Motif family
Cosmic Origin and Creation
The emergence of the cosmos from void, water, darkness, word, or primordial substance. Includes creation by speech, creation from nothing, and the initial separation of elements.
92 traditions
3,276 occurrences
1,066 mapped motifs
- african bantu
- afro caribbean
- ainu
- akan
- amazonian
- andamanese
- arctic inuit
- armenian
- arthurian
- australian aboriginal
- biblical
- buddhist
- burmese
- buryat mongol
- celtic
- celtic irish
- celtic welsh
- chaco amerindian
- christian apocrypha
- comparative
- confucian
- daoist
- egyptian
- ekoi
- estonian
- ethiopian christian
- fijian
- filipino
- finnic
- finnish karelian
- ganda
- georgian
- germanic
- gnostic
- greek
- greek roman
- guiana amerindian
- hausa
- hawaiian
- hermetic
- hindu
- hopi
- inca
- indigenous australian
- inuit
- islamic
- islamicate folklore
- jain
- japanese
- jewish christian
- jewish pseudepigrapha
- khoekhoe
- khoisan south african
- malagasy
- malay
- mangaian
- maori
- maya
- maya quiche
- mesopotamian
- micronesian
- mongol
- nahua
- nahua maya inca
- native american california
- native american great lakes
- native american northeast woodlands
- native american northwest coast
- native american plains
- native american plateau
- native american southeast
- native american southwest
- navajo
- norse
- oceanic
- persian
- roman
- romanian
- samoan
- shan
- shinto
- siberian
- sikh
- slavic
- sufi
- taoist
- tibetan buddhist
- tongan
- vietnamese
- yoruba
- zoroastrian
- zuni
Conserved neighbors: primordial sacrifice · axis mundi · flood and renewal · world ages cosmic decline · sacred fire
This family has not yet been binned into sub-families; its mapped motifs are listed directly, most widespread first.
Mapped motifs
1,066 motifs, showing the 60 most attested
- Chaos 2,037 occurrences · 82 traditions
- african bantu
- ainu
- andamanese
- arctic inuit
- armenian
- arthurian
- australian aboriginal
- biblical
- +74 more
- Cosmic Egg 137 occurrences · 23 traditions
- australian aboriginal
- celtic
- egyptian
- estonian
- finnic
- finnish karelian
- germanic
- gnostic
- +15 more
- hardship exile and survival on animal milk and blood 9 occurrences · 7 traditions
- afro caribbean
- finnish karelian
- germanic
- hindu
- islamic
- mongol
- native american northwest coast
- creation by divine speech 6 occurrences · 4 traditions
- egyptian
- hindu
- islamic
- jewish christian
- etiological origin accounts 3 occurrences · 3 traditions
- arctic inuit
- native american plains
- native american southwest
- Etiology of Raven’s black color 3 occurrences · 2 traditions
- arctic inuit
- native american northwest coast
- origin of a named lake 3 occurrences · 2 traditions
- australian aboriginal
- indigenous australian
- aetiological explanation of animals and constellations 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- australian aboriginal
- indigenous australian
- Cosmic establishment of the heavens 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- egyptian
- mesopotamian
- creation account 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- chaco amerindian
- egyptian
- Creation by imagination 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- celtic
- celtic irish
- Creation from dust 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- islamic
- mesopotamian
- creation from water and clay 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- egyptian
- mesopotamian
- creation of humans from clay 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- islamic
- native american southwest
- creation of the world and humankind 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- mesopotamian
- oceanic
- origin of an animal bodily mark 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- khoekhoe
- khoisan south african
- place-name etiology 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- celtic
- jewish christian
- Catching, entangling, or detaining the sun 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- Creation of living beings from water 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- earth borne on divine tusk 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- fire-created intermediate beings 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Giants as makers of landscape features 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- Human creation from dust and life-germs 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- human origin from trees and stones 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Layered cosmos under descending divine command 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Self-created creator from primeval matter 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- egyptian
- Abrahamic and biblical ancestry mapping of a people 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Accidental death of a beloved child as origin event 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- zuni
- accidental raising of the sky by a giant 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- filipino
- Aetiological explanation of animal traits and constellations 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- indigenous australian
- Aetiological naming after divine battle 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- egyptian
- aetiological naming after divine victory 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- egyptian
- Aetiology for metal images of Horus 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- egyptian
- Aetiology of marked stones at a named place 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- indigenous australian
- aetiology of named rock from human victim 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- aetiology through death, naming, and animal behavior 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- aition through dedicated object and place-name 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- ancestors distributed from a container 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- andamanese
- Ancestral founder of a people 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- nahua maya inca
- ancestral migration and settlement of lands 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- Ancestral naming and descent of a people 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- ancestral naming from a journey decision 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- navajo
- ancestral pair emerging from water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- navajo
- ancestral-place emergence 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- nahua
- Ancestral triad populating the earth 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- jewish christian
- ancestry and dialect etiology 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- arctic inuit
- Angelic prostration before a newly created human 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Angels created at the beginning of creation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- jewish pseudepigrapha
- animal anatomy explained by mishap or magic 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southeast
- animal ancestor of a people 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- shan
- animal and plant traits explained by primordial events 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- navajo
- animal-based place and group naming 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southeast
- Animal-based place naming 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southeast
- animal battle produces a named landform 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hawaiian
- Animal behavior explained by a past contest 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- germanic
- animal behavior explained by an origin story 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Animal body marking explained by mythic injury 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southeast
- Animal body part used to support the earth 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
- Animal-color etiology through smoke and fire 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- zuni
- animal creates or uncovers a salmon creek 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
Each motif link opens its evidence page: every tagged passage with its quote, and a path into the book where the passage lives.