According to Durkheim, "god and society are one of the same…the god of the clan…can be none other than the clan itself, but the clan transfigured and imagined in the physical form of a plant or animal that serves as a totem."
In Durkheim's view, the god of a clan and the clan are fundamentally intertwined. This relationship is represented through tangible forms like plants or animals that act as totems.