Is the sacred always a god?

No. A flag, a relic, or a totem species can be sacred without a high god.

Did Durkheim do Australian fieldwork?

No. He used ethnography by Spencer, Gillen, and others. The theory is sociological.

Q3(b) · UPSC Civil Services Mains 2015 · Anthropology GS 1 · 15 marks · 1 min read

How do you relate the concepts of 'Sacred' and 'Profane' in Durkheim's theory of religion with a focus on the role of totem?

Topic: Religion. Syllabus: 5. Religion: Anthropological approaches to the study of religion (evolutionary, psychological and functional); monotheism and polytheism; sacred and profane; myths and rituals; forms of religion in tribal and peasant Societies (animism, animatism, fetishism, naturism and totemism); religion, magic and science distinguished; magico-religious functionaries (priest, shaman, medicine man, sorcerer and witch). Same official PYQ from year-wise 2015 and Religion.

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Sacred and profane are Durkheim’s two worlds of ritual marking. Religion unites a church around sacred things. The Australian totem stands for the clan. Ritual effervescence makes society felt as a force. Lévi-Strauss later added classification; the social reading still holds.

Model answer

Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.

Introduction

Émile Durkheim split the world into sacred and profane. The totem is the emblem that makes the clan visible as a sacred thing.

Body

Sacred and profane

Sacred things are set apart and forbidden, protected by ritual. Profane things are the ordinary workaday world.
The split is social, not a list of gods. A rock becomes sacred when the group marks it.
Religion is the system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, uniting believers into a church.

Totem

In The Elementary Forms, Australian totemism is the simplest case. The totem animal or plant stands for the clan.
Worship of the totem is worship of society itself. The clan feels a force, which Durkheim called mana-like effervescence in the corroboree.
Taboos keep the totem sacred. Eating rules and designs on churinga objects carry the emblem.

Relation

Sacred/profane is the grammar. Totem is the noun that names the group.
Radcliffe-Brown kept the social function. Lévi-Strauss later said totems classify, they do not only worship society.
The teaching point for anthropology remains: god-talk is also group-talk.

Flow diagram

flowchart TD
  REL[Religion] --> S[Sacred set apart]
  REL --> P[Profane ordinary]
  T[Totem] --> C[Clan emblem]
  C[C] --> S[S]

Conclusion

Durkheim’s sacred is the marked, collective side of life; the profane is unmarked routine. The totem is the clan’s flag, so totemic religion is society made visible.

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Is the sacred always a god?

No. A flag, a relic, or a totem species can be sacred without a high god.
Did Durkheim do Australian fieldwork?

No. He used ethnography by Spencer, Gillen, and others. The theory is sociological.

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