Motif family
Mystical Quest and Interior Journey
The spiritual seeker's journey toward union, knowledge, or liberation. Includes the Sufi path of stations, the hero's journey in its contemplative form, and quests where the seeker discovers they are what they sought.
98 traditions
10,343 occurrences
641 mapped motifs
- african akan
- african bantu
- afro caribbean
- ainu
- akan
- amazonian
- arctic inuit
- armenian
- arthurian
- australian aboriginal
- basque
- bavili
- biblical
- buddhist
- burmese
- buryat mongol
- caucasian
- celtic
- celtic irish
- celtic welsh
- chaco amerindian
- christian apocrypha
- comparative
- confucian
- daoist
- egyptian
- ekoi
- estonian
- ethiopian christian
- fijian
- filipino
- finnic
- finnish karelian
- fjort
- georgian
- germanic
- gnostic
- greek
- greek roman
- guiana amerindian
- hausa
- hawaiian
- hermetic
- hindu
- hopi
- inca
- inuit
- islamic
- islamicate folklore
- jain
- japanese
- jewish christian
- jewish pseudepigrapha
- kikuyu
- kimbundu
- korean
- malagasy
- malay
- mangaian
- maori
- maya quiche
- melanesian
- 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
- temne
- tibetan buddhist
- tongan
- vietnamese
- xhosa
- yoruba
- zoroastrian
- zulu
- zuni
Conserved neighbors: initiation · descent · death and transformation · sacred substance
This family has not yet been binned into sub-families; its mapped motifs are listed directly, most widespread first.
Mapped motifs
641 motifs, showing the 60 most attested
- Mystical Quest 6,112 occurrences · 93 traditions
- african akan
- african bantu
- afro caribbean
- ainu
- akan
- amazonian
- arctic inuit
- armenian
- +85 more
- Divine Beloved 1,890 occurrences · 70 traditions
- ainu
- arctic inuit
- armenian
- biblical
- buddhist
- buryat mongol
- caucasian
- celtic
- +62 more
- Annihilation And Union 1,694 occurrences · 42 traditions
- arctic inuit
- armenian
- australian aboriginal
- bavili
- buddhist
- burmese
- celtic
- celtic irish
- +34 more
- Ascetic self-mortification and self-denial 3 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Body as prison of the soul 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- gnostic
- sufi
- body as temporary dwelling 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- hindu
- sufi
- freedom preferred to secure captivity 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- daoist
- taoist
- inescapable chain of existence 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- purification of the heart 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- saintly succession and authorized companionship 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- world as temporary lodging 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Abandonment of the corruptible body 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- acceptance of the final draught 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Accumulation of perfections across many births 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Action without attachment to fruits 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- affliction as furnace-burning 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Alchemical spiritual transformation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- persian
- All things contained in divine unity 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- alluring outsiders perceived as threats to ascetic rites 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- ambivalent ecstatic expression 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- animalized appetitive life 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Animating spirit valued over outward form 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- appointed term of maturation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- ascetic as serpent 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Ascetic austerity alarms the gods, who interrupt it through seduction 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- ascetic austerity threatens divine status 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Ascetic discipline marked on the body 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- ascetic discipline oriented toward Nirvana 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Ascetic fasting retreat in a cave 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- christian apocrypha
- Ascetic forest life contrasted with householder kingship 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- ascetic hardship followed by devotional dispensation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- ascetic mastery over hunger and thirst 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Ascetic moderation in food 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- ascetic mortification produces supernatural fertility 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- ascetic patched-cloth discipline 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Ascetic power challenging divine order 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- ascetic power embodied in landscape 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Ascetic power sanctifies the landscape 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Ascetic power sustains nature and alters time 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- ascetic rejection of worldly valuation at death 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- ascetic residence outside built dwellings 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- ascetic restraint as difficult higher life 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Ascetic restraint in food tested by contrary example 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- ascetic restraint of adornment 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- ascetic restraint of bodily adornment 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Ascetic wandering, celibacy, and homelessness 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Aspiration toward liberation after seeing others freed 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- athletic contest as image of spiritual attainment 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Attachment to possessions tested against renunciation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- attainment of Buddhahood 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- attainment unto God through suffering and prayer 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- christian apocrypha
- attempted reconciliation of institutional religion and mysticism 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- attendant joins elite renunciants after refusing wealth 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- austerity producing merit and supernatural power 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Awakening call at dawn 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- becoming another through external orientation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Blissful seven-day liminal interval after enlightenment 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- bodily and artistic means of inducing trance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Bodily grooming marks renunciant boundary 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Body as beast to be restrained 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
Each motif link opens its evidence page: every tagged passage with its quote, and a path into the book where the passage lives.