Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
H3A — Violated sexual taboo.
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
OverviewPeople die (fall ill) and cannot come back to life because a taboo related to sexual contact or pregnancy was once violated. {The motif may be composite, including historically unrelated variants}.
Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
H3 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedH3. Death is sent to people as punishment for excessive sympathy for a dead animal or for funeral games, during which they bury an animal, tree, etc.
H3A. People die (fall ill) and cannot come back to life because a taboo related to sexual contact or pregnancy was once violated. {The motif may be composite, including historically unrelated variants}.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | 0.00% | Another sun — less powerful or less favourable to humans — existed before the appearance of the current one. |
| A10 | 0.00% | The sun gets its sparkling eyes (eye) from an animal. |
| A11A | 0.00% | The visible sun or moon are their eyes; if the eyes of the luminaries were not damaged, it would be much brighter and hotter. |
| A11B | 0.00% | The sun or moon has one eye (usually the second eye is knocked out or sucked out, but sometimes the reason is not explained; among the Munduruku, the sun of the rainy season has lost both eyes, while the sun of the dry season has retained both). See motif 11A. |
| A11C | 0.00% | The Sun and Moon kill a monster whose eyes shine differently. At first, the Moon takes the brighter eye, but then swaps with the Sun. |
| A12 | 0.00% | A creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, winter and summer, night and day, phases of the moon) or occasionally (eclipses, eschatological catastrophes) attack the luminaries or block their light. |
| A12A | 0.00% | During an eclipse or under other circumstances, predators attack the luminaries: wolves, bears, jaguars, pumas, dogs, foxes, raccoons. See motif A12. |
| A12B | 0.00% | During an eclipse or at sunset (marked *), the luminaries are swallowed by a toad or frog. |
| A12C | 0.00% | Eclipses of the sun, moon or their setting (marked*) are caused by a snake, lizard, dragon, fish or crocodile; these creatures attack the luminaries now or attacked them at the beginning of time. See motif A12. |
| A12D | 0.00% | Birds attack the sun or moon during an eclipse (covering them with their wings) or (*) cover the sun during sunrise or sunset. See motif A12. |
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
51 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 51 traditions: Shone (Shona, =Mashona, =Karanga), Makoni (Shoni dialect), Remba (=Hungwe, Wahungwe); Zezuru, Rozwi, Ndau (Vandau), Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Gilbert Islands, Nauru, Banaba (Ocean island), Yap, Nanai, Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw), Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Nez Perce, Okanagon, Sanpoil, Yokuts, Tubatulabal, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Serrano, Hopi, Zuni, Western Keres (Acoma, Laguna), Eastern Keres (Cochiti, Sia, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Santa Ana, Paguate, Seama), Yuma proper (Quechan), Mohave, Maricopa, Huichol, Lacandon, Bribri, Cabecar, Terraba; Chiriqui (AD 800-1500) iconography, Cuna; XVI century data on Eastern Panama, Choco: Embera, Nonama (Waunana), XVI century Dabaiba, pre-Columbian iconography of Sinu, Guajiro, Sicuani, Makiritare (Yecuana), Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Aguaruna, Huambiza, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Cubeo, Juruna, Xipaya, Tenetehara, Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Harákmbet (=Mashco), Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Kamayura, Trumai, Rikbaktsa, Kayabi, Umotina (Umutina), Cayapo (incl. Kubenkranken, Pau d’Arco, Shikrin or Xikrin), Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay), Ofaie, Northern and Southern Tehuelche, Nauru, Halkomelem (Snaymuk)
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