ˈanəˌmizəm noun
( -s )
Etymology: German animismus, from Latin anima soul + German -ismus -ism — more at animate
1. : a doctrine according to which the immaterial soul is the vital principle responsible for every organic development
2. : attribution of conscious life and a discrete indwelling spirit to every material form of reality (as to such objects as plants and stones and to such natural phenomena as thunderstorms and earthquakes) often including belief in the continued existence of individual disembodied spirits capable of exercising a benignant or malignant influence — compare animatism