Observations placeholder
Ogotemmeli - Ostriches, the Egg and teeth
Identifier
004916
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
The ostrich is symbolically the same as the Egg
A description of the experience
Conversations with Ogotommeli (An Introduction to Dogon Religious ideas) – Professor Marcel Griaule
A prominent feature is a serpent who, in Sanga, is the seventh ancestor. He is often depicted as a wavy line, indicating the movement of water, which is also very commonly seen in the form of vertical zigzag lines representing the course of …. streams as well as the way in which the Nummo falls onto the earth from heaven in the form of rain. And this movement may sometimes be suggested by the picture of an ostrich, whose body, shown by concentric circles is marked with chevrons, and whose zigzag course, when pursued, is unlike that of any other winged creature of the plain
Zigzag lines also appear in the form of vertical registers containing saw teeth in single or double series with the points opposite each other, giving the whole design the appearance of a stack of hour glasses