What's animism?

+ celebrating Simchat Torah US Edition - Today's top story: 'Animism' recognizes how animals, places and plants have power over humans – and it's finding renewed interest around the world [View in browser]( US Edition | 15 October 2022 [The Conversation]( A movement known as “new animism” is gaining ground around the world. Its followers believe that everything in nature has a soul. Among them are environmental activists who hope that people will adopt more ecologically sustainable practices if they understand that humans have obligations toward the natural world, including mountains and rivers. The word animism was first coined by an early anthropologist, Edward Burnett Tylor, in 1870, writes Wesleyan University anthropologist Justine Buck Quijada. Since then, it has come to describe practices that recognize that places, animals and plants have power over people – such as what can be done near a glacier or [how to represent the will of mountains in political negotiations](. This week we also liked articles about [COVID-19 tests](, [writer’s block]( and the lack of [ethnic diversity on the U.K.‘s coins and cash](. Kalpana Jain Senior Religion + Ethics Editor Shamans from the organization Tengeri conduct an offering ritual in 2013 to Bukhe Bator, the spirit master of the Selenga River, Republic of Buryatia, Russian Federation. Roberto Quijada [‘Animism’ recognizes how animals, places and plants have power over humans – and it’s finding renewed interest around the world]( Justine Buck Quijada, Wesleyan University Animism describes religions in which humans are connected to the landscape around them but do not dominate it. Something people today have in common with civilizations past: a love of music. peepo/E+ via Getty Images [Who invented music? The search for stone flutes, clay whistles and the dawn of song]( Laura Dallman, University of Florida For thousands of years, music has been an essential part of the human experience. About 4.5 billion bank notes and more than 27 billion coins featuring the queen’s image are now circulating in the U.K. Daniel Harvey Gonzalez/In Pictures via Getty Images [Putting King Charles III on British currency bucks a global trend to honor diverse national heroes on coins and bills]( Harcourt Fuller, Georgia State University The new money – featuring the visage of King Charles III – will start rolling out by December 2022. - [Liz Truss is now a case study in poor leadership]( Stefan Stern, City, University of London The top office is not a playground for ideological experiment. - [Simchat Torah: A Jewish holiday of reading, renewal and resilience]( Samuel L. Boyd, University of Colorado Boulder Simchat Torah is about more than beginning to read the Torah all over again. It’s about the need to reexamine what we think we know, over and over again. - [COVID-19 rapid tests can breed confusion – here’s how to make sense of the results and what to do, according to 3 testing experts]( Nathaniel Hafer, UMass Chan Medical School; Apurv Soni, UMass Chan Medical School; Yukari Manabe, Johns Hopkins University Rapid tests can be an incredibly useful tool for early detection of COVID-19. Unfortunately, they sometimes leave people with more questions than answers. - [Challenges to voters are growing before the midterms – and have a long history as a way of keeping down the Black vote]( - [The 5,000-year history of writer’s block]( - [Genetically engineered bacteria make living materials for self-repairing walls and cleaning up pollution]( - [Bees face many challenges – and climate change is ratcheting up the pressure]( - [How the costs of disasters like Hurricane Ian are calculated – and why it takes so long to add them up]( - [Does tutoring work? An education economist examines the evidence on whether it’s effective]( The Conversation Quiz 🧠- Here’s the first question of [this week’s edition:]( What was a major factor in many Indigenous communities in the U.S. losing their languages? - A. Boarding schools - B. Elders refusing to teach children - C. A philosophy of “leaving the past in the past” - D. The Pony Express [Test your knowledge]( - - About The Conversation: We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. [Donate now to support research-based journalism]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](