Takhar or Taahkarr (in Serer and Cangin) is a demi-god in the Serer religion worshipped by many Serers (an ethnic group found in Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania). Takhar is the god of justice and vengeance in Serer religion and worshipped at the foot of certain trees in the forest deemed to be sacred. Like the offerings to certain Pangool (singular :Fangool, the Serer saints and spirits represented by snakes), the holy feast takes place in the sacred forest. It is partly for this reason why plants and animals are regarded as totems in the Serer-totemic and sentient worldly-view of nature in general, and afforded high spiritual status and respect, because these ancient trees are believed to be the sanctuaries of certain Serer entities.
References
Bibliography
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- "Folk-Lore In The old Testament. Studies In Comparative Religion Legend and Law", Pubslihed by Forgotten Books, pp 317–8, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rfVgIDcpCwMC&dq=Takhar+justice+%2B&pg=PA317]
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- Laurent-Jean-Baptiste Bérenger-Féraud, "Les peuplades de la Sénégambie: histoire, ethnographie, mœurs et coutumes, légendes, etc", E. Leroux (1879), p 276-7
- Keane, A. H.; Quiggin, A. Hingston; Haddon, A. C., "Man: Past and Present", illustrated, revised, Cambridge University Press (2011), p 49, [https://books.google.com/books?id=lvoDHotDNF4C&dq=Takhar+justice&pg=PA49]
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