Motif family
Duality and Cosmic Opposition
The fundamental pairing of opposites # light/dark, order/chaos, life/death, yin/yang, good/evil # as structural principle of the cosmos. Includes Zoroastrian dualism, Daoist complementarity, and the tension between opposing forces that generates reality.
100 traditions
5,265 occurrences
91 mapped motifs
8 sub-families
- aboriginal australian
- african akan
- african bantu
- afro caribbean
- ainu
- amazonian
- andamanese
- arctic inuit
- armenian
- arthurian
- australian aboriginal
- basque
- bavili
- biblical
- buddhist
- burmese
- buryat mongol
- caucasian
- celtic
- celtic irish
- celtic welsh
- chaco amerindian
- christian
- christian apocrypha
- comparative
- confucian
- daoist
- egyptian
- ekoi
- estonian
- ethiopian christian
- fijian
- filipino
- finnic
- finnish karelian
- fjort
- ganda
- georgian
- germanic
- gnostic
- greek
- greek roman
- guiana amerindian
- hausa
- hawaiian
- hermetic
- hindu
- hopi
- inca
- inuit
- islamic
- islamicate folklore
- jain
- japanese
- jewish christian
- jewish pseudepigrapha
- khoisan south african
- kikuyu
- kimbundu
- korean
- malagasy
- malay
- mangaian
- maori
- maya
- maya quiche
- melanesian
- mesopotamian
- micronesian
- mongol
- 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
- shan
- shinto
- siberian
- sikh
- slavic
- sufi
- taoist
- tibetan buddhist
- tongan
- vietnamese
- xhosa
- yoruba
- zoroastrian
- zulu
- zuni
Conserved neighbors: cosmic origin · sacred twins · divine judgment · world ages cosmic decline · fate figures cosmic weaving
Sub-families · the next landing down
Divine unity, infinity, and transcendence of opposites
8 motifs
- Duality 5,173 occurrences · 100 traditions
- aboriginal australian
- african akan
- african bantu
- afro caribbean
- ainu
- amazonian
- andamanese
- arctic inuit
- +92 more
- abstract principle treated as divine power 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- cosmic witness 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- cosmos and nature as witnesses of divine unity 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Infinity without beginning or end 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Killing through an object and time outside opposed categories 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- reconciliation of opposites 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- universal divine ordering force 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
Cosmic cycles, dawn/night struggle, and elemental conflict
7 motifs
- cosmic cycle used to explain existence and non-existence 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Dawn as active conqueror of night 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Divine control of cosmic alternation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- elemental conflict of water and fire around a hero 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Microcosmic war within a tiny world 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- paired dangerous beings localized as natural winds 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Sunrise as life-giving cosmic order 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
The divided soul and self-conflict
6 motifs
- harmonization of divided inner powers 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- futile striving against one’s own shadow 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Injustice as internal division 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- inner division of the soul 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Inner wild beast released when reason sleeps 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Tripartite inner order 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
Innate nature, non-action, anti-artifice, and non-aggression
7 motifs
- Abolition of artificial standards restores natural integrity 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Essential likeness between humans and animals 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Innate nature revealed despite upbringing 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- natural order over human intervention 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- non-action 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- peace through non-aggression and unused weapons 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- spontaneous Golden Age without conscious morality 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
Musical and part-whole models of harmony
3 motifs
- harmony of cosmos and life imaged by music 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Interdependence of unequal functions 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- ordered harmony of parts within a whole 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
Virtue and vice, truth and falsehood, and social reversal
7 motifs
- contrasting kind and cruel elders 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- japanese
- equal self-injury behind opposed moral labels 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Inversion of social hierarchy 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Moralized conflict of virtue and vice 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Moralized paired waters of falsehood and truth 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- reversal between life and death valuation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Satanic malicious counsel opposed by righteous speech 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
Counterpart figures, shadows, and divine personifications
5 motifs
- age contrast in paired women 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- animal and shadow counterpart 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- double personification of one natural object 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- paired contrasting interlocutors 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Triad of divine sisters personifying grace and refinement 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
Freedom, necessity, and unequal power
4 motifs
- denial of human free agency 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Freedom preferred to secure confinement 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Inadequate force against overwhelming circumstance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- necessity bounded by creative will 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
Not yet placed in a sub-family
44 motifs
- All-pervading Tao as cosmic and political order 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- color-coded opposition and interaction 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- afro caribbean
- compromise between opposing extremes 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Cosmic non-action as source of transformation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Cosmic offices distributed for the ordering of Light 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- gnostic
- cosmic order threatened by rival creation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Cyclical alternation of cosmic powers 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- gnostic
- Eclipse as pursuit or attack between sun and moon 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- australian aboriginal
- Elemental sibling conflict between Fire and Iron 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- finnish karelian
- etiology of continuing antagonism among animals and elements 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- khoisan south african
- false or deceptive lower light 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- gnostic
- Fatal contest between rival wind families 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- slavic
- Fire answered by absent water and unseasonal rain 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- egyptian
- Fire restrained by water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- afro caribbean
- first-last reversal of precedence 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- gnostic
- Footless and blind paired figures 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- slavic
- four-direction world ordering and support 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southwest
- Four-directional cosmic ordering 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southwest
- fourfold cosmic ordering 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hermetic
- gendered powers of darkness 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- slavic
- harmonic order expressed through number, music, and geometry 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- harmony and order of differentiated parts 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- hostile emanations rendered powerless 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- gnostic
- Light overcoming darkness 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- egyptian
- magical combat through egg tokens controlling day and night 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- afro caribbean
- mixed parentage produces divided traits 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Natural accord against artificial interference 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Noble bird contrasted with scavenging bird 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- paired animals mirror human separation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Paired archer deities 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Paired figures 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- paired oppositions defining doctrinal dispute 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- paired witnesses as sacred trees and lamps 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- biblical
- Peaceful order versus militarized disorder 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- perishing creation and enduring deity 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Principal incarnations or embodiments of evil 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- slavic
- red warning signal opposed to white safe signal 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- germanic
- Reversal of cosmic rank 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- gnostic
- Rule or order through inaction 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- same supernatural pair incites opposing sides 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- Supernatural antagonist as personified evil 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- slavic
- true embodiment opposed to illusory appearance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- christian apocrypha
- two persons united as one body 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southeast
- Water and mountain as contrasting ethical landscapes 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- confucian
Each motif link opens its evidence page: every tagged passage with its quote, and a path into the book where the passage lives.