User:Senegambianamestudy/sandbox3

Amma (deity)

Amma or Ama in the single omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent Creator deity in the Dogon religion, the traditional religious belief of the Dogon people of Mali.

"Dogon religion is complex, and is summarised by van Beck (1988). The head of the Dogon triumvirate is Ama or Amma, the sky god, the others being Nomo, the water god, and Lewe or Lebe, the earth god. Sacrifices and rituals are primarily directed towards Ama, though carved figurines are also produced, which are "representations of the living" (van Beck 1988: 60).  However, these too serve as mediators with Ama - in helping in solving problems, for instance.  Divination is also a key feature of Dogon religion, as are masked dances (figure. 7.5). The complex Dogon cosmology is made materially manifest in village and house form.  The Dogon house, for example, is described by Zahan (1970 : 71) as representing "a human being stretched out on his right, his procreative side, a position which is equally that of the man on the conjugal bed and of the corpse in the tombs." Interestingly, the Dogon are converting to Islam and mosques are now a feature of many Dogon villages."