The Mythology and Folklore Database
I22E - Moving objects on the path of the dead.
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
The deceased, travelling to the afterlife, must pass by colliding rocks or other moving obstacles.Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects
I22 has 10 other sub-motifsI22. There are objects that, while remaining in place, move constantly or periodically (collide and diverge, fall and rise, open and close, rotate). I22a. The sky constantly beats against the earth like the lid of a boiling cauldron. I22b. Migratory birds (or shamans in the form of birds) fly from our world to another; the path lies through a narrow opening between jutting rocks, or the sky strikes the earth, crushing those who fly through; and/or at the passage to the other world there is a character who feeds on birds; and/or in the world on the other side of the pulsating barrier there is the mistress of the birds. I22b1. Some migratory birds (shamans in the form of birds) die on the border of our world. I22c. The character safely slips, sails or flies through the opening, which then slams shut, but the edge of the stern of the boat, the tail of an animal or bird, the body of a riding animal, the hero's companion or his own heel is crushed, torn off, etc. I22d. To obtain a miraculous life-giving (healing) remedy, one must penetrate the space behind the shifting rocks. I22e. The deceased, travelling to the afterlife, must pass by colliding rocks or other moving obstacles. I22f. The character must pass small objects (trees, logs, blades) that constantly collide and diverge, fall and rise. I22g. Mountains (rocks) are mentioned that constantly collide and diverge, or a crevice or gap in a vertical rock that opens and closes. Cf. motif I22g1, Colliding rocks. I22g1. In another world, the hero sees many strange things, including colliding stones (but they do not block his path). I22h. The character must jump over a gap (abyss) beneath his feet, which alternately widens and narrows, or a river whose banks converge and diverge. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of I22's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| H12C | 89.36% | The husband follows his dead wife into the afterlife, but cannot bring her back, or brings her back but loses her again. |
| D13E | 88.07% | Hunters perish because they laughed at the killed (and revived) animal. |
| D11 | 87.58% | Before fire was known, food was prepared by warming it with the body (usually under the armpit); fire is kept under the character's armpit. |
| I45B | 87.45% | If you point your finger or stare intently at a rainbow, you will fall ill, or the finger you pointed with will rot or wither away. |
| I47 | 86.95% | The rainbow smells disgusting, is associated with foul-smelling animals, is a stream of excretions, is associated with the lower body, causes inflammation or skin diseases, and is associated with death. |
| I17 | 86.07% | Creatures without mouths, anuses, or genitals, unable to give birth, live underground, in the sky, across the sea, or in certain areas. (Traditions describing women unable to give birth are marked with an asterisk*). |
| D5 | 85.93% | The original owner or inventor (but not the embodiment) of fire is a female character. |
| A11A | 85.66% | The visible sun or moon are their eyes; if the eyes of the luminaries were not damaged, it would be much brighter and hotter. |
| I16 | 85.44% | Early humans have no mouth, anus, or genitals, and their women are unable to give birth. |
| H12 | 85.37% | 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. |
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 12 traditions: Marquesas, Gilbert Islands, Nauru, Banaba (Ocean island), Ontong Java, Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuria, Palau (Western Carolines), Chumash, Cahuilla, Cupeño, Huichol, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Yupa (Yukpa), Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Paresi, 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