Their carving is of great variety and interest, and much is known about the ancient myths to which the sculptures refer. Their creator god was AMMA and there were eight NOMMO who are regarded as his messengers and as incarnations of his life force. It was also the Nommo who became men.
The seventh NOMMO who became man was the HOGON or High Priest and was the smith and it was he who arrived on earth either in an ark or on horseback bringing important cultural materials and techniques. The myths tell of the god AMMA who created the earth from clay. The earth was feminine and the termite hill represented the clitoris. AMMA had intercourse with the earth who was an unwilling partner and from this union was born DYOUGOU and SEROU who in turn committed incest with his mother. Statues of these two often depict them with their hands over their eyes symbolizing shame over the act of incest. Because the initial act of creation had got off to such a bad start, AMMA decided to excise the earth’s clitoris and once again had intercourse with her and the offspring of this union was a pair of strange beings known as NOMMO. The NOMMO had supple bodies with no joints and only one single leg in the shape of a drumstick. The pair were bisexual, but the male element dominated in one and the female in the other. The latter gave birth to four NOMMO couples considered to be the eight original ancestors of man.
The much celebrated DOGON door locks are seldom found in the shape of the NOMMO but the shape is common in other DOGON sculptures. The head is a semicircular form resting on two breasts which for the neck. Visually, the body of the lock becomes the body of the figure. Door locks are becoming increasingly rare with the spread of ISLAM. Peer pressure often forces people to remove the door locks and another reason is fear that they will be stolen for resale. Many of the old family locks are kept hidden in the home against such occurrences. There are no known large collections of door locks which makes comparison of styles and designs very difficult.
