The Mythology and Folklore Database
F38 - Women and secret knowledge.
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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
Women were the keepers of secret knowledge, shrines, or ritual objects that are now forbidden to them; they attempted to regain this knowledge or these objects.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 |
|---|---|---|
| D12 | 96.66% | People in the past or inhabitants of distant lands cooked food in the sun; or the owner of the fire lies, saying that the food was cooked in this way. |
| D5 | 95.18% | The original owner or inventor (but not the embodiment) of fire is a female character. |
| B13A | 94.35% | A stream of water (with a predator in it) rushes after a character who is trying to escape from it. |
| G13A | 93.53% | Before the advent of cultivated plants (fire, hunting skills), people ate earth, clay, and stones. |
| G28 | 93.38% | The tree contains a fish in its trunk. |
| E8 | 93.25% | The first humans or the wife of the first ancestor were made of wood. |
| F88 | 92.76% | Female genitals are initially fragrant or odourless, but then acquire an unpleasant odour (they do not acquire a fragrant odour). |
| B17 | 92.63% | Darkness is a special object that can be carried and transferred (usually brought from the original owner in a vessel or bag). |
| L21 | 92.42% | A cannibal or demon under a tree intends to grab a person who has climbed a tree; the person throws his prey or some object far away, and while the cannibal is looking for, picking up or eating what has been thrown, he runs away. |
| G13B | 92.19% | Before the advent of cultivated plants, people ate mushrooms. Creatures of a non-human nature feed on mushrooms. Mushrooms are imaginary, inferior food. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 51 traditions: Efe Pygmies, Kango (Mbuti) Pygmies, Bushoong: (Ba)kuba, Dengese, Ngongo; Yansi, Cross-River: Efik, Ibibio, Anaang (Anang), Ikom, Abua, Arnhem Land: Enindhilyagwa (Groote Eilandt), KuTiwi, Yulengor, Mara, Oenpelli, Murngin, Roper River, Maung, Murinbata, Murngin (Duwal), Millingimbi, Goulburn Island, Ngulugwongga, Yirrkalla, Voctoria River Downs, Alawa, Anu, Kunwinjku, Western Australia: Walmanjeri, Njolnjol (Njulnjul, Nyul-Nyul), Worora, Kariara (Karierra), Karadjari (Karadjeri, Garadjari), Djaberdjaber (Djaberadjabera), Ngarluma, Wiilman (Wheelman), Bibbulmum (Pebelman), Burong (Panaka), Papua-NewGuinea Highland Papuans:Trans New Guinea & unclassified:Chimbu,Gimi,KaugelHuli,Gadsup,Kuman,Kutubu,Foi (Foe),Kyaka,Kamano (Kafe),Mawatta,Kukukuku (=Anga,=Sambia;Manki,Nauti,Ejuti),Baruya,Kewa,Tembregak,Menya,Melpa,Wiru,Pondoma, Sepik-Ramu stock: Abelam, Yatmul, Aibom, Ayom (incl Tembregak, Asai-river pygmies), Tangu, Porapora (Ambakich), Rao and other groups of Middle Ramu and Upper Keram River tribes; Kwanga, Watam, Kaian, Gamei, Awar; Kire (Lower Ramu), Torricelli family: Valman, Samap, Arapesh (Upper, Coastal), Monumbo, Lilau, Ngaimbom; Moando (Banara); Menya, Olo, Melanesians and Papuans of Bismark Archipelago: New Britain (Paparatava, Lakalai, Kuni, Sulka, Gazelle peninsula), New Ireland, St Matthias Group, Mioko (Melanesians between New Britain and New Ireland), Melanesians and Papuans of Northern Solomons: Buka, Bougainville (Siuai, Buin), Northern Vanuatu: Banks Islands (incl Mota, Mota Lava, Gaua, Santa Maria), Torres Islands, Central Vanuatu: Espiritu Santo, Araki, Aore, Maewo, Malekula, Vao, Efate (Vate), Nguna, Mae, Ambrim, Pentecost, Oba (=Aoba, East Ambae, Lepers'), Omba, Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Nicobarese, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Aleuts, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Blackfoot, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Karok, Yurok, Yana, Chiricahua, Hopi, Kogi (Cagaba), Sanha, Creols of Aritama Valley, Creols of Eastern and Central Cuba, Piaroa, Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Wapishana (incl Ataroi); Mapidian; Taruma, Waiwai, Pemon: Arekuna (incl. Kamarakoto), Taulipang (Taurepan), Locono, Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Wanana, Tucano proper, Pira-Tapuya, Arapaso, Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Cubeo, Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Puinave, Tariana, Yagua, Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Mundurucu, Curuaia, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Kamayura, Paresi, Chamacoco (Ishir), Selknam, Kono (=Kone), Wai, Kodiak, Papua-New Guinea Southern Lowland Papuan groups (Trans New Guinea and unclassified): Gimi, Kiwai, Bina, Mawabula, Mawatta, Keraki, Gambadi (incl. Kwavaru), Purari River delta, Masingara, Wiram (=Suki), Ngain, Daga, Elema