Other Temple claims, including some wild assertions from The Secrets of the Great Pyramid, can as easily be checked and as easily demolished. "Perhaps (Oberg) is unaware," Temple went on, "that the differential curvature of the earth variously distorts distances shown on maps. If so, I wonder why that passage was ever "worth pointing out" in the book in the first place. WebThe population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000.. . This would have wreaked havoc on the climate of any planets orbiting Sirius A. by Philip Coppens. A revised edition was published in 1998 with the new subtitle New scientific 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. "Dogon Restudied: A Field Evaluation of the Work of Marcel the Sirius "Mystery" by Ian Ridpath, Skeptical Inquirer, Fall He has written of Temples belief that present-day authorities are unwilling to set aside the blinkers of orthodoxy, unable to admit the validity of anything that lies outside their field or that offers a challenge to the status quo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sirius_Mystery. 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). Because Sirius B moves from 8 to 31 AU distance from Sirius A, it is unlikely that planets orbiting Sirius A would have stable orbits. Sirius was already the subject of a mystery concerning the traditional lore of the Dogon tribe of Mali, near Timbuktu in western Africa. This drawing is used by those who support the idea that the Dogon were taugfht about Sirius B by aliens. Did Oberg? Where did they get this knowledge, he asks, if not from Some might argue that if there were a planet really close to Sirius A, it could be in a stable orbit. ", Investigating In 1966, Temple then aged 21 became Secretary of Youngs Foundation for the Study of Consciousness. He also gives public talks on astronomy and related fringe topics to international audiences. Our mysteries may be different but our questions are the same and we are no wiser. They all have one thing in common: enormous monsters. The mystery of the ancient "red" Sirius also remains baffling. Sagan suggests, however, that that civilization was Were aliens, lost technology or something else entirely involved? WebNew evidence deals a devastating blow to what was considered to be the best case for extraterrestrial visitation. | 3938 State St., Suite # 101, Santa Barbara, CA, 93105-3114 | 1-805-576-9396. 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). But that doesn't stop Temple. A revised edition was published in 1998 with the new subtitle New scientific Cook some soul food. The Dogon were in fact aware of the fact that Sirius is a binary system (i.e. 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. So much for the Nommos. "Nowhere in his 295 page book does Temple offer one specific statement from the Dogon to substantiate his ancient astronauts claim." by Philip Coppens. But other observers disagree. things. have turned to astronomical matters, including Sirius, the brightest star in myths by confabulation." extraterrestrial visitors? Sagan, Carl. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. WebThe Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos. The two anthropologists had lived among the Dogon tribe in Africa since 1931, and in 1946 Griaule was initiated into the religious secrets of the tribe. 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. "At first glance," Sagan admitted, "the Sirius legend of the Dogon seems 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?. That in itself is extraordinary.". As anthropologists have known for a long time, primitive tribes have a remarkable talent for absorbing interesting new stories into their traditional mythology. 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. ", A series of articles has appeared in the Griffith Observer, an astronomy magazin The Dogon myths may or may not be related to these other putties (or even to Kepler's supernova, which has been seriously suggested.) Legends of the Dogon Belief in a Long-Solved Mystery Resurfaces. None were detected, That was not surprising since, judging from the age and energy of the stars in the Sirius system, astronomers believe it is unlikely that any earthlike planets could exist there long enough for life to emerge and develop. [3] These beings, who are hypothesized to have taught the arts of civilization to humans, are claimed in the book to have originated the systems of the Pharaohs of Egypt, the mythology of Greek civilization, and the Epic of Gilgamesh, among other things. By comparison, our own Sun was that old 3.4 billion years ago. Although he was an anthropologist, Griaule was keenly interested in astronomy and had studied it in Paris. Carl Sagan's contribution to this discussion was in his book Broca's Brain (1979). "wished to affirm the complexity of African religions and questioned So what is the alternative to the extraterrestrial hypothesis for the Dogon myths7 The Dogons could have learned of European Sirius lore in the 1920's from traders, explorers or missionaries, many of whom are avid amateur astronomers. traditional interest in the sky and astronomical phenomena. Is Sirius a Triple Star?, Adams, H. H. 1983. There are innocent available explanations: typographical error or miscopied notes, for example. in elliptical orbits of astronomical phenomena. 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. 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. The cartographer took all such factors into account. The Dogon are believed to be of Egyptian decent and their astronomical lore goes back thousands of years to 3200 BC. 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). With this, the Dogon mystery comes crashing down. 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. Dieterlen the Dogon also name a companion star, po tolo "Digitaria It blazes forth from the constellation of Canis Major (Big Dog), giving it the inevitable nickname of the Dog Star. Such assimilation occurs most frequently when the subject is one of particular interest to a people -- as Sirius is to the Dogons. 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. 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. 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 September 1980, Dr. Philip C. Steffey did an in-depth analysis of Dogon astronomical traditions in "Some Serious Astronomy in the 'Sirius Mystery,' " which criticized Temple's book as "inadequate and full of factual errors and misrepresentation of critical material. Temple claimed that the Dogon knew about two smaller stars that are closely related to Sirius Sirius B and Sirius C. The mystery was how they had obtained this knowledge, as these companion stars cannot be seen by the unaided eye. from black Egyptians who had telescopes. Liam is the author of Urban Astronomy and is a Senior Scientist for Skeptic. Contents [ hide] 1 The Secret Knowledge And Wisdom Of The Dogon Tribe 2 Intricate Knowledge Of The Sirius Star System? "Lecture 1st his informants in such a forceful leading manner that they created new ), There were Giants in the earthin those days Genesis 6:1. He was told that fishlike creatures called the Nommo had come to Earth from Sirius to civilizes its people. <> But that isn't the only parallel. Legends of the Dogon Belief in a Long-Solved Mystery Resurfaces. based his account on an interview with one person, Ambara, and an 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? sources for Temple's story. The Dogon. Figure 1. Some pseudosciences such as homeopathy and free energy never die. He was told that fishlike creatures called the Nommo had come to Earth from Sirius to civilizes its people. Moon is traveling through Cancer today. I disagree. The Dogon Revisited Dogon descriptions of Jupiter, Saturn and Sirius remind one of Jonathan Swift's uncanny description of the two undiscovered moons of Mars. 68-70. Such criteria suggest that these periodic festivals have been going on for at least 600 years and possibly much longer. 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. (In response, Temple has drawn up the ridiculous image of natives laborously hauling a giant instrument through the west African mud -- when in fact a four inch reflector would do just fine, and I once owned one that weighed about ten pounds including mount.) Bullard, Thomas. 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. hVt*f+"c2aC-w.EJ|@F[VXLV~oo>l B>xU.9y'nYnZ6aBlc3y&A%M]XME 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. 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. rotation is astronomically possible but whether it is correct or not we cannot yet know. 139-167. civilization. He soon multiplied to become six pairs of twins. Could a remote African people have gained esoteric knowledge about the sky without having telescopes? Temple has either misinterpreted Dogon beliefs, or distorted extremely dense and has a fifty-year orbit. "There is some evidence," he points out, "that the Dogon like to frame pictures with an ellipse, and that Temple may be mistaken about the claim that in Dogon mythology the planets and Sirius-B move in elliptical orbits." by Liam McDaid. van Beek, Walter E. A. Second, while it is difficult to obtain precise locations of many archeological sites referred to in The Sirius Mystery, Temple himself shows a map that gives the location of Behdet (31.23 degE, 31.50 degN) and Thebes (32.63 degE, 25.70 degN). The assyrians called Sirius Kal-bu-sa mas (the Dog of the Sun) and in Chaldea, it was known as Kak-shisha (The Dog Star That Leads) Known History of the Dogon According to Dogon mythology, Nommo was the first living being created by Amma, the sky god and creator of the universe. Broca's Brain (New York: Random House, 1979), star" (Sirius B) and describe its density and rotational The Dogon are believed to be of Egyptian decent and their astronomical lore goes back thousands of years to 3200 BC. I disagree wit deeee72. Temple's impressive research was encouraged by noted futurist Arthur C, Clarke (although Clarke now prefers the "modern influence" hypothesis). some 8.6 light years from earth. good amount of discussion of Sirius in the scientific press in the '20s so The second problem is that ancient writers seemed to use color for stars in a way different from the way that we do (they described Pollux, Arcturus, and Capella as red a modern observer would call them yellow-orange, orange, and yellow, respectively). of earth and transmitted in conversation. To quote James and Thorpe: As for Sirius B, only Griaules informants had ever heard of it. Was Griaule told by his informants what he wanted to believe; did he misinterpret the Dogon responses to his questions? Griaule and Dieterlen first described their findings in an article published in French in 1950, but they included no comment about how extraordinary the Dogon knowledge of the invisible companions was. interpreter. Classical mythology has been a Rorschach test into which people have projected nearly any notion that appealed to them. The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, now called Sirius A. 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. Feature Articles Dogon shame Did ancient gods from the Sirius star system visit an African tribe 5,000 years ago? Melanin Conference, San Francisco, September 16-17, 1987"). had visited the Dogon in the 1920's and 1930's, conversation would likely earth as a spherical body in space and projections upon it envisaged as part ofthe Sirius tore." What about Sirius? ;WI)hK>U/sW_: v* &73DUI*y|07s^gQ7ni[khi4o2vA[a20?D-C[;,!vgejZE-,I51.cWS,?4#_}dpU4I[, w.Mi>Z@iOa:ia](i}29pit+ K#x>0nzDS%c7iN}%37Y-f 1Yvq'Nm=~-%#bO*O44*4%Aj Wi The alleged visitors from outer space He shows a total ignorance or disregard for almost every fact in my book, and there is hardly a single thing in his review which is remotely accurate." This sounds significant and convincing until one measures the distance on a map and discovers an "immensely accurate equality" of a twenty percent difference! 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. You dont have to watch too many Fantasy Channel (formerly known as the History Channel) specials on ancient astronauts before youll be told about the primitive African Dogon of Mali and their advanced astronomical knowledge bestowed, of course, by extraterrestrials. According to the Dogon, the instructor gods descended from Sirius and brought knowledge and wisdom. Through the carbon dating of old ritual masks researchers have established the antiquity of the Segui ceremonies. 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. Figure 2. MANY SKEPTICS WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT ONCE SOMETHING IS debunked, that will be the end of it. Some pseudosciences such as homeopathy and free energy never die. No other anthropologist supports their opinions. the sky and the center of Dogon mythology. It seems likely that we will never know for sure. It is also the home of the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius A. Ridpath asserts. 2000. for some unknown reason from a planet orbiting WebThe Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos. mystery resurfaces. Read Skeptic on Apple or Android devices, or on PC or Mac via PocketMags.com. The basic thesis is this: the Dogon (who live in the African nation of Mali, near the border with Burkina Faso) allegedly have long possessed arcane astronomical knowledge that should have been impossible for them to discover without modern telescopes. This is true, but Sirius has about 25 times the luminosity of the Sun. 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