Motif family
Sacred Time and Ritual Cycle
The ordering of time through sacred rhythm # sabbath, seasonal ceremonies, jubilee, annual purification. The distinction between sacred time (cyclical, renewable, connected to origins) and profane time (linear, entropic).
97 traditions
4,992 occurrences
328 mapped motifs
9 sub-families
- aboriginal australian
- african akan
- african bantu
- afro caribbean
- ainu
- amazonian
- andamanese
- arctic inuit
- armenian
- 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
- filipino
- finnic
- finnish karelian
- fjort
- ganda
- georgian
- germanic
- gnostic
- greek
- greek roman
- guiana amerindian
- hausa
- hawaiian
- hermetic
- hindu
- hopi
- inca
- indigenous australian
- inuit
- islamic
- jain
- japanese
- jewish christian
- jewish pseudepigrapha
- khoisan south african
- kikuyu
- korean
- malagasy
- malay
- mangaian
- maori
- maya
- melanesian
- mesopotamian
- micronesian
- 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
- samoan
- san
- shan
- shinto
- siberian
- sikh
- slavic
- sufi
- taoist
- temne
- tibetan buddhist
- vietnamese
- xhosa
- yoruba
- zoroastrian
- zulu
- zuni
Conserved neighbors: covenant · sacrifice · cosmic origin · world ages cosmic decline · fate figures cosmic weaving
Sub-families · the next landing down
Calendar Rules and Sacred Units
15 motifs
- Auspicious and inauspicious calendar days govern human and practical actions 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- auspicious timing for royal rite 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- calendar dedication replacing or paralleling a divine month 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- divinely ordained cosmic or ritual calendar 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- jubilee 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- jewish christian
- lunar regulation of sacred time 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- prohibition of sacred-calendar manipulation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- sabbath cycle 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- jewish christian
- sacred calendar governing ritual action 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- sacred calendar under divine ordinance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- sacred or calendrical number of cult images 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Sacred time fixed at creation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Sacred time set apart for religious observance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Sacred time violated by human alteration 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- weekly sacred day of communal worship 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
Timed Prayer, Fasting, and Devotion
11 motifs
- night vigil and communal devotion 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- feast following ritual fast 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- full-moon nocturnal rite with triple gestures 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- merit multiplied by sacred time 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- new-year lunar prayer for protection and nearness to God 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- Regulated daily prayer cycle 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- ritual fasting and liminal time-marking 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- ritual prayer at cosmic times 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Ritual prayer ordered by sacred time 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Sacred calendar abstinence governed by lunar and dawn markers 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Solar-timed prayer with repeated prostrations 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
Festivals, Processions, and Public Rites
15 motifs
- annual festival honoring a victory deity 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- burning a tree in seasonal fire 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- burning or disposal of anthropomorphic effigy at midsummer 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- concealed sacred altar revealed during festival 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- deity honoured through dramatic festival 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- door-to-door May procession with gifts 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- festival commemoration through ritual and performance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- Festival for a goddess with torch-race 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Festival myth explains calamity the rite averts 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- grove festival at sacred lake 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- ritual alternation of mourning and merriment for a goddess's loss 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- ritual burning and renewal of festival vessels 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- ritual suspension or reversal of social hierarchy 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- women-only sacred festival 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- women's annual festival for a guardian goddess 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
Crop Spirits and Agricultural Fertility
11 motifs
- tree and cultivated-plant rites 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- Agricultural deity with harvest attributes 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- corn-spirit embodied in harvest animal 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- divine powers governing agricultural success 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- grain deity or corn-goddess identity 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- Human bearer of animal identity after the final harvest act 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- ritual tree as crop-quickening power 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- royal title for vegetation representative 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- securing the soul of the crop 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- spontaneous abundance of unploughed earth 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- stranger as crop-spirit embodiment 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
Harvest Actions, Taboos, and Responses
10 motifs
- Crippled harvest being caused by cutting the corn 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- last-corn sheaf as protective object 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- mocking, masking, or inversion of the last harvest worker 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- protective binding of harvested grain 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- Public shaming or taunting of laggard harvesters 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- recalling the absent crop soul 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- ritual response to harvest failure 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- ritual specialist inaugurates harvest 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- taboo on eating new fruits before ritual permission 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- tabooed knotted remnant of the harvest 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
Seasonal and Celestial Markers
9 motifs
- Seasonal Cycle 4,662 occurrences · 95 traditions
- aboriginal australian
- african akan
- african bantu
- ainu
- amazonian
- andamanese
- arctic inuit
- armenian
- +87 more
- cosmic chariot path in the sky 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- dawn boundary marked by contrasting threads 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Dawn deity heralds the sun 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- natural substances generated by celestial or seasonal drops 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- origin explanation for animal breeding season 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- return or renewal of sunlight on the seventh day 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- seven solar horses as week-symbol 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Seven-steed solar chariot 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
World Ages and Historical Cycles
12 motifs
- kalpa-enduring miracle 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Civilization discovered and lost repeatedly 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- declining world ages and worsening evil 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- End of heroic age marked by completion of the cycle 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Golden Age of bloodless vegetal abundance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- Golden Age of simple self-contained life 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- immense age measured by erosion and ecological change 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic welsh
- metal ages transformed into coexisting human natures 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- metallic races as moral and political types 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Moral decline of an age or race 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- peaceful nonviolent age followed by first flesh-eating 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- rise and fall of cities under time 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
Community as a Growing Seed
2 motifs
- Community represented as flourishing seed 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- religious community likened to growing seed 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
Truce and Extended Sacred Time
3 motifs
- Peace lasting until dawn 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- sacred time as truce from violence 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Sacred time surpassing ordinary duration 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
Not yet placed in a sub-family
240 motifs, showing the 60 most attested
- agricultural deity marked by harvest emblems 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- agricultural fertility and field support 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- nahua
- animal and bird behavior as seasonal signs for humans 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- australian aboriginal
- animal, day-name, and deity-name association 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- nahua
- animal embodiment of the corn-spirit 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- Animal sound marks the boundary between day and night 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- andamanese
- annual ritual renewal of guardian presence 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- zuni
- Annual women’s festival honoring a goddess 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- Auspicious and inauspicious calendar days 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- egyptian
- auspicious and inauspicious days for work 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Auspicious and inauspicious wedding timing 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- shan
- Auspicious-day selection by specialists 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- shan
- auspicious first words and first actions shape the year 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- authorized proclamation establishes civic time 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- Birth weekday as life-governing sign 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- shan
- Calamity recorded in calendrical history 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- maya
- calendar adoption at a calendrical turning point 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- maya
- Calendar-cycle chronology 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- maya
- Calendar festival honouring a goddess 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- calendar period personified as a named ruler 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- maya
- calendar rite of instrument purification 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- calendar-shaped dynastic pattern 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- nahua maya inca
- Calendrical and numerical ordering of the community 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Calendrical supernatural assault on a central place 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- Capturing the hidden harvest animal 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- Ceaseless change and succession of endings and beginnings 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Celestial event as chronological sign 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- confucian
- celestial omen authorizing continuation of time 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- nahua maya inca
- Celestial recurrence and human absence 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- celestial time-ordering 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- biblical
- Ceremonial cries and decorated crop focus at the last cut 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- ceremonial solar and daylight sequence 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southwest
- ceremony and music as seasonal harmonization 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- confucian
- chronicle organized by calendrical katun cycle 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- maya
- civic legitimation through calendrical commemoration 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- cock as embodiment of the corn-spirit in the last sheaf 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- Cockcrow ends or constrains nocturnal supernatural activity 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- estonian
- commemoration of victory, defeat, and death in a sacred calendar 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- communal entitlement after ritual season 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- communal ritual synchronization by calendar and number 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- communal sacred text recitation at appointed time 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- completion followed by renewal 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- maya
- concord-preserving calendrical exception 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Condemned manipulation of sacred time 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Cosmic cycles oriented toward new creation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- jewish pseudepigrapha
- Cosmic cycles outlasting human life 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- sufi
- counted katun cycle as historical frame 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- maya
- Courses of heavenly luminaries 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- jewish pseudepigrapha
- cultivated plant addressed as child 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- shan
- cultivated plant or corn deity worship 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- cyclical calendrical rotation 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- maya
- Cyclical games commemorating divine victory 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- cyclical reckoning of historical time 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- confucian
- cyclical time reckoning by ruling number 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- maya
- Deferred attainment under a future Buddha 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Distinct communal sacred day 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Divine body as measure of cosmic time 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- Divine ordering of the heavens and calendar 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- mesopotamian
- Divine presiders over a season 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- confucian
- divine procession in ordered heavenly bands 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
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