Totemism: Types, Characteristics and Rituals

He totemism It is a belief that is usually associated with animistic or pagan religions. It is a system of thought that states that human beings have some kind of connection with an animal or spiritual plant that serves as a symbol or guide.

It is assumed that, through this belief, a group of people or a particular individual interacts with that spiritual creature, which represents and guides them. These spiritual symbols tend to represent a family, a tribe, a lineage or a clan.

The term has its origin in North America, but this belief is not limited to the west side of the world. Totemism is common in several cultures throughout the planet; however, other civilizations have different terms to refer to the religious culture generally known by this name.

Totemism is represented differently, depending on the type of society in which it manifests. In the same way, their rituals vary according to the local beliefs of where they are practiced.

Types and their characteristics

Group totemism

Group or collective totemism is the most widely practiced form of totemism in the world. It usually encompasses a number of beliefs such as the mystical association with plants or species of animals or natural phenomena, related to a group of people.

In addition, group totemism encompasses all beliefs that relate the belief to a specific group of individuals. These groups usually have a direct relationship and the totems are associated to all the members that comprise them.

This type of associations usually occurs within clans, tribes or family lineages. In many cases, the names of clans or groups can be due to the association that each one has with a specific animal or spiritual plant.

In group totemism, prohibitions or taboos are usually used when interacting with the animal or plant considered to be the spiritual guide (for example, it is forbidden to eat animals of the same species as the totem). In addition, there may be secondary totems related to the main one.

The emergence of this type of thinking is commonly given by local myths or legends. The selection of a specific animal as a totem occurs generally at a decisive moment in the life of some ancestor.

It is a common belief in several North American, South American, European, African and even Australian tribes.

Individual totemism

Individual totemism is the relationship of friendship or protection that a specific person has with their totem, which is usually an animal or natural object. According to the belief, this object or animal can give a special power to the person.

The beliefs of individual totemism are mainly associated with the soul beliefs that human beings have. The thought that there is an alter ego or a simultaneous presence that represents a specific human being, but that another body inhabits (which would be that of the animal, according to the belief).

This belief in a relationship between person and animal is said to be represented in such a way that, when one of the two parties becomes sick or injured, the same happens to its counterpart.

This generated a taboo around the totems, which were related to shamans, tribal leaders, families and important people in the aboriginal societies of ancient times.

It is believed that individual totemism was the first stage of group totemism, and that the latter evolved from the first. It is a type of common totemism in both Native American and Australian tribes.

Rituals of totemism

Totemism has different rituals depending on the tribe, clan or specific person who practices the belief; Therefore, the rituals of totemism are very varied. Among the most important, the following stand out:

Shona

The Shona aborigines of Zimbabwe have used totems since the beginning of their culture. The use of totems in this society serves to identify the clans that dominated the region and formed the ancient great civilizations and dynasties that inhabited the area. This culture usually uses animals as totems.

The ritualistic purposes of the totems in this society are: as protection against incest, the reinforcement of the identity of each clan and to perform praises through recited poetry. At present, more than 25 totems have been identified in Shona society.

Maori

The Maori aborigines of New Zealand practice a type of religion that is closely related to totemism. According to the belief of this society, everything is related to each other by the ancestors of each animal, plant or person. That is, they are based on genealogy.

Given the importance of the ancestors in this belief, the ancestors are often used as totems. People behave as they do because their ancestors live inside them.

In addition, this culture usually identifies certain animals and natural forces present in the region to use them as totems, such as kangaroos, rain or sun. Based on these, totemic figures are created to represent and praise them.

Were going

Individual totemism is a tradition already established in the tribe they went from Malaysia. A person in particular dreams of one of their ancestors or ancestors and this, in the dream, names an animal or object by means of which it will manifest itself in reality.

After having dreamed of his ancestor, the member of the tribe studies the behavior of each animal of the species that his ancestor told him to define which of them has the spirit of his protective ancestor within himself.

The members of the tribe usually carry with them a part of an animal belonging to the species inhabited by the spirits of their ancestors.

Birhor

The Aboriginal birhor tribe, originally from India, is organized into several groups connected to each other by their common ancestors. The totems they use represent these ancestors and can take the form of animals, plants or inanimate objects.

Part of the belief of this tribe indicates that the animals, objects or plants that each totem represents can not be damaged, because this would break with the established norms and damage the relationship with the ancestors of each member.

References

1. Totemism, New World Encyclopedia, 2015. Taken from newworldencyclopedia.org
2. Totemism, Anthropology Research, (n.d.). Taken from anthropology.iresearchnet.com
3. Totemism, John A. Saliba, 2000. Taken from colorado.edu
4. Totemism, Josef Haekel, (n.d.). Taken from britannica.com
5. Totem, Wikipedia en Español, November 24, 2017. Taken from wikipedia.org