At level 6, can a Totem Warrior barbarian choose a second option from the Totem Spirit feature in place of the Aspect of the Beast feature?

Question

The Path of the Totem Warrior barbarian's 6th-level Aspect of the Beast feature says (PHB, p. 50):

At 6th level, you gain a magical benefit based on the totem animal of your choice. You can choose the same animal you selected at 3rd level or a different one.

This means that it's possible for a Barbarian who selected the bear totem spirit for the Totem Spirit feature at level 3 (which grants resistance to all damage types except psychic while raging) to, e.g., select the eagle totem spirit at level 6 (which enhances their eyesight).

However, is it possible for a Totem Warrior barbarian, when they reach 6th level, to select another totem spirit option from the 3rd-level Totem Spirit Feature instead of selecting one of the options from the 6th-level Aspect of the Beast feature?

For instance, if a Totem Warrior barbarian has selected the bear totem at level 3, can they choose to gain the eagle totem's 3rd-level benefit (while raging, you can Dash as a bonus action) when they reach 6th-level?

As the 3rd-level Totem Spirit feature is "lower" in some terms, I wouldn't mind allowing it. This would create a 6th-level barbarian with extra resistances who is able to Dash as a bonus action, a pretty fast tank character (for example).

The same question also extends to the Totemic Attunement feature at 14th level. When a Totem Warrior barbarian hits level 14, can they select another (not yet selected) totem from the previous levels?

Answer 1

No.

The text for Aspect of the Beast states the following:

At 6th level, you gain a magical benefit based on the totem animal of your choice. You can choose the same animal you selected at 3rd level or a different one.

The text then states the available options, which I've omitted for brevity.

Nowhere in the text for this feature does it state that you can choose from the options for Totem Spirit. The qualifier stating that you can choose the same animal from level 3 is simply to avoid the reader from thinking that they're locked-into or prohibited from choosing the same animal they selected at Level 3.

The same applies to the 14th level selections.

Answer 2

No, this is not allowed by the rules

Nothing in the rules suggests that this should be possible. Your question already quotes the relevant part of the PHB.

The class features at 3rd, 6th, and 14th Level of the Totem Warrior are indeed entirely different class features with different names, and their description does not say that they are interchangeable - and therefore they aren't.

The fact that you may choose different totem animals for each of these class features does not change this.

...and I do not think it would be balanced to allow it as a house-rule

Even though Totem Spirit is gained at an earlier level, one could argue that its options are much more powerful than those of Aspect of the Beast. The former are quite a huge and somewhat versatile help in combat, while the latter are rather situational and rarely have any significant impact on the game.