Animistic Puns

Hello r/magicbuilding! I created a magic system based on animistic belief, it's released as a whole in the book Bliaron 2nd Edition. But as it's CC-BY-NC-SA (fairly open license), I'm thinking, why not share the base idea here, maybe it can be bolted to some other systems, or maybe someone interested of magic system building can pick up a few good ideas from it.

So - the base idea is that the whole world is made of spirits. Everything has a spirit, and nothing can exist without them. The world is fantastic Bronze Age with tones from the more ancient past of humankind. Culturally it's mixing various details of cultures all around the world.

There is a great amount of weak spirits everywhere. They are all connected to seven fundamental magical forces: Destruction, Matter, Heat, Movement, Life, Senses and Thought. Each character attribute is tied to these forces (e.g. Strength is Destruction, Intelligence is Thought etc.).

Systemwise, all spirits can be explained to be composed of Effects that describe what the spirit's main function is (e.g. Heat, Heal, Destroy, Alter Mind...) and Qualities that describe how the spell works (e.g. Area, Duration, Condition...) . Each Effect and Quality has a level (most often ranging from 0 - 3).

The character sheet has more information on attribute-force connections and list of most Effects and Qualities can be found there too https://northernrealms.net/Bliaronsheet/ . The code is licensed LGPL, so it's also very open for hacking it away to other projects.

There are three methods of manipulating the spirits:

Spellcasting is about commanding spirits directly, it can quickly create spells (that is, spirits with defined Effects and Qualities). Difficulty of a spell is 7 + Amount of Effects and Qualities. Dice mechanics are: 1) Roll [Attribute D 10], pick the highest 2) Add Spellcasting skill to result 3) Check if the result is equal or more than the difficulty.

Runesmithing is about writing directions for the spirits, sort of mechanical approach, and is used for creating magic items and wards. Items are usually limited to once-per-day use. Using an item is always successful, but creating an item requires a Runesmithing skillcheck.

The tiny spirits may merge together to form bigger spirits, such as the spirit of the steppe or a fairy of the river, or the protector spirit of a tribe. Ritualism is about talking to these spirit

After learning what animism is, it's like the pieces came together all at once, and I realized that this is what I've always been - not as a religion (I know that animism isn't one), but how I experience the world, what my intuition has insisted on and... basically how my mind is structured! It's just so, so right for my whole being.

Maybe one of the clearest examples is, how I've always had special places around where I live - places that I feel are living entities that I have a relationship with and that I "communicate" with (it's nothing like a verbal discussion though) simply by walking around there. Sometimes I've felt almost like I need to apologize, if I haven't visited a certain place in a long time for no reason, 'cause I just adore those places like friends (and they are usually completely ordinary spots nearby or IN a neighborhood).

Have any of you experienced similar things? (I mean, likely yes, but I'm curious to hear!)

Idk if I should go post this in tomt but I remember seeing this one animusic animation when I was really young and I remember it started a small mono wheeled robot with a drum for a body and there was possibly another small robot but they went into a cathedral (possibly) I watched a playlist of every animusic video but I couldn’t find this one, I thought it was cathedral pictures, or acoustic curves but they don’t have the little robots in it. I would be very happy if someone could find this, it’s also very possible that this was an unofficial animation but idk.

Does everything in your world have spirits, every object and natural or manmade thing, or is it more limited than that? I'd love to hear all about how you've incorporated animistic elements into your work.

Recently, I've gone all the way in that regard with one of my settings, and the idea of literally everything having a spirit or a soul has been very fascinating to me. An example of this which I find humorous is old, forgotten food in my world coming to life as a sort of creature, and chasing, harassing, and maybe attacking the person who "abandoned" it.

Hello,

I’m working on a paper about the main differences between the theism and animism in regards to lawmaking.

The way I understand human history, “indigenous” philosophy was born with us right at the beginning of humanity, and it is an animist perspective of our place in the world and universe. That is, we are embedded in circular relations with all the spirits in the world, and we as humans have our place in maintaining harmony like the mountains and the birds and every other relation. This way of understanding life is the foundation we built as humans at our onset, which then spread around the world as we migrated out of Africa. This would be why aboriginal groups in Australia and indigenous groups in North America have similar perspectives regarding the manner in which resources are to be used for our survival — with gratitude and respect for the gifts other creatures give us.

On the other hand, theism is markedly different. I think it emerged in Mesopotamia some 10,000 ago when an innovation in the way agriculture was practiced made it suddenly much more efficient, which allowed for growing group sizes, which then demanded innovations in social management. My belief is that in the process of division of labour between groups of strangers (because collectives had gotten so big that you couldn’t really be familiar with everyone in your community anymore), specializations occurred on family lines, and this caused a spiritual alienation between the “self” and the “others”. Over time the food producing families (since not every family needed to produce food anymore, a few were enough to provide for everyone) gained power, and the spiritual alienation resulted in theism, which is the belief that there is one almighty who imposes their vision on the whole world. This was the start of kings and empires, and as this form of agricultural society spread from the Fertile Crescent to the rest of the connected continents, the world as we know it today began.

In theism, Law is imposed from the top down. There is an assumption that people in general cannot be trusted, and that good order is authoritarian. The king, or the clergy, or today the politicians are an exclusive class with more moral ability than the masses, and they have the god-given mandate to protect the masses from themselves by creating laws. Laws must be imposed by force when necessary — this is sovereignty. When groups under different kings/governments clash, they must attempt to conquer eac

I had to have a phone appointment with my therapist today and maybe it was the change of venue but I realized I talked too much about animals. I have always had a connection to animals and see wild animals as messengers, sort of like familiars or spirit guides or whatever. When we were talking about getting through the COVID stuff I kept referring to the animals around my house as a source of stability and friendship. I have some birds and coyotes I see everyday. I’m still going to work regularly so my interaction with them hasn’t changed so I’m not sure why I’m talking so much about them.

Then he asked if I was worried about my parents during the pandemic and I was honest that I was more worried about him. We frequently talk about this transference but today I told him I have been sending my barn owls to him for protection. After we hung up I felt really dumb and it’s working its way into shame. I think animism is something you’re supposed to outgrow in our culture. I don’t know why I barfed all that out during this session. Maybe because I was at home instead of the office I don’t know.

Does anyone else have this? Is this part of my stunted development? Does this make me sound crazy? Therapists, are there any psych papers or studies on animism in adults? What would you think if you were on the receiving end?

I recently read a lengthy post on twitter which claimed that many animistic societies acknowledged schizophrenia as being traits of a shaman, and was curious as to whether there is any credence to this claim.

Varia is an animistic multiverse that functions as a complete replacement for the default cosmology of the world’s greatest roleplaying game. It is based on eastern concepts of metaphysics and attempts to syncretize elements of Shinto, Daoism, and Buddhism.

The Varia Multiverse, Seiryū Region

In Varia, the multiverse springs from the Way, and the Way impersonally guides the evolution of the cosmos. The vital energy, qi, suffuses the multiverse and animates every living thing, including the divine creatures known as spirits. These divine entities are ageless and often extremely powerful, but they are part of the multiverse and feel the guiding hand of the Way even more acutely than mortals do.

The multiverse is composed of an ever-expanding collection of planes of existence. They can take on a multitude of forms and characteristics, but generally fall into three categories: those planes balanced in favor of the yang aspect of qi form the Light Planes; those that are balanced in favor of the yin aspect of qi form the Shadow Planes; those where the yin and yang aspects of qi are balanced form the Material Planes.

Planes may be colossal or minuscule in size and scope but they are always finite and bounded. They are all coterminous with and connected by the Aether, which combines the characteristics of the Ethereal and Astral planes and fills the role of interplanetary space.

Magic is an expression of the Way, which is imminent in all things. It allows for the manipulation of qi, its yin and yang aspects, and its five phases: fire, water, wood, metal, and earth.

Spirits, which are known by different names in different cultures and languages, are direct manifestations of the Way. While they have free will, they are closer to the the Way than mortals, so their needs, desires, and instincts are all far stronger and guide their behavior more directly than they do mortals.

Each region in Varia is named for one of the major spirits of that region. While a region can comprise hundreds or thousands of planes, one spirit often has an outsized influence over the entire region. This is the Seiryū Region, which contains the prime material planes of several of my home campaigns.

"As a result of connectivity, our world is becoming increasingly
animistic. As Betti Marenko and others have observed, animism
is defined as the “idea that objects and other nonhuman entities
possess a soul, life force, and qualities of personhood.”
Our world is now techo-animistic.

Thanks to the internet of things (IOT), everything is now alive or soon will be: moving thanks to
its own technological agency, adapting, feeding, morphing,
routing, catering, adjusting, responding.

Google’s self-driving car, which is really a computer, can now be considered by the US
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to be a “driver.”
Likewise, will systems in the future be given individual rights,
as we are? Obviously, we are near the question of if androids
could be considered persons."

--from "Society Elsewhere: Why the Gravest Threat to Humanity Will Come From Within"

I'm wondering whether there are any philosophers who have taken this perspective. I think Bruno Latour sort of does this with science. I feel like the signs and taboos associated with political speech have a numinous undertone. I feel like there is something magical about the whole project of marketing and consumerism. There is no longer a belief in a higher power, but it seems like there is a sense of dangerous power in the immanent world: a power we want to control but ultimately cannot. The political system itself sometimes seems personified as a god. There seems to be at least a tinge of animism here. It's mainly Baudrillard getting me to ask this question, if that provides any context.

Hi, new here. This is my first time making fan content using the homebrewery, so any feedback and criticism is welcome!

Cleric Variant: The Shaman; includes 8 unique Mystic Domains: Ancestor, Flame, Medicine, Metamorphosis, Sage, Sky, Stone, & Water.

Here's the homebrewery version

My original inspiration for this class was the shaman described in the 3e Oriental Adventures book by James Wyatt. The elemental domains are pretty bender-y, and could be used as a shugenja class for Rokugan campaign settings. The shaman fills the role of cleric/divine caster in animistic campaign settings and was designed with east Asian mythology in mind.

EDIT: I have clarified in the post and content that this is a modified and reskinned cleric class.

http://glorybeats.com/animistic-beliefs-thief-of-sanity-bt45/