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moonvoiceAmong other things, I’m an animist with very strong totemist leanings. I suppose a lot of you could say a great big ‘duh’ to that, I run the internet’s most comprehensive totem animal dictionary (certainly in terms of word count). It may – actually – frighteningly be the most comprehensive dictionary even when compared with published works. Not only that, but I illustrate totems. And I aspect with totems. And I invoke totems and...well...you get the idea.
I used to hate basic 101 totem dictionaries. I've written articles and long essay-like responses on pagan forums about the shittiness of totem dictionaries. I own quite a few, but I was always like ‘man, these things don’t teach people the skills they need to engage with totems or to make their own dictionaries,’ and ‘they’re recycling a lot of the same information,’ and ‘cultural appropriation FTL,’ and ‘wait a minute, that’s actually completely inaccurate biological information about that animal. WTF?’
Two of these things really piss me off still; the first regarding cultural appropriation. The second regarding teaching people inaccurate information about animals. That’s poor form on behalf of the writer, but it’s also poor form on behalf of the editor, whose job it is to help qualify research in non-fiction material. It’s just poor form all around. The pagan industry can suffer from a bit of poor form at times, it’s not just totemism that cops it, as many of you know.
However, the first two points, no longer bother me. Let’s investigate why:
1. Man, these things don’t teach people the skills they need to engage with totems or to make their own dictionaries.
Firstly, not everyone has the privilege or luxury of time (or, for that matter, being able to encapsulate their experiences into written form). There’s a reason we use word dictionaries instead of making our own dictionaries in whatever language we speak. Part of that reason is a) we don’t know the definitions, b) it’s good to have a launching point for further discussion, c) not everyone has the luxury to make their own definitions for words, sometimes they have to go to another source. There is a luxury of time inherent in being able to spend hours or weeks or months with a totem animal in a way that goes beyond simply communing with it, and enters into ‘writing down the information into a file for future reference.’ Not all spiritual people can do this; nor should they be expected to. There’s also the presumption that this is somehow a more valid way of being a totemist, which skirts dangerously close to needing to regulate the practices of others, by people in positions of authority determining what is valid totemic practice, and what is not. Suddenly people who refer to 101 dictionaries for their information are invalidated, and those who have the luxury of time to make their own dictionaries are validated. It creates a vicious cycle of elitism, and – in no uncertain terms – I believe this is one of those other ‘poor form’ things you can find in the pagan industry (and just about everywhere else).
Secondly, just because it’s a dictionary with a basic knowledge, doesn’t mean people are suddenly completely unable to negotiate meanings with the content. Everyone who’s ever had a discussion on semantics knows that it’s not only possible to really expand upon the definition of a word, but to even disagree with dictionary definitions, or to pick say, one meaning out of the four offered as their preferred meaning. Most dictionaries aren’t designed to provide you with philosophical information on how to construct your own word dictionary. They’re dictionaries. Why we’ve been expecting something from totem dictionaries that resembles more – say – a philosophical ‘how to’ guide, when they’re dictionaries just seems to me to be a little ridiculous. Do you also want the new remodelled kitchen and the free knife set? Maybe we can set that poor dictionary up to work a third and fourth job as well. At some point, a dictionary just has to be a dictionary. People hating on totem dictionaries because they’re not teaching the skills people need to make their own dictionaries, should probably be hating on regular dictionaries, probably ALL dictionaries. Because it misses the point of what a dictionary is.
Thirdly, yes, they actually do teach people the skills they need to be a totemist. For someone who really wants to be a totemist, it’s not hard to realise that just about every totem information file or entry on the planet is based off a handful of things:
1. Researching the animal itself and applying symbolic or metaphorical interpretation to the animal’s biological habits.
2. Researching cultures that worship the animal and looking at their pre-existing stories and sayings for that animal (respectfully, ideally, and no – not all totem dictionaries teach this).
3. Learning basic visualisation techniques and contacting the archetype of the animal itself, and learning some UPG to throw in with that mix. Most 101 totem dictionaries do provide basic visualisation outlines on how to do this.
4. Learning some journeying skills and contacting the deva/god/actual totem itself and learning some UPG to throw in with that mix.
People who haven’t picked this up from totem dictionaries yet, probably aren’t as compelled as some of us, to write their own totem files. But the totem dictionary kind of shows everyone how to do it simply through existing. People – through their own agency – learn to build and construct through observation. If they’re still choosing not to do it, there’s reasons for that, that likely exist outside of ‘totem dictionaries suck.’ When does it become the fault of the totem dictionary, and shift to a personal decision made by someone who has totems come into their lives, but who isn’t a dedicated totemist, or – more importantly – isn’t a dedicated totem file writer? Because, simply put, the latter isn’t required and shouldn’t be required, to be a valid totemist.
2. They’re recycling a lot of the same information
This can be a drag, but so do a lot of dictionaries. Generally speaking, there’s a lot of the same fundamental information going around, and if you look up the word ‘horse’ in any dictionary (except maybe the OED), you’re going to get a lot of the same information. Why is that? Are these people just being lazy, and copying each other? It’s not that simple; there’s a reason why some information gets chosen over other information to describe something, especially abstract concepts such as emotions or totems. Just because they’re abstract concepts, doesn’t mean dictionaries suddenly have the time, space, or purpose to elaborate on those abstract concepts.
Similar and often fundamental information gets chosen, with other information being pushed aside. This other information could be truly integral to the person looking up the word or totem, but it’s not necessarily the fault of the dictionary if this information isn’t there. I’ll repeat: a dictionary is supposed to be a dictionary, it’s not supposed to a long, ambling treatise on how to teach you to make your own dictionary. And the longer the information files get per entry, the more your dictionary starts to resemble a collection of exploratory essays, and that’s a totally different animal.
That same information may be generic, and sometimes it’s even culturally appropriated, but that doesn’t mean it’s suddenly invalid. It also doesn’t mean that someone who listens to it, is suddenly going to be unable to change their minds or renegotiate the meaning as they keep working with a totem animal. A lot of the totemists who hate totem dictionaries, started with totem dictionaries, built their knowledge with totem dictionaries, and then grew past them as they learnt the critical skills necessary to no longer need them, and then, as the final blow, hated totem dictionaries for what they were. I was certainly in this camp. And I know I’m not alone.
Sure, some people engage with totems superficially; some people engage with dictionaries of all kinds superficially. I might enjoy words as a writer, and I have dictionaries, but I don’t have time to semantically discuss the complex meanings of each word I use, and then write my own dictionary about it. That doesn’t mean my experience with words is or should be invalidated. Nor should the dictionaries I own. Likewise, someone might enjoy totems, as a totemist, and they have dictionaries, but they don’t necessarily have time to discuss the complex meanings of each totem they encounter, and then write their own dictionary about it. Sometimes the generic information is all someone needs. That doesn’t mean it lacks power.
*
Totem dictionaries have their problems; certainly. Some of the most popular, feature heavy cultural appropriation and misunderstandings of Indigenous/native cultures (like common misconceptions that all Native Americans believe in totems). And some of the most popular do copy from other people in a way that makes you wonder the point in purchasing more than one (i.e. those that copy from Jamie Sam’s animal medicine books). And some of course, have inaccurate information about the animal itself.
Some of this is a result of poor editing. Some of this is a result of a once-popular pagan paradigm which said it was okay to appropriate from Indigenous cultures, because it wasn’t okay to use our own cultures, or to create our own spiritual culture. There are things not to like about totem dictionaries which are actually not totem dictionary specific, but found throughout all of paganism – particularly some parts of pagan publishing. And in this, I choose not to hate on totem dictionaries anymore, because it seems like an arbitrary target when I consider that my most fundamental objections are either a) untrue, or even based from a position of elitism, b) found in all of paganism, and are a problem everywhere.
I’ve met people who are genuinely ashamed of owning totem dictionaries, as a result of encountering respected pagans and totemists (including – I am sad to say – myself) who bag the totem dictionaries for not doing things that dictionaries aren’t really supposed to be doing in the first place. A shame culture set up on judgement, is not something I enjoy seeing in paganism, and it’s not really something I enjoy experiencing either.
So, let me say it; I own totem dictionaries (I have at least 5). I no longer use them, but I do have the luxury of time to write totem animal files, and more than that – I’m compelled to, it’s part of my contract with the animal and plant kingdom. I became a specialist; but I don’t expect anyone else to, which is why I make the information available to others.
I write a totem dictionary. Some totemists who get their hate on about totem dictionaries, have excused my dictionary as being ‘better’ than the others as a way of accepting it, because I try and research my information and I introduce rare or unknown totems to people; but I’m using exactly the same methods as everyone else, I just do it my way. My way works for some people, it doesn’t for others. It’s just another totem dictionary.
I don’t think totem dictionaries are – of themselves – a bad genre (or at least, no worse than any other in mainstream pagan publishing). I like that there’s quite a few to choose from, just as I can choose from different dictionaries for slightly different spins on things. I like that it raises the profile of certain animals, because even totem dictionaries that focus on an all-US profile, are at least raising the profile of animals and allowing people to notice them more; and that’s a powerful thing. I like that totem dictionaries have been growing in the direction of either becoming more comprehensive, showing the diversity of totems (and usually in increasingly respectful ways); or morphing from dictionaries into a collection of exploratory essays instead, showing the depth in which one can engage with those animals.
I could write more and more and more, but ultimately my point is this – I’ve made peace with totem dictionaries, with people owning them, and using them, and with me being someone who writes one. I’m okay with it. I’m not okay with some of the problems of totem dictionaries, but I recognise that is not totem dictionary specific, and that’s problems I have with the whole ‘pagan industry’ in general. So I'm no longer going to target 'totem dictionaries' as an arbitrary focus for a problem found throughout the industry. I’m tired of getting my hate on about a specific genre and more than that, I’m tired of that invalidating the practices of people with valid practices. Just because I do it one way, doesn’t mean anyone else should.
I used to hate basic 101 totem dictionaries. I've written articles and long essay-like responses on pagan forums about the shittiness of totem dictionaries. I own quite a few, but I was always like ‘man, these things don’t teach people the skills they need to engage with totems or to make their own dictionaries,’ and ‘they’re recycling a lot of the same information,’ and ‘cultural appropriation FTL,’ and ‘wait a minute, that’s actually completely inaccurate biological information about that animal. WTF?’
Two of these things really piss me off still; the first regarding cultural appropriation. The second regarding teaching people inaccurate information about animals. That’s poor form on behalf of the writer, but it’s also poor form on behalf of the editor, whose job it is to help qualify research in non-fiction material. It’s just poor form all around. The pagan industry can suffer from a bit of poor form at times, it’s not just totemism that cops it, as many of you know.
However, the first two points, no longer bother me. Let’s investigate why:
1. Man, these things don’t teach people the skills they need to engage with totems or to make their own dictionaries.
Firstly, not everyone has the privilege or luxury of time (or, for that matter, being able to encapsulate their experiences into written form). There’s a reason we use word dictionaries instead of making our own dictionaries in whatever language we speak. Part of that reason is a) we don’t know the definitions, b) it’s good to have a launching point for further discussion, c) not everyone has the luxury to make their own definitions for words, sometimes they have to go to another source. There is a luxury of time inherent in being able to spend hours or weeks or months with a totem animal in a way that goes beyond simply communing with it, and enters into ‘writing down the information into a file for future reference.’ Not all spiritual people can do this; nor should they be expected to. There’s also the presumption that this is somehow a more valid way of being a totemist, which skirts dangerously close to needing to regulate the practices of others, by people in positions of authority determining what is valid totemic practice, and what is not. Suddenly people who refer to 101 dictionaries for their information are invalidated, and those who have the luxury of time to make their own dictionaries are validated. It creates a vicious cycle of elitism, and – in no uncertain terms – I believe this is one of those other ‘poor form’ things you can find in the pagan industry (and just about everywhere else).
Secondly, just because it’s a dictionary with a basic knowledge, doesn’t mean people are suddenly completely unable to negotiate meanings with the content. Everyone who’s ever had a discussion on semantics knows that it’s not only possible to really expand upon the definition of a word, but to even disagree with dictionary definitions, or to pick say, one meaning out of the four offered as their preferred meaning. Most dictionaries aren’t designed to provide you with philosophical information on how to construct your own word dictionary. They’re dictionaries. Why we’ve been expecting something from totem dictionaries that resembles more – say – a philosophical ‘how to’ guide, when they’re dictionaries just seems to me to be a little ridiculous. Do you also want the new remodelled kitchen and the free knife set? Maybe we can set that poor dictionary up to work a third and fourth job as well. At some point, a dictionary just has to be a dictionary. People hating on totem dictionaries because they’re not teaching the skills people need to make their own dictionaries, should probably be hating on regular dictionaries, probably ALL dictionaries. Because it misses the point of what a dictionary is.
Thirdly, yes, they actually do teach people the skills they need to be a totemist. For someone who really wants to be a totemist, it’s not hard to realise that just about every totem information file or entry on the planet is based off a handful of things:
1. Researching the animal itself and applying symbolic or metaphorical interpretation to the animal’s biological habits.
2. Researching cultures that worship the animal and looking at their pre-existing stories and sayings for that animal (respectfully, ideally, and no – not all totem dictionaries teach this).
3. Learning basic visualisation techniques and contacting the archetype of the animal itself, and learning some UPG to throw in with that mix. Most 101 totem dictionaries do provide basic visualisation outlines on how to do this.
4. Learning some journeying skills and contacting the deva/god/actual totem itself and learning some UPG to throw in with that mix.
People who haven’t picked this up from totem dictionaries yet, probably aren’t as compelled as some of us, to write their own totem files. But the totem dictionary kind of shows everyone how to do it simply through existing. People – through their own agency – learn to build and construct through observation. If they’re still choosing not to do it, there’s reasons for that, that likely exist outside of ‘totem dictionaries suck.’ When does it become the fault of the totem dictionary, and shift to a personal decision made by someone who has totems come into their lives, but who isn’t a dedicated totemist, or – more importantly – isn’t a dedicated totem file writer? Because, simply put, the latter isn’t required and shouldn’t be required, to be a valid totemist.
2. They’re recycling a lot of the same information
This can be a drag, but so do a lot of dictionaries. Generally speaking, there’s a lot of the same fundamental information going around, and if you look up the word ‘horse’ in any dictionary (except maybe the OED), you’re going to get a lot of the same information. Why is that? Are these people just being lazy, and copying each other? It’s not that simple; there’s a reason why some information gets chosen over other information to describe something, especially abstract concepts such as emotions or totems. Just because they’re abstract concepts, doesn’t mean dictionaries suddenly have the time, space, or purpose to elaborate on those abstract concepts.
Similar and often fundamental information gets chosen, with other information being pushed aside. This other information could be truly integral to the person looking up the word or totem, but it’s not necessarily the fault of the dictionary if this information isn’t there. I’ll repeat: a dictionary is supposed to be a dictionary, it’s not supposed to a long, ambling treatise on how to teach you to make your own dictionary. And the longer the information files get per entry, the more your dictionary starts to resemble a collection of exploratory essays, and that’s a totally different animal.
That same information may be generic, and sometimes it’s even culturally appropriated, but that doesn’t mean it’s suddenly invalid. It also doesn’t mean that someone who listens to it, is suddenly going to be unable to change their minds or renegotiate the meaning as they keep working with a totem animal. A lot of the totemists who hate totem dictionaries, started with totem dictionaries, built their knowledge with totem dictionaries, and then grew past them as they learnt the critical skills necessary to no longer need them, and then, as the final blow, hated totem dictionaries for what they were. I was certainly in this camp. And I know I’m not alone.
Sure, some people engage with totems superficially; some people engage with dictionaries of all kinds superficially. I might enjoy words as a writer, and I have dictionaries, but I don’t have time to semantically discuss the complex meanings of each word I use, and then write my own dictionary about it. That doesn’t mean my experience with words is or should be invalidated. Nor should the dictionaries I own. Likewise, someone might enjoy totems, as a totemist, and they have dictionaries, but they don’t necessarily have time to discuss the complex meanings of each totem they encounter, and then write their own dictionary about it. Sometimes the generic information is all someone needs. That doesn’t mean it lacks power.
*
Totem dictionaries have their problems; certainly. Some of the most popular, feature heavy cultural appropriation and misunderstandings of Indigenous/native cultures (like common misconceptions that all Native Americans believe in totems). And some of the most popular do copy from other people in a way that makes you wonder the point in purchasing more than one (i.e. those that copy from Jamie Sam’s animal medicine books). And some of course, have inaccurate information about the animal itself.
Some of this is a result of poor editing. Some of this is a result of a once-popular pagan paradigm which said it was okay to appropriate from Indigenous cultures, because it wasn’t okay to use our own cultures, or to create our own spiritual culture. There are things not to like about totem dictionaries which are actually not totem dictionary specific, but found throughout all of paganism – particularly some parts of pagan publishing. And in this, I choose not to hate on totem dictionaries anymore, because it seems like an arbitrary target when I consider that my most fundamental objections are either a) untrue, or even based from a position of elitism, b) found in all of paganism, and are a problem everywhere.
I’ve met people who are genuinely ashamed of owning totem dictionaries, as a result of encountering respected pagans and totemists (including – I am sad to say – myself) who bag the totem dictionaries for not doing things that dictionaries aren’t really supposed to be doing in the first place. A shame culture set up on judgement, is not something I enjoy seeing in paganism, and it’s not really something I enjoy experiencing either.
So, let me say it; I own totem dictionaries (I have at least 5). I no longer use them, but I do have the luxury of time to write totem animal files, and more than that – I’m compelled to, it’s part of my contract with the animal and plant kingdom. I became a specialist; but I don’t expect anyone else to, which is why I make the information available to others.
I write a totem dictionary. Some totemists who get their hate on about totem dictionaries, have excused my dictionary as being ‘better’ than the others as a way of accepting it, because I try and research my information and I introduce rare or unknown totems to people; but I’m using exactly the same methods as everyone else, I just do it my way. My way works for some people, it doesn’t for others. It’s just another totem dictionary.
I don’t think totem dictionaries are – of themselves – a bad genre (or at least, no worse than any other in mainstream pagan publishing). I like that there’s quite a few to choose from, just as I can choose from different dictionaries for slightly different spins on things. I like that it raises the profile of certain animals, because even totem dictionaries that focus on an all-US profile, are at least raising the profile of animals and allowing people to notice them more; and that’s a powerful thing. I like that totem dictionaries have been growing in the direction of either becoming more comprehensive, showing the diversity of totems (and usually in increasingly respectful ways); or morphing from dictionaries into a collection of exploratory essays instead, showing the depth in which one can engage with those animals.
I could write more and more and more, but ultimately my point is this – I’ve made peace with totem dictionaries, with people owning them, and using them, and with me being someone who writes one. I’m okay with it. I’m not okay with some of the problems of totem dictionaries, but I recognise that is not totem dictionary specific, and that’s problems I have with the whole ‘pagan industry’ in general. So I'm no longer going to target 'totem dictionaries' as an arbitrary focus for a problem found throughout the industry. I’m tired of getting my hate on about a specific genre and more than that, I’m tired of that invalidating the practices of people with valid practices. Just because I do it one way, doesn’t mean anyone else should.
