I should point something out about your totem/seal comparison. Seals are more comparable to shaman weapon enchantments than to totems. Judgment is pretty comparable to shocks. Also- the idea of a heal giving a buff to an ally is interesting, but not a comparable system to paladins: a) the seal is lost when the debuff is given- using our system, a shaman would have to destroy the totem after a single buff, then recast the totem. Yeah. Not very elegant, huh? b) paladins have to cast a specific spell to get the debuff onto the target. Judgment has no other function (healing). Having a heal that gives a similar buff would be extraordinary. Blizzard would have to add a specific spell that does nothing else but apply a buff to be comparable.

Really, if you are comparing Totems to something in the paladin system, they are the foil to auras. There are of course several differences, a couple being: a) Shaman can have several totems down at once and a paladin is limited to one.
b) Auras are very toned down and it is hardly noticeable if they aren’t on. Totems, because they can be destroyed, have much more powerful effects. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve realized I forgot to activate an aura well into a battle. It just doesn’t make a lot of difference. Yes, there are drawbacks, but as a paladin I’d much rather have totems than auras.

Maybe you are on to something, though. Perhaps if both classes heals gave a secondary buff- dependant on the aura/totem the target is under- it would give us more versatility in both raids and pvp.