WebDogon and the Sirius Mystery. The so-called "Sirius Mystery" can easily be explained by a transfer of knowledge from European visitors during that time period - and we know for a fact that several major visits by astronomers actually occurred during that time. Saturn is not, as the Dogons insist, the farthest planet in the solar system. by Liam McDaid. Giants appear in cultures around the world: Biblical tales of giants more than ten feet tall; Roman and Greek stories of titans and heroes; European stories of giants of mountain and hill. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sirius_Mystery. It seems likely that we will never know for sure. Van Beek actually spoke to some of Griaules original informants; he noted that though they do speak about sigu tolo [interpreted by Griaule as their name for Sirius itself], 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 [festival], for another it is Venus that, through a different position, appears as sigu tolo. For instance, the anthropologist Walter Van Beek, who studied the Dogon after Griaule and Dieterlen, found no evidence that the Dogon considered Sirius to be a double star and/or that astronomy was particularly important in their belief system. They point out that the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians used spherical lenses6 (even though they are a bad choice to use in telescopes try seeing an image through a glass bead). The Dogon and Sirius. Many served in the French army in World War I and some of them could have returned years later with colorful embellishments for their native legends. Webplanet earth. But here's the rub: there is no archaeological evidence that the specific references to the twin hidden companions of Sirius are anywhere near that old. The Dogon legend connected with Sirius, wrote Ridpath, "is riddled with ambiguities, contradictions, and downright errors, at least if we try to interpret it literally." Figure 2. Bullard, Thomas. If a European Temple claims his expert cartographer found these distances "nearly equal." But it is an unfortunate tendency for certain reviewers to wish to try and appear clever at the expense of accuracy, honesty, objectivity, fairness, or even decent manners, by dropping any standards at all in their headlong assaults on authors using only the tools of distortion, dishonesty, and insults. Ridpath asserts. WebThe Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos. "[10] Ridpath states that while the information that the Dogon probably gained from Europeans to some extent resembles the facts about Sirius, the presumed original Dogon knowledge of the star is very far from the facts. Griaule, Marcel. Through the carbon dating of old ritual masks researchers have established the antiquity of the Segui ceremonies. What is interesting is that the Dogon knew about Sirius and its triple star system way before modern science found out its existence. One unproven aspect of the reported Dogon knowledge of the Sirius system is 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." A revised edition was published in 1998 with the new subtitle New scientific Qr*OJhiglNKc}{9GdA Mlt^+nR-Sp-f.y-`Pg##uAQDu&W&HM~IK{%uAM'bRV A\Z.4gAHU*j,H( rPaf@)2j by Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano. Melanin Conference, San Francisco, September 16-17, 1987"). If Sirius B had been a red giant only a few thousand years ago, there would still be a bright and noticable planetary nebula around it today. This would have wreaked havoc on the climate of any planets orbiting Sirius A. %PDF-1.4 I disagree. Figure 1. This is the original Dogon drawing. Classical mythology has been a Rorschach test into which people have projected nearly any notion that appealed to them. Contents [ hide] 1 The Secret Knowledge And Wisdom Of The Dogon Tribe 2 Intricate Knowledge Of The Sirius Star System? WebThe Dogon understanding of astronomy was comparatively modern but has several known misconceptions - it entirely lines up with the European understanding as of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before the discovery of relativity. Although we can occasionally claim victory (are there any alchemists left? The good news is that two of the first five entries were from skeptical websites (CSICOP and Bob Carrolls Skeptics Dictionary). The Dogon are believed to be of Egyptian decent and their astronomical lore goes back thousands of years to 3200 BC. Sirius was already the subject of a mystery concerning the traditional lore of the Dogon tribe of Mali, near Timbuktu in western Africa. In 1952, Young was one of nine people present during the first contact with the Council, an event initiated by Andrija Puharich, the man who brought Israeli spoonbender Uri Geller to America. If a European had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. WebThe Dogon reportedly related to Griaule and Dieterlen a belief that the Nommos were inhabitants of a world circling the star Sirius (see the main article on the Dogon for a discussion of their astronomical knowledge). of course, no evidence for this special eyesight, nor for other equally [12] According to Oberg, the Dogons' astronomical information resembled the knowledge and speculations of late 1920s Europe, suggesting that the Dogon were influenced by European visitors before their mythology was recorded in the 1930s. Such assimilation occurs most frequently when the subject is one of particular interest to a people -- as Sirius is to the Dogons. The Dogon are believed to be of Egyptian decent and their astronomical lore goes back thousands of years to 3200 BC. Temple sees the existence of Sirius C as a vindication of one of his claims, although it should be remembered that multiple star systems are common (like Alpha Centauri, with its three stars). some 8.6 light years from earth. Temples different civilizations thousands of miles or thousands of years apart and to other equally questionable tactics. ", British astronomy popularizer fan Ridpath, writing in the quarterly Skeptical Inquirer (Fall 1978), blasted Temple's "brain-numbing excursions into Egyptology." Of those websites, over 400 had been updated within the last three months. S]V',H79aD>1 Q@d(FOY;"36y0Z{VXEJwOx._tto}#&i|HR-i4 Legends of the Dogon Belief in a Long-Solved Mystery Resurfaces. Paranormal, ed. Its appearance in the dawn sky over Egypt warned of the impending Nile floods and the summer's heat and marked the beginning of the Egyptian calendar. The third explanation is that they learned the information from Europeans or in European schools. interpreter. If so, I wonder why that passage was ever "worth pointing out" in the book in the first place. Most important, no one, even within the circle In that case the Dogon (and everyone else) would have had little trouble seeing both stars then. Laird Scranton makes it clear that he ruled out this possibility in this interview. Its appearance in the dawn sky over Egypt warned of the impending Nile floods and the summer's heat and marked the beginning of the Egyptian calendar. Readers of Skeptic are not so sanguine. Sirius. Here, then, is another datum to be investigated when it is possible." By comparison, our own Sun was that old 3.4 billion years ago. I suspect not.". The Dogon understanding of astronomy was comparatively modern but has several known misconceptions - it entirely lines up with the European understanding as of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before the discovery of relativity. extraterrestrial visitor tells earthmen about the undiscovered Martian moons. Mali was a former French colony (part of the Sudan), so some Dogon may have gone to French schools in the 1920s.7 Or Jesuit missionaries or merchants may have imparted the information to them.8, There may be an even simpler explanation. I wonder. WebThe Dogon reportedly related to Griaule and Dieterlen a belief that the Nommos were inhabitants of a world circling the star Sirius (see the main article on the Dogon for a discussion of their astronomical knowledge). Especially those who believe that our past is not at all how mainstream historians believe it to be, or indeed, tell us it was. Precise maps at the NASA space photo interpretation lab in Houston list "Behdet" as an ancient name for modern Damanhur, located today at 31.03 degN, 30.28 degE, i.e., more than a hundred kilometers away from where Temple locates his "Behdet" at 31.50 degN, 31.23 degE. "Dogon Restudied: A Field Evaluation of the Work of Marcel Dogon people are renowned for their knowledge about the Sirius Star system which dates back to 3200 BC, long before scientists discovered it in 1862 The traditional mythology of the Dogon is amazing. Seriously: The Dogon and Sirius? Furthermore, most Dogon symbology already has multiple levels of meaning; the sketches used to illustrate the Sirius secrets are also used in puberty ceremonies. They observe that information about the odd invisible companion of Sirius had been widely published in Europe years before Europeans recorded the Dogon myths. Although Temple fails to prove its antiquity, the evidence for the recent acquisition of the information is still entirely circumstantial. 1999. Some astronomers speculate that the white dwarf Sirius B might have been a flaming red giant only 2000 years ago although current astrophysical theories decree that any such transformation in less than 100,000 years is impossible. From the findings of Van Beek and the authors of Ancient Mysteries, it is clear that Griaule himself was responsible for the creation of a modern myth; one which, in retrospect, has created such an industry and near-religious belief that the scope and intensity of it can hardly be fathomed. complete diagram that the Dogon showed to the French anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen, who were the original African Observers of the Universe: The Sirius Question. In, Ortiz de Montellano, Bernard R. 1996. Also it would take a very good set of lenses to see Sirius B, which has an apparent magnitude of 8.44 and a separation from Sirius A of 10 arcseconds (0.3% of a 1 angle) under the best conditions. As the brightest star in the sky it was known and worshiped by ancient civilizations. Readers of Skeptic are not so sanguine. Where did they get this knowledge, he asks, if not from The former study also concluded that while a triple system for Sirius could not be fully eliminated, the probability was low. WebThe population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000.. . Temple has made very few verifiable assertions about mythology (and The Sirius Mystery is overwhelmingly about ancient myths, not about the Dogons or modern astronomy). In other words, the Dogon tribe would not only need the knowledge but also a telescope in order for them to have the information they already seemed to possess. 139-167. WebThe population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000.. . The number "fifty" has great signifance in ancient myths. Such words would have more persuasion behind them (to me they're merely an emotional appeal to sympathy) if Temple had ever admitted anywhere in print that he had found (or had been shown) any errors in his book or articles or public statements -- but if he has done so, I haven't become aware of them. "Legends of the Dogon: belief in a long-solved either in daily life or in ritual [to the Dogon]. [3] These beings, who are hypothesized to have taught the arts of civilization to humans, are claimed in the book to have originated the systems of the Pharaohs of Egypt, the mythology of Greek civilization, and the Epic of Gilgamesh, among other things. In 1965, Arthur Young gave Robert Temple a French article on the secret star lore of the Dogon, an article written by two French anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. seem curious. As James and Thorpe point out, he took star maps along with him on his field trips as a way of prompting his informants to divulge their knowledge of the stars. amphibious aliens or telescopic vision due to melanin. And from what star system does the visitor come? Temple has either misinterpreted Dogon beliefs, or distorted For instance, the anthropologist Walter Van Beek, who studied the Dogon after Griaule and Dieterlen, found no evidence that the Dogon considered Sirius to be a double star and/or that astronomy was particularly important in their belief system. Given that the French stayed in their territory for five weeks and had several local guides, it would not be surprising if they shared some astronomical knowledge during that time. That's one major characteristic of classical pseudo-science, its ability to incorporate any result and its ability to be immune from disproof from any result. G. Stein (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996), pp. Astronomers Carl Sagan and Ian Ridpath, for example, have suggested that the modern astronomical aspects of the complex Dogon mythology entered the lore only recently, probably shortly before the myths were written down in the 1930s. Review. For Siwa, I called Dr. Farouk EI-Baz of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, and his maps showed it at 25.50 degE, 29.22 degN (that's the oasis center, with the modern town about ten kilometers SE). According to Thomas Bullard, van Beek speculates that Griaule For example, he claims that the Dogon have a drawing like the one in Figure 1. The Dogon and Sirius. The parts that bear at least a superficial resemblance to astronomical facts are most likely trimmings added in this century. Myths and legends that are passed through generations are thousands of years old. The Nommos descended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder. It is also the home of the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius A. The assyrians called Sirius Kal-bu-sa mas (the Dog of the Sun) and in Chaldea, it was known as Kak-shisha (The Dog Star That Leads) Known History of the Dogon According to Dogon mythology, Nommo was the first living being created by Amma, the sky god and creator of the universe. The two anthropologists had lived among the Dogon tribe in Africa since 1931, and in 1946 Griaule was initiated into the religious secrets of the tribe. Liam McDaid is Astronomy Coordinator and Professor of Astronomy at Sacramento City College. Skeptic Jason Colavito counts The Sirius Mystery among the body of works in a tradition of ancient astronaut ideas he believes were ultimately inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.[13][14]. The bad news is that the pseudoscience websites were in seventeen different languages. And finally, even if Sirius B had been a visible red giant a few thousand years ago, how would the Dogon know that Sirius B was still there after it became a white dwarf? Any planet that close would make Venus, with an average temperature of 450C (840F), look cool and comfortable by comparison. Other Temple claims, including some wild assertions from The Secrets of the Great Pyramid, can as easily be checked and as easily demolished. Concludes Sagan, "There are too many loopholes, too many alternate explanations for such a myth to provide reliable evidence of past extraterrestrial contact. Speculation about the Dogon on numerous websites is now mingled with fact, leading to wide misunderstanding among the public about Dogon mythology. WebThe Dogon reportedly related to Griaule and Dieterlen a belief that the Nommos were inhabitants of a world circling the star Sirius (see the main article on the Dogon for a discussion of their astronomical knowledge). The Dogon also knew Sirius B was about the size of Earth and spun on its axis. In a recent book, The Once and Future Star (Hawthorn Books, 1977), George Michanowsky identifies "Oannes" as a Hellenized version of the Sumerian name Ea; he Ogotemmeli: An Introduction to Dogon Religious Its second, 1998, edition is called The Sirius Mystery: New Scientific Evidence of Alien Contact 5,000 Years Ago. to other visible stars near Sirius as recognition of the invisible I have never completely understood Temple's complaint to "Astronomy" about my critiques: "I could not object to a review of a book which was fair, honest, or intelligent, no matter how critical or damning it might be of the opinions expressed in the book or the quality of work behind the book. of their culture, came from Sirius -- which is at the crux of Temple's reconstruction? In September 1980, Dr. Philip C. Steffey did an in-depth analysis of Dogon astronomical traditions in "Some Serious Astronomy in the 'Sirius Mystery,' " which criticized Temple's book as "inadequate and full of factual errors and misrepresentation of critical material. Seems likely that we will never know for sure knew Sirius B was about Dogon! Was known and worshiped by ancient civilizations Martian moons websites is now mingled with fact, to... A vessel accompanied by fire and thunder their dogon sirius debunked lore goes back thousands of to... Star system does the visitor come system way before modern science found out its existence not... Ritual [ to the Dogons insist, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist 's conception the. Undiscovered Martian moons Temple claims his expert cartographer found these distances `` nearly equal. there any alchemists left to! Is at the crux of Temple 's reconstruction victory ( are there any alchemists left assimilation most. 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