remain after the diviner’s functions have been per-
formed, it signals death. Among the Kamba, odd
numbers are “without a companion” so children
should avoid walking in odd-numbered groups, and
cattle are not to be watched by the same cowherd
more than 6 days at a time. Farmers will place seven
porcupine quills in the stalks of their sugarcane to
protect them from thieves. However, Kamba circum-
cision festivities span 7 days, and cracking a whip
seven times brings good fortune to elephant hunters.
Perhaps the most conspicuous appearance of
the number 7 is found in Egyptian cosmology and
mythology. There are seven elemental powers:
darkness, light, air, Earth, water, fire, and blood.
In the mythology, there are seven Hathors, seven
souls or Ra, seven nomes of Egypt, seven stages
of the solar bark, seven Glorious Ones, seven
servants of Horus, seven with Anup at the pole,
seven molders with Ptah, seven souls of Atum-Ra,
seven assistants to Maat, seven wise masters of
arts and sciences who assist Taht in his measure-
ments of the Earth, seven who assist Ausar in
Amenta, and seven stages of Ptah’s creation. Seven
also factors into Egyptian funerary culture. In
royal tombs as early as 3100 BC, seven sacred oils
were used to anoint the body during funerary rit-
uals. The specific oils are not known, although it
is speculated that lotus and cedar are among
them. The step pyramid at Saqqara, part of an
ancient burial complex, has seven steps.
Among the Dogon, the spirit of the seventh
ancestor is responsible for world order. This spirit
also wove a cloth that is a manifestation of the
Word and imparted it to humanity. The word for
the cloth issoy, meaning “it is the spoken word.”
Soyis also the word for seven. In addition, during
the creation process, the Dogon supreme deity,
Amma, spun seven worlds above and seven
worlds below. Inside the first seed of creation, the
po, there were seven vibrations. Each vibration
represents a stage in the development of life. The
image of theposeed with seven lines of various
lengths extending from its center symbolically rep-
resents Amma as twins, or masculine and femi-
nine. Two lines are for the head, two for the arms,
two for the legs, and one for the sex organ. Here
again we see seven as the unity of male and
female. This is also the case among the Bambara,
a group related to the Dogon. The Bambara hold
seven to be a unity of male and female, as well as
intelligence and Earth. Among the Zulu, there are
seven judges for eternity, theabakulu.
In the diaspora, the spiritual significance of
seven manifests in the Seven Powers of Africa,
which are a selection of seven orisha from the
Yoruba tradition. These are found in Spanish-
speaking areas of the diaspora as well as in the
African American conjure and folk traditions.
Also in African American folk traditions, the
seventh child of a seventh child was believed to
be spiritually powerful. Among the Nation of
Gods and Earths, seven is the number that
denotes God, which according to their teachings
is man.Denise MartinSee alsoNumber SymbolismFurther Readings
Massey, G. (1992).Ancient Egypt,Light of the World.
Baltimore: Black Classic Press.
Zaslavsky, C. (1999).Africa Counts:Number and
Pattern in African Cultures:A Groundbreaking Study
in Multicultural Mathematics(3rd ed.). Chicago:
Lawrence Hill.SHAME
Shame in African religion refers to an awareness of
the violation of a taboo that can cause harm to
one’s community if it is not dealt with through pro-
pitiation or sacrifice. The person who is responsible
for the violation of the taboo is associated with dis-
grace and collective condemnation because he or
she has placed the entire community at risk of ret-
ribution by the ancestors.
Throughout Africa, one finds the idea of a
communal sense of responsibility; that is, people
live with a degree of respect for others in the
society. Therefore, dishonoring the ancestors by
violating a taboo, breaking a rule, committing
incest, cursing an elder, or attempting to harm
the community produces shame.
Shame must not be considered the same as guilt
in the Western conception. Actually, in the West, it
is common to hear that there is no difference
between guilt and shame, but this is to misunder-
stand the nature of shame. In Africa, because ofShame 611