Totems

Power is all around you...

Totems are a complex magical art. What they are is hard to define but Totems are most often used by two groups. The Tablin and Shamans. For the tablin, a totem represents your animal nature and while a totem allows a tablin to tap into that nature and do extraordinary things, it takes shamanic training to use it magically. The shamans use totems to call forth spirits that share that totem and can call totemic spirits at will without binding. they can also give themselves the qualities of their totems as well. A tablin can double the effects of a totemic item that happens to share their totem.

What is a totem?

A totem is an idea given form, but that doesn't make it a spirit or thoughtform. It's somewhere in between, a concept involving some kind of entity (an animal, an object, a fundamental force, a concept) that is universally acknowledged as important, usually for its symbolism.

Anything can be a totem, but that doesn't mean the totem can grant power. A totem must be regarded as powerful before one seeks to use that power. This doesn't mean that one must acknowledge the power of a totem in order to use the power. It means that a totem cannot give power until it has power. Those who use totems do not go out and give power to the totem so they can do the same in return. Totems are given power by the collective unconscious of all those living and dead. It must have this power before one could use it, and no matter how much one believes or wishes it, a totem has no power without it.

How Are Totems Made?

Totems cannot be created through any artificial means, or at least technically can't. Someone who can live a long enough period of time could fuel the collective unconscious as the years go by, slowly but surely creating the totems power. This is an inefficient thing to do as totems are not as powerful as many give them credit for. A totem can only manifest its power on the metaphysical playing but requires an individual on the physical to harness it.
Harnessing a totem is what allows the totem to give the user power, but power is relative to how you use it. Totems are usually harnessed in the form of trinkets or clothing, particularly among the Tablin of Estoya, to harness their totems through their masks. A necklace with a wooden carving of a bear or the skull of a crumb that hangs from a string around your wrist can all be effectively used to harness a totems power.

Totems function similarly to thought forms and spirits but they lack conscious thought and in most cases lack Instinct as well. They simply exist with no true purpose to them, ideas that are much more than just ideas. Most see totems as icons that represent an element of nature but this is not entirely true, but the most common and powerful totems usually are. They come in the form of an animal or some species of flora. They can manifest as a strange living Flame or water that refuses to conform to its container.

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Totemic Power

Powers granted by totems do not require any form of Arcane knowledge. Anyone who possesses the incredibly simple ability to metaphysically attune themselves to an object can use them just like any other item of power. However, totems acquire something a little extra. To use a totem, the user must have a deep connection to the totem itself. They must find something that resonates within themselves that also connects to the total.
Perhaps the wisdom of an owl inspires a young scholar who finds he can suddenly see in the dark. A young thief may stumble across a batch of crow feathers from which he makes a cloak. He may reflect on the very nature of the crow, which is often depicted as a wise, playful, and intellectual trickster, granting the young thief the ability to charm his way out of any encounter with the weak minded.

What powers a totem bestows can vary but it is always singular. It does not matter how many items of power someone has that is connected to a single totem. Once you connect with the totem and are given the power, that is the only power you can get from that totem.

Totemic Shamans

Shamans are always on the lookout for totems and often make their own totems as well during their spiritual journeys. Some shamans, however, choose a safer path. They focus on totems and only bind totemic spirits often using totemic items to anchor them. These shamans are usually found among the tablin. While this shaman rarely takes spiritual journeys to metaphysical planes, they are able to do the same things spiritual shamans do and are rarely sought out by the void.

Totemic Items vs Totemic magic

With that being said a totem can mean two things. A totem is a single concept, usually an animal, that one has a deep connection with. This connection alone does not grant power and in order to have that power, one needs shamanic training. On the other hand, you have the second form of the totem. Totems can be items that reflect the totemic concept. These items are often enchanted bestowing unique qualities to those who wield them.