I22E — Moving objects on the path of the dead.

The deceased, travelling to the afterlife, must pass by colliding rocks or other moving obstacles.

Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects.

I22.  There are objects that, while remaining in place, move constantly or periodically (collide and diverge, fall and rise, open and close, rotate).
I22a.  The sky constantly beats against the earth like the lid of a boiling cauldron.
I22b.  Migratory birds (or shamans in the form of birds) fly from our world to another; the path lies through a narrow opening between jutting rocks, or the sky strikes the earth, crushing those who fly through; and/or at the passage to the other world there is a character who feeds on birds; and/or in the world on the other side of the pulsating barrier there is the mistress of the birds.
I22b1.  Some migratory birds (shamans in the form of birds) die on the border of our world.
I22c.  The character safely slips, sails or flies through the opening, which then slams shut, but the edge of the stern of the boat, the tail of an animal or bird, the body of a riding animal, the hero's companion or his own heel is crushed, torn off, etc.
I22d.  To obtain a miraculous life-giving (healing) remedy, one must penetrate the space behind the shifting rocks.
I22e.  The deceased, travelling to the afterlife, must pass by colliding rocks or other moving obstacles.
I22f.  The character must pass small objects (trees, logs, blades) that constantly collide and diverge, fall and rise.
I22g.  Mountains (rocks) are mentioned that constantly collide and diverge, or a crevice or gap in a vertical rock that opens and closes. Cf. motif I22g1, Colliding rocks.
I22g1.  In another world, the hero sees many strange things, including colliding stones (but they do not block his path).
I22h.  The character must jump over a gap (abyss) beneath his feet, which alternately widens and narrows, or a river whose banks converge and diverge.

This motif has been recorded in 12 traditions: Marquesas, Gilbert Islands, Nauru, Banaba (Ocean island), Ontong Java, Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuria, Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Chumash, Yokuts, Huichol, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Cuna; XVI century data on Eastern Panama, Yupa (Yukpa), Guiana Kariña, Kaliña, Galibi, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete