{"product_id":"9781449074678","title":"THE DAMBY TRADITION OF THE KONO PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE WEST AFRICA: VOLUME II","description":"The Damby concept is very similar to the concept of DNA: protein chains from where every human or every living creature gets its hereditary traits.    The earth was  originally  farmland created for a family. Animals  that inhabited the air; water and earth were venerated by all cultures in the ancient world and viewed as symbols of the invisible forces;  through whom he  worships the Divine Power   for the creative impulses of the gods readily respond to them.    All cultures of the world reverent some animals  as symbolism of divinity.  The  the forms and habits of these emblematic creatures : the media of  existence closely relate them to the various generative and germinative powers of Nature thus, were   viewed as evidence of Omnipresence.  The  Kono understood that all life has its origin in water.  Therefore, he chose the fish  as the symbol of the life germ.  This fish  as his emblem of the  life germ is called Sa-neh (eel);  meaning Sa, the ancient God is here.  Furthermore, he went a step further and chose other kinds of  animals to represent the divine for each - original founding fathers of the Kono Tribe. These animals and plants  became known :Tana of the male heads of each founding family .  However, the basic reasons behind such choices were based on a simple belief that each Damby head was a product of his Damby : his Tana or Totemic Animal.    Therefore,  the totemic animals were depicted as deities; and each family was prohibited from eating his or her totemic animal or food.  At first, twelve animals and  other forms of food were chosen and each family member had its own animal or other food form as the family's Tana. The animals and their explanations are giving in the book.","brand":"AuthorHouse","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47140367761648,"sku":"9781449074678","price":6.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781449074678_p0.jpg?v=1763828296","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781449074678","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}