Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif

H3A — Violated sexual taboo.

65 Myths, legends and folktales

65 Unique narratives for motif H3A

51 Cultures & traditions where H3A is told

1 Sub-motifs of motif H3A

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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

Overview

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}.

Berezkin category: Paradise Lost

H3 has 1 other sub-motifs

H3. 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}.

🌐 See a combined distribution map for all of H3’s motifs

No dispersal data found for motif 'h3a'.

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.

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Map of motif dispersal

Distribution

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Cite this map

Distribution of the traditions attesting motif H3A, ‘Violated sexual taboo.’, as recorded in the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs (51 traditions mapped). Geolocation and cartography by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, release 1.26206.1 (25 July 2026), https://www.folkloredatabase.com/motif/H3A (accessed 8 August 2026). Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Traditions

51 recorded

This 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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How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com

0009-0006-1672-4451
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