%0 Book Section
%T Functions of sculpture in Dogon religion
%A Beek, W. E. A. van
%B African arts
%D 1988
%V Vol. 21
%N no. 4
%I African Studies Center, University of California
%C Los Angeles
%@ 0001-9933
%G English
%F fa16-027
%O Walter E. A. van Beek
%O copied at SML  9/29/98; pages: 10 ; to analysis 12/98; analysis completed 1/27/99; 10 text pages (30 columns).
%O Includes bibliographical references (p. 91)
%X This article is a discussion of the religious function of Dogon statues. The statues have a public and private use. Publically, they are found alongside most altars, where they  act as a supernatural antenna, transmitting invocations and offerings to the gods and ancestors, and receiving in turn supernatural forces. Privately, any individual can make a statue to request divine aid in family matters. The statues are used again and again and grow in their power, which also makes them more dangerous. They fall out of use when the person who made them dies. Having lost their power they are then sold to the tourist trade.
%K Dogons (African people)
%K Dogon
%K Visual arts
%K Sorcery
%K Spirits and gods
%K Sacred objects and places
%K Prayers and sacrifices
%U https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=fa16-027
%P 59-65, 91
%[ 2022-06-30