animism

n. belief that everything in nature has a soul (i.e. trees, rocks, etc.)

The term Animism is derived from the Latin anima, meaning "soul". In its most general sense, animism is simply the belief in souls. In this general sense, animism is present in nearly all religions.In a more restrictive sense, animism is the belief that souls inhabit all or most objects; it attributes personalized souls to animals, vegetables, and minerals wherein the material object is—to some degree—governed by the qualities which comprise its particular soul. Religions that are animistic in this more restrictive sense generally do not accept a sharp distinction between spirit and matter, and they generally assume that this unification of matter and spirit plays a role in daily life.
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Noun
1. the doctrine that all natural objects and the universe itself have souls; "animism is common among primitive peoples"
(hypernym) doctrine, philosophy, philosophical system, school of thought, ism

(n.)
The doctrine, taught by Stahl, that the soul is the proper principle of life and development in the body.
  

(n.)
The belief that inanimate objects and the phenomena of nature are endowed with personal life or a living soul; also, in an extended sense, the belief in the existence of soul or spirit apart from matter.
  

Animism The name given by anthropologists to the attribution of life or mind to inanimate objects, such as trees, mountains, rivers, or images. This belief of the ancients and of many existing peoples was a recognition of the universal sentience of nature.
Also the doctrine of Georg Ernst Stahl (1660-1734) that the soul is the vital principle and responsible for organic functions in the body, and synonymous with Vitalism. This doctrine avoids the logical absurdity of making life at once the cause and the effect of the properties of matter; but it errs in making life something entirely distinct from matter, for such a separation reduces both to mere abstractions.