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RE: Re: [DL] Aborigine Guardian Spirits
Close. Animism is the belief that even inamimate objects (stones, trees, the wind) has a spirit in it. Often these spirits have to be appeased so that they do not get angry when you use the resources. You are right, thought, I did mean totemist.
We just had a long discussion on dice as fetish, so that's not very OT, now is it? And it's the belief that objects contain a harnessable magical energy that adds to our own, rather than a 'belief in objects.'
Cheers!
John Goodrich
(mythology pedant)
Original Message:
-----------------
From: Nick Zachariasen zacharin@pluto.dsu.edu
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 13:14:44 -0500
To: deadlands@gamerz.net
Subject: Re: [DL] Aborigine Guardian Spirits
> Your friend may do better with a Maori, who were an interesting bunch, and
more likely to go to strange places, and fit into the Wierd West setting by
virtue of being a pretty violent culture. They're also (If I recall)
animist in a more familiar way than the Australians. And the tattoos will
make him stand out like nobody's business.
>
I think you mean "totemist" rather than "animist". If I'm recalling my high
school mythology class correctly, animism is the belief in the human spirit.
Totemism, on the other hand, is belief in the power of animals (hence
referring to animals that watch over us as "totems"). Then, just to
complete the belief, fetishism- in a purely non-OT list sense- is the belief
in objects. It's the kind of logic, though in a more metaphysical sort of
way, that makes people believe they have lucky underwear or dice. It's
essentially the belief system of the diehard sports fan.
Nick "Platypus Man" Zachariasen
Editor Emeritus
Trojan Times
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