Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B27B — Transformation into stars.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewThe characters ponder what they should transform into and decide to become a celestial object.
Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations.
B27 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedB27. The characters ponder what object or creature they should transform into, and once they have made their choice, they undergo metamorphosis.
B27a. The characters ponder what they should transform into and decide to become thunder and/or lightning.
B27b. The characters ponder what they should transform into and decide to become a celestial object.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| J16 | 99.59% | The character perishes because, being forced to look for insects in the head of another, he refuses to chew insects, spits them out in disgust, or is suspected of doing so. |
| M73 | 97.28% | Two characters compare their excrement or vomit to learn about each other's diet and decide which of them is the more powerful beast. One of them manages to replace the selections. (Traditions in which vomiting is substituted are greasy). |
| K18A | 97.26% | The boy's father is recognised as the man whose bow or arrows he chooses. See motif K18. |
| L31 | 95.91% | People are forced against their will to follow an object, person or animal (usually sticking to it) that carries them far away (usually into water or into the sky). |
| L68 | 95.69% | Left alone (usually at night in a deserted place) with his companion, a man undergoes a monstrous metamorphosis. |
| L9A | 94.44% | The character's leg is crippled (intentionally or accidentally) or originally pointed. He uses the pointed bone for hunting, fishing or killing people. |
| B27 | 94.30% | The characters ponder what object or creature they should transform into, and once they have made their choice, they undergo metamorphosis. |
| C12A | 93.56% | The dog warns of an impending global flood or fire and advises what to do. |
| B65 | 93.35% | A mischievous character imitates other animal-people. As a result, his belly is torn open and his spilled intestines turn into vines. |
| E14 | 92.97% | Rituals received from the spirits of the dead. |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Traditions
13 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 13 traditions: Lenape (Delaware), Blackfoot, Comanche, Assiniboine, Crow, Natchez (incl Avoyel), Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Guiana Kariña, Kaliña, Galibi, Kofan, Kechua-speaking communities of Apurimac, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno departments; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries; Callawaya (Kechua with Pukina substratum), Mundurucu, Curuaia, Nambikwara
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