Title: The Flying African

Caption: Throughout the United States, and especially along the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina, stories persist to this day of enslaved Africans who escaped bondage by taking flight and returning to their African homelands. Hypotheses persist as to the origin of this myth, but many point to the 1803 slave rebellion known as Igbo Landing on St. Simons Island in Georgia, where a group of enslaved Igbo people walked into a creek drowning themselves rather than being reenslaved. As they entered the water, they chanted, “The Water Spirit brought us, the Water Spirit will take us home,” and were thus transported to the primordial blackness from which everything emerged.

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Title: Mgbakwocha (Grand Lady of the Mysteries)

Caption: At the beginning of the universe, all was one in the blackness of space. Eke- Nnechukwu, the feminine polarity of the Igbo Primordial Androgynous Deity, manifests Herself as Mgbakwocha. She is the Grand Lady of the Mysteries of creation, which She holds in the blackness of Her Divine Mystic Eye.

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Title: Chukwu's Dance (Entering His Chamber)

Caption: According to the Odachi Nne-Ebere cosmogony of the Igbo people, Obi Mbu (the primordial house) was the first structure of the universe. In perfect architectural alignment at the center of it stood a pillared chamber (Ozi-Obi-Chukwu). At the beginning of time, Chukwu, the masculine polarity of the Igbo Primordial Androgynous Deity, suavely dances His way in and out of this mystical chamber, entering with His back and coming out with His back turned to all and sundry. Chukwu’s dancing in and out of the chamber piques the curiosity of His feminine counterpart Eke-Nnechukwu, which sets off a chain of irrevocable circumstances that lead to our current world and condition.

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Title: Chukwu's Dance (Exiting His Chamber)

Caption: According to the Odachi Nne-Ebere cosmogony of the Igbo people, Obi Mbu (the primordial house) was the first structure of the universe. In perfect architectural alignment at the center of it stood a pillared chamber (Ozi-Obi-Chukwu). At the beginning of time, Chukwu, the masculine polarity of the Igbo Primordial Androgynous Deity, suavely dances His way in and out of this mystical chamber, entering with His back and coming out with His back turned to all and sundry. Chukwu’s dancing in and out of the chamber piques the curiosity of His feminine counterpart Eke-Nnechukwu, which sets off a chain of irrevocable circumstances that lead to our current world and condition.

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Title: Nne-Nwanyi-Isi-Ajata (Lady of the Long Flowing Dreadlocks)

Caption: At the beginning of the universe, Eke-Nnechukwu, the feminine polarity of the Primordial Androgynous Blackness of space, manifests in many forms.Here, She is Nne-Nwanyi-Isi-Ajata, the Lady of the Long Flowing Dreadlocks, also known as the Lady of the Morning Star and Venus. She was the sourceless ocean of dawn and births, and her waist beads prefigure the birth of the cosmos and emergence of life. Her masculine counterpart Chukwu has a secret chamber into which He has disappeared, and She plots to enter it.

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Title: Ofu-Obi-Metere-Oha-Mma (Lady of the Largest Heart, The One Whose Compassion Touches All)

Caption: At the beginning of the universe, Eke-Nnechukwu, the feminine polarity of the Primordial Androgynous Blackness underlying all things, manifests in many forms. Here, She is Ofu-Obi-Metere-Oha-Mma, the Lady of the Largest Heart. With Her heart illuminated, She makes the decision to enter into the secret chamber of Chukwu. This event ignites an explosion which will shatter the primordial world and martyr Her, while opening a space for the emergence of the cosmos.

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Title: The Martyrdom of Eke-Nnechukwu

Caption: According to the Odachi Nne Ebere cosmogony of the Igbo people, the universe originated in the constellation of Sirius. Chukwu, the Igbo high god, and His feminine counterpart Eke-Nnechukwu existed in perfect unity in the primordial blackness of space there until Chukwu sectioned off apart of space exclusively for Himself. Overcome by excruciating curiosity, Eke-Nnechukwu entered the space, and as she does, an explosion rips through the fabric of the universe, martyring her in the process. After the explosion, Chukwu discovers her body and begins to weep.

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Title: Chukwu’s Grief

Caption: According to the Odachi Nne Ebere cosmogony of the Igbo people, the universe originated in the constellation of Sirius. Chukwu, the Igbo high god, and His feminine counterpart Eke-Nnechukwu existed in perfect unity in the primordial blackness of space there until Chukwu sectioned off a part of space exclusively for Himself. Overcome by excruciating curiosity, Eke-Nnechukwu entered the space, and as she does, an explosion rips through the fabric of the universe, martyring her in the process. After the explosion, Chukwu discovers her body and begins to weep.

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Title: The Resurrection of Eke-Nnechukwu

Caption: After Eke-Nnechukwu, the feminine polarity of the universe, was martyred in an explosion at the birth of the universe, Chukwu, Her masculine double, found Her body and began to weep over Her corpse in devastation. As He cries, His divine tears rain down upon Her, and in one miraculous moment, His tears suddenly bring Her back to life, purifying Her in the process as well. As Eke-Nnechukwu rises from the dead, Her feet hold the memory of Her attempt to enter Chukwu’s chamber prior to the explosion and Her hands hold Her primal act of spinning the universe into existence.

The cosmos and physical universe, which we experience today, incarnate on Her body as Chukwu watches.

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Title: Komosu (Body of the Goddess)

Caption: Following the shattering of the primordial world in the Igbo Odachi Nne Ebere mythical account, the Igbo high god Chukwu finds the martyred body of His feminine double Eke-Nnechukwu and brings Her back to life with His tears. As Eke-Nnechukwu rises from the dead, the cosmos and physical universe are born on Her body as She assumes the form of Komosu. Revived, Komosu takes up residence in Her own cosmic house known as Mkpuke, where She balances the entirety of the physical universe on Her body, Her name being a derivative of Koro-ma-ya-su, Komo-osu/Aru Uso/Ana Uso (body of the goddess).

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Title: Chukwu's Retreat From the World

Caption: Chukwu, the masculine polarity of the Igbo Primordial Androgynous Deity, never fully recovers from the traumatic shock of the death and resurrection of His feminine counterpart Eke-Nnechukwu. Discerning the inevitable shortcomings from the new existential state that arrives after the shattering of the First World, Chukwu decides to leave the physical universe behind, return to His solitary pillared chamber (Ozi-Obi- Chukwu), and lock the Door of Mercy (Uzo Ogo) behind Himself.

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Title: Alawuala (The Land Which Is the Ultimate Earth)

Caption: Alawuala is the Earth Goddess in Igbo cosmology, and Her name translates literally as “the land which is the ultimate earth.” She incarnates the spiritual principles of the primordial Igbo High God Eke-Nnechukwu. With Her connection to the primordial feminine, Alawuala prescribes the universal laws of existence which transcend all life, Nso Ala (Laws of the Earth Goddess), and transmits them to humanity in the blackness of Her womb. Her layered waist beads speak to Her fecundity and control of fertility in all dimensions of life. Her sinuous pose prefigures Her zoomorphic terrestrial form as Eke- Nwe-Ohia, the sacred Igbo python.

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Title: Oku na Mmiri (Fire and Water)

Caption: A powerful Igbo axiom states that “mmadu bu oku na mmiri” (the enlightened one is a synthesis of fire and water). Fire and water are both cosmic elements that were born at the origin of the universe. The ancient Igbo divined that the human body incarnated the same fundamental elements found in the stars and that we host quantities of these elements in our physical forms.

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Title: Mmadu (The Enlightened One)

Caption: In Igbo, the word “mmadu”means “human being,” but it is a contraction of the words “mma” and “ndu,” which together literally mean the “beauty of life.” In this cosmology, the beauty of life is in becoming a fully realized, spiritually enlightened individual, an “enlightened one” who is deeply connected to and draws on the primordial blackness of the Igbo creator god Chukwu.

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Title: Be Chukwu (Divine Realm of the Creator)

Caption: According to the Igbo wisdom tradition, our Chi (or Highest Self) resides in the Primordial Androgynous Blackness of Be Chukwu, the Divine Realm of the Creator. Dreaming in perfect harmony with the Creator, our Chi’s “super-deep-sleep” gives rise to temporal experience as we know it. Our lives are these dreams, and when we die, our Chi awakes again in Be Chukwu.

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Title: The Vision of Innekouzou

Caption: Innekouzou Dolo was a celebrated Dogon diviner and Ammayana, “priestess of Amma.” Closing her eyes, she was adept at fusing the blackness of her inner imaginal worlds with the external blackness of outer space. Delving into the womb of Amma, she had visionary experiences and uncanny perceptions of stars and celestial bodies. In 1950, she shared with French anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen the weight, size, composition, and color of Sirius B, a star impossible to detect with the unaided human eye.

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Title: Amma's Womb

Caption: In Dogon cosmology, Amma is the Dogon personification of Primordial Androgynous Blackness. Prefigured signs within Amma encode all of the potentiality of the universe, from stellar bodies to the human fetus. In the utter blackness of Amma’s infinite womb, all beings await their gestation and form.

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Title: Amma Emerges From Their Womb

Caption: In Dogon myth, the universe emerges when Amma, the creator god, opens Their eyes. This act breaks the egg containing Amma’s womb, and in a spectacular moment of vibratory action, Amma emerges from Themself into utter blackness. The spiraling patterns on Their form and of Their movement prefigure the principle of motion that will make all life possible.

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Title: Amma Creates the World, Molding the Po

Caption: Opening Their eyes, Amma, the Dogon creator god, emerges from Their womb and creates the po seed first among Their creations. In the primordial blackness of space, Amma molds the po pilu in Their hands and places within it all of the signs of creation from Their infinite womb. The po is the image of the creator, and it remains invisible and inaudible as it spins between Amma’s hands, scattering particles of matter and the essence of creation.

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Title: Nommo Die (Great Nommo) and Nommo Titiyane (Messenger of the Nommo)

Caption: Amma, the Dogon personification of Primordial Androgynous Blackness, emanates eight spiritual figures called Nommo at the start of creation. They are androgynous, immortal, self-fertilizing, bisexual sets of twins who are the progenitors of humanity. The first two of these figures are Nommo Die, “Great Nommo,” who is the heavenly agent of Amma, and Nommo Titiyane, “Messenger of the Nommo,” who guards and protects Amma's spiritual principles. Together, They play a central role in the unfolding of the universe.

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Title: Nommo Semi, Guardian of Space

Caption: At the start of creation, the Dogon deity Amma emanates from Themself eight spiritual figures called Nommo, who are the androgynous, immortal, self-fertilizing, bisexual progenitors of humanity. Nommo Semi (The Sacrificed Nommo) is the third of this group, and They are sacrificed by Amma to purify the universe as atonement for the wicked deeds of Their twin Ogo. Planets and stars spool forth from Their blood. They are then resurrected and installed as the Guardian of Space.

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Title: The Fall of Ogo

Caption: Ogo is the fourth of the divine eight Nommo who are the progenitors of humanity, and he is the agent of disorder in Dogon myth. He rebels against Amma, the Dogon creator deity, and tears himself from Their primordial unity. Rampaging through the universe seeking his female twin, he descends to Earth, which he defiles, and then mounts two celestial journeys back to heaven to steal more of Amma’s spiritual principles. In his final journey to heaven, Ogo steals four souls from another Nommo. As punishment, he is mutilated, and he falls through space to Earth. Grasping for the filaments of Amma’s creation, Ogo loses his ability to return to heaven forever. On Earth, he is transformed into the Pale Fox.

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Title: O Nommo (Nommo of the Pond)

Caption: In Dogon cosmology, the third of the created divine Nommo was the Nommo Semi (Sacrificed Nommo), who was ritualistically sacrificed by Amma, the primordial Dogon creator God, to purify the universe following the wicked deeds of the Nommo Semi’s twin Ogo. After killing Them and creating the planets and stars with Their blood and body, Amma then resurrects Nommo Semi. Resurrected, Nommo Semi descends from the heavens in a celestial ark with humanity and all plants and animals. They land on Earth with Sirius shining aboveThem and exits with all living beings following Them. Nommo Semi then enters the first pond on Earth, where They take the form of O Nommo (Nommo of the Pond), and proliferates life and the cosmic principles of Amma on Earth.

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Title: Valu (Roan Antelope)

Caption: According to Dogon legend, humanity descended to Earth from the stars in a celestial ark with the divine Nommo Semi (Sacrificed Nommo) and all plants and animals. In the middle of the ark on a copper seat sat the resurrected Nommo Semi, accompanied by the Valu (Roan Antelope) and the Donu Bird. The Valu will be associated with the spiritual principles of the Nommo and is living testimony to Their sacrifice that purified and reorganized the universe.

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Title: The First Human Steps Foot on Earth

Caption: Developing within the Nommo’s ark during its descent to Earth from Sirius, the first human ancestors in Dogon cosmology begin to transform from their unarticulated form as Anagonna Bile and gain 7 articulations, mirroring the growth of the fetus in the womb. These first eight human ancestors will exit the Nommo’s ark (i.e. be born) in this form, and as they step foot on Earth, they gain 22 articulations and become “Inne” (persons). Inne represents the developed human being in Dogon cosmology. With these 22 articulations, the bodies of the first humans become complete, and they proceed to walk and breathe on earth, with their fish gills transformed into a form of terrestrial respiration. They carry their spiritual principles in their clavicles.

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Title: Demme Na (The Smith)

Caption: The Smith was an early human ancestor to descend from the heavens to Earth in Dogon cosmology. He slipped into the workshop of the Nommo, Heaven’s smiths, and stole a portion of the sun. He then fled, mounting a cosmic granary, flying on it to Earth, and carrying this burning piece of divine creation with him. This mass of live embers and white-hot iron is still used by human smiths today.

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Title: Go Sa (Sister of the Dance)

Caption: Go Sa, “Sister of the Dance,” is the twin sister of Amma Sérou and one of the Dogon eight divine human ancestors that descended to Earth from Amma’s womb. She serves as Amma’s first priestess on Earth, and her name alludes to the dances of Dogon women that represent fish swimming in water. In these dances, using successive steps, the women recall the formation of the fetus (a symbolic fish) and its swimming movements in the waters of the womb.

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Title: Ya Sa Dyongou

Caption: In Dogon cosmology, Ya Sa Dyongou is one of the eight divine human ancestors, four pairs of male-female twins from whom all of humanity descends that were molded in the womb of the androgynous Dogon Creator Amma. Having descended to Earth in a mystical ark from Amma with the sacred Nommo spirits, Ya Sa Dyongou is in charge of births, aids women in childbirth, and guides the fetus from the Blackness of the womb into terrestrial existence.

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Title: Lébé and His Articulations

Caption: In the Dogon system, Lébé was a descendant of the eighth Nommo (a group of androgynous, immortal, bisexual progenitors of humanity). The oldest human of his time, he was the first to die and be buried. Upon his internment, at the strike of the smith’s anvil, a serpent god descended into his tomb and swallowed his body whole. The god then expelled a massive torrent of water, regurgitating Lébé’s body into colorful stones that formed the outline of his body. The joints were important focal points and represented for the Dogon the most important parts of a human being, and there was a sacred number associated with each one.

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Title: Anagonno Alagala (Anagonno of the Sky)

Caption: The Anagonno Alagala is the final transformation of the human body that takes place after death in Dogon cosmology. When a person (inne) dies, they become an anagonno fish again. Complex funerary rites are held to regroup the deceased’s spiritual forces. After the deceased has completed their final responsibilities on Earth, they transform into Anagonno Alagala, “anagonno of the sky,”where their role is to assist and direct the living from that point onward.

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