Introduction
The given myth analysis will primarily focus on the mythology of the Dogon people with an emphasis on the narrative, reach figures, and assertions. It is important to note that the comparative element will mainly utilize Islamic mythology.
The central component of Dogon mythology revolves around pottery and the creator and god Amma, who used pottery to create the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, and stars. The narrative highlights the imperfection of the creator and his act of rape, which resulted in imperfect twins who gave birth to the human race. The reach of the myth is expansive, where the storyline encompasses stars and their moon.
The central figures of the myth are Amma, the Earth, the pale fox, the imperfect twins, and the perfect twins. The assertion illuminates the fact that human beings are imperfect due to the sinful act of Amma, which is why following the orders and instructions from the perfect twins is the key path to orderly life.
The myth questions the notion that human beings are inherently superior to other beings, which is why the storyline delivers remarks on the incompletion of human existence without order. Unlike the Islamic myth, which focuses on human beings being created as the highest achievement of God due to their free will, which leads to their subsequent fall and the ultimate test of faith, Dogon mythology emphasizes the original imperfections of humanity.
Narrative
The narrative of the Dogon mythology begins with the God and creator Amma, who uses pottery to create the Sun through heating. After, he creates the Moon and heats it for a quarter compared to the Sun, which is meant to provide light during the night. Then, Amma creates the stars by throwing the lump of clay into the void of darkness, which creates the stars (Sproul, 2013).
Amma uses another large lump of clay to create the Earth and finds her attractive. He decides to rape her due to his loneliness and thus, cuts down the termite hill, which was protecting her. This results in the birth of the pale fox, which is an embodiment of violence and cruelty. Following the event, the Earth gives birth to two sets of perfect twins Yoruga and his sister, and perfect twins, the Nummo (Sproul, 2013).
After spending some time on Sirius’s moon, the Nummo return to the Earth to guide humans. The first revelation is Nature manifested in the grass, the second revelation is Order manifested in weavings, and the third revelation is comprised of two major elements (Sproul, 2013). These are the Drum and the Granary, and it is important to indicate that these three revelations are the only source for orderly life for humans, which ensures flourishment and happiness.
Dogon People
To properly assess the mythological elements of the Dogon people, it is of paramount importance to understand the given groups or communities. The Dogon are a people living in the south of the Mopti region in the Republic of Mali. Until the middle of the last century, the Dogon led a more or less isolated lifestyle. Now only memories of the times when neighboring peoples considered the Dogons to be dangerous sorcerers have survived the former isolation, and the Dogons themselves told terrible stories about entire villages of cannibals waiting for the unfortunate travelers.
The history of the Dogon is indeed full of mystery and obscurity (Sproul, 2013). The most mysterious thing about their culture is how human collectives of different origins and speaking different languages were able to develop that powerful sense of unity that is characteristic of modern Dogons. Dogon myths testified that even in ancient times, the Dogon people knew about the properties and trajectory of movement of the satellite Sirius invisible to the armed eye, about the four largest moons of Jupiter, spiral galaxies, and many other astronomical realities that have become known to modern science only relatively recently.
Dogon myths also told about the arrival on Earth in the “spinning ark” of beings somehow connected with the Sirius star system (Sproul, 2013). When studying African cultures, Marcel Griaule professed the principle of pure description, in every possible way avoiding attempts to interpret the archaic worldview of African tribes (Sproul, 2013). The overlap of Dogon knowledge with modern scientific knowledge is too consistent and systematic to be attributed to a misunderstanding of individual words and expressions of the Dogon elders.
Reach
One of the most interesting aspects of the Dogon myth is its reach, which is highly expansive and encompasses large scales of space. The narrative involves elements describing the creation of the universe and how the perfect twins venture off to inhabit the star Sirius’s moon. It is an engaging twist, which explores the idea of alien life being a manifestation of beings descending from heaven. In other words, although Amma created everything, it is the Earth’s perfect creations that act as a source of guidance.
The reach of the myth does not limit itself to the Earth primarily, such as the case with most mythologies. It rather focuses on the fact that the godly beings, the Nummo, inhabit the same universe but come from a different and distant location. The Dogon myth still centralizes the Earth but gives the story a wider scale in a comprehensive manner. Unlike many myths, which divide reality into physical and non-physical realms, the events and actions of the Dogon mythology take place in the same universe.
Figures
The key figures are Amma, the Earth, the pale fox, the imperfect twins or Yoruga and his sister, and the perfect twins or the Nummo. Amma is the manifestation of a creator and ultimate god, who was highly powerful but was capable of acting wrongfully and violently. The Earth is an embodiment of motherhood and home, which nurtures and gives birth to its children. The Nummo are creations on their own, who are perfect and offer guidance to human beings. They can be compared to angels in Abrahamic religions.
The pale fox is a symbol of everything sinful and cruel in the world, which was also the result of Amma’s actions. Yoruga and humanity are imperfect beings who need guidance from more superior entities to live fruitfully and flourishingly. The myth is constructed in a highly relatable way, where people can find the myth as a reflection of their existence.
The story resembles a dysfunctional family, where a father is a provider and wrongdoer, who abandons his children, and the mother is a sufferer who continues to nurture and love her children despite the odds. The Nummo and imperfect twins are siblings, where one helps another to rise above their parents and be better than the elder gods. The pale fox is a symbol of evil and sinfulness, which is the result of rape and violence.
Assertions
It is important to note that there are several assertions, which require unveiling to properly comprehend the myth. The first assertion revolves around the notion that the creator Amma is not all-good and not an ideal to strive for or praise. In other words, the origin of the universe does not deserve appraisal from his creations. The second assertion is manifested in the fact that the Earth is a helpless but loving sufferer. She is an embodiment of the mother goddess, who created the living beings, such as the Nummo, Yoruga and humans, and the pale fox.
Although not all of her creations are perfect, she still nurtures them and provides a home, and she is welcoming with her hospitality to her perfect twins. The third assertion is a communal or familial bond and support between siblings. It was the Nummo twins who brought guidance and support to human beings because they knew about the righteous path towards prosperity. The fourth assertion is that cruelty and violence are always present within a vicinity of loneliness and isolation, which is the case with Amma as well as the pale fox because they both are alone and wonder by themselves.
The key twist in the myth of the Dogon people takes place when Amma decides to rape the Earth because up to this moment, he resembled an all-good god. Another major twist in the myth occurs when the Nummo come back to the Earth to guide and help their brethren.
Comparison with Islamic Myth
Islam is one of the Abrahamic religions, which puts a great deal of emphasis on monotheism with an explicit focus on servitude to an all-good, all-powerful, and all-knowing Creator and God. Islam is a religion of submission to the will of God or Allah, who created humans as its most prized creation and successor over jinn and angels. The latter have no free will, and the former are inferior to humans.
The main antagonist in the myth is Iblis, or Devil, who is a mere jinn raised among angels. By Islamic mythology, humans are not only equal to jinn and angels but even superior to them. Adam’s creation turned Iblis into the Devil since he refused to obey Allah in his request to bow to the first human.
There are key similarities and differences between the Dogon and Islamic mythology. Amma is an equivalent of Allah in regards to being a creator, but Allah also encompasses positive qualities of the Earth and the Nummo. God in Islam is a creator, who loves his creations, and guides them through his messengers and the Quran.
The sole purpose of human existence on the Earth is to test their faith and submission to Allah, which also allows Iblis to prove that humans might not be worthy of appraisal. However, in Dogon mythology, human beings are created imperfectly due to Amma’s flaws and cruelty, which is why there is no testing involved. Humans are incentivized to better themselves to achieve perfection as their siblings, the Nummo, did.
In Islam, humans are compelled to follow Allah’s instructions to be able to reunite with him once again, or otherwise, there will be severe punishment. Therefore, the core difference is that Allah is interested in how his subjects behave and act, whereas Amma and the Earth have no interest since the former abandoned them and the latter loves them unconditionally.
The Nummo offer guidance to help their brethren but impose no punishment for non-compliance because suffering stems from the preexisting imperfections of humanity. The main twist is the Islamic myth is rooted in the fact that Iblis disobeys God in his request of bowing to Adam, whereas, in the Dogon myth, Amma commits an act of rape on the Earth.
Analysis
The Dogon mythical picture is primarily focused on the transmission of social experience through generations. The myth is aimed at explaining the worldview and maintaining the established order. The mythological worldview is characterized by an out-of-socio-cultural, impersonal beginning, which determines both the history of a person and his being. The criteria of morality are seen in the Dogon myths to a greater extent. Therefore, it is more reasonable to consider the influence of culture on the formation of the personality through the prism of education with the help of myths, and their influence on the personality as a whole.
Mythology is a collection of myths, and it is understood as a system of explanations of natural phenomena, the reasons for what is happening, views of the world, and beliefs, attitudes, and norms of behavior, passed on from generation to generation. It also includes folklore, legends, tales of gods and heroes, and fantastic representations of reality.
The Dogon myth arises in the early stages of history and is a narrative, fantastic image which are attempt to explain various phenomena of nature and society. Hence it follows that the carriers of myths are people who subsequently create in the public consciousness either close to life or distorted mythological reality. All these stories, firstly, are examples of the very hoaxes with which the Dogon culture is so rich.
Secondly, they are all united by the same mental trick, since something exists, but there is an ingeniously invented reason why there are no witnesses. In the same way, ceremonies of a pagan society of masks can be held in a Muslim village. The fact is that formally such ceremonies cannot be arranged in a Muslim village, but if there is a good reason for holding them, then it is possible and necessary.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Dogon myth is a fairly complex and unique story of the genesis, which incentivizes improvement and growth through positive reinforcement. The creator, Amma, is a powerful but flawed character, whereas the Earth is a sufferer but all-loving. The Nummo are perfect twins who seek to help and guide their human brethren due to their imperfect nature. The pale fox is a mere symbol of Amma’s wrongdoing and acts as a reminder to humans of the ramifications of cruelty. The reach of the myth is expansive and large scale, whereas the narrative is family-centric.
The figures are unique and complex, with no clear black and white characterization. Compared to Islamic mythology, the Dogon myths lack an ultimate superiority figure and put focus on the dynamic relationships between the characters. However, both rely on key qualities of godhood, such as love, compassion, and communal strength.
Reference
Sproul, B. C. (2013). Primal myths: Creation myths around the world. HarperOne.