1. Certain animals must not be killed or eaten, but men bring up
individual animals of these species and take care of them.
2. An animal that dies accidentally is mourned and buried with the same
honours as a member of the tribe.
3. The prohibition as to eating sometimes refers only to a certain part
of the animal.
4. If pressure of necessity compels the killing of an animal usually
spared, it is done with excuses to the animal and the attempt is made to
mitigate the violation of the taboo, namely the killing, through various
tricks and evasions.
5. If the animal is sacrificed by ritual, it is solemnly mourned.
6. At specified solemn occasions, like religious ceremonies, the skins
of certain animals are donned. Where totemism still exists, these are
totem animals.
7. Tribes and individuals assume the names of totem animals.
8. Many tribes use pictures of animals as coats of arms and decorate
their weapons with them; the men paint animal pictures on their bodies
or have them tattooed.
9. If the totem is one of the feared and dangerous animals it is assumed
that the animal will spare the members of the tribe named after it.
10. The totem animal protects and warns the members of the tribe.
11. The totem animal foretells the future to those faithful to it and
serves as their leader.
12. The members of a totem tribe often believe that they are connected
with the totem animal by the bond of common origin.
The value of this catechism of the totem religion can be more
appreciated if one bears in mind that Reinach has here also incorporated
all the signs and clews which lead to the conclusion that the totemic
system had once existed. The peculiar attitude of this author to the
problem is shown by the fact that to some extent he neglects the
essential traits of totemism, and we shall see that of the two main
tenets of the totemistic catechism he has forced one into the background
and completely lost sight of the other.
In order to get a more correct picture of the characteristics of
totemism we turn to an author who has devoted four volumes to the theme,
combining the most complete collection of the observations in question
with the most thorough discussion of the problems they raise. We shall
remain indebted to J. G. Frazer, the author of _Totemism and
Exogamy_[135], for the pleasure and information he affords, even though
psychoanalytic investigation may lead us to results which differ widely
from his[136].
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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