图腾:古代神话还是现代预言?

图腾是一种非常古老的原始宗教形式。在一定的文化圈中,同一图腾信仰意味着同源共祖。图腾也是最早的社会组织的标志和象征,它对于氏族内部的团结和氏族外婚制的推行具有重要意义。本文就“图腾”一词的由来、含义,以及图腾起源、图腾崇拜的本质、图腾与禁忌的关系,进行了概括性的分析,说明图腾既非古代神话也非现代预言,而是人类赖以生存的大自然神力的象征,是人与大自然和谐共处的必然产物。

Totem is an ancient form of primitive religions. In certain cultural circles, the same totem means the common ancestor. As the sign and symbol of the initial social organization, totem has an important significance in uniting clans and practising estrogenic marriage. The author reveals that totem is neither an ancient myth nor a modern prophesy by generally diagnosing the origins and implications of ＂totem＂, the essence of totem adoration, and the relation between totem and taboo. Totem, which is an inevitable outcome of the harmonious coexistence between the human beings and the Nature, symbolizes the magic power of the Nature on which the human beings depend.