Nommo
Nommo AfricaThe model of creation in Dogon cosmology. Amma, the supreme deity, appears to have created a cosmic egg, which was divided into two twin placenta, each with a pair of twin nommo, emanations of the godhead. These sons of god, after the twenty years of creative gestation had passed, became involved in worldly affairs, such as agriculture and war. The development of each person follows the underlying nommo principle. Hence the new-born baby is the head of nommo; as a herd-boy he is its chest; at betrothal he is the feet; at marriage he manifests the arms; while on initiation into adulthood he becomes ‘the complete nommo’. For some unknown reason the Dogon say that the starting of creation was ‘the star which revolves round Sirius’, citing as proof its heaviness, the weight of ‘the germ of all things’. The Fon, another West African people, have a similar creation myth in that Mawu, their supreme deity, is helped in ordering the world...
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