The Pale Fox [Paperback]

M. Griaule (Author), G. Dieterlen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1986 | ISBN-10: 0939118025 | ISBN-13: 978-0939118021 | Edition: First English language edition

Author: M. Griaule and G. Dieterlen - This is an important book in Dogon studies, because it was written by two of the pioneering anthropologists in the field. It focusses on a Dogon cosmology, a complex creation

Product Details

• Paperback: 550 pages
• Publisher: Afrikan World Book Distributor; First English language edition edition (December 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0939118025
• ISBN-13: 978-0939118021
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,641,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You can't be Sirius!, July 20, 2010

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E. Worth (Melbourne, Aus) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Pale Fox (Paperback) (Paperback)

I imagine most people buying this book will skim through looking for the "juicy bits" - the von Daniken-style speculations on ancient science - which are mostly found in Chapter 5. Marcel Griaule was really the Erich von Daniken of his day, who was determined to find evidence of sophisticated knowledge in Dogon cosmology and of course found it. His contentious theory, which continues to spawn its own mythology to this day, especially through the even more fabulous speculations of Robert Temple, revolves around the Dogon veneration for the Sun at the moment of its rising and for the two planetary bodies which accompany it.

Simply stated, the Dogon describe the different positions that Venus adopts in relation to the rising sun and give each a different name. Mercury is said to be much smaller than Venus - indeed, the smallest object in the sky - but to be much heavier, since it never appears higher than the horizon, as though it is too heavy to rise any higher. Mercury is also linked to the Dogon's most sacred grain, the 'po' ('fonio' or Digitaria), presumably because of its small size. Griaule's breakthrough came when he realized that this system had similarities to the Sirius system which he had just been reading about: If we imagine the Sun to be equivalent to Sirius, then Mercury could be thought of as equivalent to Sirius B, the dark companion of Sirius A. Sirius B is a dwarf star, very small (like Mercury), very heavy (like Mercury), and invisible, as Mercury usually is (the Dogon claim that Mercury is occasionally visible, which Griaule explained on the assumption that the Dogon had seen it when it was in supernova mode). This left Venus, but astronomers had speculated on the existence of a third member of the Sirius system, so even this could be accounted for.

Griaule went further than this, however, and decided that other references in the same context could be understood as oblique descriptions of other invisible features of celestial objects: The halo around the Moon could be a hidden reference to the ring around Saturn, while a diagram of the Sun with Venus shown in its four positions could be understood as a picture of Jupiter with its four moons. (The original diagram detailing the system can be found on page 348.)

It was Robert Temple who first began the myth that the Dogon themselves had revealed this 'secret' information to Griaule after deciding that he was ready to be initiated into their highest mysteries (or after deciding that the time had come to reveal their devastating secret to the world, in a later version), a myth which resulted from the publication of another book, Conversations with Ogotemmêli: An Introduction to Dogon Religious Ideas (Galaxy Books), a description of certain religious ideas imparted to Griaule by a Dogon elder. This book however contains none of the references to 'Sirius' which have made the Dogon famous and Griaule himself did not pretend that the Sirius interpretion was anything other than his own speculation. The error seems to have come about because neither book had appeared in English at the time Temple wrote his own bestseller, so Temple was largely making it up as he went along.

Chapter 5 aside, the rest of the information in this very lengthy book seems to be largely as told to the anthropologists by the Dogon - the original words being provided for those who are familiar with the Dogon language. Beware however that the translation often goes well beyond the original words. Griaule and Dieterlen render 'ganna' by 'space' when it really means 'the created world' and 'minne' by 'Earth' when it has the literal sense 'earth, soil, or field'. Descriptions of the 'minne' being disturbed by the Fox's paws (when it walks on the divination table drawn in the sand) therefore come out as the 'Earth moving on its axis', and 'the four corners of the earth' become 'the four dimensions of space'. In this respect 'The Pale Fox' is very much a product of its time, written as it was in the era of George Adamski. It is the 'creative' translations of Griaule and Dieterlen that have inspired much of the mystery and fascination surrounding the Dogon.

'The Pale Fox' is therefore a flawed work, but if you read between the lines and take the authors' eccentricities into account, you may still discern some of the Dogon's actual beliefs lurking shyly beneath the surface.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Incredible Book, June 27, 2010

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uncletwinkie (CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Pale Fox (Paperback) (Paperback)

I am astounded that, given the wild popularity of The Sirius Mystery, which is allegedly based on this book, The Pale Fox has received no reviews. With all of the New Age industry The Sirius Mystery has generated, has no one bothered to check the source and make a comment or two? Lest the spell be broken, dare anyone say that Temple took scandalous liberties with The Pale Fox, even to the extent of making claims on behalf of the Dogon that exist nowhere in this book -? This thunderous silence is understandable I guess, when you want to believe, want to believe, and have every reason to believe - until you check the facts, and then it's too disappointing.
Personally, given the breathless liberties Temple makes throughout The Sirius Mystery, I wasn't surprised by his ultimate liberty - only disgusted. But I was surprised, unhinged, dismayed to eventually learn that Marcel Griaule himself was a fabricator. He has been thoroughly discredited for his later work, which includes this volume. The Dutch anthropologist, Walter E. A. van Beek, spent ten years among the Dogon and was unable to substantiate anything claimed in The Pale Fox. (See his "Dogon Restudied," Current Anthropology, Vol. 32, No. 2, April 1991.)
And yet, I love this book! It's thick & thorny, and very demanding of the reader's attention. But it is oddly beautiful; a terribly intricate handbook of creation - so much about seeds and stars and symbols, and the step-by-step unfurling of life in all its careful complexity. The scenario is very foreign and yet strangely real. It's hard for me to imagine that Griaule could have concocted such an elaborate, amazing account (560 pages with numerous diagrams), but if it is sheer fiction it's a wonder in itself and probably the most fabulous fairy tale ever written.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Pale Fox reviewed, February 27, 2011

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dwayne - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Pale Fox (Paperback)

This book is very good. The authors put together a very clear, detailed master piece. If you are interested in the Dogon Tribe. "The Pale Fox" is a must for anyones book shelves.

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