The Dogon of Mali, Africa

Hogon's Red Hat Represents the Sun"Hogon" by Senani P at en.wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hogon.jpg#/media/File:Hogon.jpg By Senani P at en.wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, lightened and resized https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4098562

Griaule recorded the Dogon religion at a time when the Dogon were one of the last people in Africa to come under French rule. Prior to that time, the isolated Dogon had maintained their own beliefs and religious practices. Because the Dogon had been secluded, they were considered by the Europeans to be the most backward race in the whole region and the best example of "primitive savagery" known to the world. Muslim Africans also shared this view, as neither group could comprehend the Dogon traditions. Conversations With Ogotemmêli: An Introduction to Dogon Religious Ideas. Marcel Griaule. Oxford University Press, London for the International African Institute, 1965.p.1

Griaule established his relationship with the Dogon people during field trips which began in 1931.Griaule. p.XV After years of questioning the Dogon elders about their religion, he was finally admitted to the Dogon religion's innermost teachings. Dogon elder Ogotemmêli was chosen to present the secret knowledge to Griaule. This was done in thirty-three days, which began in October of 1946.Griaule. p.XVI

Ogotemmêli was considered one of the most powerful minds on the Cliffs of Bandiagara in Mali where the Dogon lived. Ogotemmêli's grandfather had initiated him into the mysteries of the Dogon religion when he was fifteen and after his grandfather had died; his father had taken over the instruction. According to Griaule, Ogotemmêli's total initiation had gone on for more than twenty years.Griaule. p.14

It was because of Ogotemmêli, that Griaule recorded the religion so accurately. Because it is a mystery religion, the Dogon religion can only be fully understood by identifying the repetition in its symbolic patterns. When the religion was created, its continuity was established through its symbolism rather than through its chronology. Without the symbolic consistency, it would have been impossible for me or any other researcher to approach an understanding of it. It appears that the religion was deliberately created this way to protect it from outside influence. My research indicates the Dogon religion was one of the early mystery religions thought to have been lost to humanity.

The unique structure of this religion suggests it was created in an oral culture. This is why it has been so difficult for researchers to understand it. Because we live in a written culture, its symbolic composition is foreign to our way of thinking. The fact it took someone as intelligent as Ogotemmêli over twenty years to learn his own religion attests to its complexity. It is not an easy mythology to understand, but it is without a doubt the most significant mythology recorded to date. It is because the Dogon insisted on clinging to their traditions that the truth about human existence has been preserved for us. The ancient stories told by Ogotemmêli had been passed on from generation to generation throughout the ages. I believe it is the oldest and most complete oral source document known to history. In his book, Conversations with Ogotemmêli, Griaule admitted he didn't really understand a lot of the religion he recorded and conveyed to the world. He simply told it as Ogotemmêli had told it to him. This is one of the reasons why his record is so significant. It is a historical account, for the most part, free of personal bias. Dorey, The Master of Speech, p.11

Another important aspect of the account is that Ogotemmêli was blind. He was one-eyed from childhood and became totally blind later in life as a result of an accident.Griaule. p. 2 Everything he told Griaule came from history and his memory. Nothing was influenced by changes that he might have seen in later days in the Dogon village.

Careful analysis of this mythology shows that it is the key source from which other religions, including Christianity, have evolved. It provides humanity with the sought-after missing link and answers to questions that have plagued humanity since the beginning of time.