Ancient ✦ Wisdom ✦ Atlas

Motif family

Sacred Treasures and Power Objects

Objects of divine origin or power # swords, spears, stones, rings, feathers, sandals # that confer authority, protection, or sacred ability on their bearer.

54 traditions

1,180 occurrences

1,163 mapped motifs

10 sub-families

  • african akan
  • afro caribbean
  • ainu
  • akan
  • amazonian
  • andamanese
  • arctic inuit
  • arthurian
  • australian aboriginal
  • biblical
  • buddhist
  • celtic
  • celtic irish
  • celtic welsh
  • christian apocrypha
  • comparative
  • confucian
  • egyptian
  • estonian
  • filipino
  • finnish karelian
  • germanic
  • gnostic
  • greek
  • greek roman
  • hawaiian
  • hindu
  • hopi
  • indigenous australian
  • inuit
  • islamic
  • islamicate folklore
  • japanese
  • jewish christian
  • khoisan south african
  • maya quiche
  • mesopotamian
  • nahua
  • nahua maya inca
  • native american great lakes
  • native american northeast woodlands
  • native american northwest coast
  • native american plains
  • native american southeast
  • native american southwest
  • navajo
  • norse
  • persian
  • roman
  • romanian
  • shan
  • slavic
  • sufi
  • zuni

Conserved neighbors: royal legitimacy · sacred vessel · initiation · recognition tokens hidden identity

Sub-families · the next landing down

Divine and Named Weapons

81 motifs

Heroic Arms, Armor, and Banners

15 motifs

Wonder Objects and Marvelous Implements

66 motifs

Relics, Cult Images, and Sacred Stones

42 motifs

Recognition Tokens and Identity Signs

29 motifs

Cursed and Fatal Objects

29 motifs

Hidden Treasures and Their Recovery

28 motifs

Mirrors and Reflective Objects

5 motifs

Protective Charms and Apotropaic Objects

15 motifs

Healing Objects and Restorative Tokens

9 motifs

Not yet placed in a sub-family

844 motifs, showing the 60 most attested

Each motif link opens its evidence page: every tagged passage with its quote, and a path into the book where the passage lives.