--- In Nostratica@yahoogroups.com, "John <jdcroft@...>"
<jdcroft@...> wrote:

> Gerry wrote
>
> > Likely Marxists don't agree with a concept such as "god". Yes,
> > animists have gods -- it's the spirit that exists in the animals
> > they worship. I did Google for "djinn" but found nothing;

however,

> > from memory I recall they are also "spirits" similar to those

that

> > Shakespeare wrote about in "Midsummer Night's Dream".
>
> Gerry, this is news to me. I understood that the supposed "spirit"
> of the animal they worship is no different than its "aliveness"
> (i.e. "anima") and is an inherent part of the animal - in no way
> separable from it. Certainly the animists I have worked with - in
> Australia and New Guinea have no word for God.

What about the sort of spirit for whom Thais erect sprit houses (see
e.g. http://welcome-to.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/sprthous.htm )?
Making offerings to them seems to me to count as animism, too.
(However, I wouldn't count leaving sherry and mince pies for Father
Christmas as constituting animism.)

Richard.