LVX23

Today, July 23, marks the historical point when the ancient Egyptians believed the connection with Sirius is greatest. It marks the day that Sirius moves out from behind the Sun, having been in conjunction since July 4th. Sirius is shrouded in mystery and refrences to this, the brightest star in the night sky, can be found throughout many traditions. Most notably, to my mind, is Crowley's relationship with the argentum angstrum (Silver Star), and the Dogon people of N. Africa, as documented in Robert Temple's The Sirius Mystery.

According to Temple, the Dogon knew that Sirius had an invisible companion (the white dwarf star Sirius B). "The Dogon name for Sirius B consists of the word for star, tolo, and po, the name of the smallest seed known to them. By this name they describe the star's smallness - it is, they say, 'the smallest thing there is.' They also claim that it is 'the heaviest star' (since in it the element earth is replaced by an immensely heavy metal called sagala), so heavy 'that all earthly beings combined cannot lift it.' And the color of the star is white. The Dogon thus attribute to Sirius B its three principal qualities as a white dwarf: its smallness, heaviness, and whiteness. They go on to say that the start's orbit is elliptical, with Sirius A at one focus of the ellipse, that the orbital period is 50 years (the actual figure is 50.04 plus or minus .09 years), and that the star rotates on its own axis. The Dogon also describe a third star in the Sirius system, called Emme Ya ('sorghum female'). In orbit around this star, they say, is a single satellite. To date Emme Ya has not been detected by Western astronomers."
     - Reader's Digest Mysteries of the Unexplained

"The Dogons considered Sirius B to be far more important than its larger and brighter companion. They also possessed knowledge of the third luminary as well as a small planet in the system and there is some confusion as to whether the third star was believed to be a smaller sun or simply a large planet, since this ancient African tribe also made reference to the 'shoe-maker's planet' and a 'planet of women'."
     - Murray Hope, Practical Egyptian Magic

"The Dogon say that their astronomical knowledge was given to them by the Nommos, amphibious beings sent to earth from the Sirius star system for the benefit of humankind. The name comes form a Dogon word meaning 'to make one drink', and the Nommos are also called Masters of the Water, The Monitors, and The Instructors. They came to earth somewhere to the northeast of the Dogon's present homeland. When their vessel landed (after a 'spinning or whirling' descent and with a great noise and wind), it skidded to a stop, scoring the ground....At that time a new star (perhaps a mother ship) was seen in the sky."
     - Mysteries of the Unexplained (from Robert Temple, The Sirius Mystery)