Spirits, not Ghosts! - Peter

All this talk of Jesus is relatively unfair. I am not a sole believer in Christ; I also believe in animism. Remember, animism is the belief in spirits. I refer to spirits of nature. In the past, many cultures believed in the spirit world. The Japanese, the Chinese, Native Americans, Native Mexicans (Aztecs, Mayans, etc.), and many others all held to the idea of these spirits. Some of these cultures still hold to these beliefs, in some way or another.
Christianity has a quick and easy answer for the savages that believe in such nonsense. Apparently, the demons escaped from hell and went out into the world to masquerade as these spiritual beings. They also pretended to be members of various pantheons (Greek, Norse, Egyptian, etc.). Of course, that's very self-serving for the church, because it allowed them to call all non-Christians devil-worshipers.
Anyway, the idea of animism isn't necessarily to worship these little spirits. It's more about paying them proper respect, so that they might help to protect you and your family, or grant you luck, or whatever. I always liked the idea of animism. It makes so much sense to me. The real trick, for me, was finding a way to tie my Christian faith into my belief in the spirits of the natural world. I'll write about that another time.