. In other words, if they don't personally share a belief system, it must be an inferior belief system. Which is a sharme.

On the other hand, some will infer that if someone simply doesn't relate to their belief system, it must be a put-down of what they believe. Which is also shame, especially when it isn't true.

However, I think of myself as being somewhat animist, along with a lot of other things, and I don't see it as condenscending in that context.