With this, the blacksmiths forged traditional tools intended for agriculture, the making of weapons,

The early histories are informed by oral traditions that differ according to the Dogon clan being consulted and archaeological excavation much more of which needs to be conducted. Because hotels bournemouth of these inexact and incomplete sources, there are a number of different versions of the Dogon's origin myths as well as differing accounts of how they got from their ancestral homelands to the Bandiagara region. The people call themselves 'Dogon' or 'Dogom', hotels bournemouth but in the older literature they are most often called 'Habe', a Fulbe word meaning 'stranger' or 'pagan'.
Certain theories suggest the tribe to be of ancient Egyptian descent. They next migrated to Libya, then somewhere in the regio ns of Guinea or Mauritania. Around 1490 AD, fleeing invaders and/or drought, they migrated to the Bandiagara cliffs of central Mali.
Carbon-14 dating techniques used on excavated remains found in the cliffs indicate that there were inhabitants in the region before the arrival of the Dogon. They were the Toloy culture of the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC, and the Tellem culture of the 11th to 15th centuries AD.
The religious beliefs of the Dogon are enormously complex and knowledge of them varies greatly within Dogon society. Dogon religion is defined primarily hotels bournemouth through the worship of the ancestors and the spirits whom they encountered as they slowly migrated from their obscure ancestral homelands to the Bandiagara cliffs. There are three principal cults among the Dogon;
Members of the Awa cult dance with ornate carved and painted masks during both funeral and death anniversary ceremonies. There are 78 different types of ritual masks among the Dogon and their iconographic messages go beyond the aesthetic, into the realm of religion and philosophy.
Nowadays, the Dogon blacksmiths forge mainly scrap metal recuperated hotels bournemouth from old railway lines or car wrecks. So, little by little, the long process of iron ore reduction, which demands a perfect knowledge of fire and its temperatures, has been abandoned.
One of the last smelting was done in Mali, in 1995, by the Dogon blacksmiths. The event became the subject of a film which was entitled 'Inagina, The Last House of Iron'. Eleven blacksmiths, who still hold the secrets of this ancestral activity, agreed to perform hotels bournemouth a last smelt. They gathered to invoke the spirits.
They sunk a mine shaft, made charcoal, and built a furnace with earth and lumps of slag. The last furnace - or Inagina - meaning literally the 'house of iron' gave birth to 69 kilos of iron of excellent quality.
With this, the blacksmiths forged traditional tools intended for agriculture, the making of weapons, and jewelry for the Dogon people. Youdiou Dances - During hotels bournemouth the Dama celebration, Youdiou villagers circle around two stilt dancers. The dance and costumes imitate the tingetange, a long-legged water bird. The dancers execute difficult steps while teetering high above the crowd.
The cult of Binu is a totemic practice and it has complex associations with the Dogon' s sacred places used for ancestor worship, spirit communication and agricultural sacrifices. Marcel Griaule and his colleagues came to believe that all the major Dogon sacred sites were related to episodes in the Dogon myth of the creation of the world, in particular to a deity named Nommo. Binu shrines house spirits of mythic ancestors who lived in the legendary era before the appearance of death among mankind. Binu spirits often make themselves known to their descendants in the form of an animal that interceded on behalf of the clan during hotels bournemouth its founding or migration, thus becoming the clan's hotels bournemouth totem. The priests of each Binu maintain the sanctuaries whose facades are often painted with graphic signs and mystic symbols. Sacrifices of blood and millet porridge the primary crop of the Dogon are made at the Binu shrines at sowing time and whenever the intercession of the immortal ancestor is desired.
Kananga masks form geometric patterns and represent the first human beings. The Dogon believe that the Dama dance creates a bridge into the supernatural world. Without the Dama dance , the dead cannot cross over into peace.
Their self-defense comes from their social solidarity which is based on a complex combination of philosophic and religious dogmas, the fundamental hotels bournemouth law being the worship of ancestors. Ritual masks and corpses are used for ceremonies and are kept in caves. The Dogons are both Muslims and Animists.
A 'Togu Na' - 'House of Words' - stands in every Dogon village and marks the male social center. The low ceiling, supported by carved or sculptured posts, prevents over zealous hotels bournemouth discussions from escalating into fights. Symbolic meaning surrounds the Togu Na.
On the Gondo Plain, Togu Na pillars are carved out of Kile wood and often express hotels bournemouth themes of fertility and procreation. Many of the carvings are of women's breasts, for as a Dogon proverb says, "The breast is second only to God."
Unfortunately, collectors have stolen some of the more intricately carved pillars, forcing village elders to deface their Togu Na posts by chopping off part of the sculpted wood. This mutilation of the sculpted pillars assures their safety.
Amaguime Dolu, a diviner in the village of Bongo, performs hotels bournemouth a ritual. He derives meaning and makes predictions from grids and symbols in the sand. At dusk, he draws a questions in the sand for the sacred fox to answer. The Dogon people believe the fox has supernatural powers.
He soon multiplied to become six pairs of twins. [This is a metaphor for our original 12-strand hotels bournemouth DNA. Our present physical DNA contains 2 strands which hold the genetic codes for our physical evolvement.]
One twin rebelled against hotels bournemouth the order established by Amma, [This is a metaphor for one source/soul splitting into two polarities - yin /yang, when it enters into the electro-magnectic energies of third dimension] thereby destabilizing the universe. In order to purify the cosmos and restore its order, Amma sacrificed another of the Nommo, whose body was cut up and scattered throughout the universe. This distribution of the parts of the Nommo's body is seen as the source for the proliferation of Binu shrines throughout the Dogon region.
The Dogon say that their astronomical knowledge was given to them by the Nommo. The Dogon elder, Ogotemelli, describes them variously as having the upper part as a man and the l ower portion as snake; or as having a ram's head with serpent hotels bournemouth body. Author Robert Temple describes the Nommo as amphibious beings sent to Earth from the Sirius star system for the benefit of humankind. They look like Merfolk; Mermaids and Mermen. [Metaphor: amphibius - referring to the flow of the collective unconscious - creational source].
After the l anding in a space ship, something with four legs appeared and dragged the vessel to a hollow, which filled with water until the vessel floated in it. The Dogon, call this spaceship 'Pelu Tolo' or 'Star of the Tenth Moon'.
hotels bournemouth There was a great noise and wind. The ship landed on three legs, skidded to a stop, scoring the ground. Four legs appeared and dragged the vessel to a hollow, which filled with water until the vessel hotels bournemouth floated. At the same time a new star was seen in the sky, which possibly was a large space ship. The star was described by the Dogon as having a circle of reddish rays around it. This circle of rays was like a spreading spot yet it still remaining the same size. There is a Dogon drawing of the spaceship hovering in the sky , waiting for the Nommo who landed on the Earth. It represents three stages of 'Pelu Tolo' when it is spurting different amounts of blood or flames [as if it crash landed]. They called the Nommo 'Masters of the Water', 'The Monitors', 'The Teachers or Instructors', 'Saviors', and 'Spiritual Guardians'. The Dogons believe their gods are already here.
The Dogons have a unique distinction. Supposedly when they left Egypt and migrated to Mali where they brought with them sacred knowledge in the form of oral traditions - perhaps handed down by the ancient priests of Egypt. There are oral tradition about interaction with Amphibious Gods who came to Earth from the star Sirius ( now called Sirius A ).
Dogon astronomical lore goes back at least 5000 years. This knowledge most likely dates back to the time of the ancient Egyptian priests - who stored their knowledge as their civilization was destroyed. This knowledge was too be part of our collective unconsciousness - to be remembered - to be brought to the public - when it was time for humanity to make great changes. These changes are reflected in all ancient prophecies. The information is about creation by Geometry - Mathematical patterns or formulas. We sense change in our thinking and our souls. We dream unusual dreams about changes and look for Magic in our lives, movies, books, TV shows. We experience beyond third dimension. The souls of children, teens and young adults are often called Indigo Children - Children of the Blue Ray sense this. They are telekinetic sometimes moving objects - or bending objects with their minds.
This collective unconscious is a program of grids. The Dogon draw grids. They understand the nature of our reality, based on an electromagnetic grid program that stores memory - The Matrix is the grids. Following the pattern of the grids...... Dogon legend hotels bournemouth came with them from Egypt based on the ancient hotels bournemouth religions and the mystery school teachings of Isis and Osiris. It all begins in the area that was Sumer - The Cradle of Civilization - but in truth the area that surround the Great Pyramid. The Egyptian Goddess Isis is identified by the Egyptians with the star Sirius. The Dogons knew about Sirius long before modern man discovered hotels bournemouth the star system. Their religious tradition, hotels bournemouth dating back to their Egyptian roots, hotels bournemouth was later imparted through Greek migratory patterns. The name Sirius was given by the ancient Greeks.
Planet Earth has many metaphors, archetypes and symbols that help us understand the nature of our creation. To this end we study the heavens