Myths and legends that are passed through generations are thousands of years old. Temple, however, has stated in the reprint of The Sirius Mystery (1999) that he in no way supports what he refers to as "sinister cults" that have been inspired by his book. Just when multi-cellular life would began, Sirius A would become a Red Giant, crisping any nearby planets. As an example, Sagan believes that because the Dogon seem to have no knowledge of another planet beyond Saturn which has rings, their knowledge is therefore more likely to have come from European, and not extraterrestrial, sources.[11]. Some pseudosciences such as homeopathy and free energy never die. The Dogon have a traditional interest in the sky and astronomical phenomena. He soon multiplied to become six pairs of twins. Liam McDaid is Astronomy Coordinator and Professor of Astronomy at Sacramento City College. One of Temple's main 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. In other words, the Dogon tribe would not only need the knowledge but also a telescope in order for them to have the information they already seemed to possess. As the brightest star in the sky it was known and worshiped by ancient civilizations. "Legends of the Dogon: belief in a long-solved This proves that geodetic surveys of immense accuracy were thus practiced in ancient Egypt with a knowledge of the earth as a spherical body in space and projections upon it envisaged as part of the Sirius lore.". Temple's theory is heavily based on his interpretation of the work of ethnographers Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. WebThe claims about the Dogons' astronomical knowledge have also been challenged. Temple's impressive research was encouraged by noted futurist Arthur C, Clarke (although Clarke now prefers the "modern influence" hypothesis). 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?. The Nine became part of the UFO and New Age mythology and many claim to be in contact with them. Of those websites, over 400 had been updated within the last three months. 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. With this, the Dogon mystery comes crashing down. The Dogon also knew Sirius B was about the size of Earth and spun on its axis. technological societies located on planet earth. What is interesting is that the Dogon knew about Sirius and its triple star system way before modern science found out its existence. But was anything left out? Astronomers classify Sirius as a "class A" star, hotter and younger than our sun, Its brightness is due largely to its proximity; it is barely eight light- years away from the earth. Mali was a former French colony (part of the Sudan), so some Dogon may have gone to French schools in the 1920s.7 Or Jesuit missionaries or merchants may have imparted the information to them.8, There may be an even simpler explanation. Lets start with the first idea, proffered by Robert Temple.1 Temples basic premise is that the Nommos visited the Dogon at some point in the past and gave them information that, in one form or another, the Dogon have passed down through oral tradition. The Dogon Revisited "Perhaps (Oberg) is unaware," Temple went on, "that the differential curvature of the earth variously distorts distances shown on maps. based his account on an interview with one person, Ambara, and an Nigel Appleby whose book Hall of the Gods was withdrawn from publication has admitted to being tremendously influenced by Temples Sirius Mystery. by Liam McDaid. (Copyright: R. Ibata (Strasbourg Observatory, ULP) et al., 2MASS, NASA). Seriously: The Dogon and Sirius? The Symbolism of the Tarot: The Minor Arcana, The Symbolism of the Tarot: The Major Arcana, My Reading with Kristine from Psychic Source Review, Get the best Psychic Reading Ever Best Psychics Ive Reviewed, The Cathars: the struggle for and of a new Church, The Strange Stone Discs of Baian-Kara-Ula, William Blake: What paintings of visions come. In this weeks eSkeptic, Liam McDaid examines these claims. The main problem with the alleged antiquity of the Dogon "Sirius secrets" legend is that they are reminiscent of European Sirius speculations of the late 1920s. astronomical information. 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. Seeking Clarity? The Nommos descended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder. The second idea, championed by Afrocentrist historians, is that the Dogons either found out about Sirius B on their own or learned about it from the Egyptians. Especially those who believe that our past is not at all how mainstream historians believe it to be, or indeed, tell us it was. "He sent me the manuscript which I found unreadable. In that case the Dogon (and everyone else) would have had little trouble seeing both stars then. Dogon people are renowned for their knowledge about the Sirius Star system which dates back to 3200 BC, long before scientists discovered it in 1862 The traditional mythology of the Dogon is amazing. The antiquity of the Dogon astronomy is not so obvious as ancient astronaut enthusiasts claim but neither has it been disproved. Either way, the original purity of the Dogon-Sirius story is itself a myth as it is highly likely that Griaule contaminated their knowledge with his own. But it is an unfortunate tendency for certain reviewers to wish to try and appear clever at the expense of accuracy, honesty, objectivity, fairness, or even decent manners, by dropping any standards at all in their headlong assaults on authors using only the tools of distortion, dishonesty, and insults. According to Thomas Bullard, van Beek speculates that Griaule Other Temple claims, including some wild assertions from The Secrets of the Great Pyramid, can as easily be checked and as easily demolished. 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. No such nebula is seen. myths by confabulation." All rights reserved. ", British astronomy popularizer fan Ridpath, writing in the quarterly Skeptical Inquirer (Fall 1978), blasted Temple's "brain-numbing excursions into Egyptology." Just wanted to know if this is completely a hoax, or does it even have any anthropological origin. The Nine also claim to be extraterrestrial beings from the star Sirius. Griaule and Dieterlen's claims, to fit his fantastic story. fifty years. The biggest challenge to Griaule, however, came from anthropologist Walter Van Beek. found no evidence they knew Sirius was a double star or that Sirius B is Sirius was already the subject of a mystery concerning the traditional lore of the Dogon tribe of Mali, near Timbuktu in western Africa. The Pleiades are sometimes mentioned, but this is not possible. this about a star that cannot be seen without telescopes, and he made no They observe that information about the odd invisible companion of Sirius had been widely published in Europe years before Europeans recorded the Dogon myths. 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. I have never completely understood Temple's complaint to "Astronomy" about my critiques: "I could not object to a review of a book which was fair, honest, or intelligent, no matter how critical or damning it might be of the opinions expressed in the book or the quality of work behind the book. Ancient astronauts entrepreneur Erich von Daniken endorses and adopts Temple's explanations in his latest book, Von Daniken's Proof. WebDogon and the Sirius Mystery. Whew! with the bright star Sirius (sigu tolo, "star of Sigui"), called These same myths, Temple claims, identify a planet circling that star as the home of Nommo, an alien creature who founded the Dogon civilization. 7 0 obj This is strange, because one would think that it would be a major discovery in anthropology. Our mysteries may be different but our questions are the same and we are no wiser. good amount of discussion of Sirius in the scientific press in the '20s so 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? [8][9], In 1978, astronomer Ian Ridpath observes, in an article in the Skeptical Inquirer, "The whole Dogon legend of Sirius and its companions are riddled with ambiguities, contradictions, and downright errors, at least if we try to interpret it literally. But Fishs map used an arbitrary viewpoint in space. "[10] Ridpath states that while the information that the Dogon probably gained from Europeans to some extent resembles the facts about Sirius, the presumed original Dogon knowledge of the star is very far from the facts. Webplanet earth. Unfortunately he neglects to mention other bas-reliefs which show "fish-deer" and "fish-lions" and which consequently suggest that the fish motif was symbolic, not descriptive. The book's advertising blurb quotes prolific science writer Isaac Asimov, who says, "I couldn't find any mistakes in this book. And as to good manners, Temple for his part has never answered any of my own personal letters asking for clarification and explanation of controversial points. WebDogon and the Sirius Mystery. But other observers disagree. And if all this were not enough for the Sirians, recent studies have suggested the possibility of a third star (Sirius C) orbiting Sirius B, although it would be a very low mass star which so far has escaped detection.5 Stable planetary orbits may be very hard to find in the Sirian system. Sounds like you're grasping at straws. e issued monthly by the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. In 1998, Temple republished the book with the subtitle new scientific evidence of alien contact 5,000 years ago. The books reputation was first dented in 1999, when Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince published The Stargate Conspiracy, in which they allege that Temples thinking had been heavily influenced by his mentor, Arthur M. Young. Although he was an anthropologist, Griaule was keenly interested in astronomy and had studied it in Paris. First, in general, Temple displays his own gross ignorance of geometry and spherical trigonometry. "The ancient peoples were not concealing information from us out of spite," he writes. G. Stein (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996), pp. things. The Dogon were in fact aware of the fact that Sirius is a binary system (i.e. 2000. 1978. The Dogon. ;p7D) The Dogon legend connected with Sirius, wrote Ridpath, "is riddled with ambiguities, contradictions, and downright errors, at least if we try to interpret it literally." Dogon people are renowned for their knowledge about the Sirius Star system which dates back to 3200 BC, long before scientists discovered it in 1862 The traditional mythology of the Dogon is amazing. WebThe Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos. The X symbol inside the oval is Sirius A, The oval itself is labeled Umlaufbahn von Sirius B, or Orbit of Sirius B. Pretty convincing. The number "fifty" has great signifance in ancient myths. The Dogon. (Temple claims missionaries didn't show up until 1949.) But the extraterrestrial hypothesis will not fade away so easily. Since Oberg cannot do so, we need not concern ourselves with criticisms of The Sirius Mystery." MANY SKEPTICS WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT ONCE SOMETHING IS debunked, that will be the end of it. Scientists learn that the Dogon do not possess secret knowledge about the star Sirius and its companions. But now, in another recent publication Ancient Mysteries by Peter James and Nick Thorpe this mystery is also uncloaked as a hoax or a lie perpetrated by Griaule. Seriously: The Dogon and Sirius? Scientists learn that the Dogon do not possess secret knowledge about the star Sirius and its companions. extraterrestrial visitor tells earthmen about the undiscovered Martian moons. characteristics. Some astronomers speculate that the white dwarf Sirius B might have been a flaming red giant only 2000 years ago although current astrophysical theories decree that any such transformation in less than 100,000 years is impossible. The greatest source of error, however, seems to be in Temple's specified location of Behdet. Sirius figures prominently in the Dogon myths. The Dogon have a 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. Sirius B was known to exist then. In explaining his role Asimov reveals another dimension of Temple's scholarship. The Dogons were not isolated. Is Sirius a Triple Star?, Adams, H. H. 1983. Damanhur is 521.0 km from Siwa and 625.9 km from Thebes, a deviation of 20%. Moon is traveling through Cancer today. thousands of similar objects along with even heavier and denser objects such as neutron stars and black holes. from black Egyptians who had telescopes. "wished to affirm the complexity of African religions and questioned Furthermore, there had been a Some of this information has been selectively interpreted by Temple to support his claims. Its second, 1998, edition is called The Sirius Mystery: New Scientific Evidence of Alien Contact 5,000 Years Ago. Some pseudosciences such as homeopathy and free energy never die. I disagree. WebThe Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos. [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. Temple has either misinterpreted Dogon beliefs, or distorted 68-70. E. "Ancient Astronauts," in The Encyclopedia of the It has a mass of 2.35 times the mass of the Sun. by Philip Coppens. Obviously, no Earth-based species was flying to other stars back then! New evidence deals a devastating blow to what was considered to be the best case for extraterrestrial visitation. Temples 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. A recent newsletter from my local astronomy association still found the Dogon and their mysterious knowledge of Sirius B worth mentioning. implausible notions such as the claim that the Dogon got their knowledge 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 WebAccording to the Dogon, the instructor gods descended from Sirius and brought knowledge and wisdom. sigui, held by the Dogon every sixty years. answer is that they got this information from amphibious aliens from outer Legends of the Dogon Belief in a Long-Solved Mystery Resurfaces. Daniken 's Proof that are passed through dogon sirius debunked are thousands of similar objects along even. Is not so obvious as ancient astronaut enthusiasts claim but neither has it been.! 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