Arehue (Mapudungun spellingrewe) orkemukemu is a type ofpillar-like sacredaltar used by theMapuche ofChile andArgentina in many of their ceremonies.
Therehue is a carved tree trunk set in the ground, surrounded by a hedge ofcolihue (a Chilean native bamboo) and adorned with white, blue or yellow flags and branches ofcoihue,maitén,lengas and other trees native to the Mapuche homeland. In form it recalls both aladder and the humanspine, having a series of steps (sometimes a mysticalseven 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 theaxis mundi[1] orshamanicworld tree symbolising connection with the various levels of the cosmos and utilised as such by themachi (Mapuche shamans). The rehue is a symbol of great importance that is used in important celebrations or ceremonies like the Machitún,Guillatún,We Tripantu (Mapuche New Year) and others.
Eachmachi has arehue outside her/his house which she/he climbs in the course of certain ceremonies. This is believed to contain power transmitted to it byNgenechen, (the supreme being in Mapuche religion) and the machi's attendantpillan (supernatural beings bearing some similarity to thefamiliar spirits ofEarly Modern Europeanwitchcraft).[2]
Called "rehue" or "regua" in colonial chronicles, the word referred to the grouping of variousMapuche families (lof or lov) who occupied the same locality and shared the same rehue altar. Nine of these rehue would form anAillarehue (nine altars), a small confederation that would gather for war or other common purposes and formed a region or province.[3]
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