Nature worship

Nature worship is often considered the primitive source of modern religious beliefs[4][5] and can be found in animism, pantheism, panentheism, polytheism, deism, totemism, shamanism, Taoism,[6] Hinduism, some theism and paganism including Wicca.

Rituals dedicated to these deities often included offerings, sacrifices, and festivals like the Eleusinian Mysteries, which celebrated the cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth in alignment with the agricultural calendar.

The Great Spirit, a central figure in many Native American belief systems, was considered the creator and sustainer of all life, with control over the natural world.

Indra, the god of rain and thunderstorms, is another example of a natural force personified as a deity, with rituals performed to invoke his blessings for rainfall and agricultural prosperity.

Shinto rituals often involve purification rites, offerings of food and sake, and festivals like Matsuri that celebrate the natural forces and ensure their continued favor.

He strongly juxtaposes this view by differentiating ancient pagans from Neopagans and Wiccans who profess to be nature worshippers as an essential component of their faith, which he believes is unlike any other in recorded history.

[15] Despite having been charged by New Zealand Wiccan, Ben Whitmore, with having disenfranchised those Neopagans "who feel kinship and connection" with the gods and pagans of the Ancient World,[16] Prof. Hutton has reprised these views, virtually verbatim, in the second edition of his book, Triumph of the Moon.