Territorial symbolism in sub-Saharan Africa calls to mind multiple forms of knowledge. More particularly, territorial significance is fed both by magical and sacred beliefs and by knowledge based on empirical observation and concrete practices. These two types of knowledge differ widely as to their nature, the procedures by which they are formed, and the cultural values they embody. Nevertheless, semantic interaction between mythic knowledge and technical knowledge is remarkably rich. By blurring the distinction between mythos and techne, this semantic interaction seems to constitute an important cultural tool for building feelings of social security in that it reinforces and stabilizes socio-geographic patterns, and more especially those which regulate access to space and natural resources.
