Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I45A — Do not look at the moon or 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
OverviewPointing at or staring at the moon or stars will cause illness (death) or the pointing finger to rot or wither.
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.
I45 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedI45a. Pointing at or staring at the moon or stars will cause illness (death) or the pointing finger to rot or wither.
I45b. If you point your finger or stare intently at a rainbow, you will fall ill, or the finger you pointed with will rot or wither away.
I45c. Those who count stars are destined for misfortune and illness.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M29B2 | 96.67% | As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the bear dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. |
| L57A | 96.21% | The enemy takes possession of part of the character's body (remains). Another (usually resorting to trickery) returns what is missing, and the character comes back to life or recovers. |
| M29B | 95.95% | Fox (a), Jackal, Coyote (or Wolf when, apparently, we mean a steppenwolf, i.e. the same coyote). See the motives in square brackets. |
| J51 | 95.60% | The character is dismembered or eaten; he is revived from his remains, but since one of his bones was broken, swallowed or carried away (or a drop of blood or a piece of flesh was lost), the revival fails, or the character remains defective in some way. |
| M84 | 95.54% | A person, animal, fish, or (rarely) a large fruit is killed and eaten. After a meal, what is eaten revives, usually after the bones (seeds) are put together. Cf. motive C16. |
| K29A | 95.41% | The hero demonstrates his magical abilities or cunning by remaining alive in a hot bath, oven, fire, or among burning vegetation. |
| K102A2 | 95.32% | The mother seeks to destroy her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair. Cf. motif L86: Children flee from their demon mother. |
| K27S | 95.19% | Competition: running, racing. See motif K27. |
| I22C | 95.18% | 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. |
| A32E | 94.85% | On the lunar (rarely: solar) disc, a character holding an object or animal is visible. See motif A32D. |
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
48 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 48 traditions: Duala (Douala), Basa (Basaá), Kwiri (Kweli), Isubu, Sora (Savara, Saora), Parenga, England, British, Bretons, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Czech, Czechs, Hungarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Livonians, Estonians, Western Ukrainians, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Nogai, Armenians, Kalmyk, Kazakh, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Chuvash, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Khakas, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Northern Selkups, Kets, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Chukchi, Inland Tlingit, Ingalik (Der Hit’an), Haida, Tsimshian, Teton (incl Oglala), Bannock, Northern Shoshone, Western Shoshone, Gosiute, Eastern Shoshone, Jicarilla, Mescalero, Sayula Popoluca (=Veracruz Mixe), Sierra Popoluca, Veracruz Zoque, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Germans: South (Upper German dialects): Alsace (Elsass), Baden-Württemberg, Bawaria, Swabia, Switzerland, Bohemia, Sudeten, Austria, Terek Cossacks, China, Japan, Russian Federation
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