Alexandra Luisa Popescu Psychology, 2nd year

Totemism
Introduction My essay is about totemism, one of the many religions in the world. I chose this subject because I consider it interesting, especially the way that people percei e it and beha e. !otemism is not well "nown as #hristianity is. Also the totemism traditions are uni$ue. %or example, not often there are people who consider their companions &pets or symbols' guardian spirits. In my opinion, the uni$ueness and some of the tradition determined totemism to be considered something taboo. I feel sad for people who decided to isolate themsel es because they ha e not been understood and taged as (primiti e people). I heard for the first time about totemism in some *ational +eographic ad ertising, showing some scenes li"e, prays and lifestyle. It made me curious, especially two years ago when a teacher mentioned totemism as one of the four forms of religiosity. I decided to study more about totemism. I found some similarities between its followers and the non-totemist population, li"e, ha ing a totem and the others ha ing logos, the idea that something or somebody has a protecti e role, group di isions, etc. 1.Definition !otemism is a system of belief in which each human is thought to ha e a spiritual connection or a "inship with another physical being, such as an animal or plant, often called a .spirit-being. or .totem.. !he totem is thought to interact with a gi en "in group or an indi idual and to ser e as their emblem or symbol. 2.Etymology !he term totem is deri ed from the /jibwa word ototeman, meaning .one0s brother-sister "in.. !he grammatical root, ote, signifies a blood relationship between brothers and sisters who ha e the same mother and who may not marry each other. 3.Origin of totemism and the main principles. 1nglish, the word 0totem0 was introduced in 2342 by a 5ritish merchant and translator who ga e it a false meaning in the belief that it designated the guardian spirit of an indi idual, who appeared in the form of an animal6an idea that the /jibwa clans did indeed portray by their wearing of animal s"ins. It was reported at the end of the 27th century that the /jibwa named their clans after those animals that li e in the area in which they li e and appear to be either friendly or fearful. !he first accurate report about totemism in *orth America was written by a Methodist missionary, ,Peter 8ones. /jibwa, who died in 279: and whose report was published posthumously. According to 8ones, the +reat ;pirit had gi en toodaims &.totems.' to the /jibwa clans, and because of this act, members of the group are related to one another and on this account may not marry among themsel es. 4.Why is totemism so complex !otemism is a complex of aried ideas and ways of beha iour based on a world iew drawn from nature. !here are ideological, mistycal, emotional, re erential and genealogical relationships of social groups or specific persons with animals or natural objects, the so-called totems. !. The psychological" emotional and mystical #ie$s a%out totemism It is necessary to differentiate between group and indi idual totemism. !hese forms share some

Alexandra Luisa Popescu Psychology, 2nd year basic characteristics, but they occur with different emphases and in different specific forms. %or instance, people generally iew the totem as a companion, relati e, protector, progenitor, or helper, ascribe to it superhuman powers and abilities, and offer it some combination of respect, eneration, awe, and fear. Most cultures use special names and emblems to refer to the totem, and those it sponsors engage in partial identification with the totem or symbolic assimilation to it. !here is usually a prohibition or taboo against "illing, eating, or touching the totem. Although totems are often the focus of ritual beha iour, it is generally agreed that totemism is not a religion. !otemism can certainly include religious elements in arying degrees, just as it can appear conjoined with magic. !otemism is fre$uently mixed with different "inds of other beliefs, such as ancestor wor"ship, ideas of the soul or animism. ;uch mixtures ha e historically made the understanding of particular totemistic forms difficult. ;ocial or collecti e totemism is the most widely disseminated form of this belief system. It typically includes one or more of se eral features, such as the mystic association of animal and plant species, natural phenomena, or created objects with unilineally related groups &lineages, clans, tribes, moieties, phatries' or with local groups and families< the hereditary transmission of the totems &patrilineal or matrilineal'< group and personal names that are based either directly or indirectly on the totem< the use of totemistic emblems and symbols< taboos and prohibitions that may apply to the species itself or can be limited to parts of animals and plants &partial taboos instead of partial totems'< and a connection with a large number of animals and natural objects &multiplex totems' within which a distinction can be made between principal totems and subsidiary ones &lin"ed totems'. &. 'ultural and social #ie$s. Indi#idual or group totemism +roup totems are generally associated or coordinated on the basis of analogies or on the basis of myth or ritual. 8ust why particular animals or natural things6which sometimes possess no economic alue for the communities concerned6were originally selected as totems is often based on e entful and decisi e moments in a people0s past. %ol" traditions regarding the nature of totems and the origin of the societies in $uestion are informati e, especially with regard to the group0s cultural presuppositions. %or example, a group that holds that it is deri ed directly or indirectly from a gi en totem may ha e a tradition in which its progenitor was an animal or plant that could also appear as a human being. In such belief systems, groups of people and species of animals and plants can thus ha e progenitors in common. In other cases, there are traditions that the human progenitor of a "in group had certain fa ourable or unfa ourable experiences with an animal or natural object and then ordered that his descendants respect the whole species of that animal. +roup totemism was traditionally common among peoples in Africa, India, /ceania &especially in Melanesia', *orth America, and parts of ;outh America. !hese peoples include, among others, the Australian Aborigines, the African Pygmies, Lobedu ;othos and =orubas &the Leopard totem of the A"ure clan of =orubas ser ing as an example', and the arious *ati e American peoples6most notably the *orthwest #oast Indians &predominantly fishermen', #alifornia Indians, and *ortheast Indians. Moreo er, group totemism is represented in a distincti e form among the >grians and west ;iberians &hunters and fishermen who also breed reindeer' as well as among tribes of herdsmen in north and #entral Asia.

Alexandra Luisa Popescu Psychology, 2nd year Indi idual totemism is expressed in an intimate relationship of friendship and protection between a person and a particular animal or a natural object &sometimes between a person and a species of animal'< the natural object can grant special power to its owner. %re$uently connected with indi idual totemism are definite ideas about the human soul &or souls' and conceptions deri ed from them, such as the idea of an alter ego and nagualism6from the ;panish form of the A?tec word naualli, .something hidden or eiled.6which means that a "ind of simultaneous existence is assumed between an animal or a natural object and a person< i.e., a mutual, close bond of life and fate exists in such a way that in case of the injury, sic"ness, or death of one partner, the same fate would befall the other member of the relationship. #onse$uently, such totems became most strongly tabooed< abo e all, they were connected with family or group leaders, chiefs, medicine men, shamans, and other socially significant persons. ;tudies of shamanism indicate that indi idual totemism may ha e predated group totemism, as a group0s protecti e spirits were sometimes deri ed from the totems of specific indi iduals. !o some extent, there also exists a tendency to pass on an indi idual totem as hereditary or to ma"e taboo the entire species of animal to which the indi idual totem belongs. Indi idual totemism is widely disseminated. It is found not only among tribes of hunters and har esters but also among farmers and herdsmen. Indi idual totemism is especially emphasi?ed among the Australian Aborigines and the American Indians. (. The connection %et$een soul and totem Among the @iradjuri, an Aboriginal people who traditionally li ed in *ew ;outh @ales, Australia, totem clans are di ided among two subgroups and corresponding matrilineal moieties. !he group totem, named .flesh,. is transmitted from the mother. In contrast to this, indi idual totems belong only to the medicine men and are passed on patrilineally. ;uch an indi idual totem is named bala, .spirit companion,. or jarawaijewa, .the meat &totem' that is within him.. !here is a strict prohibition against eating the totem. 5reach of the taboo carries with it sic"ness or death. It is said, .!o eat your jarawaijewa is the same as if you were to eat your ery own flesh or that of your father.. !he medicine men identifies himself with his personal totem. 1 ery offense or injury against the totem has its automatic effect upon the man who commits it. It is a duty of the totem to guard the ritualist and the medicine man while he is asleep. In the case of danger or the arri al of strangers, the animal goes bac" into the body of the medicine man and informs him. After the death of the medicine man, the animal stands watch as a bright flic"ering light near the gra e. !he indi idual totem is also a helper of the medicine man. !he medicine man emits the totem in his sleep or in a trance so that it can collect information for him. In this tradition, sorcery may also be practiced by the medicine man. 5y singing, for instance, the medicine man can send out his totem to "ill an enemy< the totem enters the chest of the enemy and de ours his iscera. !he transmission of the indi idual totem to no ices is done through the father or the grandfather, who, of course, himself is also a medicine man. @hile the candidate lies on his bac", the totem is .sung into. him. !he blood relati e who is transmitting the totem ta"es a small animal and places it on the chest of the youngster. Auring the singing, the animal supposedly sin"s slowly into his body and finally disappears into it. !he candidate is then instructed on how he has to treat the animal that is his comrade, and he is further instructed in song and the ritual concentration that is necessary to dispatch the totem from his body.

Alexandra Luisa Popescu Psychology, 2nd year ). Totemism in $orld I%an Among the Iban of ;arawa", Malaysia, indi idual totemism has been the tradition. Particular persons dream of a spirit of an ancestor or a dead relati e< this spirit appears in a human form, presents himself as a helper and protector, and names an animal &or sometimes an object' in which he is manifested. !he Iban then obser e the mannerisms of animals and recogni?e in the beha iour of the animals the embodiment of their protector spirit &ngarong'. ;ometimes, members of the tribe also carry with them a part of such an animal. *ot only this particular animal, but the whole species, is gi en due respect. Meals and blood offerings are also presented to the spirit animal. =oung men who wish to obtain such a protector spirit for themsel es sleep on the gra es of prominent persons or see" out solitude and fast so that they may dream of a helper spirit. Actually, only a few persons can name such animals as their ery own. Indi iduals with protector spirits ha e also attempted to re$uire from their descendants the respect and the taboo gi en the animal representing the spirit. As a rule, such descendants do not expect special help from the protector spirit, but they obser e the totemistic regulations anyway.

*irhor !he 5irhor, a people that were traditionally residents of the jungle of #hota *agpur Plateau in the northeast Aecan &India', are organi?ed into patrilineal, exogamous totem groups. According to one imperfect list of B3 clans, 22 are based on animals, 2C on plants, 7 on Dindu castes and localities, and the rest on objects. !he totems are passed on within the group, and tales about the tribe0s origins suggest that each totem had a fortuitous connection with the birth of the ancestor of the clan. !he 5irhor thin" that there is a temperamental or physical similarity between the members of the clan and their totems. Prohibitions or taboos are sometimes culti ated to an extreme degree. In regard to eating, "illing, or destroying them, the clan totems are regarded as if they were human members of the group. Moreo er, it is belie ed that an offense against the totems through a breach of taboo will produce a corresponding decrease in the si?e of the clan. If a person comes upon a dead totem animal, he must smear his forehead with oil or a red dye, but he must not actually mourn o er the animal< he also does not bury it. !he close and ital relationship between the totem and the clan is shown in a definite ceremony, the yearly offering to the chief spirit of the ancestral hill. 1ach 5irhor community has a tradition of an old settlement that is thought to be located on a hill in the area. /nce a year, the men of each clan come together at an open place. !he elder of the clan functions as the priest who gi es the offering. A diagram with four sections is drawn on the ground with rice flour. In one of these, the elder sits while ga?ing in the direction of the ancestral hill. !he emblem of the particular totem is placed in one of the other sections of the diagram< depending on the circumstances, this emblem could be a flower, a piece of horn or s"in, a wing, or a twig. !his emblem represents the clan as a whole. If an animal is needed for such a ceremony, it is pro ided by the members of another clan who do not hold it as a totem. !he 5irhor show great fear of the spirits of the ancestral hill and a oid these places as far as possible.

Alexandra Luisa Popescu Psychology, 2nd year Auring the later 2Cth century, anthropologists and sociologists became increasingly preoccupied with such issues as the construction of meaning and identity in a postcolonial world. +i en that totemistic belief systems had pro ed to be relati ely durable o er the course of human history, many scholars as"ed whether it was useful, as LE i-;trauss had ad ocated, to dispose of totemism as a .mere. social construct. As a result, in estigations of totemism generally declined< those that were underta"en mo ed away from treatments of its uni ersality &or lac" thereof' and toward studies that considered totem systems in more specific contexts. !here are a number of theories or hypotheses concerning totemism. Many of them are mar"ed by methodological deficiencies, preconcei ed ideas, and a prejudiced selection of source documents< ne ertheless, some of these theories contain points of iew that deser e consideration. !he first theory was proposed by the ;cottish ethnologist 8ohn %erguson McLennan. %ollowing the ogue of 24th-century research, he wanted to comprehend totemism in a broad perspecti e, and in his study The Worship of Animals and Plants &27:4, 273C' he did not see" to explain the specific origin of the totemistic phenomenon but sought to indicate that all of the human race had in ancient times gone through a totemistic stage. +. Totemism in psychology and sociology A Fussian American ethnologist, Alexander +oldenweiser, subjected totemistic phenomena to sharp criticism. Dis criti$ue had lasting importance, especially in the >nited ;tates, where it engendered a s"eptical attitude concerning totemism. +oldenweiser saw in totemism three phenomena that could exist singly and actually coincided only in the rarest of cases. !hese phenomena were, &2' clan organi?ation, &2' clans ta"ing animal or plant names or ha ing .emblems. obtained from nature, and &B' belief in a relationship between groups and their totems. +oldenweiser did not percei e these phenomena as a unity, since any of them could exist apart from the others. In another treatise published in 242C, a +erman ethnologist, Fichard !hurnwald, claimed to recogni?e in totemism the expression of a specific way of thin"ing among nonindustrial societies. De felt that such groups judge the natural en ironment according to its external appearance without analy?ing it any closer and assume that there are sympathetic connections and combinations of natural things< from these ideas come lasting rules of beha iour such as taboos, respect, and social relationships. %or the psychology of totemism, !hurnwald later &2423G27' put forth a detailed, systematic presentation< by means of concrete examples, he also raised $uestions about the connections of totemism with ancestor worship, notions of souls, and beliefs in power, magic, offerings, and oracles. People isolated because they wanted to be want to label scientifically other cultures as .primiti e.. !his was part of the 24th centuries to seal of the subconscious from their own moral uni erse. 5ut %reud taught us that there is no essential difference between states of mental health and those of mental illness. !hat is only in ol ed modification in certain general operations. Art critics thereby thought 1l +reco was abnormal. 5y regarding the hysteric where the artistic as abnormal, we accorded oursel es the luxury of belie ing that they did not concern us, that they did not put in $uestion our moral or intellectual order. !he belie e that primiti e peoples didn0t understand how babies were made ga e moderns a con enient way to categori?e them. !his helped the .normal, white adult man. not recogni?e himself in others.

Alexandra Luisa Popescu Psychology, 2nd year Apparently .totemism. ended in 2424. In 24B7 5oas published general anthropology. It totally discounts the notion of totemism. /ne @orld @ar I troop had a totem. It was the rainbow. !hey call themsel es the rainbows. And when they saw one they considered it good luc". 1 entually they de eloped complex ideas systems around the rainbow. 5ut 5oas denied that cultural phenomenon can be brought together into a unity. .myths. and .totemism. were artificial unities. *i%liography, Internet, http,--$$$.culturism.us-%oo.summaries-totemism/201e#i2trauss!%..html http,--pedia#ie$.com-openpedia-Totemism345short5history5of5totemistic5theory http,--ngm.nationalgeographic.com-2013-0&-a%original6australians-fin.el6text *oo.s, Totemism6%y 'laude 1e#i 2trauss" translated *y 7odney 8eedham" 9erlin :ress" 1ondon" 1+&!" 7eprinted in 1++1 Ta%u si totem6%y 2igmund ;reud" Editura 4ntet" *ucuresti" 200+