AMMA
allyCosmic creator
Amma is the supreme creator god of the religion of the Dogon, a people of Mali settled along the Bandiagara escarpment. According to the cosmogony collected by Marcel Griaule in his conversations with the blind hunter Ogotemmêli, then developed in Le renard pâle with Germaine Dieterlen, Amma conceives the universe from a world egg containing the seeds of all things. He begets the Nommo, twin water spirits who organise the creation, while the rupture caused by the Pale Fox, Yurugu, introduces disorder into the world and makes necessary the rites of repair, among them those bound to the ancestor Lébé. A distant and invisible god, Amma nevertheless receives daily worship: prayers, libations and sacrifices on altars that bear his name, under the religious authority of the Hogon. These narratives must however be approached with caution: Griaule's ethnography has been questioned, notably by Walter van Beek, whose field restudy published in 1991 did not find among the Dogon the elaborate cosmogony of the books, suggesting that it owes much to the dialogue between the ethnographer and his informants. The centrality of Amma — a creator invoked in prayer and honoured on the altars — remains, by contrast, solidly attested in Dogon religious practice.
Powers & Attributes
Role in the ROHO universe
A fragment of Onionkupón's Breath, bound to one of the five elements of the cosmic balance.
Sacred Mask
A mask carved of ancient energy — a symbol of the cosmic force proper to its pantheon.
Era
3,000–1,000 BCE — Cycle of Elemental Powers
Spiritual Lesson
To understand the nature of one's own balance and the wisdom hidden behind every trial.
Words of the Spirit
“Before the first word, there was already the breath.”
Frequently asked questions
Who is Amma?
Amma is the supreme creator god of the religion of the Dogon of Mali. An invisible and distant deity, he is the origin of the universe and of life. The Dogon invoke him in their daily prayers and dedicate altars to him, under the religious authority of the Hogon. His name opens many blessings and ritual formulas of Dogon country.
How did Amma create the world according to the Dogon cosmogony?
According to the narratives collected by Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen, Amma conceives the world from a cosmic egg containing the seeds of all things. He begets the Nommo, twin water spirits charged with organising the creation, while the Pale Fox, Yurugu, born of a premature rupture, introduces disorder. This original imbalance explains, in these narratives, the necessity of the Dogon rites.
Are the accounts of Amma reported by Griaule reliable?
They are debated. The anthropologist Walter van Beek, after a long field inquiry published in 1991, did not find among the Dogon the detailed cosmogony of Griaule's books, which may partly reflect the dialogue between the ethnographer and his informants. Amma's place as creator god, invoked in prayer and honoured on the altars, is on the other hand confirmed by all researchers.
Related spirits
Sources and references
- Marcel Griaule, Dieu d'eau: Entretiens avec Ogotemmêli (1948)
- Marcel Griaule et Germaine Dieterlen, Le renard pâle (1965)
- Walter E. A. van Beek, Dogon Restudied: A Field Evaluation of the Work of Marcel Griaule (Current Anthropology) (1991)