Figure - ancestor

The Dogon inhabiting the Bandiagara Escarpment located in the south-central part of the Republic of Mali became at the turn of the 20th and 21st century one of the most frequently visited peoples by tourists in West Africa. The growth of interest in this group was undoubtedly influenced by their religion, deep astronomical knowledge (great knowledge of planets and stars), mythology explaining the creation of the universe, the Earth and the origin of ancestors. This knowledge, reserved for a narrow group of Dogon initiates, stimulates the imagination of many African enthusiasts. According to Marcel Griaule, a French anthropologist who has been researching among the Dogon for many years, all the knowledge of this people is divided into four levels. The lowest of these, accessible to a wide range of inhabitants of the Dogon country, is giri-so, literally translated as word in front. The level of transmitted knowledge is characterised by the simplest explanation of mythical figures and events and concepts connected with the functioning of the world, allowing each recipient to interpret them freely. The next level of knowledge acquired with initiation to certain functions is benne-so word from the side. This is the knowledge forgotten at the giri-so level that explains in depth certain parts of the rituals and imagery. Bolo-so - word from behind, which is the third level, is the knowledge complementing the previous teachings and forming a synthesis of the whole. The highest level of Dogon knowledge is so-dayi, i.e. the clear word, which reveals it in all its complexity together with secret elements not yet revealed in any of the three lower levels.In the middle of the 20th century, it was estimated that only 15% of adult men possessed the knowledge called so-dayi. Today, with the rise in popularity of Islam, it is much less.

Ewa Prądzyńska