Is a River Alive?

Anima is a Latin term meaning “breath,” “wind,” or “vital principle” that Macfarlane uses to describe the life force that animates natural entities like rivers. The word serves as the root for related concepts, including animate, animal, animism, and animus, all of which recognize the presence of consciousness or spirit in living beings. Macfarlane connects anima to the Māori concept of mauri, suggesting that different cultures have developed parallel understandings of the spiritual essence that flows through natural systems.

Animism refers to the worldview that recognizes consciousness, spirit, or soul in natural entities such as rivers, mountains, trees, and animals. Macfarlane presents animism not as a primitive belief system but as a sophisticated understanding of the world that acknowledges the agency and subjectivity of non-human beings. This perspective contrasts sharply with Western rationalism, which tends to view nature as inanimate matter lacking consciousness or intrinsic value. Throughout the book, Macfarlane argues that recovering animistic ways of seeing is essential for developing more respectful and sustainable relationships with rivers and other natural entities.

The Eremocene refers to a proposed geological epoch characterized by mass extinction and ecological isolation, coined by biologist E. O. Wilson from the Greek words meaning “new” and “isolated place.