The Mythology and Folklore Database
H24E - Scattered seeds.
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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
Having brought the seeds of humanity into our world, the character drops or prematurely opens what he has brought. (Sometimes this explains the inequality of people and disorder in society).Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 7, Etiology of plants and animals and of their peculiar features, particular animals as protagonists of cosmological stories, metamorphoses, weather and calendar
H24 has 7 other sub-motifsH24. A vessel or other small container with valuables or living beings (creatures) is opened (prematurely). Its contents get out of control or disappear. H24a. Opening the bag, the character releases stars that rush chaotically into the sky. H24b. The character must open the vessel containing the soul of the deceased when he reaches the place or after a certain time has passed; if he opens it before the time is up, the soul flies away. See motif H24. H24c. People open a vessel (a bundle, a basket, etc.) containing death (or old age, illness), and therefore they are mortal. H24d. An animal character who released the contents (darkness, insects, reptiles) from a vessel is still trying to gather everything back (etiology of the behaviour of a certain species of animal). H24e. Having brought the seeds of humanity into our world, the character drops or prematurely opens what he has brought. (Sometimes this explains the inequality of people and disorder in society). H24f. The character has the ability to put a large amount of meat or fish into a bag or container that is easy to carry. H24g. A woman returned from the other world or obtained there disappears when a man opens the vessel in which she is kept prematurely. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of H24's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| B1G | 99.85% | Four brothers change the world, freeing it from monsters, transforming its inhabitants and obtaining valuable resources (water, fire, cultivated plants, etc.). Usually one of the brothers is the leader, and the others help him. All four often have a common name. |
| D4E | 99.28% | The thief or giver of fire, light or sun is a coyote or fox (indicated in square brackets). See motif 4A. |
| H20A | 99.17% | A woman or several women keep fish or water in some kind of container; a man releases all the fish into rivers or the sea, releases the water. See motif H20. |
| B28D | 99.01% | Not understanding who they are dealing with, the characters respond to the wandering Transformer that they are preparing weapons to kill so-and-so or a hiding place to escape from so-and-so. The Transformer kills them himself or turns them into animals. |
| A5A | 98.99% | The younger brother (usually the Sun) is made from the urine and swaddling clothes of his older brother (usually the Moon), who was kidnapped as a baby. See motif A5. |
| B107 | 98.99% | During the (world) fire, the oyster burns, which is why oyster shells are black. |
| B28B | 98.99% | The inhabitants of the area where the hero finds himself are afraid of creatures that are tools, utensils, and plants that are now harmless. The hero easily defeats these creatures and usually transforms them into what they are now. |
| B28D1 | 98.99% | Not understanding who he is facing, the man promises to kill the Transformer. The Transformer turns his weapon into deer antlers and him into a deer. |
| B61 | 98.99% | The mole had to hold up the fallen sky and sun. Since then, its paw (hand) has remained dislocated backwards. |
| B64C | 98.99% | Fish, together with other earthly creatures, wage war on the inhabitants of the sky. Falling to the ground, they break their bones, which is why fish have many small bones in their bodies. See motif B64. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Klamath, Modoc, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Washo, Chemehuevi, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography