Get complete information on Totemism in Different Regions

In India, quite a number of tribal societies practice totemism particularly the tribes of middle tribal belt. The totemic people in India are all organized into exogamous clans. In Australia, Bantu Africa and North America whole society is organized into totemic groups very often exogamous groups.

Even dangerous species such as leopard, crocodile and cobra are among the totemic species of animals. But in some African Tribes even individual totems are also found. Similarly, mythical belief of totemic descendence in Australia and Melanesia but are rare in Africa. But ritual avoidance of totem is a common experience. In Australia, at specific occasions, totem may be ceremoniously killed and each. Durkhiem, found that among the Aruntas of Australia, it was very much a ‘symbolic representation, of the group. He regarded to totemism as the earliest form of religion.

Totemism as a Feature of Religion

Totemism is a prominent feature of the religion of the Australian aborigines, who believe that people and nature share a common life and belong to one moral order. Just as human society is divided into mutually dependent and reciprocating groups so too is nature. People are grouped into societies by rules of birth and locality, each of which is associated with a different totem.

The act or religious worship is collective. People get together to worship religion. Religious symbols are public. The fact that symbols are public has led many anthropologists to believe that religion and acts of worship embody and dramatize a society’s symbolic unity. That unity derives from a common faith in the efficacy, importance and the shared meanings of the symbol’s of worship and the ideals that they represent. Durkhiem does not mean ‘Church’ in the sense of a building nor in the sense of hierarchically organized priestly system.

He refers to the common bond of belief that unites all members of the society and differentiates them form the others. Thus, inadvertently Durkhiem tells us about two social functions of religion. Firstly, that it serves to provide a bond of unity for a whole society. Religion is the ideological basis for the motion of Church and the church is the whole society collected in worship of its shared, public, symbols.

Secondly, it gives special place in people’s consciousness to these central organizing symbols of a society. It makes them ‘sacred’. Derived from the Australian Totemism, they may also be treated as the secular functions of totemism.

Shaman

Usually a part-time make specialist, shaman have fairly high status in his community and is often involved in healing. A Shaman is socially recognized as having special supernatural powers that are

used for and on behalf of the clients for a variety of activities such as, curing divination, Sorcery e recording fortunes among others. Among Inlet Coastal Communities of South America Shams make an yearly spiritual trip to the bottom of the sea to persuade the sea goddess to ensure abundant of sea animals for one more year. They are also frequently called upon to cure illness. They do it discovering the supernatural being who has been offended by the breach of same taboo to cause t illness.

Shamanistic activity has important the rapeutic effects from individual clients who are often relieve of illness through the cathartic effects of the ritual. Shamanism has also important integrating function for the society as a wide variety of symbolic acts in of Shamanic performances bring together various belief and religious practices together. Such performances usually involve participation by the audience These performances are cathartic in the sense that they help individual normalizing, already under the impact of anxiety due to various disturbing events affecting individuals or the community as a whole The word ‘Shama’ itself, is derived and got established in anthropological literature from the nomad herders and the marginal cultivators of the central Asian tribes.

Priest

Enjoying very high status in the society, priests are generally full time male specialist who officiate at public events,. They are thought to be in companionship with superior or high gods beyond the read and control of ordinary persons in societies, where economy of surplus food production, can only afford to have priests.

Their full time occupation itself is indicative of priest hood as a specialized professor requiring some amount of training. The office of the priest hood is obtained either through inheritance of political appointment. They acquire a special identity by putting on special clothing or displaying a peculiar hair style. They have to go through an arduous training programme which includes fasting, praying, learning of rituals and the elogma of their religion. Before functioning independently they have to serve as apprentices under established priests.

They are not paid for their performances but are supported by the funds created by public donations. There are market differences between the shamans and the priests. Firstly, while shamans are called upon to serve as curers who occurs popularity to them, priests are only expected to bless the sufferers. Also, in the event of a Shaman’s repeated failures to effect a cure, he is very likely to lose his following and clientele.

Priests however do not have a clientele. They are expected to perform their rituals meticulously for one and for all. Even if Gods fail to respond is to his prayers and rituals he keeps on enjoying the confidence and the faith of the people and retains his position. Thus, from Shamanism to priest hood, there is the trend of change over from magic religious or religious complex to modern religious practices.

However, societies may have more than one types of religious practitioners. A complex society may have Shamans as curers or healers and priests as performers of ritual. This division in areas of religious performances simply addresses to the complex problems which arise with the increasing complexities of social life. It is also a matter of economic convenience.

No medic or semi nomedic food collectors have shamans as only one type of practioner. Those with two types of practioners (the shamans and priests) agriculturists or pastorialists with political integration beyond the community. Again, societies with all the four types of practioners have agriculture and political integration beyond the community and social classes.