 F_Meignant's Yougopiri Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | ELEMENTS OF DOGON COSMOGONY. | January, 2003 |  7 | | ARCHITECTURE | January, 2003 | 8 | | GRANARIES. | January, 2003 | 6 |
|
| Page Views: 364 Last Visit to Yougopiri: January, 2003 | ELEMENTS OF DOGON COSMOGONY. by F_Meignant - last update: Oct 29, 2003 |
Dogon live in a strange world. A visit in their country (even a virtual one) needs explanations to go with the pictures. Here is a (very simplified …!) summary of the creation of the world according to the Dogon. Explanations are a bit arranged to make them more easily “digested”.
They are mainly based on information from “Dieu d’Eau” (Water God), by Marcel Griaule (In French: éditions Fayard, ISBN: 2213598479; in English: Conversations with Ogotemmeli, Ed Paperback/Oxford Press, ISBN 0195198212). Due to the complexity of the Dogon cosmogony, there are many other interpretations.
Also see the marvellous site (in French and in English): Dogon-Lobi |
| Silhouettes at the end of the Tunnel of Gogoli. |
|  | Rain, ants and termites... At the beginning, there was nothing, except Amma, the supreme god. Amma is immaterial, Amma is the Word. He created universe, stars, planets, sun, moon… and Earth, whom he wanted to fertilize with his seed : rain.
He gave Earth the shape of a woman. She’s lying on her back, her members indicating the four cardinal points.
Sorry for your chaste eyes : I have now to give some sexual details of a great importance for what concerns some African practices.
Earth’s sex was an anthill, her clitoris a termite mound… If you have already seen a termite mound… it’s quite big. Therefore, Amma and Earth could not have perfect sexual relations... with, as a result, an imperfect fertilization. Things were off to a good start. |
| House of the women at Indelli. |
| | Origin of periods. Amma’s plans were to have twins with Earth.
But, because of the initial imperfection, the fertilized “egg” gave birth to an imperfect Being who was named Yurugu. Dogon also call him “le Renard Pâle” (the Pale Fox) and show him under the shape of a jackal.
Yurugu did not want to wait for his own birth to come. He tore a part of the placenta, used umbilical cord as a rope and went down on Earth, thereby committing incest…! As a rejection, Earth bled and became sterile.
These were the first periods, considered as impure because of their origin. That’s why Dogon women go in a built apart house (picture) when they have their periods. According to the size of the village, there are one or several of such houses. They are round and their walls are decorated with specific banco mouldings.
For the Dogon, Yurugu represents sterility and all the disorders of the world.
Because of his incompleteness, Yurugu only knows the first Word (a few signs contained in the original placenta), and only the initiated (the Ouloubarous, Dogon soothsayers) can hear him. Because the first Word allows to know future… |
| | Origin of excision. Amma was furious, of course. So, he cut the termite mound from which all the problems were born, thereby correcting his mistake… and inventing excision !
The second trial between Amma and Earth was a success and the Nommo was born : the Water God (“Dieu d’Eau”), made of his mother (earth) and his father’s seed (rain); the Master of the Word (“le Maître de la Parole”) who knows all the signs.
A strange baby… Not only this Being was double (twins), but it was hermaphrodite and had a mixed aspect : man and snake ! Green coloured skin and hair, forked tongue, red eyes. The Nommo had flexible arms without elbow articulation and with palmate hands. Anyway… Amma was satisfied with it. |
| Communal altar at Yenndouma. |
| | Origin of sacrifices. Nevertheless, Earth was still sterile. Amma decided to sacrifice one half of the Nommo to regenerate her. The corpse was dismantled and dispersed in the four cardinal points.
Then, it seems that Amma retired and let the second half Nommo rule the next steps of creation… after having taught him(her) all his knowledge.
The picture shows an altar. It’s made of stones covered with banco. The white stuff is made by the boiled millet (“bouillie de mil”) that is spilled on the occasion of the sacrifices.
Some altars are private, others belong to the community of the village. These ones are often called “la Clé du village” (the Key of the village). |
| | Origin of mankind. The remaining Nommo then created the Ancestors (mankind) and taught them the Word : speech… and weaving because threads interlace like sentences.
There were 8 Ancestors: 4 couples of twins, all of them still male and female, but four rather male and four rather female…
Like Nommo, they had no elbow articulation.
When man became mortal, the 8 Ancestors came down on earth to help him. Each of them took the shape of an animal (totem). Under this shape, they are called Binou.
The Ancestors developed the 8 lines of Dogon and were still living in the Skies. Each of them had 10 babies represented by the traditional 80 niches (practically, less) that are on the façade of the Guinna houses (picture). These houses belong to the main Dogon families (Guinna) who are supposed to be descended from the 80 children of the Ancestors. |
| A boy working the bellows at the forge of Indelli. |
| | Great Basket, elbows and blacksmiths... The first Ancestor decided to help mankind going down on earth, with the agreement of Amma. He therefore built a great “basket”. Its bottom was square and the opening at its top was round. Dogon usual baskets often have this shape.
There was a shelf on each of its sides. The four shelves were oriented towards the four cardinal points.
On the northern shelf were men and fish; on the southern one, domesticated animals; on the eastern one, birds; on the western one wild animals, plants and insects.
The basket itself was containing all what was necessary for men to live on earth, including seeds for agriculture and fire stolen from the Sun by the first Ancestor. He himself was carrying an anvil.
All this equipment went down on earth following a rainbow. But the landing had been quite tough: plants and animals were dispersed all over the world; the first Ancestor got his arms broken by the anvil, thereby creating elbows !
Since that time, he was called the Blacksmith … and blacksmiths are supposed to have special abilities.
The forge is a low round building with open side. Dogon women can’t enter the forge.
Smoke, smells of charcoal and red iron, sparks, golden light, blow of the bellows, ring of the anvil (supposed to be Nommo’s voice) : always magical places! |
> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]
| F_Meignant's Yougopiri Travelogues | | | | Title [Click to view] | Travel Year | Pictures | | ELEMENTS OF DOGON COSMOGONY. | January, 2003 | 7 | | ARCHITECTURE | January, 2003 | 8 | | GRANARIES. | January, 2003 | 6 |
|
 Comments for F_Meignant about Yougopiri | | | | |
GillianMcLaughlin Wed Mar 31, 2004 17:32 UTC
Salut Francois... j'ai adore cette page! Quel voyage fascinant! | Ivan_Jimenez Wed Mar 10, 2004 19:56 UTC
Tourists... always trying to save pennies in the really important things and then wasting it on stupid souvenirs. .. | cadzand Thu Jan 22, 2004 21:55 UTC
Wonderful impressions of a wonderful people and their habits. You made me dream away...... and feeling "homesick" | ATLC Sat Dec 13, 2003 16:07 UTC
Truly an amazing page. I think this is the most exotic I have read so far on VT. |
|
|
email me
add as friend
