Totemic relationships

[Quintessence]

Reading Harvey's work on animism has been providing a lot of food for thought, and among the chapters was one on totemism. Learned something very interesting about the origin of the term:

"Recall that the Ojibwa word ototeman (hence 'totem') means, simply, 'uterine kin' ...

... the point is that persons - humans and other-than-human - are intimately (inter-)related with a broad community just as if they all had emerged from the same womb."
(pg 165 from the above linked book)
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Relations with other-than-human persons, whether they be mammals, birds, plants, or stones, is an important facet of many contemporary Pagan practices. Do you hold a very close relationship to some other-than-human person, akin to being raised with your human brothers and sisters? Tell us about it!

The word "totem" is often used more loosely within contemporary Paganism, designating perhaps a less deeply rooted kinship with some other-than-human denizens of our world. Feel free to use your own understanding of that term in your responses to this thread, and please take the time to explain your usage and what those relationships mean to you.

 

[Mindmaster]

For me, there is a grove a trees that I used to visit often as a child and I see myself standing near them in dreams and visions occasionally. I've not been to the geographical area they are located in for about twenty years however I still feel close to them in a spiritual way. I used to come there because of the nature oozing out of every crevice, but eventually I could know my way around them with my eyes closed practically. I could feel them as unique beings, and occasionally they call me back there. When I am led back there it is almost like when you go to see your old relatives and friends. They seem happy I return, and I am surely enjoying the same. I find it hard to explain the connection in simple terms because I am emotionally affected just trying to write this, but the trees of that place are linked to the ancient force of that land. They are the living conduits of that lands power, and they are also spiritual houses for everything else that enters their vicinity. I was welcomed into their arms even though I was a child of man, not their forest. I think if most people would stop thinking and just bury themselves in that as I did as a child they might have a similar experience. They knew I am with no threat intended and only admiration in my heart, and maybe that is why they continue to call to me.

The academics will pound this pavement for ages and miss the fact that by simply immersing oneself they can learn more than a thousands books can say. Anyway, because of these types of experiences I hold respect for all living beings regardless -- I am not really connected to crystals or stones for whatever reasons, but for everything else I can just feel the life coming out of them, so to speak. The rocks and stones seem to be more like sponges to me, maybe not living much themselves but absorbing what is near them. I blame the fact that I loved nature far more than humans in my youth, and it probably stuck to some degree even as I age.

 

[Politesse]

"Recall that the Ojibwa word ototeman (hence 'totem') means, simply, 'uterine kin' ...​

That only refers to your lineage and its progenitor though...

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

That only refers to your lineage and its progenitor though...

Yes, but my understanding of this is that according to the mythology of the culture, human persons may be members of a clan with other-than-human-persons of other species/types. Not just Bear Clan or Deer Clan, but only some members of another species may be of the same clan as a human, and human biological relatives may be members of other clans/descent lines.

 

[metis]

Three of my grandparents were Me'tis (French/Amerindian mix), and when I was asked several years ago what my totem was, I couldn't answer it. When I was told to consider if there was any one animal that I especially related to, I realized that it was the skunk. No, not because of what you're now thinking, although my wife probably would agree with you, but it was that I must have had a thousand dreams that went like this: I was crawling through the tall grass on my hands and knees, came upon a friendly skunk, we had a brief conversation , and then departed (no, I did not stink him out) as friends.

Matter of fact, I used to use Pepe le Pew as my avatar, and maybe I'll use that again.

 

[Quintessence]

Yes, but my understanding of this is that according to the mythology of the culture, human persons may be members of a clan with other-than-human-persons of other species/types. Not just Bear Clan or Deer Clan, but only some members of another species may be of the same clan as a human, and human biological relatives may be members of other clans/descent lines.

Yes, that's the idea behind it as presented in this particular source. It's not supposed to be taken literally, @Politesse, as indicated by the rest of the expert I quoted.

 

[Politesse]

Well, if you're gonna use a word...

There's a lot of bad history involved with totemism, with outsiders interpreting it as devil worship and destroying family ties and symbols. Appropriation in the modern age isn't that, but it isn't really good either. Midewin religion is a deep and fruitful pool for learning, but not if you are trying to write your own lessons in someone else's language. I tend to think. If you are thinking of co-essential relationships as targetless community with all living things, you're robbing yourself of the lessons you can actually learn from Ojibwe philosophy, and they are many.

 

[Aštra’el]

I'm not sure if this counts as "totemic relationships", as I don't usually use the term... but I do have a special connection with deserts, storms, and mountain peaks.

There was this place in Phoenix where I would often go. I would hike up this one mountain, and from its peak just stare into the skies and look down upon the city. This experience was most spiritual for me during sunset, when the sky was filled with vivid areas of red and orange and violet and blue... and at night, when you become surrounded by a ring of lights that extend as far as the eye can see in every direction. It was especially epic during the lightning storms. I would sit there with the wind blowing around me, a hint of rain in the air, and lightning constantly flickering in the skies above. It was relaxing and peaceful, and I always felt so connected to the desert there, and the city, and nature, and the forces Above and Below and Within.

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[Cassandra]

I do not like to describe my religion in words of anthropologist that often create more misconceptions than anything else. They come from a outside rationalizing view of things that really can only understood from with in. That is the problem with science dealing with these phenomena. It describes, dissects, analyses. Science has its limitations too. Is loving and talking to your dog totemism?

 

[Futhark]

i am 1/64 ojibwe and started making godpoles for asatru before i knew i had ojibwe heritage. to me the tree i cut down and chainsaw carved the totem or godpole is a pire to my faith and stands to strengthen my faith

as for relationships to other spirits to me that is kinda like having friends, sometimes they talk about things you need to hear other times they babble. but nevertheless i believe everything happens for a reason so if that animal or spirit allows you to see it, its not a co-incidence its meant to happen