The Dogon have a traditional interest in the sky and astronomical phenomena. extraterrestrial visitors? Legends of the Dogon Belief in a Long-Solved Mystery Resurfaces. I wonder. The position of the There are innocent available explanations: typographical error or miscopied notes, for example. Temple offered another line of reasoning. Inevitably one must ask, if the Dogons had heard good stories about Sirius from other sources, would they ignore them or would they quickly adopt them into their own cultural myths? In the 1930s, when their research was carried out, Sirius B was known to have existed, even though it was only photographed in 1970. The mystery of the ancient "red" Sirius also remains baffling. Temple has made very few verifiable assertions about mythology (and The Sirius Mystery is overwhelmingly about ancient myths, not about the Dogons or modern astronomy). Van Beek actually spoke to some of Griaules original informants; he noted that though they do speak about sigu tolo [interpreted by Griaule as their name for Sirius itself], they disagree completely with each other as to which star is meant; for some, it is an invisible star that should rise to announce the sigu [festival], for another it is Venus that, through a different position, appears as sigu tolo. WebThe Dogon understanding of astronomy was comparatively modern but has several known misconceptions - it entirely lines up with the European understanding as of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before the discovery of relativity. Melanin Conference, San Francisco, September 16-17, 1987"). "He sent me the manuscript which I found unreadable. Ideas originally published in 1948, reprint (Oxford University Press 1997). Instead, he closed his response to my own article in 1979 with a brushoff: "In my view it is pointless to attack someone in print unless you can substantiate what you are saying. The Dogon were in fact aware of the fact that Sirius is a binary system (i.e. To be specific they sound like the kinds of astronomical conclusions one might draw from studying the heavens through a small portable telescope. extraterrestrials, the Nommos, some 5,000 years ago. The alleged visitors from outer space mystery resurfaces. Carl. The Dogon have a If Sirius B had been a red giant only a few thousand years ago, there would still be a bright and noticable planetary nebula around it today. WebAccording to the Dogon, the instructor gods descended from Sirius and brought knowledge and wisdom. WebDogon and the Sirius Mystery. amphibious aliens or telescopic vision due to melanin. Feature Articles Dogon shame Did ancient gods from the Sirius star system visit an African tribe 5,000 years ago? of their culture, came from Sirius -- which is at the crux of Temple's reconstruction? "Legends of the Dogon: belief in a long-solved It seems likely that we will never know for sure. (Photo by John and Keturah. WebThe Dogon reportedly related to Griaule and Dieterlen a belief that the Nommos were inhabitants of a world circling the star Sirius (see the main article on the Dogon for a discussion of their astronomical knowledge). Its appearance in the dawn sky over Egypt warned of the impending Nile floods and the summer's heat and marked the beginning of the Egyptian calendar. As Picknett and Prince have been able to show, Temples arguments are often based on erroneous readings of encyclopdia entries and misrepresentations of ancient Egyptian mythology. So where does this leave the mysteries of Sirius? Even if you allow for a much higher biological mutation rate on any Sirian planet compared to the Earth, it still isnt enough time. A dynamical study published in 1995, based on anomalous perturbations of Sirius B (suggestive of the star being gravitationally influenced by another body) concluded that the presence of a third star orbiting Sirius could not be ruled out. If a European had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. The ancient records are filled with unanswered astronomical questions -- including the "red Sirius" and the possible Sumerian Ea-Oannes references to the spectacular Vela-X supernova. In 1966, Temple then aged 21 became Secretary of Youngs Foundation for the Study of Consciousness. McDaid, Liam. The Dogon were in fact aware of the fact that Sirius is a binary system (i.e. Such words would have more persuasion behind them (to me they're merely an emotional appeal to sympathy) if Temple had ever admitted anywhere in print that he had found (or had been shown) any errors in his book or articles or public statements -- but if he has done so, I haven't become aware of them. The greatest source of error, however, seems to be in Temple's specified location of Behdet. Perhaps so -- it does seem like a trivial point, arguing over how different two meaningless geographical distances really are. Zeta Reticuli 2 (with about the same temperature and mass as the Sun) is another candidate. A revised edition was published in 1998 with the new subtitle New scientific Hmm, The Cardiff Giant, one of the most celebrated hoaxes in American history, on display at the Farmers Museum in Cooperstown, NY. This is the original Dogon drawing. [15] An apparent "third star" observed in the 1920s is now confirmed as a background object,[16] something previously suggested by Holberg in 2007: Benest and Duvent found that stable orbits with a period of up to six years exist around Sirius A. The Sirius mystery, though, remains of great interest to many researchers today. ), many debunked issues keep rising from the dead like vampires springing from their tombs. sources for Temple's story. As James and Thorpe point out, he took star maps along with him on his field trips as a way of prompting his informants to divulge their knowledge of the stars. The Nommos descended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder. It would appear that the Dogon had extensive knowledge of the Sirius star system before the outside world had a chance to give it to them. We may never be able to reconstruct the exact route by which the Dogon received their current knowledge, but out of the confusion at least one thing is clear: (2004). Griaule," Current Anthropology 32, 1992, pp. Temple has either misinterpreted Dogon beliefs, or distorted Cuddle up with someone. Astronomers Carl Sagan and Ian Ridpath, for example, have suggested that the modern astronomical aspects of the complex Dogon mythology entered the lore only recently, probably shortly before the myths were written down in the 1930s. In reply Temple produces evidence for the great antiquity of the Sirius cult. Therefore, if Sirius C exists, it must orbit Sirius A. There is, Other ancient astronomical records make no mention of Sirius being red. In 1977 two radio astronomers were interested enough in the Sirius mystery to direct their telescopes at the star system in hopes of picking up any artificial radio signals. scientific equipment, so how could they get this knowledge? Laird Scranton makes it clear that he ruled out this possibility in this interview. Appleby also believes there exists a modern arrogance that cannot countenance the idea that ancient civilisations might have been scientifically superior. But the extraterrestrial hypothesis will not fade away so easily. The interval between ceremonies may be forty, fifty or sixty years. New evidence deals a devastating blow to what was considered to be the best case for extraterrestrial visitation. Giants appear in cultures around the world: Biblical tales of giants more than ten feet tall; Roman and Greek stories of titans and heroes; European stories of giants of mountain and hill. In his 1998 revised edition, Temple was quick to point out the new discussions in scientific circles about the possible existence of Sirius C, which seemed to make Griaules claims even more spectacular and accurate. Nor does he establish a connection between the Dogon creator Nommo and the star Sirius. S]V',H79aD>1 Q@d(FOY;"36y0Z{VXEJwOx._tto}#&i|HR-i4 Unfortunately the ancient records contain no clear, unambiguous references to this Sirius lore although the works of historians, astronomers and philosophers were explicit and detailed on innumerable other subjects. Of those websites, over 400 had been updated within the last three months. Why would Europeans feel compelled that they needed to discuss astronomy with such a primitive tribe and why would this transfer of knowledge that only lasted 5 weeks have such an impact on the Dogan people that they would include it in their cultural practices? Temples response to criticism has so far been evasive. seem curious. Y%gbsPFur[%X7Sz Broca's Brain (New York: Random House, 1979), The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, now called Sirius A. Using similar techniques other writers have "discovered" dozens of different, often contradictory "ancient secrets" about Atlantis, primitive Christianity, forgotten wisdom, ancient visitors and numerous other things. The Sirius mystery, though, remains of great interest to many researchers today. Griaule and Dieterlen's claims, to fit his fantastic story. companion" (Bullard). Below: The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy (discovered in 2003) is the nearest known galaxy to the centre of the Milky Way. According to the Dogon, the instructor gods descended from Sirius and brought knowledge and wisdom. WebThe population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000.. . It is a type of fuel that can lead to what Clay Farris Naff cleverly calls the neuron bomb. In this post, Michael Shermer asks, Is there a moral standard that stands above all the worlds religions that is based on some transcendent source?. (OK, I'll bite--but if such a star is not discovered, Temple has risked no converse conclusions. 1995. stars to the sun, the Alpha Centauri system. himself and his loose speculations on what he learned from Griaule, who WebThe claims about the Dogons' astronomical knowledge have also been challenged. In 1965, Arthur Young gave Robert Temple a French article on the secret star lore of the Dogon, an article written by two French anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. The Dogon also knew Sirius B was about the size of Earth and spun on its axis. The expedition, led by Henri Deslandres, stayed in the field for five weeks, and it is reasonable that during this time many contacts with the locals took place, and that relatively modern astronomical knowledge was then transferred. Nevertheless the Sumerian Oannes myths, first described by Sagan and Shklovskiy in Intelligent Life in the Universe in 1966, are as intriguing as ever. by Liam McDaid. "We have in the Dogon information a predictive mechanism which it is our duty to test, regardless of our preconceptions." Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. The Dogon are believed to be of Egyptian decent and their astronomical lore goes back thousands of years to 3200 BC. The two anthropologists who first studied the Dogon (Griaule and Deiterlen) conducted their research in the 1930s. have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in It would appear that the Dogon had extensive knowledge of the Sirius star system before the outside world had a chance to give it to them. Griaule either WebNew evidence deals a devastating blow to what was considered to be the best case for extraterrestrial visitation. Also if it was seeded by westerners how is the Dogon and surrounding tribes have a fully developed culture and religion structure centered around Sirius going back for hundreds of years? "their purpose in disguising their secrets was to see that the secrets could survive.". The Dogon are supposed to have known that Sirius B orbits Sirius and that a complete orbit takes Pseudoarchaeology book by Robert K. G. Temple, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Sirius_Mystery&oldid=1135262588, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 23 January 2023, at 16:12. Europeans too talked about the discovery of a third star in the Sirius system; later investigations, however, ruled out that possibility. Based on Carrolls website (skepdic.com), the Dictionary is the definitive short-answer debunking of nearly every thing skeptical. fifty years. James, Peter and Nick Thorpe. WebThe star Sirius is certainly no stranger to mysteries. (Copyright: R. Ibata (Strasbourg Observatory, ULP) et al., 2MASS, NASA). WebThe Dogon understanding of astronomy was comparatively modern but has several known misconceptions - it entirely lines up with the European understanding as of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before the discovery of relativity. Sirius B without the need of a telescope because of their special eyesight The proof is supplied by (the Odyssey), where Helios is said to possess 7 herds of 50 cows each and 7 herds of 50 sheep, a transparent allegory of the days and nights of the year.") History Debunked then goes on to demonstrate the type of pseudo-scientific nonsense this has lead to by providing a link to an Ethnomathematics paper and reading out its conclusion. Nothing fuels religious extremism more than the belief that one has found the absolute moral truth. MANY SKEPTICS WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT ONCE SOMETHING IS debunked, that will be the end of it. Temple's impressive research was encouraged by noted futurist Arthur C, Clarke (although Clarke now prefers the "modern influence" hypothesis). The aliens came here In a recent book, The Once and Future Star (Hawthorn Books, 1977), George Michanowsky identifies "Oannes" as a Hellenized version of the Sumerian name Ea; he different civilizations thousands of miles or thousands of years apart and to other equally questionable tactics. Beware of mood swings. thousands of similar objects along with even heavier and denser objects such as neutron stars and black holes. 68-70. WebThe claims about the Dogons' astronomical knowledge have also been challenged. In this weeks eSkeptic, Liam McDaid examines these claims. A Search for Faint Companions to Nearby Stars Using the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2,. The Dogon are believed to be of Egyptian decent and their astronomical lore goes back thousands of years to 3200 BC. rotation is astronomically possible but whether it is correct or not we cannot yet know. informed the Dogon of Sirius B or "he misinterpreted their references For instance, the anthropologist Walter Van Beek, who studied the Dogon after Griaule and Dieterlen, found no evidence that the Dogon considered Sirius to be a double star and/or that astronomy was particularly important in their belief system. Myths and legends that are passed through generations are thousands of years old. September 1976 saw ch. Readers of Skeptic are not so sanguine. WebRe: Dogon Sirius claim debunked - Graham Hancock Official Website Mysteries Taken from [ library.thinkquest.org] According to the Dogon priests, Sirius is orbited by a tiny secret star that they refer to as 'po', which traces an elliptical path around Sirius taking 50 years to They dont have telescopes or other One additional disturbing note: That distance has been computed based on a true geodetic oblate spheroid, but even assuming a flat surface would only have introduced an error of a few tenths of one percent at most (Temple obviously didn't know that, or he wouldn't have asserted that measurements even less accurate than that were proof that ancients took Earth's sphericity into account.). The Dogon have a traditional interest in the sky and astronomical phenomena. interpreter. Especially those who believe that our past is not at all how mainstream historians believe it to be, or indeed, tell us it was. What is interesting is that the Dogon knew about Sirius and its triple star system way before modern science found out its existence. Sirius. "Dogon Restudied: A Field Evaluation of the Work of Marcel They point out that the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians used spherical lenses6 (even though they are a bad choice to use in telescopes try seeing an image through a glass bead). Subscribe to eSkeptic: our free email newsletter and get great podcasts, videos, reviews and articles from Skeptic magazine, announcements, and more in your inbox once or twice a week. The review was indeed consequently modified in parts where Temple explained portions of his book I may have misinterpreted. To Temple, this proved that "geodetic surveys of immense accuracy were thus practiced in ancient Egypt with a knowledge of the Fishs map and Hills map look similar only because the lines connecting the stars look the same. 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