A rehue (

Mapudungun Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

spelling rewe) or kemukemu is a type of

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

-like sacred

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

used by the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in many of their ceremonies. Rewe ñadi mew

Altar/Axis mundi

The ''rehue'' is a carved tree trunk set in the ground, surrounded by a hedge of colihue (a Chilean native bamboo) and adorned with white, blue or yellow flags and branches of

coihue ''Nothofagus dombeyi'', Dombey's beech, coigue, coihue or coigüe (from Mapudungun ''koywe'') is a tree species native to southern Chile and the Andean parts of Argentine Patagonia. It is a fast-growing species that can live in a wide range of ...

, maitén, lengas and other trees native to the Mapuche homeland. In form it recalls both a

ladder A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such a ...

and the human

spine Spine or spinal may refer to: Science Biology * Vertebral column, also known as the backbone * Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite * Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants * Spine (zoolog ...

, having a series of steps (sometimes a mystical

seven 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...

in number) cut into it, rising up from the earth toward a summit sometimes bearing a carving of a human face. It is a Mapuche representation of the

axis mundi In astronomy, axis mundi is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles. In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere. Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy, the '' ...

shamanic Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

world tree The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions, Siberian religions, and Native American religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereb ...

symbolising connection with the various levels of the cosmos and utilised as such by the machi (Mapuche shamans). The rehue is a symbol of great importance that is used in important celebrations or ceremonies like the Machitún, Guillatún,

We Tripantu ''Wiñoy Tripantu'' is the Mapuche celebration of the return of the sun and is sometimes called the Mapuche New Year."Celebración del "Wiñol xipantu": Inicio de un nuevo ciclo de la naturaleza".(Beca de investigación).'' Informe final 2003. Cent ...

(Mapuche New Year) and others.

Shamanic ritual tool

Each ''machi'' has a ''rehue'' outside her/his house which she/he climbs in the course of certain ceremonies. This is believed to contain power transmitted to it by ''

Ngenechen Ngenechen (also known as Ngunechen, Nguenechen, Guenechen, Guinechen) is one of the most important Ngen spirits within traditional Mapuche religion; and is the most important deity in the present beliefs of the Mapuche people. Ngenechen originally ...

'', (the supreme being in Mapuche religion) and the machi's attendant ''

pillan The Pillan (of Mapudungun origin; singular ''pillán'' and plural ''pillanes'' in Spanish) is a powerful and respected male spirit in Mapuche mythology. According to legend, the Pillan are good spirits, but they can also cause disasters, since th ...

'' (supernatural beings bearing some similarity to the

familiar spirit In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to re ...

s of Early Modern European

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

Social and Political Unit

Called "rehue" or "regua" in colonial chronicles, the word referred to the grouping of various

families (

lof Lof (Spanish: ''levo'' and ''lov'') or caví (Spanish: ''cahuín''); formed the basic social organization of the Mapuche, Mapuche-Huilliche and the extinct Picunche peoples, consisting of a familial clan or lineage that recognizes the authority o ...

or lov) who occupied the same locality and shared the same rehue altar. Nine of these rehue would form an

Aillarehue Aillarehue or Ayllarehue (from the Mapudungun: ayllarewe/ayjarewe: "nine rehues"); a confederation of rehues or family-based units (lof) that dominated a region or province. It was the old administrative and territorial division of the Mapuche, H ...

(nine altars), a small confederation that would gather for war or other common purposes and formed a region or province. Juan Ignatius Molina, The Geographical, Natural, and Civil History of Chili, Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, London, 1809
/ref>

References

Mapuche culture Religious objects {{Chile-stub