Here is the preface of Christian Animism, published by Christian Alternative Books in 2015. Let me know what you think!
Preface
They found that they were looking at a most extraordinary face. It belonged to a large Man-like, almost Troll-like, figure, at least fourteen foot high, very sturdy, with a tall head, and hardly any neck. Whether it was clad in stuff like green and grey bark, or whether that was its hide, was difficult to say. At any rate the arms, at a short distance from the trunk, were not wrinkled, but covered with a brown smooth skin. The large feet had seven toes each. The lower part of the long face was covered with a sweeping grey beard, bushy, almost twiggy at the roots, thin and mossy at the ends. But at the moment the hobbits noted little but the eyes. These deep eyes were now surveying them, slow and solemn, but very penetrating. They were brown, shot with a green light. Often afterwards Pippin tried to describe his first impression of them.
“One felt as if there was an enormous will behind them, filled up with the ages of memory and long, slow, steady thinking; but their surface was sparkling with the present; like sun shimmering on the outer leaves of a vast tree, or on the ripples of a very deep lake. I don’t know, but it felt as if something that grew in the ground – asleep, you might say, or just feeling itself as something between root-tip and leaf-tip, between deep earth and sky had suddenly waked up, and was considering you with the same slow care that it had given to its own inside affairs for endless years.” (LOTR, TT, 452)
Unlike Pippin and Merry, two jolly young hobbits from Tolkien’s Middle Earth, not many of us will be blessed in our lifetime with such a vivid and gripping encounter with an Ent, or “tree-shepherd”. However, if we carefully search out the recesses of memory, it is entirely possible that, at some point in our childhood, each of us was given a taste of the “aliveness”, the sentience even, of the natural world around us. Perhaps it was a favourite tree in the backyard, or a special boulder in the field; maybe it was even a momentary glimpse of a faery, a water kelpie, or some other inhabitant of that mystic land just beneath the surface of things. For some, the early experience of animate nature was mysterious or even a little scary; for others it was simply a calm and quiet sense of being held by a presence, a personality cloaked in green leaves, clear flowing water, soft brown earth, moss and fern. As children, we experience the Earth as alive.
But how quickly we forget. Or rather, how quickly we are initiated and indoctrinated into the cult of “just” … as in, “the tree is just a tree”, “the rock is just a rock”, “the Earth is just earth”. In the reductionist worldview of scientific materialism, it is imperative that the cosmos is stripped of every vestige of personality, agency, soul. And before a child is finished elementary school, she has been effectively robbed of a way of experiencing the natural world which is immediate, imaginal, and utterly relational. By high school at latest, living nature has been transformed into mindless matter, a resource waiting to be exploited for human gain.
So is there a way back (or forward) into Eden? Is there a path we can take which will lead us deep into the primordial forest, where we can rediscover our original connection to all the wonderful creatures with whom we share this planet? So many of us are haunted by a collective memory of the Dream Time, the days of the First Parents, when Eve and Adam could talk to the animals, and understand the languages of all the plants and trees, when the wind told us secrets, and the water sang melodies which were already ancient by the time humans arrived on the scene. Are these days utterly lost to us? Or is there a way to reconnect to “all our relations”, to our cousins in the animal, plant, and mineral realms?
Ironically, on a personal level, it might be easier for me to find such a pathway were I not a Christian. If I was a Wiccan or a Taoist or a traditional Cree, I would be immersed in a worldview and a set of spiritual practices designed to facilitate and enhance my relationship with the living Earth, and the spirits of nature which surround us. As a practicing pagan, I would have access to teachings and psycho-spiritual technologies which would help me find my place, once again, in the web of energy and consciousness which permeates the entire universe.
As a Christian, however, I find that these life-ways have been cut off from me. Now don’t misunderstand – there are many good things about the Christian faith, and many reasons why I remain a convinced and convicted believer in the Way of Christ Jesus. But let’s face it, in the contemporary mainstream churches of modern western society, we no longer have a functional spiritual cosmology. We have all kinds of engaging theologies – that is, words about God – but nothing that serves us well as a map of the spirit world. North American and Western European culture is dominated by the presuppositions of scientific materialism, and the church has imbibed this reductionist worldview as if it were gospel truth. We’ve found ways to smuggle in God and the human soul, but anything “spiritual” beyond that is pretty much treated with scorn and intellectual contempt.
Surveying the long history of Christian thought and practice, we find of course, that it wasn’t always so. There were exceptions and marginal traditions which opened doors for Christians to step out onto the green paths. Early Celtic forms of Christianity were one such example; the Spirit-drenched viriditas of Hildegard was another. Francis of Assisi, in his own unique way, invited the church to pay closer attention to the rest of creation, and there are others who have followed in his footsteps. But these brilliant examples of “green faith” seem to be exceptions to the normative path of ignoring, or even denigrating, the non-human world.
I expect that this present work will be met in many quarters by incredulity and open hostility. “Christian animism”, for many, can suggest nothing more than crude syncretism, a blasphemous oxymoron. I hope to challenge that view, though my intention is more apologetic than polemic. I write from my own experience, and I draw on the experience and reflections of many who find themselves on the fringes of church and society. I pay attention to Witches, Buddhists, Faery-watchers, deep ecologists, and elders. I also search out the fertile places of my own tradition, seeking to hear a Word of healing for our Earth, a Word of grace for the trees and the animals, a Word of invitation back to the garden of Creation, our once and future home.
For those who are interested to know such things, I want to acknowledge the work of two primary guides in my intellectual formation of Christian animism: Walter Wink and Starhawk. Wink, in his masterful trilogy on the Powers, introduced me to the biblical (and apocryphal / pseudopigraphal) category of the “angels of nature”, and provided a conceptual framework which made sense of the relationship between spirit and matter, heavenly and earthly. Starhawk challenged me to keep moving from the head to the heart, from “talking self” to “younger self”, from theory to practice. Thinking about the spirits of land and woods is one thing; encountering them, communicating with them, ministering to them, is quite another. Starhawk and Wink both held up a warning as well: the work we do with the multiplicity of beings in creation is never simply personal; it is simultaneously political. Mere sentimentalism is blind to the real powers at work in the destruction of the Earth and all her children, and gives us no tools to resist the war-makers, strip-miners, clear-cutters, and polluters around us and within us. A truly green spirituality will engage us in the work of Earth-protection and Earth-healing, in many forms and venues. It is my hope that Christian Animism will make at least a small contribution to that larger work of which we are all a part.
Interested? Get the book here.
I only skimmed your blog, but I got the general idea. I’ve never read any arguments before that were specifically about Christian animism. It doesn’t seem like an absured proposition to me. However, I was raised in a very alternative Christian church and so I’m fairly openminded.
Your viewpoint reminds me of C.S. Lewis who believed that Christianity and Paganism were compatible. Lewis thought that Pagan values were the best defense Christians have against modern atheism. This makes sense to me as Christian values largely originated in Paganism, but I get the sense that Lewis had European Paganism more in mind than Graeco-Roman Paganism.
Animism makes a lot of sense to me, and some contemporary philosophers have revived it with a more detailed understanding. Also, the work of phenomenologists often has an animistic aspect to it. Another popular view is Panentheism which basically means God is both in and beyond the world.
Thanks Benjanim … CS Lewis is one of the folks who I draw on a fair bit in this construction of Christian animism. I’m not sure if he would have ever identified himself as such, but the ideas are certainly there!
Peace,
Shawn
Yeah, I don’t know what Lewis would identify as. I’ve only read a little bit of his writings over the years.
I was trying to think of other Christians that would be similar to Lewis. The only one that comes to mind is maybe Tom Harpur. He is a popular Christian writer in Canada. He wrote a book titled Pagan Christ which was about the similarities between certain Pagan beliefs and Christianity, and in his book Water into Wine he explores this theme further in terms of spiritual meaning. But I don’t know if he has ever written about animism.
Have you read about Gnosticism? I forget which Gnostic text it is, but there is one that describes heaven as being all around us.
Also, have you heard about Integral Theory? Its most popular proponent is Ken Wilber. He writes about how religious experiences fits in with science, but he isn’t a Christian. I know other Integral Theorists have written about this specifically in terms of Christianity.
I did a quick internet search and on the first page of results there was several sites that came up about Christain animism and panentheism. I would imagine there is a lot about this since Pagans and Christians were heavily in dialogue and debate for the first 6 centuries of the common era. Egypt in particular had major influence on Christianity. Egyptian religion was very diverse and included both monotheistic and animistic beliefs.
Well, I’m already sold. My only concern at this point, is that since, I, personally, do not have the strongest familiarity with the Bible, I am not in the best position to defend myself against those Christians who might staunchly oppose this view. Since you are in a much better position than me when it comes to knowing the Bible, what are the passages you that could offer the strongest argument against Christian Animism, so I may more familiarize myself with their true message and be better prepared to defend myself in debate? Obviously the 2nd commandment is going to come up, but that clearly isn’t a problem, since none of these other spirits are gods and we clearly do not rank them of higher import than God.
Thanks,
Dave LaBrie
Hey there Dave,
Good to hear from you. It’s an excellent question that you bring up: what is the logical biblical opposition to Christian Animism? My sense is that there are two primary issues to be faced. First is an argument from absence: there is virtually no mention of human-nonhuman communication in the biblical text; apart from perhaps Balaam and the donkey, and certain interpretations of the “naming” of the creatures in by Adam in the book of Genesis, there is not much to point to and say “see, there is a biblical example of animism”. On the other hand, the psalms are filled with animistic references … the trouble is that many conservative exegetes will see these as merely metaphorical. Also, intertestimental literature, such as the Book of Jubillees, or Ethiopian Enoch, are filled with references to nature spirits, but these books are not technically considered scripture (though they have a huge influence on the Book of Revelation, which itself bears traces of animistic sensibility).
The other key objection to Christian Animism, which I can imagine, is the fear that in communicating with any type of “spirit being” other than God (or perhaps an angel, but even then its iffy), one opens oneself to demonic influence. Yeah, its tricky to engage this perspective, because its so totalizing. It is based on a passage in one of the epistles of John (not the gospel) which says that to discern the spirits truly, one asks whether or not they confess that Christ has come in the flesh. This method of discernment of spirits stands in some tension with Jesus’ basic conviction that you basically test the fruit of any given spiritual conviction or practice to see if it leads in the direction of love, healing, liberation, etc. or in the direction of hate, bondage, or oppression.
I don’t know … this type of objection is raised time and time again to any form of spiritual practice which is not an explicit part of evangelical Christianity, whether this is yoga or creative visualization or even praying the rosary. I mean, of course its wise to be aware that not every entity in the spirit world means us well. There are dangers there as well. But it seems to me that if we keep ourselves rooted in the love of God, and in discipleship of Christ, then we can trust that the Spirit of God will gift us with the wisdom and discernment to sense if any given spirit is of God or not. As for nature spirits, we are treating them like neighbours, not like gods, so the question of idolatry is void. Also, most orthodox theologies don’t regard nature as “fallen” in the same sense as humans are. Nature (according to Paul in Romans) is “groaning in bondage” because of human sin and oppression, but not because of its own culpability in guilt. To me, this indicates that the spirits of nature are not demonic … they are not hostile to the purposes of God in Christ, and do not seek to do spiritual harm to humans.
My own opinion is that when nature spirits (or any kind of spirits, for that matter) are worshipped instead of God, the danger is that a space is created for the demonic to rush in and take the worship to itself. But that is another topic for another day…
Peace,
Shawn
Have you considered angels? They are not human.
Angels … yes, I think a lot about angels, though I haven’t included them much in my work in Christian Animism. But the book of Jubillees (a pseudopigraphical work) suggests an interesting link when it speaks of “the angel of the hail”, “the angel of the snow”, “the angels of the winds”, etc. For the author, it as if every aspect of nature has its own “guardian angel”. But whether or not these angels are to been seen as beings separate from the natural phenomenon, or as the “within-ness” or “inner spirit” of the phenomenon themselves, is left as an open question. Personally, I lean toward the latter interpretation, though I’m not sure.
What do you think about angels? Have you had any experiences you would like to share?
Peace,
Shawn
Thank you for the reply. I had presumed the Good Book was mostly void of direct opinion on the matter, but I wanted to be sure.
In regards to your view of the nature spirits as not culpable to sin, and thereby, not demonic; this does match with my own experiences with the nature spirits I have encountered. While they have spirit enough to be important ethically, they do not possess the kind of spirit where choice in regards to love and obedience to God is an option (that was reserved for Humanity). So, unlike Satan and the other, more sophisticated spirits, there can be no evil in them.
As long as we focus on helping them, and seeking the little help they can offer, when needed, and keep in mind the limited nature of what help they can offer, it should be mostly straight forward to tell when an interposing evil spirit is trying to trick us, by paying attention to the sophistication of the help being offered.
It also seems to me that these nature spirits (unlike, say, ancestor spirits), not being in a position to repeat the Original Sin, are thereby not in doubt over the Mastery of God and the nature of Jesus, and so should require no ministering as part of our help to them. Is the totality of the help we can offer, then, covered in trying to live as “green” a life as possible?
Thank you all for your insights into this worship form. I am Roman Catholic and have very dear friends who are Muslim and live in Khartoum. I was reading an article in the latest Maryknoll magazine about the Jan.9 elections for independence in Southern Sudan and the Christian/animist peoples. I knew little about animist and reading all your comments and information was a big help.
I am with George Clooney who has brought to light, for many people the plight of the Southern Sudanese and the need to right this injustice. They will need our prayers to avoid a war and have their much-needed independence.
Thanks for your thoughts on this, Barbara. I learned a fair bit about the Sudanese situation from refugees in our church, and also from a young Sudanese priest who was training at our seminary. What a troubled and complex country. Prayers and blessings indeed as they go into their elections and the major decisions which must follow. May the Spirit inspire the people and heal the land.
Peace,
Shawn
Wonderful article. I am excited to read more. I wanted to actually make a comment on the comments themselves. I am by no means whatsoever a scholar on the Bible or anything else for that matter. However, when a discussion about what lies in the Bible in the way of animism came up, the first thing that crossed my mind was the burning bush. Now I know it was supposed to be a representation of God so that he could speak to Moses, but I would say that is much more than a spirit. It is interesting that plant life was used for the communication, maybe that means something???
Anyway, that was my quick thought on the subject. You have put in so much it will take quite awhile to really absorb it all. Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you for the kind comments! I think you are on the right track, with your idea about Moses and the burning bush. It is significant, and not just incidental, that God would choose to speak through a fellow creature, such as a plant or tree. I think that God speaks to us all the time through such creatures, and not only that, but the creatures themselves also speak with their own voice! So often it is not the world which is mute, but rather ourselves who are deaf.
Blessings in your continued quest for truth and meaning…
Shawn
Happy Reborn Year, everybody under the sun! 🙂
Indeed! Blessings and joy to all!
Shawn
I agree, it does seem to be ourselves who are deaf. And thank you for your blessings too!
By the way my name is Shawn as well!!!
Thanks for the article; it has helped me.
I am a student doing a research paper on animism in Higher Religions.
Anyone with further sources of information can contact me using: E-mail: allantembo28@yahoo.com
Cell: +260977769131
I will appreciate as I have appreciated this article.
Thank you
Hi Allan,
Glad the chapter was useful for you! I’d be interested in hearing more about your research…
Peace,
Shawn
I haven’t had time to fully read your website, but I am very intrigued. I am a longtime devoted Christian but have had issues with certain aspects of the “religion” that aren’t necessarily biblical.
Two points come to mind as I read this though, “the rocks will cry out” and “his eye is on the sparrow”. Those are not exact quotes but you get the drift.
I am currently reading Daniel Quinn’s “The Story of B” which will definitely cause you to question everything (It it part of a trilogy following “Ishmael”) This is where I heard the term “animism”. I am not in agreement with everything in his books and am still sorting it all out. However I’ve always thought it was very egocentric to assume that the universe is all about us.
I am interested in reading more from you and maybe even taking part in discussions.
Hi Amber,
I’m glad the website caught your eye! I haven’t read anything by Quinn for years … what are some of the issues which he is dealing with which stir your soul?
I’d be happy to be in conversation with you about the whole notion of animism, and how it “fits” with more traditional forms of Christianity.
Actually, if you are a fan of Narnia, or of Middle Earth (both written by dedicated Christians), you will catch a glimpse of “Christian animism” in action!
Drop a line when you can … I’d love to hear more about your own journey.
Peace,
Shawn
Hi, I Googled Christian animism because of my own personal experiences with spirits. In fact I’m researching to write a memoir; my experiences are profound and extensive since early childhood. Maybe we can work together as you have research and I have personal experiences to share. i have questions about this I am trying to work out. This is important to me, I take this seriously because of spiritual warfare (we deal with powers and principalities, “our struggle is not with flesh and blood”). Please contact me so I can share some of my story.
~blessings
Hi there Damon,Thanks for your post … sounds like there is room for fruitful conversation and collaboration. I would love to hear more about your own experiences in this whole realm. Feel free to email me at greenpriest@hotmail.ca , and we can take it from there.Much peace,Shawn +
Rev. Shawn Sanford Beck Ecumenical Companions of Sophia https://ecosophian.wordpress.com/ God is Love, and Her Body is all Creation. She is a Tree of Life, who gathers Her children in Love.
Shawn to get around the problem of spirit and spiritfilled nature as it was more than a heuristic device, I would suggest a Process View _ Jay Mcdaniel has done some good work on this, in his books and also on JesusJazzBuddhism. Check out John Cobb’s work, Beyond Dialogue, for a way to hold nature as a life form, in the particularities, without making it sacred. To be honored as a life form, as a reality in kind the same as a human but different in degree, Whitehead is a help
Hi George … nice to hear from you! I’ve heard lots about you from Susan … did she tip you off to this site?
Yeah, the process view has been pretty important in developing some of my work on animism, especially some of the stuff on panpsychism. McDaniel and Cobb have both been helpful. My sense is that both of them (like many process thinkers) would be comfortable talking about nature, in all its particular life forms, as sacred. Though not divine in and of itself … more of a panentheistic perspective.
One of my favourite process works is Suchocki’s End of Evil … it blows my mind every time I read it!
Have you encountered any of the new Goddess-tradition folks appropriating the process framework … people like Carol Christ (Cobb mentions her in one of his “Ask Dr. Cobb” articles) Very interesting stuff coming out of that perspective … She Who Changes is well worth the read!
Much peace,
Shawn
Yes I know carol christ – was at event with her and Marjorie and Rita Brock and Catherine Keller.
The is a nuance on the word sacred. Yes, it in its particularities, has some level of self determination, that is like us but different in degree. Thus, to honored for and cared for. In panentheistic model, God is in the world and the world is in God and God is more than the world, and the world has its own “individuality”. Again it is the details of each reality, thus a animal is an actual entity. But I am careful about calling it sacred, just as I am careful in not calling us sacred.
Yes Susan put me on to this site.
I have just recently become a Christian animist, I respect all life equally and find this to help guide me. Thank you very much for explaining this better, for this is helpfull.
Hi there! Glad to hear that this was useful for you … and I’d be interested to hear more about your own journey in becoming a Christian animist!
Peace,
Shawn
I am trying to find out the view of Christian Animist. Do you believe that John 9: 1&2 supports reincarnation?
Hi there! Well, I’m a bit of an agnostic when it comes to reincarnation. I know people have experiences which lead them to posit a view of evolution, but personally I’ve never really agreed with the theory. The John 9 reference is interesting, if one reads it as saying that the man could have “sinned before birth” (eg in another previous life), and there were certainly some theories of reincarnation floating around within Second Temple period Judaism. But like I say, I’ve never been particularly convinced (though I try to keep an open mind). In many ways, it doesn’t connect with Christian animism one way or another…However, what do YOU think?Peace,Shawn
> Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 19:00:13 +0000 > To: sanfordbeck@hotmail.com >
Hi! I am the organizer of the Animist Blog Carnival (and daughter of an Episcopal Priest). The theme for Dec 1st Animism and Religions and I NEVER thought I’d find anything about Christianity and animism much less THIS good!
http://lifthrasirsuccess.wordpress.com/animist-blog-carnival/
The ABC is a monthly “magazine” of writing and images by a diverse group of persons who might be called animists if you labeled parts of their beliefs and behaviors. Each month has a theme to focus and inspire bloggers.The blog, like a carnival, moves around the Internet. One blogger offers to host a month and picks a theme. Other bloggers send the host links to their own contributions which are on their own blogs. Everyone who participates has a link to this page, the Animist Blog Carnival HQ.
To see a sample, here is a recent issue:
http://lifthrasirsuccess.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/death-issue-of-the-animist-blog-carnival/
I am sure many people will be very interested to come to this blog post as it is such an unknown topic in animism. Could i make a link to this?
Thank you,Heather
Hi Heather!
Yes, feel free to link, and thanks for the lead on the ABC … It looks very interesting!
Peace,
Shawn
Thank you so much!
Love the beginning of your book.
Thank you for your work: I love the beginning of the book and hope it reaches publication. I’m a cradle Christian in England, dismayed by the inability, on the whole, of my church (Anglican) to reverence creation. So now I have a real source. of inspiration for heart and mind
Thanks Julia!I actually just finished the project a couple of days ago. More like a monograph than a book, and not quite sure what to do with it now!So how did you get interested in Christian animism?Shawn
> Date: Sat, 30 Nov 2013 17:16:09 +0000 > To: sanfordbeck@hotmail.com >
Hi Julia, have you heard of Forest Church? I think you’d like it! nature connection from a mostly christian perspective, though that depends on which group you go to! have a look, theyre all over the UK now. http://www.forestchurch.co.uk
This is such a beautiful blog, I come back to read this every now and again to read and remember it. If you get round to publishing i’d be really interested! i’m in the middle of a writing project on nature theology and other writings on Christian Animism. The phrase is so rarely used, it feel like the time to write some stuff usin the phrase!
Hi Helen … thanks for the encouragement! A couple of months ago, I actually finished the first draft of the project. It is more like a monograph than a full book, and I’m still not sure what I’m going to do with it in terms of publishing, but you would be welcome to have a look at it if you want. You could email me at greenpriest@hotmail.ca and I can send you the full draft.
Peace,
Shawn
Wow, I agree with my friend Helen, this is so beautiful. And so amazingly timely as there are theological thinkers in the UK turning their minds to Christian Animism, and of course there’s the whole Forest Church thing. We’re planning a national Forest Church Gathering in September 2014, and it would be great to focus on this. Rev. Shawn, would you be up for a UK jaunt????
Hi Alison, I’m glad you find my Christian Animism project resonant with Forest Church (which looks like such an amazing phenomenon!) A “UK jaunt” would be just lovely, but living the simple life here in the hills doesn’t leave much cash for that type of travel. I’d be really interested to hear about your plans though!
Peace,
Shawn
I have just “stumbled” upon…been guided to… your web page as this posting. I am Lutheran pastor in the USA. I have recently had a profound transformtional encounter the Holy which is connected with soulful universe and am searching for connections with my Christian faith and the Soul embodied in the universe. I have familarity with Matthew Fox and creation-centered spirituality. I am participating in ritual work with a group with which I enjoyed a year long journey of soul encounter led by another pastor. This stirs hope of wider companions in this new journey I have entered. I will look forward to seeing your completed project, and being connected with what you are doing. Do you know of people in the States doing this work and following this path? I have been wondering where this new path is leading me, and wondered if I would some time find myself beyond the church.
Hi there Frank … Great to hear from you! I’m glad that this Sophian work is resonating. Matthew Fox has been a huge influence on me over the years as well.
I’ve recently completed the Christian Animism monograph. It is not yet published, but if you send me an email at greenpriest@hotmail.ca I will send you a copy of the draft.
God bless you in this new path! I pray it doesn’t lead you only beyond the church, but also deeper into it…
Peace,
Shawn
I have on question. What of I Corinthians 8:4 that says, “We know that an idol(often made out of trees or stone or some kind of element or mineral, many times being trees or rivers themselves) is nothing in the world”?
Hi there! Of course, the 1Cor passage refers specifically to idolatry, which is worship of something which is other than God. In Christian Animism, I’m suggesting and advocating a relationship with non-human creatures, but certainly not worship of them!
Any news on your monograph being published? I’d loved to see it. I enjoyed this post very much. I am a retired Episcopal priest and I suspect an animist.
Hello, my Episcopal colleague! As it happens, my manuscript is with a UK publisher right now, and I’m waiting to hear back from them soon. It is a project I’ve been working on for a long time, so I’m hoping to find a way to share it around! How about you? What has been your path to Christian animism? I know it’s not always an easy path, especially as a cleric!
Peace,
Shawn
I guess it was a mix of Walter Wink and practicing Aikido. Wink created a gate into experiencing my surround in a mythic way. Aikido was a gate to Shinto and many folks who honor Great Nature. That’s the rough outlines. Mostly though, I just wanted story back in life. A Rabbi friend tells one of his teacher’s said, “Theology is storytelling for adults.”
Keep me posted I’m eager to interact with what you’ve written.
~keith
Thanks Keith … Interestingly, Walter Wink and martial arts both had an influence on my journey as well!
To my clergy colleagues in the episcopal church, i feel your pain as i too am into animistic spirituality as my ancestors were healers of the land. I too have carried on the tradition of my ancestors. It is not an easy balance. Back home we are called ‘babaylans’ by tradition.
Hi there Isaias, thanks for your comment! Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I’d be very interested to hear more about your own path and journey. Are you a priest? I assume your ancestral tradition is from the Phillipines, yes? I’d love to hear more, especially in terms of your blending of traditions.
Much peace,
Shawn
I would really like to learn more about Christian Animism. This explained a lot to me. Where can I find the full book?
Hi there! The full book can be obtained most easily from Amazon. Here it is on Amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/Christian-Animism-Shawn-Sanford-Beck/dp/1782799656/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462814252&sr=8-1&keywords=christian+animism
Thanks for your voice Shawn! I too and seeking to restore our connection with the living universe through nature-based soul work, human development and guided initiatory processes in wild places. I move around within some similar circles of christians, animists, earth elders, and soul guides. Would love to connect sometime! Mitakuye oyasin.
Hi there Matt! Just had a chance to check out your ministry blog … looks very good! Its so reassuring to find others who are exploring these paths. My sense is that what we are doing is ancient, and yet so very new and tentative. It all makes sense to a lot of folks “outside the walls” of the church, but within, there is still a lot of fear about encountering the spirits of the land. What has been your experience with bridge-building between Christians and greenspirit folks? Keep up the Great Work!
Thank you Shawn for writing this and putting it in book form. I enjoyed your writings very much and have reviewed your book on both Amazon.co.uk and Goodreads.
Thanks for the reviews Denzil! I’m always happy to see that the book has a life of its own, and continues to make it out to folks who find it helpful. I took a look at your reflective blog … very cool! Peace and blessings on all you do.
Thank you Shawn. I have been trying to put word into my thoughts and experiences and more.Thank you for this article/book in the making.One think is true though, the spirits exists, not only in our mind by in real time. i have seen, met, talked, had breakfast with these spirits.I even asked them to draw their pic. Here is one ( i have a lot)
I would like to introduce Princesa Makilan-lan second in command of 22 other royalties of Vaigaland. Isaias
Thanks Isaias! I’d love to hear more about your experiences…
Thanks for your visit Shawn. One of these days I will write about Christian Animism on my blog, with a reference to your book and site. Continue the great work you are doing!
Thank you Shawn, your experience resonates with mine as I navigate my being a priest and my own ethnic/cultural spirituality, And Yes, the spirits exist, talk to them, met them personally, have even a drawing drawn by one of them.
I am looking forward to reading your book. Is Christian Animism more like the Celtic church? I read you have been to Iona. Have you written about your experience anywhere? The church I attend in Toronto does a monthly service based on the Iona liturgy with Celtic music. There is definitely a druidic presence at these services. I would like to see a rebirth of Celtic Christianity in Canada. It is a simpler, more grounded style of worship which may appeal to lost and non-Christians. P.S. Why does the time of my reply show 4 hours ahead of my location ie UTC time? Just wondering.
Hi again Susan! (Not too sure about the time thing … I’m a bit of a technopeasant, and generally expect to be confused and befuddled by the various widgets of cyber-land.) In terms of Celtic spirituality, yes, definitely … Christian animism, and the type of Sophian druidry which I practice, is inspired by Celtic Christian sources (among others). The book spends some time talking about various traditions which Christian animism can learn from and draw from, and the Celtic Christian stream is one of the main ones. As for a rebirth of this type of spirituality in Canada, I agree with you! There is something about the Celtic revival which speaks particularly to Anglican and United Church people, and which might be able to form part of a natural bridge with Indigenous traditions here in Turtle Island as well. Of course, some folks will complain that the Celtic Christian revival is one part scholarship and two parts imagination … but as far as I’m concerned, that’s a good ratio! We’re not trying to re-create a lost golden age … we’re trying to help give birth to something new, and appropriate to the work of the Spirit here and now.
Have you had the chance to read through the Carmina Gadelica? You should. Ideas that identified Jesus as the Son of the Sun and Son of the Moon are right in there. From my research it also seems as though the god Lugh was in some cases equated with Christ and in others with Archangel Michael. The reason Christianity is dying is because it has become totally detached from spirituality and the natural world. When our ancestors converted, it was something quite different than what it has morphed into today; empty dogma that condemns everything as pagan that it doesn’t fit into a Jewish framework. Ironically the Jews were also “pagan”.
Hi Kevin, thanks for the note. Yup, I’ve been reading the Gadelica for a long time … chock full of good stuff. And because our family lives an off the grid life on a small farmstead, most of the prayers feel quite real and applicable for me. Celtic Christianity (and the spirituality which precedes it) is definitely included in my book as well. Does the Carmina Gadelica work for you in your prayer life?