Four-headed anthropomorphic figure

The Dogon believe that every child that comes into the world is an incarnation (nanie) of an ancestor. The word nanie refers both to a deceased ancestor (nanie die - old nanie) and the child who is his incarnation (nanie dagi - little nanie).The first mythical nanie was a child born after the death of Dyungo Seru who transformed into a snake. The body of the baby was red and covered with spots just like the skin of a snake and after numerous consultations with fortune-tellers it turned out that it was an incarnation of the deceased first ancestor. Most often the reincarnation of a child is a relative who died before the child was born. Sometimes an ancestor who haunts the mother in a dream is considered nanie, and in other cases that are difficult to determine, the family turns to a diviner for help. Every person is an incarnation of one of his ancestors. The peculiar journey of souls always follows a certain order: women are nanie of female ancestors and men of male ancestors. The Dogon believe that the nanie of ancestors is multiplying nowadays and one deceased relative can have several living incarnations even in one generation. The Dogon believe that along with nanie the child also inherits the character of the deceased and their destiny. If the deceased performed some important function, the child will be the best candidate to take over (as an adult) the same role. The idea of nanie reinforces the relationship that exists between the child and the ancestor. They have duties towards each other. The living one owes homage to the deceased and the ancestor takes care of his living incarnation.The Dogon believe that the wandering of souls applies to all people. When a few months after the death of Marcel Griaule, a French anthropologist who spent many years among the Dogon, his grandson François-Marcel was born, the inhabitants of the Bandiagara Escarpment had no doubt that the child was an incarnation of his grandfather. The belief in nanie among the Dogon is still alive even among the followers of Islam.

Ewa Prądzyńska