Pub. date: 2009 | Online Pub. Date: January 26, 2009 | DOI:
10.4135/9781412964623 | Print ISBN: 9781412936361 | Online ISBN:
9781412964623| Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc.About this
encyclopedia All animals are sacred in African religious
traditions. They play vital roles in the creation of the
heavens, Earth, and people. They bring messages of life, death,
social order, customs, and practices. Some are regarded as
deities, whereas others represent deities. On a practical level,
animals provide food for humans and are a source of social
wealth and standing. Through totems, they also distinguish
relations among members of a particular community. For this
reason, the images of animals, whether it be in stories or on
textiles, houses, temples, shrines, pots, containers, drums, and
sculptures, impart a sense of the sacred to the everyday and
ritual life of Africans. This entry examines the background of
African attitudes about animals and then looks at some specific
beliefs and practices. Many African stories h