SHRINES
Shrineis a word of Latin origin, which means a box
used to contain a precious or sacred object of wor-
ship or veneration. The term is generally expanded
to include buildings and places such as churches,
temples, mosques, and cathedrals. The African cos-
mological concept of a shrine is much more expan-
sive. Thus, it could include animate and inanimate
objects such as a river, building, rock, lake, moun-
tain, or tree. African cosmology suggests that a
shrine would not merely be a means of containment
for some sacred or precious object or deity but
comprises the essence of that which the African
deems divine and worthy of worship and venera-
tion. Because Africans conceptualize the universe
and its entities as a composite whole, it is difficult
to separate the shrine from the entity it represents
or contains. African shrine activities include
prayers, libation, sacrifices, divinations, offerings
and consultations, and other sacred events.
African shrines vary in form and location. They
are generally constructed of natural materials
found in nature and can be found inside the African
home, the African compound, the African village,
and other venues such as forests or river banks.
African shrines are usually maintained by
trained priests, priestesses, or family elders.
African shrines are often dedicated to deities rep-
resentative of families, lineages, vocations, clans,
and stratification levels. Africans construct shrines
as vehicles of interface between the practitioners
and the divine entity, which is the focus of
their worship/veneration. Shrines may also serve
as sanctuary for both animals and human beings.
In many spiritual systems, each of these entities
has its distinct shrine, which serves as a mode of
communication among the spiritual practitioner, a
prospective deity, or God within the context
of a particular spiritual system. Because of the
African’s vast concept of God, shrines are rarely
dedicated to any Supreme Deity because there is
no shrine that can contain the omniscient divinity.
Kefentse K. ChikeSee alsoRituals
Further Readings
Jahn, J. (1989).Muntu:African Culture and the Western
World. New York: Grove Weidenfeld.
Mbiti, J. (1970).African Religions and Philosophy.
New York: Anchor Bay.SHU
In the traditions of ancient Egypt, the deity Shu
represented air, breath, and the atmosphere. As the
god of air and sunlight, Shu’s name means “the
one who rises up,” which is related to the idea that
breath and air rise. Shu is a celestial force alongside
Tefnut, Geb, and Nut. Created at the beginning of
the universe in the narrative of creation, Shu is an
essential element in the Heliopolis theology. The
terrestrial level of created beings, Ausar, Auset, Set,
and Neb-het, came after the creation of the celes-
tial deities. It was believed that Shu and Tefnut
were the progenitors of Geb and Nut.
Shu was normally depicted as a man dressed
in a beautiful headdress fashioned as a plume.
Although Shu is recorded in thePyramid Textsand
theCoffin Texts, it is not until the New Kingdom that
temples and priests dedicated to Shu appear in ancient
Egypt, inasmuch as Shu was the deity for life force and
the New Kingdom was the era of philosophical and
religious emphasis on creation and eternal life.
In the vast history of ancient Egypt, it was clear
that the civilization was founded on principles
where deities such as Shu, who were linked to
lunar deities such as Khonsu and Tehuti, could
maintain a system of belief based on the creative
power of Atum. Indeed, Shu came into existence
because Atum, who was the first deity arising
from the primordial waters of Nu, created air and
moisture as the basis for all other creations.
The activities of Shu were numerous and
included the energy that brought the sun into exis-
tence every morning and protected it during its
travel in the underworld, from Apep, the snake god
who could eat the sun. During the period of King
Akhenaten, who was the chief promoter of Aten,
the sun-disc deity, Shu escaped being proscribed by
the Aten votarists and was considered a part of the
Aten entourage who dwelled in the sun disc.Shu 617