Totem Worship and Its Manifestation in Community Life of Thai Ethnic Group in Vietnam

Abstract

In traditional societies, the custom of worshiping an animal or plant species as the origin of the ethnic people is called totem worship. The paper introduces and analyzes some viewpoints of researchers on totem workship, totemic manifestation and its social meanings as well as behaviors of the general population. The paper also provides a case study of totem worship in Thai ethnic group, one of the ethnic groups in Vietnam who retains a relatively rich spiritual life nowadays.