Nature Worship

Nature worship as a system of belief or religion has not been well documented. Primitive systems view individual natural phenomena e.g., stars, rain, and animals, as natural forces that influence peopel or the world and are thus worthy of veneration. Nature as an entity in itself is a concept developed by more advanced civilisation.

One predominant form of nature worship sees earth managed by nature spirits on behalf of a high god that has delegated responsibility. The nature spirits are personifications of the natural powers.

Worship of nature as an omnipotent entity, in the pantheistic sense, has not as yet been documented anywhere, although the Gaia hypothesis as discussed by James Lovelock suggests this type of system without normal religious characterisations.

In nature worship, the most commonly worshipped force in nature is mana, common in Polynesian, Melanesian and North American Indian society. Characterisatoin of mana is similar to the Gaia hypothesis in that it does not distinguish a supernatural sphere - mana is part of nature. A person has mana when they are successful, fortunate, or demonstrates extraordinary skill e.g., as an artisan, warrior, or chief.

Principal roles in various nature worship systems are adopted by earth, mountains, eathquakes, tides, the sun, the moon, the stars, water, fire, weather and animals.

Spiritual Systems				Main Religions
Agnosticism	Atheism	Monotheism	Polytheism	Buddhism	Islam
Ancestor	Deism	Naturism	Theism	Christianity	Judaism
Atheism	Dualism	Pantheism	Totemism	Hinduism