Totem

— Rogue Entity Encounters

Common Habitat: Around necks, on walls, in pockets, over doorways, occasionally tattooed onto people who have very strong opinions about wolves.
Appearance: Usually symbolic.
Danger Level: Low.
Influence: Considerable.

A Totem is an object that has somehow become responsible for representing something much larger than itself.

A flag.

A family crest.

A necklace.

A carved animal.

A photograph.

A symbol painted on a wall.

At first, it’s just a picture.

Then someone tells you what it means.

And suddenly the picture has acquired a job.

The Little Fox

Consider a small fox carved from wood.

By itself:

Fox.

Cute.

Pointy ears.

Probably terrible at carving.

Then someone says:

“My grandfather made that.”

Fox + 1.

“He made it after he left home.”

Fox + 2.

“He said the fox reminded him to stay clever when things were difficult.”

Fox + 3.

Now the little wooden animal isn’t merely decorative.

It has become a reminder of someone who survived something.

A philosophy.

A family story.

A particular kind of courage.

The fox is still sitting on the shelf.

But it is carrying considerably more than wood.

The Strange Power of Symbols

Totems work because humans are exceptionally good at compressing enormous ideas into tiny objects.

A ring can mean marriage.

A flag can mean a nation.

A photograph can mean an entire childhood.

A little animal can represent courage.

A stone can represent home.

The object is small.

The meaning is not.

This is why Totems can be surprisingly powerful.

They allow something enormous to become portable.

Field Note

Totems frequently begin as reminders.

Eventually they may become identities.

A person doesn’t merely wear the symbol.

They begin saying:

“That’s who we are.”

That’s when the Totem has reached full maturity.

It has stopped representing an idea and started helping define the people who carry it.

Handle mature Totems with respect.

You may be holding something that someone else considers part of themselves.

Identification Test

Ask:

“What does that symbol mean to you?”

Then listen.

The answer may be surprisingly large.

If someone looks at a small object and begins telling you about their family, their homeland, their teacher, their struggle, or the person they want to become—

you’ve found a Totem.

The creature itself may fit comfortably in your hand.

The thing it represents may be much harder to carry.

And that is the peculiar talent of the Totem:

making an enormous idea small enough to keep close.