Creation of the Moon
Updated July 31, 2023
 New MoonBy NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Flickr: New Moon, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31632417 |
According to the Dogon, our Moon formed as a result of a scientist, known as Ogo, drilling a hole into a Sun to take a sample from it. Ogo had planned to create a Solar System of his own but instead his theft caused all kinds of irreversible problems. This sample was referred to as "stolen fire" in the Dogon religion and Ogo was mocked for trying to equal Amma (God). The Universe (Amma or God) reacted in a way that was unexpected forming the Moon and making changes in the Solar System causing us to lose our second Sun.
A “New Moon” corresponded to the moment of the theft and images of New Moons became symbols of this tragic event. New Moons were called olo "dark", which was a "time of troubles and death." Before this experiemnt, when we had Twin Suns, the Dogon said we were immortal, androgynous beings. After this experiment, humans lost their immortality and were born single-sexed beings.
"By the modern definition, a New Moon occurs when the Moon and Sun are at the same geocentric ecliptic longitude. The part of the Moon facing us is completely in shadow then." The picture above is the "traditional New Moon, the earliest visible waxing crescent, which signals the start of a new month in many lunar and lunisolar calendars."By NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Flickr: New Moon, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31632417
The two stars (the Sun and the Moon) were the celestial evidence of the placenta of Ogo. These heavenly bodies were represented on the facades of the totemic sanctuaries: “The drawings of the Sun and Moon (drawn) on the sanctuary of the binu marked the placenta of Ogo.” ie pilu-le nay-le binu-ne tonu ogo me yalayDorey, The Rose: Dogon Star Knowledge 2022 Version, p. 104
 Supermoon Lincoln Memorial by Bill InglissSupermoon Lincoln Memorial 2011, By Bill Ingalls - https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/2411/2011-supermoon-over-lincoln-memorial/ |
Because a Full Moon reflects the most sunlight, the Dogon considered it a good omen and a symbol of our second Sun. It was associated with the saviour in the mythology known as the Mistress of Speech. The Dogon believed the Moon increased in size when the Mistress of Speech breathed and opened her mouth to speak. Because there were twelve Full Moons, she was believed to have made twelve “speeches” per year, which represented all the “Words” addressed to all the beings in the Universe. An association was made between the phases of the Moon and the round opening of her mouth. Her "Words" were believed to be at their most powerful and helped humans the most during a Full Moon.
A Full Supermoon, or a Full Moon around perigee, as astronomers call it, would have been even more significant. Perigee is the point at which the Moon is closest in its orbit to the Earth resulting in a visually larger sized moon. Two Supermoons will appear in August on the 1st and 31st. Having two Supermoons the same month would have been especially significant for the Dogon since duality was an important part of their religion.
 Dogon Rabbit Mask ©R. Hill Quai Branley Museum Paris by Robert Hill 2005 |
The rectangle of the Dogon Rabbit Mask dommo, represented the damage caused by Ogo. The two parts of the rabbit’s ears recalled the separation of the Twin Suns. The right side identified with our remaining Sun and the Yéban (Nummo), was untouched and safe but the left side, identified with the Moon and the first human Andoumboulou, represented death and mortality. The red dots sprinkled over the face of the Rabbit Mask was the Po Banu, “red fonio”, which represented the damaged seeds or stars that would subsequently be created because of Ogo's deeds.Dorey, The Rose: Dogon Star Knowledge 2022 Version, p. 105
Mexicans have similar Sun and Moon stories, which I refer to in The Rose: Dogon Star Knowledge. According to Mary E. Gutierrez, central Mexicans believed that
the Moon and the Sun were created at the same time. Their creation took place at the central Mexican city of Teotihuacan at the dawn of the current cycle of cosmic creation. Two Gods, Tecuciztecatl and Nanahuatzin threw themselves into the fires of creation and turned into two Suns. But the Gods who had assembled for this great event threw a rabbit into the face of Tecuciztecatl, thus dimming his brilliance so he became the Moon.
According to the Maya creation story, the Popol Vuh, there were hero twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque. One twin became the Sun and the other the planet Venus, though in another version one became the Sun and the other the Moon. Venus is important in the Dogon religion and along with the Moon was a symbol of Ogo (Jackal).
Along with many other indigenous Peoples, the Maya believed the rabbit's profile could be seen on the surface of the Full Moon, which I believe is associated with the Dogon story about the Rabbit Mask.Dorey, The Rose: Dogon Star Knowledge 2022 Version, pp. 107-108
 Maya Moon GoddessBy unknown Maya artist - Museum of Fine Arts Boston MA 1988.1282, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8309834 |
This depiction shows the Maya Moon Goddess (Ixchel) holding the Moon Rabbit. If this were found in the Dogon relgion, this goddess would symbolize the Sun, and the Mistress of Speech. She represented a Red Giant star that the Dogon viewed as a pregnant Sun and the creation and regeneration of the Universe. Red Giant stars are in fact responsible for creating and regenerating life in the Universe. The rabbit would symbolize the Moon, Ogo, the Jackal and humans.
 Maya Moon GoddessBy unknown Maya artist - Francis Robicsek: The Maya Book of the Dead. The Ceramic Codex, University of Virginia Art Museum (1981)., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8309899 |
I find this image of the Moon Goddess from the Maya Book of the Dead particularly interesting because it shows her with a lizard-like tail. The Nummo, the Mistress of Speech and Lébé, the three mothers of humanity and the Universe, were associated with fish, serpents and lizards. Not only was she goddess of medicine but she was often depicted with a serpent on her head. She had four symbols in four different colors: red, white, black, and yellow, which were associated with the four segments of the Universe.https://yucatantoday.com/en/maya-goddess-ixchel In the Dogon religion, these colours symbolized the different stages of Suns including a Black Hole, a White Dwarf, a Red Giant and a Main Sequence Sun.
 White Hare and DragonBy An artist from the Qing emperors' court - An 18th-century embroidered Chinese emperor's robe. Reproduced in: Anthony Christie, "Chinese Mythology", 1983, p. 63,, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8988906 |
The Chinese believed that a white rabbit or hare lived on the Moon as is shown on this 18th century embroidery of a Qing Emperor's robe. It depicts a Chinese dragon and a medallion above showing the white hare on the Moon at the foot of a cassia tree making the elixir of immortality.
"Han Dynasty poets called the hare on the Moon the 'Jade Hare' or the 'Gold Hare', and these phrases were used often in place of the word for the Moon. A famous poet of Tang China, Li Bai, relates how "The rabbit in the moon pounds the medicine in vain" in his poem, "The Old Dust".https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit
My research associates the Chinese dragon with the Nummo. I believe that the dragon on this embroidery symbolizes the Sun just as the Nummo did in the Dogon religion. Dorey, The Rose p. 284
 Orion and Constellation LepusDorey, The Rose: Dogon Star Knowledge 2022 Version, p. 143 |
The spotted rabbit appears in Folio 58v of Orion the Hunter of the Medieval Constellation Manuscript the Leiden Aratea, circa 830 and 840. In the depiction shown above, the Constellation Lepus (Hare) appears spotted as it sits below the Constellation Orion. Orion the hunter holds a stick that looks like the the Robber’s Crook, which was identified with the device Ogo used to steal the stolen piece of Sun. Orion appears with winged sandals associating him with Hermes, the Greek god of thieves, who also had winged sandals.
Sometimes Lepus is depicted as a rabbit being hunted by Orion’s hunting dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor) and other times Lepus is identified as the Moon Rabbit. I believe that Orion the hunter is being associated with Ogo, as the hunter and thief in Amma’s womb, and known to the Dogon, as the “hunting Fox.” Over his arm is draped an animal skin. This is important because skin flaying is associated with the damaged Sun and likewise appears in Maya mythology and elsewhere. Refer to my blog on Flaying and Venus.Dorey, The Rose: Dogon Star Knowledge 2022 Version, p. 143
I believe that the importance of the rabbit with the Moon and our lost Sun is how the rabbit originally became associated with Easter. Old English Eostre continues into modern English as Easter and derives from Proto-Germanic *austron meaning 'dawn', itself a descendent of the Proto-Indo-European root *aus-, meaning 'to shine'. Theories, which connect Eostre with Germanic Easter customs, including hares and eggs, are probably accurate.Dorey, The Rose p. 377
These Easter celebrations were likely about the return of our second Sun. The star Spica in the Constellation Virgo was celebrated during the Easter celebrations. The Constellation Virgo is the largest constellation of the zodiac, and Spica (Alpha Virginis), is a Blue Giant and the brightest star in the constellation. "The luminosity class matches the spectrum of a star that is midway between a subgiant and a giant star, and it is no longer a B-type main-sequence star. It is the nearest star to the Sun that has enough mass to end its life in a Type II supernova explosion." A Type II supernova (plural: supernovae or supernovas) results from the rapid collapse and violent explosion of a massive star.Dorey, The Rose p. 256
Like Jesus in Christianity, the Mistress of Speech, was the sacrificial figure in the Dogon religion. She was symbolized by a giant star that explodes to both regenerate and give birth to new worlds. Unlike Jesus, who was symbolized by the fish, she actually had a human upper body and a fish tailed lower body.Dorey, The Rose p. 271 Her sacrificed skull was called Dana, which was the Dogon name for the planet Jupiter, which may have some association with our lost Sun.Dorey, The Rose p. 284
For more information on the Dogon religion refer to my books, The Master (Mistress) of Speech, The Nummo, Day of the Fish and The Rose.