Bible Encyclopedias
Leopard-Worship

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The leopard is held in great dread by the natives of different parts of Africa, not only on account of its ferocity, but from the superstitious notion that wicked men metamorphose themselves into these animals, and commit all sorts of depredations without the liability or possibility of being killed. In southern Guinea large villages are sometimes abandoned by their inhabitants, because they are afraid to attack these animals on account of their supposed supernatural powers. In Dahomey, the leopard is accounted so sacred that if any one should kill it he would be convicted of having committed sacrilege, and would be offered in sacrifice to the offended god as a propitiation. The leopard is there looked upon as an impersonation of the supreme god, whom they call Seh. If any one is killed by a leopard, his relatives rejoice at the event, and treat the animal with great kindness. (See LEOPARD).