Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I85C1 — Heavenly vessel for rain, A1131.4, A1131.4.1.
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
OverviewIn the sky there is a vessel, a box or an indescribable container for storing rain (rain clouds).
Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature.
I85 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedI85. Polar Star – stake, nail, hitching post, etc.
I85a. Animals walk around the North Star, or the movement of the stars is compared to the movement of animals around a pole. See motif I85.
I85a1. The North Star – a hole leading to the upper world.
I85b. The North Star – one person.
I85c. The character goes up to the sky and finds vessels containing various (two or more) types of precipitation, weather phenomena, seasons and/or celestial bodies.
I85c1. In the sky there is a vessel, a box or an indescribable container for storing rain (rain clouds).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I20C | 94.34% | Dwarves live in an underground world that partly resembles the earthly world. If dwarves and humans meet, it happens underground. |
| J21 | 92.98% | Gods, ancestors of humans, and founders of dynasties are born from eggs. |
| I3 | 92.03% | Lightning (and thunder) is produced by an object (sword, arrow, whip, mirror, etc.) in the hands of a character; lightning is an object. |
| F16 | 90.91% | Men possessed biological characteristics that are now characteristic of women, or vice versa (beards, menstruation, breasts, childbearing). |
| I8E1 | 90.86% | The sky or earth is supported by four objects or beings located at the four cardinal points (either four groups of beings, or four at the corners and a fifth in the centre). Th A841. See motifs 8A, 8D. |
| B2E | 90.74% | The Earth or the world as a whole is a male character (alone or alongside a female character). |
| I8G | 90.08% | A single giant holds up the earth or the sky. |
| L18 | 89.46% | A bird with two or more heads in descriptions or images. |
| I7 | 89.35% | The reptile produces rain and thunderstorms. |
| C7 | 89.23% | Initially or after the flood, an earthen or stone barrier, the body of a character or creature prevents the flow of water. Later, this barrier is removed or destroyed. |
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
37 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 37 traditions: Old and New Testament, Ugarit, Phoenicia, Thai of Vietnam, Tai Lue, Khao (Kho, Tai Don, White Tai), Tai Dam (Black Tai), Nung; Zhuang, Buyi; Shui, Andamanese, Bhuiya (now Aryans, originally Munda; Rahman 1955: 203), Baiga, Bhaina, Bhumia (subgroup of Baiga, incl Bharia, formerly Munda, now speak Indo-Aryan languages of neighboring groups), Bondo, Didayi (Gata'), Gutob (=Gadaba; cf Dravidian-speaking Gadaba), Chin-Naga: Ao, Mao, Sema, Zeme, Kolren, Kom, Lhota, Rengma, Angami, Kabui, Tangkhul, Koirenf, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Koreans, Livonians, Estonians, Lezgians, Archin, Kürin; Khinalug, Tabasaran, Aghul, Turkmen, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Dongxiang, Baoan, Chukchi, Chipewyan, Dogrib, Slavey, Tsetsaut, Labrador Inuit (Koksoagmiut), Lushootseed (Puget Sound: Puyallup, Nisqualmi, Snuqualmi, Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Snohomish, Skagit), Navajo, Pipil, Gulf Nahuatl, Zapotec, Chatino, Yucatec, Itza, Kekchi; Mopan, Wayapi, Emerillon, Kamayura, Sanapana, Lengua (incl Angaite), Chamacoco (Ishir), Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay), Yellowknife, Kolam, China, Japan
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