TOTEMISM: TYPES, CHARACTERISTICS AND RITUALS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

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

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

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 throughout the world. It usually encompasses a number of beliefs such as mystical association with plants or animal species or natural phenomena, related to a group of people.

Furthermore, group totemism encompasses all beliefs that relate the belief to a particular group of individuals. These groups usually have a direct relationship and the totems are associated with all the members that make them up.

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

In group totemism, prohibitions or taboos are also often used when interacting with the animal or plant considered the spiritual guide (for example, eating animals of the same species as the totem may be prohibited). 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 generally occurs at a decisive moment in the life of an ancestor.

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

Individual totemism

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

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

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

This created a taboo around totems, which were related to shamans, tribal leaders, families, and important people in 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 former. It is a type of totemism common to 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 are the following:

Shona

The Shona Aboriginal people of Zimbabwe have used totems since the early days of their culture. The use of totems in this society serves to identify the clans that dominated the region and made up the ancient great civilizations and dynasties that inhabited the area. This culture usually uses animals mainly 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 praise 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 ancestors in this belief, ancestors are often used as totems. People behave as they do because their ancestors live within them.

In addition, this culture usually identifies certain animals and natural forces present in the region to use 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 an established tradition in the Iban tribe of Malaysia. A particular person dreams of one of his ancestors or ancestors and this, in the dream, names an animal or object through which he will manifest 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 indicated to him to define which of them has the spirit of his protective ancestor within him.

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

Birhor

The Birhor aboriginal 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 be in the shape of animals, plants, or inanimate objects.

Part of the belief of this tribe indicates that the animals, objects or plants that each totem represents cannot receive any harm, as 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, (nd). Taken from anthropology.iresearchnet.com
3. Totemism, John A. Saliba, 2000. Taken from colorado.edu
4. Totemism, Josef Haekel, (nd). Taken from britannica.com
5. Totem, Wikipedia in English, November 24, 2017. Taken from wikipedia.org