DAUGAVPILS UNIVERSITĀTE
Promocijas darba kopsavilkums
Daugavpils 2006

The doctoral thesis is dedicated to totemism as one of the most contradictory issues in Latvian folklore. A number of Latvian folklore researchers find relics of totemic notions in folk songs, while others do not use the term of totemism at all, pointing out the eclectic nature of its content; in case the term is still used, it is not related to the materials of Latvian folklore. The decisive factor that has motivated either acceptance or rejection of the presence of totemic relics in Latvian folksongs in many cases is anthropologist's perspective on the problematic of the origin, content, and functionality of totemism in traditional societies. Another significant factor has been the researcher's scientific approach, in the framework of which totemism is either accepted or rejected. On the whole it is characteristic of folklore researchers on a wider - world - scale. A part of Western researchers are also very cautious as regards the possible relics of totemism in European folklores, always being precise in their formulations of the limitations of using this term.
It is essential in the context of cultural research of traditional societies to approbate the previous research experience concerning totemism, as this provides the possibility of forming a different angle of vision on the problem of totemism in Latvian folk songs. The research of totemism as a specific problem of Latvian folk songs provides an insight into wider socio-cultural processes that have generated the symbolism of the world of folk songs.
Besides, since the middle of the 20 th
century it has been generally acknowledged in the humanities and social sciences that more significant research results are gained by investigation not only of the origin of symbols but of the ways of their functioning in the framework of the given society. Hence, it is necessary to bring together two major research directions, one of them regarding the historical origin of the symbol, another - functional aspects of the symbol in the religious and social sphere of the society.
It is important to emphasize that the present research is focused on the social function of symbols of Latvian folk songs, i.e. what symbols activate at the moment of performance, what notions are renewed, sustained, and handed on during the ritual. However, the question, whether it is always

possible to produce an adequate interpretation of symbol functionality in the texts of folk songs, is more than debatable, as it is no more possible to become actively engaged in the process of text production and find out the opinion of song performers and ritual participants. Disregarding two major problems of the present research, i.e. eclecticism of totemic facts and interpretations, as well as contradictory character and adequacy of the interpretation of totemic symbols of folk songs, it is possible to describe and formulate the system of kinship as the sphere of application of totemic symbols.
The doctoral thesis demonstrates that Latvian folk songs have sustained elements of diverse traditions centred around a certain ritual activity. The texts that have sustained elements of totemic notions are basically related to rites of passage, namely rituals of birth and baptism when the new-born child is first socialized, relating it to a certain kin, whereas during the engagement and wedding rituals the kin of the individual grows larger, extending the sphere of duties, rights, and social responsibilities. As totemic symbolism is one of the most archaic groups of Latvian folk song symbols, the search for totemic elements in folk songs is a part of wider totemism and the process of acknowledging the related social and religious notions that has not lost its significance up to the present day. Research of Latvian folk song rituals from the perspective of totemism gives way to more comprehensive research of the system of kinship and social organization.
Object of the research
The object of research of the doctoral thesis is totemism and totemic symbolism in Latvian folk songs related to birth, baptism, and wedding rituals.
The research investigates the origin of totemic symbolism, its relation to early cultural stages of the Baltic societies, and its social aspects. The analysis of totemic symbolism of Latvian folk songs is impossible without comprehensive studies of the totemic complex and interpretations. Totemism and totemic symbolism are analyzed in the doctoral thesis as a complex of archaic notions that have integrated diverse social and religious ideas having a certain place, functions, and significance in the ritual.

Goal and tasks of the research
The main goal of the doctoral thesis is revealing social aspects of totemism, i.e. characterizing totemism as a system that generates, sustains, and transfers cultural traditions of social groups and socio-religious institutions.
The aim of the doctoral thesis is characterizing the history of research on totemism, major research problems, elements of totemic complex, as well as functions of totemic symbolism in Latvian folk song rituals.
The doctoral thesis suggests a hypothesis that totemic symbolism of
Latvian folk songs corresponds to the nucleus of totemic complex - it forms the structure of kinship and the corresponding model of social behaviour.
To reach the goals and prove the hypothesis, the following tasks have been performed by the doctoral thesis:
1.
Analysis of the most significant interpretations of totemism reflecting the development of totemology since the last quarter of the 19 th century, specifically focusing on the latest interpretations of the problems of totemism in social and structural anthropology. This material has been used as the basis for describing the problematic issues of totemism and their solutions, as well as revealing major elements of the totemic complex.
The previous tradition of perception and interpretation of totemic symbolism in Latvian folklore studies has been reviewed.
2.
Systemic review of Latvian folk song texts, selecting folk songs that a priori could be associated with totemic relics. The acquired corpus of texts is basically related to the most significant rites of passage during which the individual becomes subject of kin and social relations.
3.
Elaboration of the theoretical conception of the doctoral thesis, proceeding from the socio-anthropological approach in folklore studies. The theoretical conception has been used as the basis for elaborating the analytical part of the research.
Theoretical basis and scientific approach
Theoretical basis of the doctoral thesis is the anthropological approach elaborated by A.R.Radcliffe-Brown and C.Levi-Strauss in the middle of the
20 th
century. The author has also taken into consideration the previous research tradition on totemism in Latvian folklore studies, as well as archeolo-

gists' findings of the possible totemic relics in Latvian archeological material.
Proceeding from this basis, scientific approach has been developed, centering on the idea of totems as kinship symbols in rites of passage that generate society and social institutions and determine the place of the individual in the social structure.
Important role in selecting the research basis was attributed to the fact that totemism is a heterogeneous anthropological formation and, by applying the investigation of the functions of totemic symbols in ritual, it becomes possible to avoid the necessity of sharp distinction between the 'true' and 'false' totemism and characterize Latvian folk songs as a significant ritual component, in the framework of which totemic symbolism is an opening to the world of archaic notions.
Novelty of the research
The novelty of the doctoral thesis in the context of research on Latvian folk songs is revealed by the fact that very few comprehensive and significant research works on totemism and totemic societies have been published in
Latvian. The two first chapters of the doctoral thesis produce the most comprehensive revision of totemic interpretations and totemic complex in Latvian so far.
Notwithstanding the fact that totems in Latvian folklore have been investigated since the 1890s, according to the information at the disposal of the author of the present research, only A.Schvabe (1923) and J.Kursite (1996,
1999) have published articles and chapters of wider research works devoted specifically to totemism. Other research works present possible totemic relics in Latvian folklore as a peripheral problem. This reveals the importance of a systemic review of the previous research, to form a stable basis for the further research on totemism in Latvian folk songs.
The investigation of the history of totemology, its content and problems has contributed to the formulation of a new approach to the problem of totemism in Latvian folk songs. The analysis of the functional aspects of totems as social structure symbols or codes has provided a different perspective for describing a number of rites of passage and accounting for the symbolical meanings of natural species in the context of the logic of mythical thinking.

The introduction presents and characterizes the major research problems, explicates the theoretical basis of the research, reveals the topicality of the selected theme, as well as outlines the structure of the doctoral thesis.
Though the first description of totemic system was produced at the end of the 18 th
century, the notion of totemism was introduced in research literature in the 1870s, but wider research on totemism appeared in the first quarter of the
20 th
century. At the end of the 19
th
and the beginning of the 20
th
century, researchers focused mostly on the problems of the origin of totemism. Original and viable accounts were offered by a number of outstanding researchers of religion and cultural anthropology (E.B.Tylor, A.Lang, F.B.Jevons,
V.Robertson Smith, J.G.Frazer, A.C.Haddon, E.Durkheim, F.Boas, etc.).
Descriptions of Australian societies stood out among first interpretations of totemism. Works by B.Spencer and F.Gillen, A.W.Howitt, K.Strehlow,
K.Langloh Parker are of a special importance in the context of totemology.
The works of the first generation of researchers on Australian traditional culture crystallize the central notion of totemism, defining it as a generating, structuring and trading system of religious and social institutions.
Next major step in the investigation of totemism is the research work by
A.A.Goldenweiser "Analytic Study of Totemism", in which totemism is characterized as a heterogeneous cultural phenomenon that can no longer be interpreted as a universal point of origin of religion. Goldenweiser's ideas are further developed in one of the most dynamic periods in the history of research on totemism in the late 1910s and early 1920s, when outstanding researchers formulated their views in the journal "Anthropos" (W.Schmidt, J.R.Swanton,
W.Wundt, W.H.R.Rivers, E.Reuterskjold, N.W.Thomas, F.Graebner,
R.Thurnwald, etc.). Though discussions and diverse opinions left a positive impact on the research of totemism, fundamental contradictions remained, basically determined by the differences of methodological approaches in reconstructing the development of religions and societies.

Essential changes in the interpretations of totemism in the mid 20 th century were related to the research of the social anthropologist A.R.Radcliffe-Brown and structural anthropologist C.Levi-Strauss. Though differing in their conclusions - A.R.Radcliffe-Brown keeps the notion of totemism, whereas
C.Levi-Strauss gives it up, they both consider that totems activate the ritual participants' thinking, producing a chain of logical reflections that ground, renew, and consolidate the traditional action model of the society on most diverse levels: nature and culture, individual and society, social group and deities, etc.
Eight subchapters of chapter 1 give a thorough characteristics of 20 theories of totemism that have had a significant role in dealing with totemology issues. E.B.Tylor considered totemism as one of three forms of animal worship along with fetishism and zoolatry. The origin of totemism is related by him to the notion of embodiment of ancestors' souls in animal or plant. W.Robertson
Smith considered that totem is divine clan and its sacrifice during the ritual strengthens kin relations among the clan members. F.BJevons wrote that, in order to survive in nature, ruled by dangerous and mysterious forces, humans banded together choosing a plant or animal as a symbol of their community.
S.Reinach considers totemism a kind of religious cult in which special respect is shown to animals, trees and plants, perceiving them as human relatives and friends. In the course of time, the initially natural species serving as totems turn into domestic animals and cultivated plants. E.Durkheim characterizes totemism as an elementary form of religion, and totem - as a symbol that gives rise to religious feelings, coming from the sense of person's belonging to a social group that is regarded as an utmost sanctity.
Within the framework of psychoanalysis, S.Freud attempted to get close to the initial sense of totemism, regarded by him as one of the variants of the socalled Oedipal complex, producing two major totemic prohibitions: 1) prohibition to kill the totem as an embodiment of the deceased ancestors' souls, and 2) prohibition to form sexual relations with somebody belonging to the same totem. Recognizing the great significance of S.Freud's "Totem and
Taboo", sound critique of his views was produced by A.L.Kroeber. The author of the present research shares Kroeber's conclusion that S.Freud should have sustained the psychoanalytical boundaries of his research and charac-

terize totemism as remnants of infantilism, without claims of historicism.
Significant impact on Freud's views was left by W.Wundt's conception of 'soul' understood as the inner spiritual processes in the society. Totemism is regarded by W.Wundt as synthesis of two ideas (the former regarding the soul of totemic animal as ancestor, the latter - the soul of totemic animal is the guardian spirit) into a unified system of notions.
W.Schmidt regarded the problems of totemism in the framework of the socalled theory of 'cultural cycles', arguing that totemism is constantly associated with those social life elements that form a unified 'cycle of totemic culture. In a wide historico-cultural work, eliminating elements of economy, religion, ethic, etc. that do not correspond to this cultural cycle, totemism will be revealed in its original clarity and homogeneity. Among other merits of this theory, one must undoubtedly excel the idea of regarding totemism in a wider cultural context, however 'cultural cycle' is just a theoretical construction and none of ethnologists or anthropologists has ever succeeded in proving the reality of its existence.
In the 1920s, Tylor's conception of animism inspired several theories that reduced religious phenomena to an initial elementary idea. Some of theorists representing dynamism, vitalism, etc., did not use the notion of totemism, whereas others kept it. Wider characteristics of totemism in this aspect have been produced by E.Reuterskjold. He relates totemism as an early component of primitive religion to hunting and gathering societies cultivating the idea of an omnipresent universal power (mana). Later, when the society split into smaller social segments, the 'universal power' was divided as well, and each social group founded specific relations with a certain part of nature that became its 'private property', totemic emblem, symbol of kinship. R.Duso regarded totem in the framework of vitalism as one of the elements of the life principle. Propagation rituals activate the vitality of nature, and the most vital natural species, embodying the force of life, are selected as totems. However,
R.Karutz, trying to simplify the religious terminology, introduced a more general term 'emanism' which includes also totemism in the sense of embodiment of natural power or force in a plant, tree, or animal.
In the 1930s, on the basis of African ethnic material, H.Baumann introduced the notion of 'proto-totemism', considering that the most ancient folklore theme is relations between the human and animal. Proto-totemism is

based on the conception of a close interrelation between the human and animal, manifested in such archaic elements of traditional culture as metamorphosis, animal ancestors, animal dance and propagation rituals. The conception of proto-totemism was further elaborated by H.Petri and
A.E.Jensen. H.Petri, having produced extensive research in Arnemland, came to the conclusion that totemism in the perception of Arnemland Australians is a comprehensive system of notions on the sense of human and nature existence and a major source of spiritual, economic, and social life. A.Jensen in his research of Marind society in New Guinea characterizes totemism as an early period of the development of totemism, with totem cult symbolism and social ancestor being also the totemic ancestor and culture hero who founds all essential structures of the religious, social, and economic life.
It is accepted in the framework of mythopoetic tradition that mythical thinking, characterized by a holistic world model, is the cultural dominant of primeval society and the origin of its genesis. The human of primeval societies does not differentiate between himself and the surrounding world, thus anthropomorphizing nature and deities. Totemic ancestor was the first anthropomorphic image produced by the model of the mythical world. This tradition is closer regarded in the doctoral thesis in the framework of
J.Meletinski, J.Kotlyar, and J.Kostyukhin's research works.
Social anthropology is of major importance in dealing with the issues of totemism in the middle of the 20 th century. Functionalism as one of its directions, represented by B.Malinovski, admits that totemic notions originate in human certainty about the ability of controlling those natural species that are specified in the external environment as dangerous, admirable, or just delicious. This certainty further creates cult and religious attitude, prohibitions and piety, as well as the idea of mutual kinship and responsibility.
A.R.Radcliffe-Brown, in his turn, considers that the main function of totemism is integrating oppositions in unified society. Hence, natural species become totems not because they are delicious, arouse fear, respect, or admiration, but because they inspire thinking, making it possible to perceive nature and society as an integrated system of separate different elements.
C.Levi-Strauss reached very similar conclusions regarding the issues of totemism. Having produced a wide overview of the history of totemism and its interpretations, he concluded that the primary question related to totemism

is the motivation of creating natural species symbolism. Reply to this question would make it possible to deal with all problems regarding totemism. The opinion cultivated by the academic circles that C.Levi-Strauss has destroyed totemism is only partially true, because, though dismantling totemism as a universal religious or social institute, he kept totems as codes of classification of nature, the divine world, and human society. Levi-Strauss' totemic complex analysis was influenced by the research of social anthropologists F.Firth,
M.Fortes, E.E.Evans-Prichard on the structure of traditional societies. At the centre of totemism, according to them, are mental activities that in thinking bring together two lines: nature and culture, totems being codes of such reflections.
Chapter 2 characterizes the elements of the totemic complex: different kinds of totemism, their spread, totemic myths and rituals. Lack of consensus on the issue of what should be denoted as totemism has contributed to disagreements in classification of the totemic content. There have been several attempts at classifying the totemic complex out of which more successful are those related to a certain region, e.g. Australia, as the content of totemism is manifold and regionally diverse. The doctoral thesis provides a concise characteristics of J.Haekel's classification of totemism, whereas a wider description and analysis of different kinds of totemism have been produced on the basis of Australian researchers' data, especially on the general investigations of Australian society by A.P.Elkin, H.Petri, and R. and K. Berndts. The
Australian material is very important, as the totemic notions of the Australian societies have been described most thoroughly and, though they cannot be genetically related to Latvian folk songs, they still make it possible to better understand functions of Latvian folk song rituals and their symbols.
According to Australian ethnology, totemism can be classified into many kinds or forms. The most significant feature of the individual totemism is specific relations between a person and natural species that is usually characterized as the guardian spirit and helper. Variants of individual totemism are present also in nagualism, shamanism, and the cult of tribe rulers. The individual totem is inherited or acquired during the process of initiation. The

central feature of sexual totemism is the existence of special totem related to one of the sexes. Offence, injury or murder of the opposite sex totem is perceived as an attack on the representative of this sex. The function of sexual totemism is not only the embodiment of male and female solidarity, but also association of both sexes into a single totality. In fratria totemism, people are divided into two parts on the basis of the kinship system, both having their own totems. Fratrias represent not only two parts of the people but also principles of exogamy when the spouse must be from another fratria, thus fratria totems of spouses must be different. A similar social function that gave rise to the right of land or hunting area ownership, mythical legacy, cults, etc. is characteristic of section or subsection totemism within which people are divided into four or eight interrelated social segments.
Clan totemism is one of the most widely described and classical kinds. It is characterized by the following elements: clan totem must not be killed or used in food, because totem is the clan ancestor and eating him would be similar to cannibalism; its members have an obligation to promote the fecundity of the natural species of their totem with the help of propagation rituals. Belonging of the local totemism to the totem is determined by the spiritual ties with the totemic center that is located in the territory inhabited by the clan. Dream totemism is close to the local totemism and has been found in peoples of
Central Asia. The animal or plant which often recurs in the person's dreams is thought to be the person's alter ego who helps, warns of danger, and guards the person. Dream totem is associated with the mythical events of the Dream times, forming a deeper relation of Australians with their past. Multifold, also classifying totemism that is widely spread but little investigated helps to group the notions of the world order. Cult totemism represents part of the common religious heritage of the people that is entrusted to each of cult groups.
An important part of the totemic complex is totemic myths and rituals that are part of the 'sacred legacy' of Australian societies dating back to the Dream times. Australian totemic myths are songs performed in the totemic squares during sacred rituals. Song (myth) is always an element of a larger cycle and is divided into two groups: 1) those inherited from mythic ancestors and eternal;
2) those composed nowadays, whose author is known and has received the totemic song from his totem in a dream. Australians think

that myths are models of socially appropriate behaviour and reveal the sacred and the eternal. The doctoral thesis analyzes a number of Australian totemic myths revealing their content and sense from the standpoint of contemporary
Australians.
Totemic myths and rituals are closely related, as almost all Australian rituals and models of everyday life behaviour have prototypes in myths. Myth provides an explanation of the context and functions of symbolic activities in ritual. The goal of Australian totemic rituals is often practical: to strengthen kin and social ties, cooperation of social groups, solve conflicts, promote welfare.
However, Australians never give a pragmatic formulation of the goal of rituals, instead, they emphasize continuity of tradition: ritual is performed because it was done by the Dream time ancestors. Ethnological literature foregrounds
Intichiuma ceremony promoting fecundity of the totemic species, as well as
Corrobboree ritual, during which wanderings of the mythic ancestors of Dream times are told, sung and performed, explaining the causes and meaning of their activities.
The problem of totemism has been little analyzed in Latvian folklore studies. Totems are usually characterized in the framework of a wider conception. However, it is possible to form the history of understanding totemism in Latvian folklore. First accounts of totems in Latvian folklore are found in
K.Kasparsons and M.Bruninieks' articles interpreting totemism from the point of view of cultural anthropology of the late 19 th
century. K.Kasparsons and
M.Bruninieks regard totemism as one of the early stage of religion giving rise to notions of the soul.
Problems of totemism in Latvian folk songs were investigated by
A.Schvabe from the perspective of sociologists of religion of the early 20 th century (E.Durkheim, L.Levi-Briel). In his article "Oak-tree and Lime-tree in
Latvian Religion" (1923), A.Schvabe emphasizes the imperative character of totemism providing the sense and significance of ritual activities. According to him, totems of ancient Latvians - oak-tree and lime-tree are equivalent to
Australian totems, because they also symbolize sex, kin and person. Oak-

tree and lime-tree totems during the ritual symbolically overcome contradictions and hostility of families and sexes, thus unifying society.
In the 1990s, J.Kursite indicated possible totems in Latvian folklore.
J.Kursite regards the problems of totemism in Latvian folklore in the framework of matricentric Ancient European culture reconstructed by
M.Gimbutiene. She placed special emphasis on totemic symbolism in rites of passage and sexual totemism. Research on totemism produced by
K.Kasparsons, M.Bruninieks, A.Schvabe, and J.Kursite forms an important tradition of interpreting Latvian folklore texts. Besides, the relation of totemic symbolism and rites of passage elaborated by A.Schvabe and J.Kursite provides wide future perspectives for the research on religious and social aspects of the totemic symbolism.
Chapter 4 produces an original theory of Latvian folk song ritual totemism based on the analysis of totemism interpretations and texts of Latvian folk songs. Its theoretical novelty proceeds from the idea that is important in almost all interpretations of totemism but has been applied to analyze Latvian folk songs for the first time. Totemism, according to the methodological principles of social and structural anthropology, is characterized as symbolic depiction of the social system in natural species code, according to which totems are the symbols of kinship. Totems as kinship symbols inspiring the model of person's social behaviour are codes of generative structures of society and its cultures, forming the prototype of social relations, symbolic depiction of the world and social regularities in folk song rituals.
Subchapter 4.1 analyzes totemic symbolism of birth and baptism rituals in
Latvian folk songs. Birth and baptism rituals are of a great social significance in traditional cultures. During these rituals, child performs a symbolic transition from nature to culture, getting incorporated into kinship structure that further determines its social status, rights, and obligations.
In the framework of birth ritual, totemic symbolism occurs in those folk songs which in the framework of anthropogenic myth present child/human's

birth from water, earth and totem. Human birth from water is depicted as the ritual of fishing of the child, signified by the totemic fish symbolism. Human's origin from the earth is depicted in the totemic insect or bird code when the new-born child is lifted from the earth, wrapped in clothing, and carried home.
In many folk songs, the child is found in flowers, under an apple-tree, etc. that testifies to the idea of totemic alter ego in Latvian folk songs. All motifs are dominated by an obvious social aspect. The new-born child is treated as an economically active and socially responsible personality that is of a great future importance to the family, as it will ensure the continuity of the family, its solidarity, inherit moral standards and religious traditions.
Baptism ritual is a temporally extended and significant event constituted by several socially and magically significant episodes, part of which are associated with archaic ideas. Baptism ritual is also one of the most significant in sibling relations, confirming not only the existing kin relations but also taking an active part in admitting a new relative to the family, thus strengthening the mutual sense of duty and obligation of the family members.
Insignificant mention of totemic ideas occurs in the texts accounting for godparents' departure for baptism ceremony. Parallel actions or animals met on the way (ant, bear, etc.) may be partly associated with the totemic ancestor.
Baptism folk songs may reveal the former ritual of god-child's atonement with its use of the symbol of totemic fox.
One of the central episodes in baptism ritual is name giving and admitting the child into the family, producing the most extensive use of totemic symbolism in Latvian songs of baptism. Designating the child as oak-tree or lime-tree testifies not only to totemic relics but also of related social ideas.
Planting oak-tree or lime-tree amidst the room symbolizes social processes of including the child into family which takes over the care of the child's upbringing. Kinship, or elementary sociological notions, is sometimes depicted in the tree code which is considered to be the idea of especially archaic Latvian folk songs related to totemism. Relics of sexual totemism are manifested in cutting the cradle pole and hanging the cradle. Oak-tree is the totemic symbol of boy, lime-tree - that of the girl.
Subchapter 4.2. describes and analyzes the totemic symbolism of engagement and wedding rituals. Engagement and wedding signify important

change both on the individual and social level, as marriage as a social institution transforms not only the person's life but affects the group economic interests and mutual solidarity. Part of texts denote the members of engagement and wedding rituals in the symbolic code of nature. Depiction of the members of engagement and wedding rituals in the symbolic code of nature basically represents kinship structure, as well as relations and emotions determined by it.
The degree of kinship actualizes the corresponding obligations and rights that must be respected by the individual. Depiction of kinship structure in the symbolic code of nature provides precise formulation of the sphere of individual obligations and rights within the social group and activates the individual's emotional and mental world. Hence, one of the most significant functions of symbols in Latvian folk songs is to activate the sociological and psychological ideas implied in Latvian traditional culture in diverse epochs.
Closer textual analysis shows that Latvian engagement and wedding folk songs form constant structural pairs in the code of nature (e.g. oak and lime-tree, hawk and partridge or hen, wolf and sheep or goat, boar and pig) entailing diverse socially significant and psychologically important components.
Function of animal, bird, fish, insect symbolism is recalling in the individual memory significant factors of social life that must be observed during the engagement and wedding rituals. Part of texts may be characterized as standard models of social life behaviour grounding and assessing individual's action during the ritual.
As concerns plant totems in Latvian folk song engagement and wedding rituals, semantically deepest layer and most extensive application is attributed to reed, whereas oak-tree and lime-tree are dominant among tree totems. In sexual totemism, oak-tree is the totem of the young man, bridegroom, whereas lime-tree - that of the young girl, bride. Several Latvian folklore researchers have characterized oak and lime-tree as classical folk song totems
(K.Kasparsons, A.Schvabe, H.Erdmane, J.Kursite). Following this tradition, the present doctoral thesis regards any natural species, used for the symbolic depiction of kinship, as totem or totemic symbol. To be more precise, totem in
Latvian folk songs is the term of kinship system depicted in the code of nature that points out the economic and psychological aspects of marriage as central in engagement and wedding rituals.

In wedding ritual, totemic ideas are related to selecting the bride, bride hiding in the lime-tree, ritual ridicule of oak and lime-trees, cutting branches and tops of the trees representing the opposite sex, totem abuse, pre-marital decoration of lime and oak-tree. Wedding in a number of texts is depicted as oak and lime-tree sitting down side by side for good. The doctoral thesis regards other floral totemic symbols as well (e.g. bird cherry tree, apple-tree, birch-tree, ash, maple, pine-tree, fir-tree, alder, etc.), considering their relation to sex, age, or social group.
Engagement and wedding ritual songs often do not mention the real names of bride and bride-groom, denoting them in the totemic bird or animal code.
The most typical and widespread symbolic couple in Latvian folk song engagement ritual is hawk and partridge, wagtail, hen, snowbird, woodcock. In this couple, hawk is the male symbol of the courtier, whereas partridge, wagtail, hen, snowbird, woodcock are the female totemic symbols of the bride.
Hawk as the bird of heights embodies hunter, power, speed, violence, activity, opposed to the birds of earth embodying passivity like partridge, wagtail, hen, snowbird, woodcock, whose natural habitat is land, field, water. According to mythical thinking, hawk denotes the upper, heavenly sphere of male deities, thus opposing the lower, earthly, matricentric deities represented by birds of earth and water. According to mythical thinking, birds not only classify the cosmic zones but also symbolize social structures. This is testified by the notions of birds as tribe ancestors and totems.
As compared to the use of the totemic symbolism of trees and birds, animal totemic symbols are used more seldom. Zoomorphic totems most often mention pig as the female totem and wolf and bear as male totems. Wolf and bear are significant in much European folklore, however the texts regarded by the present thesis produce only occasional references to a deeper mythical substratum. Nevertheless, their relation to totemism is verified.
The doctoral thesis ends with conclusions reflecting major problems and their treatment, outlining the results of Latvian folk song analysis, as well as revealing the novelty of the present research in the context of interpretations of totemism.