The Mythology and Folklore Database
F23 - Cause of menstruation: sexual intercourse.
Please log on to view the narratives.
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
Blood spilled during sexual intercourse or artificial defloration at the time of creation is the reason why menstruation occurs to this day.Berezkin category: Gender and sex
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I14 | 94.43% | Creatures without an anal opening are described. |
| E7 | 93.64% | The path from one part of the world to another passes through a narrow opening. The character gets stuck in the opening, permanently severing the connection between the worlds. |
| E1A | 93.63% | The first humans are made of fragile materials (clay, wax, fire, honey, etc.) and prove to be unviable. |
| J21 | 92.88% | Gods, ancestors of humans, and founders of dynasties are born from eggs. |
| F16 | 92.78% | Men possessed biological characteristics that are now characteristic of women, or vice versa (beards, menstruation, breasts, childbearing). |
| G12A | 92.39% | Cultivated plants arise from drops of blood or flow like blood from cuts on the body of a human or animal. |
| G24 | 92.19% | The first seeds (shoots, tubers) of cultivated or important wild food plants and/or agronomic knowledge were brought from the sky (received from the gods). |
| C7 | 91.69% | Initially or after the flood, an earthen or stone barrier, the body of a character or creature prevents the flow of water. Later, this barrier is removed or destroyed. |
| F6 | 91.43% | (The first) woman does not have a vagina at first. Usually, it is made for her by a bird, animal, fish, etc. |
| I20C | 91.30% | Dwarves live in an underground world that partly resembles the earthly world. If dwarves and humans meet, it happens underground. |
See more...
Please log on to view the narratives.
Map of Motif Dispersal
Click here for a clustered map
Drag the map around by clicking and using the mouse, use the wheel to zoom
This motif has been recorded in 13 traditions: Dogon, Torricelli family: Valman, Samap, Arapesh (Upper, Coastal), Monumbo, Lilau, Ngaimbom; Moando (Banara); Menya, Olo, Juang, Bondo, Didayi (Gata'), Gutob (=Gadaba; cf Dravidian-speaking Gadaba), Sora (Savara, Saora), Parenga, Wawenock, Abenaki, Penobscot, Arapaho, Makiritare (Yecuana), Piaroa, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Amahuaca, Cashinahua, Sharanahua, Yaminahua, Yawanahua, Capanahua), Mataco, Guarani of Paraguay and Brazil: Caygua, Mbia, Apapocuva, Nyandewa, Chiripa