Mythology Book

291

Cave paintings from the Bandiagara

Escarpment in Mali depict figures and

symbols which are most likely of the

Dogon. Some, however, believe they are

examples of Sangha or Songo art.

single soul, these first humans and

their descendants had two souls of

opposite genders; one inhabited the

body, while the other dwelled in the

sky or in the water, connecting

humanity to nature. This dual

nature manifests itself physically;

the Dogon believe males and

females are born with physical

aspects of the opposite gender and

that there is still some feminine

essence inside of every man and

some male essence inside of every

woman. The Dogon tradition of

male and female circumcision

severs the spiritual link between a

person’s soul of the opposite gender

and is an important coming-of-age

rite in Dogon society.

Twin connections

The first two people had eight

children: two pairs of male twins

and two pairs of female twins. This

set of eight twins were also called

the Nommo. They are the ancestors

of the Dogon. These Nommo are

represented by eight animals—the

snake, tortoise, scorpion, crocodile,

frog, lizard, rabbit, and hyena—

because, according to Griaule,

these animals were born in the sky

at the same time as the Nommo,

and shared a soul connection with

them. Each individual Nommo had

both a human twin and an animal

twin, and although the eight were

different species, the animals ❯❯

See also: Ananse the spider 282–83 ■ San creation myth 284 ■ En-kai and the cattle 285 ■ Eshu the trickster 294–97

ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA

Each human being

was endowed with two

souls of different sex.

Conversations with

Ogotemmêli

Diverse ideas

The first study of the Dogon

came from Marcel Griaule,

whose Conversations with

Ogotemmêli: An Introduction

to Dogon Religious Ideas was

published in 1948. Over 32

successive days, Ogotemmêli,

a blind Dogon elder, had met

with Griaule and spoken about

Dogon mythology.

Scholars today view the

study as the ruminations of

one member of the community,

rather than a detailed exposé

of Dogon thought in general.

African religions place greater

emphasis on doing the right

thing (orthopraxis) than

believing the right thing

(orthodoxy). As a result,

within any one group there

can be a range of varying

individual beliefs and ways of

describing the world and its

creation. Later studies of the

Dogon have therefore given

rise to many different myths

and interpretations.

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