Understanding the Dogon Culture - Part II - Mythology
Written by Ben Kesp
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| Sirius Star System |
Have you ever wondered why the Dogon tribe of Mali, in West Africa attract global interest? Is it for their customs, practices, history or is it for the supposed knowledge they possess dating back over 5,000 years to the time of the ancient Egyptians?
It has been claimed and recorded by two French anthropologists who are stated to have been the first contact the Dogon tribe had with the outside world in 1931, that the tribes elder priests carry astronomical knowledge and ancient legends regarding the Sirius Star System. After spending three decades studying the Dogon culture, Dr. Marcel Griaule and Dr. Germaine Dieterlen have managed to record the tribe’s mythology that encompasses the knowledge of astronomy dating back thousands of years.
Nommos (Nomo)
Nommos (Water Spirit) was one of three beings or deities created by the sky god, Amma who shortly after, multiplied into four sets of twins. One of these rebelled against Amma, who sacrificed one of the twins to restore order and scattered its dismembered body around the world. This is celebrated today in the Dogon Culture by the Awa cult. The Dogon believe that Nommos originated from a world within the Sirius star system and arrived on earth in a vessel accompanied by thunder and fire. Nommos required an environment of water to live so instantly on arriving to earth, created a reservoir and dived in. The Nommos are ancestral spirits or deities of the Dogon and Dogon art work exhibits these as hideous creatures, with an upper body of a human and a lower body of a fish, covered with scaly skin with feet. They were amphibious and hermaphroditic, capable of living on both land and in water; however the latter seems to have been the preferred environment. There are similarities of Nommos or merfolk with other mythological creatures of ancient Babylonia, Sumer and Egypt’s Goddess Isis. It is from Nommos that the Dogon believe their knowledge of the stars has been passed to them and their customs and belief systems are based on.
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| Dogon Art representing the Nommos |
Sirius Star System
What is all of the mystery about with this star system and the Dogon people? The name Sirius is derived from ancient Greek and is the brightest star in the night’s sky and can easily be seen during the winter months especially in the northern hemisphere. Its brightness is due to its close proximity to earth. Scientifically referred to as a Binary Star System consisting of two stars, however the according to the Dogon it is comprised of three stars, now categorised as Sirius A (largest – about twice the size of our sun) which is visible to the naked eye and Sirius B, (white dwarf) a small heavy star that was detected in 1862 by Alvan Clark but was not photographed until 1970. The Dogon also claim there is a third star in the Sirius star system that they call “Emme Ya” and it’s from here the Nommos originates from. It will surely be interesting if “Emme Ya” is discovered (Sirius C) as this would open up a whole new investigation and area of research into the Dogon culture. On revealing their secretive knowledge to the two French doctors in the early to middle 20th century, it has showed the detailed accuracy the tribe have of these stars including their size, which is the heaviest and lightest star, the biggest and smallest stars and are able to describe Sirius B elliptical orbit around Sirius A as taking fifty years and that the star rotates on its own axis. In Dogon culture, celebrations to celebrate the orbit of Sirius B around Sirius A have been ongoing since the 13th century. Certainly leaves a lot of unanswered questions and makes you wonder! The Dogon claim that their knowledge has been passed to them by Nommos when they arrived on earth and their own tribe have no superior technology on hand to possess this knowledge on their own account.
Controversy
Everything we hear or read should not be taken at face value as being correct and it is only right that things are questioned, however at times this can also lead to confusion and leave us at a loss as to what is fact or fiction.
In 1976 Robert Temple published “The Sirius Mystery” that propelled the Dogon people and their ancient knowledge onto the world stage. It had many questions as to how the Dogon could have known about two additional stars in the Sirius star system that are not visible to the naked eye. Mythology was cited as the answer with ancient knowledge being passed to them by an alien race that descended from the stars departing wisdom onto the Dogon ancestors. In 1998 after Temple republished his original book, it was discredited by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince who published “The Stargate Conspiracy” in 1999 stating that Temple was influenced by his mentor Arthur Young who was a believer in the “Council of Nine”, a group who channelled ancient Egyptian deities. This group went onto become a part of the UFO and new age Mythology.
Not only was Temple’s work attacked so was the original work of the two French doctors and everything was claimed to be a hoax and that the information had been passed to the Dogon people and that the tribe possibly could have been visited prior to the arrival by Dr. Marcel and Dr. Germaine in 1931.
Here we must question; what is reality and what is fiction? Can we believe that the Dogon people truly possess ancient knowledge passed to them by an alien race living within the Sirius star system? If so, are they the closest link we have today to our ancient past? Until Sirius C (Emme Ya) is discovered we can only choose to believe what we think occurred between the Dogon ancestors and an alien race or between the Dogon people and western civilisations. Still it all makes for fascinating reading.
In the next post, I will conclude on the Dogon culture by exploring a little on the Egyptian Goddess Isis and her connection with the Sirius star system.
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