totemismAccording to the theory of religion of Mircea Eliade, a historian of
religions, there are two kinds of time: sacred and profane. The latter is
ordinary temporal duration that is measured by clocks into units of sec-
onds, minutes, and hours. In contrast, sacred time is the period of reli-
gious festivals and rituals, which represents a succession of eternities.
The major difference between sacred and profane time is that the former
is reversible, which suggests a cyclic concept of time, because the events
can be repeated each year, whereas the latter is an irreversible duration.
From Eliade’s perspective, a religious festival repeats a sacred event that
occurs in primordial mythical time, which is recoverable and indefinitely
repeatable. Sacred time is a time-out-of-time that represents an interrup-
tion of ordinary linear time. By returning to the time of origin, time is
regenerated and humans are reborn, and become contemporary with the
gods and their original creative acts.
Eliade’s theory is helpful to a degree, but indigenous religions of
Africa and Native American Indians help one to realize that time is
even more complex because they indicate that their concept of time is
local and foreshortened, representing a microcosmic and not a macro-
cosmic vision. In this conception of time, there is no indefinite future
because time is episodic and discontinuous. If time is not linear or uni-
tary, there is no absolute clock or single time scale, which leaves these
peoples with a variety of times associated with different kinds of natu-
ral phenomena and human activities. These multiple forms of time can
be mythical, historical, ritual, agricultural, seasonal, solar, or lunar.
In retrospect, everyone is subject to linear time, which possesses a
beginning and a conclusion. In contrast to linear time, cyclical time is
suggested to humans by the earth revolving around the sun, the alter-
nation of day and night, phases of the moon, and the seasons. If life and
nature suggest a cycle, linear time is also concerned about the cycle of
life and its accompanying rites to mark important occasions, such as
birth, marriage, initiation, and death. Within this scenario, there exists
no simple opposition between sacred and profane time because these
types of time are integrated within the life of a religious person.Further reading: Eliade (1954)TOTEMISM
Referring to a belief that manifests itself in group behavior, totemism is
more specifically a relationship between a group and an animal or plant