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632:). The Nommos descended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder. After arriving, the Nommos created a reservoir of water and subsequently dived into the water. The Dogon legends state that the Nommos required a watery environment in which to live. According to the myth related to Griaule and Dieterlen: "The Nommo divided his body among men to feed them; that is why it is also said that as the universe "had drunk of his body," the Nommo also made men drink. He gave all his life principles to human beings." The Nommo are also thought to be the origin of the first
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590:, fish-like creatures. Folk art depictions of Nommos show creatures with humanoid upper torsos, legs/feet, and a fish-like lower torso and tail. Nommos are also referred to as "Masters of the Water", "the Monitors", and "the Teachers". Nommo can be a proper name of an individual or can refer to the group of spirits as a whole. For purposes of this article, "Nommo" refers to a specific individual and "Nommos" is used to reference the group of beings.
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657:...though they do speak about sigu tolo they disagree completely with each other as to which star is meant; for some it is an invisible star that should rise to announce the sigu , for another it is Venus that, through a different position, appears as sigu tolo. All agree, however, that they learned about the star from Griaule.
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collected claims that have appeared concerning Dogon mythology in his 1982 book and concedes that such assumptions of recent acquisition are "entirely circumstantial" and have no foundation in documented evidence and concludes that it seems likely that the Sirius mystery will remain exactly what its
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was in the 1940s, giving the Dogon ample opportunity to gain cosmological knowledge about Sirius and the Solar System from more scientifically advanced, terrestrial societies whom they had come in contact with. It has also been pointed out that binary star systems like Sirius are theorized to have a
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says that Nommo was the first living creature created by the sky god Amma. Shortly after his creation, Nommo underwent a transformation and multiplied into four pairs of twins. One of the twins rebelled against the universal order created by Amma. To restore order to his creation, Amma sacrificed
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Daughter and colleague of Marcel
Griaule, Geneviève Calame-Griaule, defended the project, dismissing Van Beek's criticism as misguided speculation rooted in an apparent ignorance of esoteric tradition. Van Beek continues to maintain that Griaule was wrong and cites other anthropologists who also
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another of the Nommo progeny, whose body was dismembered and scattered throughout the universe. This dispersal of body parts is seen by the Dogon as the source for the proliferation of Binu shrines throughout the Dogons' traditional territory; wherever a body part fell, a shrine was erected.
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title implies: a mystery. Earlier, other critics such as the astronomer Peter Pesch and his collaborator Roland Pesch and Ian
Ridpath had attributed the supposed "advanced" astronomical knowledge of the Dogon to a mixture of over-interpretation by commentators and cultural contamination.
624:(who had been working with the Dogon since 1931) wrote that they were the recipients of additional, secret mythologies, concerning the Nommo. The Dogon reportedly related to Griaule and Dieterlen a belief that the Nommos were inhabitants of a world circling the star
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studying the Dogon, found no evidence that they had any historical advanced knowledge of Sirius. Van Beek postulated that
Griaule engaged in such leading and forceful questioning of his Dogon sources that new myths were created in the process by
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The assertion that the Dogon knew of another star in the Sirius system, Emme Ya, or "larger than Sirius B but lighter and dim in magnitude" continues to be discussed. In 1995, gravitational studies indicated the possible existence of a
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The belief structure surrounding Nommo, as well as Robert Temple's conclusion from his pseudoarchaeology book
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star circling around Sirius but further observations have failed to confirm this. Space journalist and sceptic
754:) where the marines encounter the Nommo in the Sirius star system. There are also references to the Nommo in
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to science fiction and fantasy writing from the
African continent or by writers from the African diaspora.
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Bonnet-Bidaud, J. M.; Colas, F.; Lecacheux, J. (August 2000). "Search for companions around Sirius".
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van Beek, Walter E. A. (1991). "Dogon
Restudied: A Field Evaluation of the Work of Marcel Griaule".
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1168:""African speculative fiction is finally getting its due. Let's talk about books to seek out.""
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van Beek, Walter E. A. (2004). "Haunting
Griaule: Experiences from the Restudy of the Dogon".
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has noted that the first reported association of the Dogon with the knowledge of Sirius as a
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Since 2017, the
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Legends, sorcerers, and enchanted lizards: door locks of the Bamana of Mali
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Benest, D.; Duvent, J. L. (1995). "Is Sirius a triple star?".
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Calame-Griaule, Genevieve (1991). "On the Dogon
Restudied".
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Primordial ancestral spirits in Dogon religion and cosmogony
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In the latter part of the 1940s, French anthropologists
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discusses Nommo and the Sirius mysteries in his novel
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and cosmogony (sometimes referred to as demi deities)
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736:. Nommo and the Dogon are also widely mentioned in
1117:P. & R. Pesch (1977). "The Dogon and Sirius".
238:Index of African mythology and creation narratives
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490:Traditional African religion and other religions
1185:General information on the Dogon and the Nommo
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271:List of African deities and mythical figures
764:. A major character in the webcomic series
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628:(see the main article on the Dogon for a
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570:are primordial ancestral spirits in
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1633:African art in Western collections
772:is inspired by (and named) Nommo.
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863:"Sacred Sites of the Dogon, Mali"
248:Serer astronomy (the star Sirius)
228:Dogon astronomy (the star Sirius)
1675:West African legendary creatures
1256:Kurumba (people of Burkina Faso)
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1695:Piscine and amphibian humanoids
1685:Alleged extraterrestrial beings
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1101:Chapter 6, The Sirius Mystery
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462:Relation with other religions
51:Traditional African religions
722:, the third volume in their
669:very narrow or non-existent
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827:(retrieved March 18, 2020)
813:Culture and Customs of Mali
733:Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
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1065:Astronomy and Astrophysics
1038:Astronomy and Astrophysics
719:The California Voodoo Game
712:as the background for the
468:African diaspora religions
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266:Index of African deities
1166:Moreno-Garcia, Sylvia.
1087:2000A&A...360..991B
1050:1995A&A...299..621B
910:. Africana Publishing.
233:Dogon astronomy (Nommo)
1501:Index of Dogon country
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1242:Related topics :
1107:, (1982) Donning Press
843:Carlton Books, Limited
758:'s comic book series,
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35:
30:A Nommo figure of the
21:Nommo (disambiguation)
1441:Bandiagara Escarpment
1404:Bandiagara Escarpment
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694:References in fiction
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483:Persecution of Serers
478:Persecution of Dogons
289:Bandiagara Escarpment
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1372:Sigi, Dogon festival
1354:Dama, Dogon festival
968:Current Anthropology
933:Current Anthropology
644:Walter van Beek, an
19:For other uses, see
1131:1977Obs....97...26P
867:www.sacredsites.com
1461:Ogossagou massacre
1456:Sobane Da massacre
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1151:2008-02-16 at the
1146:Skeptical Inquirer
811:Schulz, Dorothea,
726:series. Novelist
701:The Sirius Mystery
622:Germaine Dieterlen
603:creation mythology
221:African divination
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1690:Ancient astronomy
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1003:History in Africa
917:978-0-8419-1414-8
887:on 3 October 2011
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28:
22:
1635:(stolen art)
1414:Sangha, Mali
1394:Sacred sites
1361:
1277:Sangha, Mali
1271:Door of the
1161:
1144:
1139:
1122:
1118:
1112:
1104:
1095:
1068:
1064:
1058:
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971:
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961:
936:
932:
926:
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889:. Retrieved
885:the original
875:
866:
857:
834:
812:
807:
774:
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751:
741:
731:
717:
714:role-playing
699:
697:
679:
675:
660:
656:
643:
615:
597:
580:Dogon people
567:
563:
561:
509:
232:
1470:Demographic
1384:Persecution
1335:Awa Society
1156:, Fall 1978
1071:: 991–996.
939:: 139–167.
777:Nommo Award
752:Battlespace
728:Tom Robbins
706:Larry Niven
687:James Oberg
666:binary star
640:Controversy
606: [
473:Persecution
319:Kanem–Bornu
192:Waaqeffanna
1664:Categories
1566:Escarpment
1536:Bankan Tey
1296:Key topics
799:References
743:V.A.L.I.S.
724:Dream Park
662:Carl Sagan
429:Priesthood
379:Tattaguine
369:Sine River
294:Benin City
243:Philosophy
216:Divination
1639:Dogon art
1601:Toro-tegu
1511:Languages
1330:Festivals
1315:Cosmology
1310:Astronomy
1023:232174721
1009:: 43–68.
988:143668492
953:224796672
740:'s novel
683:red dwarf
576:venerated
406:Education
314:Igbo-Ukwu
210:Doctrines
68:Religions
1596:Tommo So
1288:Religion
1149:Archived
891:26 March
817:ABC-CLIO
716:game in
510:Category
450:Saltigue
389:Yaboyabo
329:Nri-Igbo
101:Bushongo
43:a series
41:Part of
1626:Culture
1586:Penange
1541:Ben Tey
1433:History
1275:box of
1127:Bibcode
1083:Bibcode
1046:Bibcode
1044:: 621.
881:"Dogon"
766:Forming
578:by the
440:Houngan
299:Dahomey
260:Deities
194:(Oromo)
182:Tumbuka
166:Odinala
146:Lugbara
1571:Jamsai
1561:Duleri
1546:Bondum
1526:Ampari
1477:Region
1246:Tellem
1229:People
1223:topics
1125:: 26.
1103:", in
1021:
986:
951:
914:
849:
823:
626:Sirius
523:Portal
354:Sangha
339:Ouidah
334:Nsukka
304:Fatick
198:Yoruba
168:(Igbo)
156:Maasai
136:Lotuko
79:Baluba
34:people
32:Tellem
1649:Masks
1611:Yanda
1591:Tebul
1581:Nanga
1576:Mombo
1556:Dogul
1551:Bondu
1496:Niger
1379:Hogon
1362:Nommo
1346:Binou
1273:Hogon
1251:Toloy
1238:Dogon
1221:Dogon
1073:arXiv
1019:S2CID
984:S2CID
949:S2CID
634:Hogon
610:]
568:Nummo
564:Nommo
445:Mambo
435:Hogon
417:Okuyi
384:Tukar
187:Vodun
177:Serer
161:Mbuti
151:Luhya
131:Nubia
126:Hausa
111:Dogon
106:Dinka
89:Kongo
84:Bantu
1491:Mali
1367:Lebe
1358:Gogo
1350:Bulo
1342:Bago
1339:Bado
1305:Amma
912:ISBN
893:2011
847:ISBN
821:ISBN
708:and
620:and
601:and
584:Mali
562:The
412:Ndut
374:Somb
364:Sine
141:Lozi
116:Efik
94:Zulu
74:Akan
1531:Ama
1069:360
1042:299
1011:doi
976:doi
941:doi
768:by
582:of
566:or
344:Oyo
309:Ifẹ
172:San
121:Gbe
1666::
1123:97
1121:.
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1007:31
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972:32
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865:.
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636:.
608:fr
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1213:e
1206:t
1199:v
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978::
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943::
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750:(
551:e
544:t
537:v
23:.
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