The Mythology and Folklore Database
B27B - Transformation into stars.




23 Myths, Legends and Folktales
23 Unique Narratives for Motif B27B
13 Cultures & Traditions where B27B is told
0 Mythemes Indexed
2 Sub-Motifs of Motif B27B


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 Motif Summary  -   Motifs with Simlar Dispersals  -    Map of Myth Distribution   -   List of Traditions  -   Myths



Source Data from Berezkin's Analytics Catalogue, if using this data please acknowledge and link to it here:
Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.



Summary of Motif

The characters ponder what they should transform into and decide to become a celestial object.

Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 2, Moon spots, stars, constellations


B27 has 2 other sub-motifs


B27.  The characters ponder what object or creature they should transform into, and once they have made their choice, they undergo metamorphosis.
B27a.  The characters ponder what they should transform into and decide to become thunder and/or lightning.
B27b.  The characters ponder what they should transform into and decide to become a celestial object.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
J1699.59%The character perishes because, being forced to look for insects in the head of another, he refuses to chew insects, spits them out in disgust, or is suspected of doing so.
M7397.28%Two characters compare their excrement or vomit to learn about each other's diet and decide which of them is the more powerful beast. One of them manages to replace the selections. (Traditions in which vomiting is substituted are greasy).
K18A97.26%The boy's father is recognised as the man whose bow or arrows he chooses. See motif K18.
L3195.91%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).
L6895.69%Left alone (usually at night in a deserted place) with his companion, a man undergoes a monstrous metamorphosis.
L9A94.44%The character's leg is crippled (intentionally or accidentally) or originally pointed. He uses the pointed bone for hunting, fishing or killing people.
B2794.30%The characters ponder what object or creature they should transform into, and once they have made their choice, they undergo metamorphosis.
C12A93.56%The dog warns of an impending global flood or fire and advises what to do.
B6593.35%A mischievous character imitates other animal-people. As a result, his belly is torn open and his spilled intestines turn into vines.
E1492.97%Rituals received from the spirits of the dead.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 13 traditions: Lenape (Delaware), Blackfoot, Comanche, Assiniboine, Crow, Natchez (incl Avoyel), Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Guiana Kariña, Kaliña, Galibi, Kofan, Kechua-speaking communities of Apurimac, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno departments; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries; Callawaya (Kechua with Pukina substratum), Mundurucu, Curuaia, Nambikwara


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