Current studies of African epistemology are stimulating a similar interest in the notion of secrecy and some of its formal expressions (Nooter and Vogel 1993). Thus far, the profile of 'secret art' emerging from the corpus of scholarly works is taking many forms. These include some of the least known, the least visible, and the most understated and anomalous forms in African art.1 Still, because objects that embody secret meanings need not be hidden, the visual arts of some African peoples frequently blend public exposure and secrecy. The display or nondisplay of many elements is therefore culturally determined. In much of Africa south of the Sahara, cultural secrets tend to be religious secrets too, so much so that discussions of the esoteric arts are inevitably intertwined with the doctrinal and practical aspects of traditional beliefs, namely, mythology, prayer, and ritual performances. Yet religion, by its very nature-that is, its elusiveness and seeming irrationality-provides a logical transition, or bridge, between reality and illusion. Its multidimensionality, in particular, suggests that its expressive forms could lend themselves to a range of meanings that are usually culturally specific. This essay illustrates these interconnections by focusing on one such artistic genre: the mud altar complex of the Dangme people of southern Ghana. Although the word altar does not adequately convey the multiple uses of the forms in question in Dangme society today, it is used here for lack of a more appropriate term. These altars exemplify the paradox of having a public art that includes a wholly private, secret dimension. It also brings to the fore several compelling issues that often confront studies of religious art. First is the extent to which the Dangme perception of the human-spirit relationship influences how they conceptualize the