Immersion into foreign totems





A circle of grey 'little totems', around a Rauk in Fårö, Sweden, in two photographs respectively by Johnny Madsen and Thomas Knauer, on sale on Alamy website.

In already mentioned shores with sea stacks
A driftwood in Vik Beach, Iceland, although not half buried, in this photograph by Tomasz Parys on sale on Bigstock website.

In poetry
Last, oppressing as oppressed, I was loosed to go my ways With a Totem on my breast Governing my nights and days
 * — Rudyard Kipling, "The Totem", 1932

"On the grave-posts of our fathers Are no signs, no figures painted; Who are in those graves we know not, Only know they are our fathers. Of what kith they are and kindred, From what old, ancestral Totem, Be it Eagle, Bear, or Beaver, They descended, this we know not, Only know they are our fathers. … All these things did Hiawatha Show unto his wondering people, And interpreted their meaning, And he said: "Behold, your grave-posts Have no mark, no sign, nor symbol, Go and paint them all with figures; Each one with its household symbol, With its own ancestral Totem; So that those who follow after May distinguish them and know them."
 * — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha, 1855

...and in today's speeches
Your starting totems are Falcon, Eagle, Hawk, Dandelion , Opel [Indian spelling] , and Crow. By studding these you may have a better understanding of your self.

Hawaii
The top black sand beach in the world is Punaluu Beach, which is located on the Big Island of Hawaii. The beach is surrounded by black sand that was created by lava from volcanoes flowing into the ocean and then cooling. The ocean is said to be rocky, so be aware if you plan on going into the water. At this beach you will find Hawksbill turtles as well as Green sea turtles. Though the black sand is beautiful, it is illegal to take the sand off of the beach. Sometimes you just can’t take a piece of everything with you.

In Hawaii, cairns are called by the Hawaiian word ahu.

Ahu Shrine - Often a small or large pile of stones erected as a trailmark or landmark. Ahu were sometimes put up by passing parties as monuments or evidence that they had been there, even as mountain climbers do to this day. To be assured of a safe journey, an ahu of three stones was made as tribute to the god of the locality.

Syd Barrett fan on the Big Island, Hawaii.

Ball's Pyramid




Ball's Pyramid is 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Lord Howe Island in the Pacific Ocean. It is 562 m high making it the tallest volcanic stack in the world. The first successful climb to the summit was made on 14 February 1965.

Old Man of Hoy




The Old Man of Hoy is a 137 m red sandstone sea stack on the island of Hoy. It is a distinctive landmark from the Thurso to Stromness ferry and was first climbed in 1966.

But the real breakthrough came in 1967. In July of that year, 15 million people watched one of the most audacious BBC outside broadcasts ever undertaken - the climbing of the ‘Old Man of Hoy’. A team of six climbers was filmed ascending a spectacular 450-foot sea stack off the Orcadian island of Hoy in a live broadcast that has been likened to an early example of what we now know as 'reality television'. As academic Paul Gilchrist has described the groundbreaking event: “It connected an armchair audience with the elite of a sport subculture intent on conquering one of Britain's most spectacular geological treasures”.


 * * Mere chance:
 * The name can suggest what Syd Barrett scholar and blogger Antonio Jesús Reyes once supposed: the line in the song as "Make a circle of gray in a summer way around Man", referring to the Isle of Man.

Totem Pole (Tasmania)




The Totem Pole is a 65 metres (213 ft) sea stack on the island of Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the most distinctive rock climbing routes in the world, with hundreds of climbers attempting to climb it every year.

Location: Cape Hauy, Tasman National Park, Tasmania, Australia. Height: 65 metres high, and 4 metres wide at the base. Rock type: Dolerite - a form of basalt, which is an igneous rock.

The Totem Pole is hands-down the world's most spectacular sea-stack, and probably the most spectacular natural stone tower of any kind on Earth. Bound to inspire awe in the hardiest of hard-men, this thing just begs to be climbed. The Totem Pole offers excellent rock for a formation like this, but loose rock is present. Climbing conditions can vary dramatically, and the tide conditions are critical. Even in low tides on a calm day, the belayer should expect to be doused with sea water several times.

First climbed on aid in 1968 by Australian golden-age hard-man John Ewbank, this tower has a colorful history. British trad-master and award-winning author Paul Pritchard suffered a near-fatal head injury while scouting a potential free route in the late 90's, which is documented in his excellent book "The Totem Pole".

The technical difficulty of the climb aside, the approach and execution of the route earn it the reputation of one of the proudest ascents in Australia, referred to by one ascensionist as “the Antipodes’ greatest rock climbing challenge.”

The pristine white sandy beach at Fortescue Bay recent quote by John Ewbank, the first ascensionist back in 1968, expressing the sheer fragility of the thing, rang in my ears: “I’m surprised the whole thing hasn’t fallen down by now, I swear I felt it swaying the night we slept on top…”

Go back to the chapter "The totem"