Before our story starts, we must ask the question, what are Totems? To put it simply, they are spirits. They're called by many other names such as familiars, deities, etc.
While everyone can have more than one totem, they generally have one true spirit. One. which was with them since the day they were born. Totems are real or "fantasy" creatures that generally are in the Animalia kingdom, such as foxes and/or unicorns. A totem is different for each person. They can be the same animal but have different personalities. They also can be as big a 2-story house or as small a pin.
It's normal for people have 1 to 5 spirits, 3 being the most common number. It is dangerous to have no totem. It's also possible to have more than 5 but that can be quite risky. A totem can be good and helpful, but it can also be evil and malicious. Totems are not bound to a person and come and go as they please. However, the totem you were born with will always stay and be with you until the end. Some have even stayed with a person even after they have been reincarnated. Some totems have also been documented as being incarnations of former loved ones who stay to watch over the living. It's all quite sweet in my opinion.
Some spirits can take on a human form, but these spirits are incredibly old and powerful. They tend to have been considered gods/goddesses, or envoies of certain gods and goddesses. Due to contrary beliefs, angels nor demons are not totems. They are different entities entirely. The same totem can be divine or malevolent at any given time. Because of this angels and demons can't be considered totems as they are only divine or malevolent. And although angels and demons have free will, they still have to answer to a higher being. For these reasons they cannot be a totem. This also includes the Fey, aka fairies, elves, etc.
Totems are divided into 5 different elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and Spirit. In the next pages I will go into more detail about each element.