Dogon and the Moon

Hey dear community, at the beginning I would like to welcome you all to my new post and hope you had a weekend full of positive experiences! In this post, I would like to talk a little about African culture and hope you can expand your knowledge.

Here you can see some pictures of the waning moon as well as a wooden statue that is supposed to express the culture of the Dogon a little closer, which is a group in western Africa in Mali. The exact origin is not known but it is assumed that they immigrated from Egypt in earlier times and they are considered mysterious people who have a wide knowledge in many areas and the Dogon are particularly known for their numerous traditions and the diverse art to which the blacksmithing in particular belongs and the blacksmith had a special place in the village and makes the most important objects from metals that were important for the everyday life of the population such as agricultural equipment, everyday objects or weapons. Other branches of art were also of great importance for the Dogon and it can be said that they had a diverse craftsmanship and, in addition to the art of forging, were also very appreciated for their pottery, carvings or the art of healing and their created objects were also important for trade. The moon was very strongly linked to the aspects of creation for the Dogon and according to traditions, the god Amma created the moon and also the blacksmith is closely connected with the creation and it is assumed that Amma had used white copper for the creation and the sun he created from red copper. Early the Dogon realized that there is a system behind it and similar to the Maya they observed exactly the behavior of the different phases of the moon and we were able to build up a great astronomical knowledge and it is also assumed that due to their presumed origin from Egypt, they had some of the astronomical knowledge. Due to this knowledge, they already knew many important connections when it comes to change or growth and could predict exactly certain scenarios and this knowledge was also the basis for developing their own calendar which was also important for their agriculture and here you can see parallels to other cultures who had oriented themselves to moon phases when it comes to the growth of plants. Also from a spiritual point of view, the understanding of the celestial bodies such as the moon or stars was of great importance and also for ritual purposes the Dogon were directed to the moon and important for their calculations was also the position of the celestial bodies and extra buildings were built which were based on the orientation of the moon and there are also different legends in which the moon plays an important role for the Dogon.

Thanks a lot for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about African culture! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens.