The Elementary Forms of the Religious LifeDurkheim, Émile
Religion
The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
Durkheim, Émile
Cults; Religion; Religion -- Philosophy; Rites and ceremonies; Totemism
Thus the men of the clan and the things which are classified in it form
by their union a solid system, all of whose parts are united and vibrate
sympathetically. This organization, which at first may have appeared to
us as purely logical, is at the same time moral. A single principle
animates it and makes its unity: this is the totem. Just as a man who
belongs to the Crow clan has within him something of this animal, so the
rain, since it is of the same clan and belongs to the same totem, is
also necessarily considered as being "the same thing as a crow"; for the
same reason, the moon is a black cockatoo, the sun a white cockatoo,
every black-nut tree a pelican, etc. All the beings arranged in a single
clan, whether men, animals, plants or inanimate objects, are merely
forms of the totemic being. This is the meaning of the formula which we
have just cited and this is what makes the two really of the same
species: all are really of the same flesh in the sense that all partake
of the nature of the totemic animal. Also, the qualifiers given them are
those given to the totem.[460] The Wotjobaluk give the name _Mir_ both
to the totem and to the things classed with it.[461] It is true that
among the Arunta, where visible traces of classification still exist, as
we shall see, different words designate the totem and the other beings
placed with it; however, the name given to these latter bears witness to
the close relations which unite them to the totemic animal. It is said
that they are its _intimates_, its _associates_, its _friends_; it is
believed that they are inseparable from it.[462] So there is a feeling
that these are very closely related things.
But we also know that the totemic animal is a sacred being. All the
things that are classified in the clan of which it is the emblem have
this same character, because in one sense, they are animals of the same
species, just as the man is. They, too, are sacred, and the
classifications which locate them in relation to the other things of the
universe, by that very act give them a place in the religious world. For
this reason, the animals or plants among these may not be eaten freely
by the human members of the clan. Thus in the Mount Gambier tribe, the
men whose totem is a certain non-poisonous snake must not merely refrain
from eating the flesh of this snake; that of seals, eels, etc., is also
forbidden to them.[463] If, driven by necessity, they do eat some of it,
they must at least attenuate the sacrilege by expiatory rites, just as
if they had eaten the totem itself.[464] Among the Euahlayi, where it
is permitted to use the totem, but not to abuse it, the same rule is
applied to the other members of the clan.[465] Among the Arunta, the
interdictions protecting the totemic animal extend over the associated
animals;[466] and in any case, particular attention must be given to
these latter.[467] The sentiments inspired by the two are
identical.[468]
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