Figure -  four ancestors

Dogon art is created primarily for religious purposes. According to their mythology, the creator of the universe is the god Amma, but the inhabitants of the Bandiagara Escarpment pay little attention to him, concentrating instead on the various ancestors who are intermediaries between the living and the ultimate forces of the universe. It is with them that most of the Dogon rituals are associated. Among the ancestors, several categories can be distinguished. One is the various binu, or immortal ancestors from a time when there was no death on earth. The next group, the most numerous, are the deceased members of all the families called wagem, which translates as those who are far away. Last, although they appeared first in the world, are the four pairs of perfect twins created by Amma. Only the names of the male twins have survived in oral tradition: Binu Seru, Amma Seru, Lebe Seru and Dyungo Seru. According to the Dogon, all humanity is descended from them. Lebe Seru was the first to experience death. His name is also the name of an important cult of the Dogon, dealing mainly with agriculture and plant vegetation. According to one of the Dogon myths, after Lebe Seru's death, his descendants decided to move to a completely different area. They decided to take the remains of their ancestor with them, so they dug his grave, but instead of the expected bones, they found a living snake, i. e. a proof of Lebe's regenerative powers. They took the soil from his grave with them and in each new village they used it to build an altar. The priests of the cult of Lebe are Hogons who also serve as political leaders. One of the main rituals in this cult is the bulo festival celebrated each year before the fieldwork begins. Prepared in the village, it requires close cooperation between the Hogon - the priest of the Lebe cult and Binukedine - the priest of the cult of the binu immortal ancestors.

Ewa Prądzyńska