|
Post by Tenjen on Apr 17, 2009 7:51:54 GMT
Not sure if i should be making this.
Not sure how to word this here.
How many are aware of the spirit totems? Representated as animals. Each with a certain charecteristic. Many may find their own traits pertaining to certain totems.
Such as I myself belonging to the Lynx totem. A secret keeper, amongst other things.
Has anyone explored this subject matter? and the individual totems?
I was also wondering. Owls, Crows and Lynx's, are they all associated with death and pyschopompery? [related and not related to the totems that bear those animals as those creatures]
|
|
|
Post by imaginaryfriend on Apr 17, 2009 10:23:31 GMT
I've heard that totems were first made for hunters because it was thought that to make a miniature of the animal would give the hunter power over it. Beyond being lucky for hunting maybe they also believed the power of the animal would enter the holder through bearing the totem, other people think it was more like a symbol of respect and reverence for the spirits of animals who were hunted, killed and eaten.
Totems were considered magical but part of daily life back then but later as they became more abstract and set apart (sacred?) the relationship started to evolve and the traits of the animals were seen in people who did not have the traditional connection and didn't worship the animal in question per se. That could be when the other animals who were portents or messengers of the dead entered the picture, and maybe that's when the sort of pantheon of totemic animals we now know came to be.
But all that's just what I've heard. I don't think there's a living human who can answer your question with authority.
|
|
|
Post by fjodor on Apr 17, 2009 12:12:03 GMT
I wonder if Tic-Tocs can be considered as - artificial - totems. They did protect Annie after all.
"A totem is any supposed entity that watches over or assists a group of people, such as a family, clan, or tribe (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary [1] and Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition).
Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem. Normally this belief is accompanied by a totemic myth.
Although the term is of Ojibwa origin, totemistic beliefs are not limited to Native American Indians. Similar totemism-like beliefs have been historically present throughout much of the world, including Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, Australia and the Arctic polar region.
In modern times, some single individuals, not otherwise involved in the practice of a tribal religion, have chosen to adopt a personal spirit animal helper, which has special meaning to them, and refer to this as a totem."
I guess it would be more of a surprise if totems are not going to be introduced somewhere in the story.
|
|
ding
Full Member
Posts: 129
|
Post by ding on Apr 19, 2009 4:29:08 GMT
Owl is the symbol of the moon, the feminine and insight. ... Owl Medicine is often symbolically associated with clairvoyance, astral projection and magic (both black and white). One myth is that Owl is a reincarnation of the dead. Another myth is that it is able to extract secrets from people. .... Its yellow eyes reflect the light of the Sun active within the Night; the Light penetrating the Darkness.
newagemystic.com/owltotem.aspxMuut as Annie's Owl totem? He does seem to hang around her a lot. And they both do have awfully large eyes. Why would Muut be the psychopomp that hangs around Annie, specifically, instead of Ketrak or some other? Is this related to owl totem's association with astral projection? Or is it only because of Muut's association with death and his role in Annie's back story?
|
|