The Dogon Religion

The Dogon religion is the traditional religious/spiritual beliefs of the Dogon people of Mali.

Dogons who adhere to the Dogon religion believe in 1 Supreme Creator called Amma, or Ama. They also believe in ancestral spirits known as the Nommo, also known as Water Spirits. Veneration of the dead is an important element in their spiritual beliefs.

They hold ritual mask dances immediately after the death of a person & sometimes long after they’ve passed on to the next life. Twins, “the need for duality & the doubling of individual lives” (masculine & feminine principles), is a fundamental element in the belief system. Like other traditional African religions, balance & reverence for nature are also key elements in this belief system.

Dogon cosmology & astronomy are broad & complex. Like some of the other African groups in the Upper Niger region, & other parts of the continent, they have a huge repertoire of “system of signs,” which are religious in nature.

In the Dogon religion, there’s a belief in a single omnipotent, omniscient, & omnipresent Creator deity called Amma. The Dogon religion teaches that it was through Amma’s powers which brought forth the creation of the universe, matter, & the biological processes of production.

Amma, the Sky God, is the head of the Dogon triumvirate. The others being the Water God, Nommo, & the Earth God, Lewe/Lebe.

Amma is genderless, & may be regarded as he, she, or it. It depends on which aspect of its principles one is trying to satisfy. The Deity symbolizes both the masculine & feminine principles. As such, it’s genderless, or being of dual gender, which invokes balance, duality, & the pairing of opposites. The cosmological concepts of balance, duality, & opposites are found in all aspects of Dogon spirituality & culture.

Religious sacrifice (Bulo, a word for sacrifices in their language.) & rituals are directed to Amma. Carved figurines which act as “representations of the living” are also produced. These figurines aren’t physical representations of the Divine. But merely serve as mediators, or interceders, between the living world & the Divine.

The Dogon attributes the origins of masks to beings they refer to as Andoumboulou. The 1st masks were made of fiber. Although women eventually acquired them, & later men. Their function wasn’t apparent to the Dogon until the ancestors started dying. The 1st ancestor to suffer death did so in the form of a snake.

As common in other African beliefs & cosmogonies such as in the Serer myth, a serpent death represents the process of transforming into spirit form. When people realize the negative effects of the nyama released by death, the ancestors decided to carve a mask so that it serves as a support for the nyama.

The mask was in the form of a snake, symbolizing the dead ancestors. That initial mask, called “imina na” in the Dogon languages (“great mask” or “mother of masks”) is the style of mask used in the Sigi ceremony in order to commemorate this mythic event every 60 years.

Although the face of the mask is in snake form, it’s never worn. Instead, the Dogon would display it in a stationary position or while carrying it. Every 60 years during the Sigi ceremony, each Dogon village will make a new “great mask,” other deaths followed, & soon after, the Dogon had to seek other measures to deal with the released nyama.

Initially, the Dogon erected altars for the ancestors while wood figures served as a repository for the spiritual forces. As deaths increased, this became insufficient & masks were then made for dama rituals.

The dama is a ritual where the souls of the dead are escorted out of the village & sent to the afterlife permanently. The Dogon have many rituals about death which are important elements of their mask culture.

A 4-set of masks, called bede, a carved wooden mask called sirige are usually put on for the bagu bundo ritual, which is a type of dance held 2 days after the burial of a man who had participated in a Sigi ceremony.

After several years since the passing of the deceased, the dama ritual is performed. The dama lasts for 6 days. Its purpose is to raise the prestige & reputation of the deceased & that of his descendants. A lot of time & resources goes towards the preparation of the dama.

It’s a very elaborate & costly ritual. During the dama ritual, the Mask Society (the Awa Society) performs in the village plaza, at the deceased’s house, & in the Hogon’s sacred fields.

The soul of the dead, which had been localized in the handle of his hoe & in a container of millet beer is then removed from the village- thrown into a bush. (Millet is a type of grain. It’s considered an ancient grain, like quinoa, farro, or barley.) Where the dama ritual is performed for a deceased woman, it’s not accompanied by mask dancing. Unless the deceased female was a yasigine – the sole member of the Mask Society.

There are many different types of Dogon masks. Some of the masks represent mammals, reptiles, birds, humans, objects, & abstract concepts.

The concepts of Heaven & Hell don’t exist in the Dogon religion. Ancestor veneration is an important element. Sculptures & masks are normally made by Dogon blacksmiths, who also work iron. There are 2 types of smiths in Dogon society: the jemo who lives on the plains & the iru who lives on the plateau.

Blacksmiths’ mastery of earth, air, & fire, & their expertise in making iron tools (which the Dogon people depend on for farming) grant them a privileged position within the Dogon society.

Both the jemo & iru serve as intermediaries & peacemakers between other Dogons, between the living & the ancestors, & between mankind & Amma, especially on rituals surrounding rainmaking.

The respect granted to blacksmiths comes from their role in the creation myth, in which the 1st blacksmith is said to have descended from the Empyrean Heaven in order to bring mankind fire, iron, & seeds for cultivation.

As with their rites associated with procreation during life, the image of humanity developing in its placenta is also present in their funeral rites. When a person dies, their mouth is covered with a muzzle.

This ritual symbolizes the wattles of fish. The dead’s head is covered with a white band circling the top of his skull. This symbolizes the top of the fish’s head. As they send the deceased to the next life, women & girls perform ritual dances mimicking a fish (with their arms & hands stretched out in front of them) symbolizing the swimming of fish. These movements are done very subtly.

The Nommo are ancestral spirits (sometimes referred to as deities) venerated by the Dogon. The word Nommos is derived from the Dogon language meaning “to make one drink.”

The Nommos are usually described as amphibious, hermaphroditic, fish-like creatures. The Nommos are also referred to as “Masters of the Water,” “the Monitors,” & “the Teachers.”

The Dogon’s spiritual leader is called hogon. According to Dogon cosmogony, there were 4 pairs of twins, 4 girls & 4 boys. They were ancestors of humans. In the Dogon tradition, the 7th ancestor’s gift to humankind included weaving, music, dress, & language.

All their festivals occur within precise temporal cycles & are occasions for young Dogon men to complete their initiation rites & receive knowledge from their dad, grandpa, or the head of the family (ginna bana).

Festivals:

Bulo: Like the Xooy divination ceremony of the Serer people of Senegambia, the Bulo is a New Year festival that’s celebrated between May & June. It’s an agrarian festival, marking the beginning of the rainy season & millet cultivation.

Unlike the Xooy, which is presided over by The Saltigue (the Seer priestly class), the Bulo festival is characterized by masked dances & overflowing canaries of millet beer. (Canaries are containers made for beer.)

The Bulo festival signals the start of the sowing season. It takes place during the summer/estival solstice.

Sigi: The Sigi/Sigui festival pays homage to the Dogon’s primordial time, & it’s way of atonement & transmitting secret & ancient knowledge to the younger generation.

It’s mainly about communicating the revelation of speech to men, a ceremony of atonement & initiation, & a way of demanding pardon for the death of an ancestor after the folly & forgetfulness of some young men.

It’s a long procession that starts & ends in the village of Youga Dogorou. The Sigi festival is 1 of the most well known & anticipated Dogon festivals, & perhaps the most important of all the Dogon rituals.

The Sigi occurs once every 60 years in the Dogon calendar. It’s determined by the position of the star named Sirius (also called the Dog Star) in the night sky. (Ancient astronaut theorists love to get in on this. Thinking that there’s an alien connection.)

A person may only live to see 1 Sigi festival, or 2 if they’re lucky to live long enough. The 60-year interval also corresponds to the life span of the mystic Dogon ancestor. Every 5 days, the Dogon would tie a knot on a rope. This constitutes the Dogon ancestor.

The last 4 Sigi celebrations occurred in 1787, 1848, 1907, 1967. The next 1 will be in the year 2027 (So 2 more years, when this was posted.) The Sigi ritual & rituals of its sort which occurs within precise temporal cycles are a way of transmitting knowledge of the Dogon.

The night before the 60th anniversary celebration, the male participants enter a bush in an isolated cave & go into fasting. In the morning of the ceremony, they shave their heads (symbolizing rebirth).

They then put on the Sigi costume & dressed to look like a fish. A white cap that represents the head of a catfish is put on. The black color symbolizes the waters of the womb. A wide pair of black trousers gathered at the ankles with its tail bifurcated is also put on. On their chests, they wear some type of crossbelt adorned with cowries which symbolize the fish’s eggs.

On their right hands, they hold a crooked staff. This staff, symbolizes the sexual organ of Nommo, the mythical ancestor of humans. Along with the staff, they also hold a 1/2 calabash that they’ll use to drink the Sigi beer.

The Sigi runs for several years. The last 1 ran from 1967-1973.

Dama: The Dama ceremony marks the end of bereavement.

Bado: The Bado festival is a festival of the elders, which occurs is spring.

Bago: The Bago festival is a harvest festival that takes place during fall.

Gogo: A winter festival.

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#1787 #1847 #1907 #1967 #60Years #africa #africanReligions #amma #ancestorVeneration #andoumboulou #badoFestival #bagaBundoRitual #bagoFestival #bede #bereavement #blackTrousers #blacksmiths #bulo #catfish #cowries #damaFestival #damaRituals #dogStar #dogonMasks #earthGod #elderFestival #empyreanHeaven #ginnaBana #gogoFestival #harvestFestival #hogon #idols #iru #jemo #june #lebe #lewe #mali #mastersOfTheWater #may #milletBeer #nommo #nyama #ritualMaskDances #senegambia #sererMyth #sererPeople #sigiCeremony #sigiCostume #sirius #skyGod #summerSolstice #theAwaSociety #theDogonReligion #theMaskSociety #theMonitors #theTeachers #triumvirate #upperNiger #venerationOfTheDead #waterSpirits #xooy #yasigine #yougaDogorou

The Dumb Supper

I’m sitting by the log fire on a freezing night in Derbyshire while Simon ties up the loose ends of Forever 26, Until I’m Not (my rapidly forthcoming novel) and my thoughts turn to carving the Samhain pumpkin.

However, in the absence of actually being able to be arsed to move from in front of the aforementioned cosy fire, my mind drifts instead to Halloween traditions – thank you, ADHD… 🤣

One tradition that’s always fascinated me is the old custom of the dumb supper – not “dumb” as in foolish, but “dumb” as in silent. A feast held without a word, for the benefit of the dead, or for those impatiently hoping to see a glimpse of their future beloved. It sounds quaintly Victorian now, but it’s far older than that, woven through the folklore of the British Isles and carried across the Atlantic by settlers who clung to their fireside customs as tightly as they clutched their faith.

Imagine the scene:

a creaking farmhouse, candles guttering, girls in white aprons moving quietly about the kitchen as the clock ticks towards midnight, each glance towards the empty chair at the table betraying both fear and excitement…

The dumb supper was first recorded in Britain and later in the rural backwaters of America in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee… wherever old beliefs travelled and refused to die. Folklorist Wayland D. Hand, who compiled hundreds of accounts in the Frank C. Brown Collection, found the same ritual turning up again and again, told by grandmothers and farmers’ wives alike.

In these stories, young women would prepare a simple meal in total silence, setting a place for an unseen guest. The table might be laid backwards, dessert served first, chairs turned the wrong way round in a deliberate inversion of the everyday world, because, as folklore insists, when things are reversed the veil between worlds grows thin.

Speak a word and the spell is broken.

Remain silent and, so they said, a spirit, often the shade of a future husband, might appear and take his seat at the table.

Of course, some versions were far darker. In certain corners of the countryside, the supper was said to summon not a lover but a ghostly procession, or even a coffin carried by invisible hands… a vision of one’s own death if the ritual was done improperly.

In the Victorian imagination, these warnings blossomed into the stuff of parlour horror. A few unlucky souls were said to faint dead away when a shadow really did appear in the empty chair, or when the candle flame flared blue at the stroke of midnight. More likely, some lad from the village had been hiding in the scullery, waiting for the right moment to give the girls a fright. Of course that never stopped the story spreading and growing each time it was told.

By the twentieth century, the dumb supper had shifted from love-divination to ancestor worship, adopted by spiritualists and later by modern pagans as part of their Samhain observances. It became less about summoning and more about remembering.

Today, many people still set an extra place at the table on Halloween night, laying out bread, wine, or a favourite meal for those who have gone before, and eating in silence as a mark of respect. In this quieter form, the supper feels both eerie and tender. A recognition that the dead are never very far away.

As the folklore writer on Atlas Obscura put it, it’s a meal where “the living eat with the dead,” each side acknowledging the other for a brief, candlelit hour.

It’s easy to see why the tradition persists. There’s something hauntingly beautiful about the idea of eating in silence, listening to the pop of the fire and the sigh of the wind outside, imagining that those we’ve lost might be sitting beside us for one last meal. In the hush, you might hear a familiar creak, a whisper, or the faint scrape of a chair leg. Nothing more than the house settling, perhaps, but enough to raise the hairs on your neck.

And yet, beyond the spookiness, there’s comfort in it. The dumb supper reminds us that death isn’t an ending, just a change of state. That love, like the candle flame, flickers but doesn’t go out. Whether you see it as witchcraft, folklore, or simply an act of remembrance, it’s one of those old customs that manages to feel both unsettling and profoundly human.

So, as the fire crackles and the pumpkin sits uncarved on the hearth, I’m tempted to try it myself this Samhain. Perhaps I’ll lay an extra place – a glass of bourbon, a slice of homemade cake, maybe a few of those cocktail sausages Nathaniel from Forever 26 was so obsessed with – and just sit for a while in the quiet. No phone, no music, no chatter. Just the silence, and whoever might choose to join me.

After all, as every good witch knows, the dead appreciate good manners – and a proper supper served with respect.

#ancestorVeneration #BritishWitchcraft #DerbyshireFolklore #dumbSupper #folkloreHistory #ghostStories #HalloweenTraditions #Samhain

I'm excited to report that The Wild Hunt has published my essay on ancestor veneration.

https://wildhunt.org/2025/10/ancestors-always-luck-lineage-and-living-memory.html

I come from a naturalistic, Gaian perspective. I hope y'all might find it useful or at least amusing.

#AncestorVeneration #WildHunt #Gaia #Pagan

[Opinion] Just as sane people don’t need to embrace the insanity of the Trumpies, Heathens of positive intent don’t need to take on any of the awfulness of the neo-völkisch haters and their ilk. We can make empathy a central point of what we believe and what we practice.

https://wildhunt.org/2025/03/opinion-elon-musk-and-the-theology-of-empathy.html

#empathy #elonmusk #ancestorveneration #Antisemitism #asatru #blot #birthrightcitizenship #climatechange #doge #pagan #14words

There is a question that I’ve asked myself sometimes and that I haven’t had an answer to for a long time: What do I get from working with the ancestors? From all the spirits and all the entities that I could work with – the deities, the fae, spirits of the land, egregores – why should I work with the departed specifically?

https://wildhunt.org/2024/09/why-should-i-work-with-the-ancestors.html

#ancestors #ancestorveneration #personalmagic #pagan

China’s burial policy requiring mandatory cremation sparked protests in one city, where some see it as an attack on ancestor veneration and traditional folk religion.

https://wildhunt.org/2024/05/chinese-protestors-say-cemetery-policy-an-attack-on-ancestor-veneration.html

#Guangshui #burial #death #ancestorveneration #cemetery #burialpractices #folkreligion

Does anyone's spiritual practice incorporate an eternal or long-burning flame at home? How do you handle that? Candle? Oil lamp? Electric? Pictorial or sculptural representation? Viewing a pilot light or similar as a stand-in?

What drew you to that choice? Apartments? Pets? Kids? General concern about fire risk?

#altar #shrine #judaism #zoroastrianism #hinduism #buddhism #taoism #Brigid #paganism #polytheism #ancestorVeneration #ritual