The Mythology and Folklore Database
F9C - Snake in the vagina.
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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
Snake (in Oceania – moray eel) in the vagina; vagina – snake's mouth; snake crawls out of a woman's mouth and bites off a man's penis during intercourse; woman with a toothy womb is associated with a snake.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
F9 has 12 other sub-motifsF9. For various reasons, sexual intercourse with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man, or so it seems to him: Teeth, blades or sharp stones in the vagina or on the inside of the thighs; the vagina is a toothy mouth. See motif F9A. F9a. There are teeth, blades or sharp stones in a woman's vagina or on the inside of her thighs; the vagina is a toothy mouth. (Only texts with a focus on authenticity are taken into account, not anecdotes). F9a1. A girl or young woman says (pretends) that she has a predatory mouth in her vagina. {Unlike variants characteristic of the circum-Pacific region, the corresponding texts do not suggest that the female womb is actually dangerous}. F9b. A biting piranha in a woman's genitals. F9c. Snake (in Oceania – moray eel) in the vagina; vagina – snake's mouth; snake crawls out of a woman's mouth and bites off a man's penis during intercourse; woman with a toothy womb is associated with a snake. F9d. Small stinging creatures dangerous to the partner are found in the genitals of women or men. F9e. Small mammals with sharp teeth are found in a woman's vagina. F9e1. A woman's womb is dangerous because it contains a toothy or stinging animal (not just its mouth) or many such creatures. F9f. Without the woman's knowledge, the demon regularly kills her suitors on their wedding night. F9f1. Inside the woman there is a snake (snakes, scorpions, just poison) that comes out of her mouth. {Motifs F9f1 and K100C are almost identical, but the first can be included in the cosmological-etiological category and is associated with the idea of a dangerous woman, while the second belongs to the adventure category}. F9f2. A woman places a piece of flesh from her slain snake lover in her handbag and poses a corresponding riddle. If her husband fails to guess the answer, she has the right to kill him. The husband accidentally learns the secret and kills his wife. F9g. A powerful woman defeats and kills her suitors. The hero or his assistant defeats her (usually on their wedding night, subduing her with rods or a whip). The hero marries the heroine. F9g1. On her wedding night, the bride-heroine throws herself on her groom to crush him. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of F9's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| G13B | 96.84% | Before the advent of cultivated plants, people ate mushrooms. Creatures of a non-human nature feed on mushrooms. Mushrooms are imaginary, inferior food. |
| F18A | 96.13% | The penis of a male character is much longer than normal or becomes so. During intercourse, it usually crawls towards the woman like a snake. (Only texts with a focus on authenticity are included, not anecdotes). |
| H12 | 94.72% | The living visit the afterlife to bring back the dead (except for texts about a shaman bringing back the soul of a sick person), or, without a specific goal, go there accompanied by or following in the footsteps of the recently deceased. |
| I82A | 94.29% | The Morning and/or Evening Star – a male character. |
| I99 | 93.08% | The Pleiades – a group of boys, young men, men or people of different genders, but predominantly male. |
| I72 | 93.04% | Stars – anthropomorphic beings. See motif K19 (marriage to a star). Cases where the Star is a unique object, e.g. Venus, rather than one of many Star-people, are not included. |
| L46 | 92.70% | The character walks, climbs or descends upside down, or sees the world turned upside down. |
| D4A | 91.91% | Fire is stolen from its original owner, returned to people by the thief, or (the motif of theft is not expressed) brought with difficulty from a distant place. |
| D5 | 91.59% | The original owner or inventor (but not the embodiment) of fire is a female character. |
| E7 | 91.02% | 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. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 18 traditions: Tuamotu, incl Pukapuka (different from Pukapuka in Cook Islands), Vahitahi, Anaa, Hao, Fangatau, Gilbert Islands, Nauru, Banaba (Ocean island), Truk, Eastern Fayu, Losap, Pulap, Puluwat, Mortlock (incl. Satawan), Batak (Toba, Dairi), Northern Munda of Kharwar branch: Birhor, Ho, Mundari, Kol, Asur (including Agaria, Kol, Birjhia), Bhumij, Tribal groups and castes of Central-Eastern India that speak Aryan languages: Dhoba (Dhobi), Halba (Halbi), Bhunjia, Lohar (Luhar, Luhara), Kahar, Tsimshian, Five Nations Iroquois (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga), Pawnee, Plains Ojibwa, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Pomo, Yokuts, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Chacobo, Chorote, Palau