DOGON & SIRIUS

Over the years we have received more than a few inquiries from our readers regarding the Dogon tribe in Africa and their mysterious knowledge about Sirius, which was originally recorded and documented by two French anthropologists. Robert Temple later made these findings popular in his book "The Sirius Mystery".

We would like to share with you an excerpt (edited for spelling and appearance) from a correspondence on the subject "Ancients knew about Sun-Sirius binary?", which probably best sums up some of the controversial points of view surrounding this issue.

Reader:

[...] I assume you've heard about the African Dogon tribe's remarkable knowledge of the Sirius system. Anyway, one of their beliefs is that Sirius B occupied the place where our Sun is now. That sounds to me like they are saying the Sun and the Sirius system are a binary.

Check out the site http://www.unmuseum.org/siriusb.htm

Interestingly, that Dogon website says that the Sirius B/Sun reversal is one myth that the Dogon are "clearly mistaken" about and that physics clearly prohibits it. If your theory of Sirius being a binary with the Sun is correct, would that make the Dogon claim possible? As for the astronauts, that's a little too far fetched for me!

SRG:

Good point. [...] I believe that in Temple's book it says something like that our sun is now where Sirius (the system of Sirius) once was. I doubt it talks only about Sirius B "trading places" with our sun - this would not make any sense! [...] There is also another "Dogon belief" that does not conform to modern scientific thinking.

Here is a copy of my email I had sent to "Fortean Times" in response to an article about the Dogon written by "pseudo-skeptics" (professional debunkers):

-----Original Message-----
From: Uwe Homann <uhomann@telusplanet.net>
To: mark.pilkington@ifgmags.com <mark.pilkington@ifgmags.com>
Date: March 29, 2002 5:05 PM

Subject: "Dogon Shame" http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/140_dogonshame.shtml

It appears the article forgot to mention that the scientists Griaule and Dieterlen also made the extraordinary claim that our calendar is determined somehow by the influence of Sirius B:

"The starting point of creation is the star which revolves round Sirius and is actually named the "Digitaria star"; it is regarded by the Dogon as the smallest and heaviest of all the stars; it contains the germs of all things. Its movement on its own axis and around Sirius upholds all creation in space. We shall see that its orbit determines the calendar." (M. Griaule & G. Dieterlen, Journal "African Worlds")

If there is not a shred of evidence that the Dogon's "Digitaria" story predates the discovery of Sirius B by western astronomers, than either Griaule and Dieterlen's scientific report is in error, or they were privy to scientific knowledge that has not been made available to others.

What a shame - our esteemed scientists are unable to provide us with the extraordinary proof demanded by their extraordinary claims!

Uwe Homann

______________________________________________

Reader:

Thanks for the info about the Dogon, Uwe. It definitely seems the two Frenchmen are the sole source of the mystery. If that's the case then I guess the only mystery is whether it was a deliberate hoax by the Frenchmen or interestingly, Griaule and Dieterlen actually believed the story of the Dogon and didn't realize that the Dogon were incorporating information from the Westeners into their mythology. I don't know which explanation would be worse!

SRG:

As for the two French anthropologists I can only cite John Anthony West (the eminent Egyptologist), who once wrote to me:

".... I read Griaule long ago in the original French and would be inclined to place far more credence in him than in any one in this particular grab-bag of critics. The lack of corroboration from Griaule's anthropological colleagues is hardly surprising -- he was, he says, only introduced to the 'deep knowledge' of the Dogon after working with them for 30 years and gaining their trust. It seems to me highly likely that the wise Dogon elders would recognize his fellow anthropologists as the pompous blowhards they nearly invariably are and would answer (or fail to answer) their questions accordingly. ..."

There is also another interesting quote from "A Sudanese Sirius System" by the same two French scientists, Griaule and Dieterlen:

"The orbit of Digitaria is situated at the centre of the world, 'Digitaria is the axis of the whole world,' and without its movement no other star could hold its course. This means that it is the master of ceremonies of the celestial positions; in particular it governs the position of Sirius, the most unruly star; it separates it from the other stars by encompassing it with its trajectory."

IF the Dogon were incorporating scientific information from Western astronomers into their mythology to make such statements, then one must only wonder what factual scientific discoveries have not yet been made public and who the real crooks are?!

see also:

THE FOX WHO DISTURBED THE ESTABLISHED ORDER OF THINGS