   a totem is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe. the totemic symbol may serve as a reminder of the kin group's ancestry or mythic past.merriam-webster online dictionary and webster's new world college dictionary, fourth edition. while the term "totem" is ojibwe in origin, belief in tutelary spirits and deities is not limited to indigenous peoples of the americas but common to cultures worldwide. totemistic beliefs are found in regions of africa, arabia, asia, australia, europe, and the arctic. contemporary neoshamanic new age and mythopoetic men's movements not otherwise involved in the practice of a tribal religion may appropriate "totem" terminology for the personal identification with a tutelary spirit or guide. ==totemism==   totemism (derived from the root -oode- in the ojibwe language, which refers to something kinship-related, c.f. odoodem, "his totem") is a religious belief that is frequently associated with animistic religions. the totem is usually an animal or other natural figure that spiritually represents a group of related people such as a clan. totemism was a key element of study in the development of 19th and early 20th century theories of religion, especially for thinkers such as Ãmile durkheim, who concentrated their study on indigenous societies. drawing on the identification of social group with spiritual totem in australian aboriginal tribes, durkheim theorized that all human religious expression was intrinsically founded in the relationship to a group. in his essay "le totÃ©misme aujourdâhui" (totemism today), the anthropologist claude lÃ©vi-strauss argued that human cognition, which is based on analogical thought, is independent of social context. from this, he excludes mathematical thought, which operates primarily through logic. lÃ©vi-strauss argues that the use of physical analogies is not an indication of a more primitive mental capacity. it is, rather, a more efficient way to cope with this particular mode of life in which abstractions are rare, and in which the physical environment is in direct friction with the society. he also holds that scientific explanation entails the discovery of an &q
Anthropology_of_religion Deities,_spirits,_and_mythic_beings Native_American_religion Nature_and_religion Sociology_of_religion