Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
F25 — The reason for menstruation: someone else's blood.
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
OverviewWomen have been stained with someone else's or their own blood, or with blood-like paint, ever since women began menstruating.
Berezkin category: Gender and sex
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| D4J | 97.20% | The thief, the thief's assistant, or the owner of fire is a rabbit, a hare, or (ofaye) a guinea pig. See motif D4A. |
| L31B | 96.67% | Upon discovering a reptile on land, people touch it or sit on it, stick to it, and it crawls away with them into the water. See motif L31. |
| L123 | 96.63% | In order to confuse the pursuer, the character leaves traces leading in all directions before running away. |
| J56 | 95.89% | A son or sons come to their father. He subjects them to trials in order to find out whether they are really his children. |
| H14 | 95.60% | A woman who has returned from the world of the dead flies back, becoming a bird or a fly. |
| L31 | 95.52% | 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). |
| K27YY4 | 94.61% | The hero must obtain tree bark, which is fraught with danger. |
| F51A | 94.13% | After incest is discovered, the sister openly demands her brother as her husband, turns into a monster, and kills people. |
| M29H | 93.69% | See the motives in square brackets. |
| L15A | 92.50% | The character's vulnerable spot is located on the surface of the body, but not in vital internal organs. |
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
27 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 27 traditions: Soqotri, Kabylia and other Berber of Northern and Central Algeria: Beni Snous, Beni Menacer (incl Zuav), Shaui, etc.), Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Siberian Tatars, Menominee, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Winnebago, Iowa, Shuswap, Lower Chehalis, Upper Chehalis, (Lower) Cowlitz, Nez Perce, Tillamook, Coos, Coastal Miwok, Northern Shoshone, Western Shoshone, Gosiute, Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Southern Paiute, Siona, Secoya, Coreguaje, Xipaya, Asurini, Parakana; Arawete, Tupari, Makurap, Sakirap, Ajuru (Wayoro), Suruí, Gaviâo, Zoro, Arua, Cinta Larga, Umotina (Umutina)
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
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