Motif family
Sacred Waters and Passage Through Water
Water as boundary, purifier, destroyer, and medium of transformation. Includes baptismal waters, parted seas, rivers of the underworld, and the primordial waters before creation.
82 traditions
913 occurrences
575 mapped motifs
- african bantu
- afro caribbean
- ainu
- amazonian
- andamanese
- arctic inuit
- arthurian
- australian aboriginal
- basque
- bavili
- biblical
- buddhist
- caucasian
- celtic
- celtic irish
- celtic welsh
- chaco amerindian
- christian apocrypha
- comparative
- confucian
- daoist
- egyptian
- estonian
- ethiopian christian
- filipino
- finnic
- finnish karelian
- ganda
- georgian
- germanic
- gnostic
- greek
- greek roman
- guiana amerindian
- hawaiian
- hermetic
- hindu
- hopi
- inca
- indigenous australian
- inuit
- islamic
- islamicate folklore
- japanese
- jewish christian
- jewish pseudepigrapha
- kikuyu
- korean
- malagasy
- malay
- mangaian
- maya quiche
- melanesian
- mesopotamian
- micronesian
- nahua
- nahua maya inca
- 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
- vietnamese
- zoroastrian
- zuni
Conserved neighbors: flood and renewal · cosmic origin · descent
This family has not yet been binned into sub-families; its mapped motifs are listed directly, most widespread first.
Mapped motifs
575 motifs, showing the 60 most attested
- Heroic fighter confronted by many at a ford 328 occurrences · 63 traditions
- african bantu
- andamanese
- australian aboriginal
- basque
- bavili
- buddhist
- caucasian
- celtic
- +55 more
- Healing bath between battle days 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- celtic
- celtic irish
- Hidden water released from beneath a stone 2 occurrences · 2 traditions
- buddhist
- georgian
- battle with sea waves 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- Dry crossing through parted waters 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american plains
- healing from a well 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic irish
- heavenly water as purification and strengthening 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Personification of sea phenomena 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- Purifying sacred river 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- ritual purification by salted water 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- sacred bathing in natural waters 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- transformative waters 2 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- ablution with old garments carried away by water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- comparative
- adrift on water and needing rescue or landing 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
- ancestral naming with water sprinkling 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- Ancestral sea-crossing deliverance under divine guidance 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- biblical
- animal-borne passage over water to a distant land 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- Animal bridge across water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- slavic
- Animal companion leads youth into river danger 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- egyptian
- animal healing water concealed from hunters 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southeast
- Animal powers transform ritual water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southwest
- Animal quarry draws hunters into sea danger 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
- Animal refuses the uncanny water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- germanic
- animate flood or pursuing water after escape 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- germanic
- Anomalous water crossing 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american plains
- approach to a saint's hermitage at a sacred river confluence 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- armed hero faces threats in the water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- germanic
- army confronting an oceanic barrier 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- army encamped at liminal shore 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- avoidance of a dangerous supernatural waterfall place 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southeast
- avoidance of perilous waters by portage 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- inuit
- baptismal identity marker 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- Baptismal union with a higher nature 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamic
- beautifying sacred or legendary water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- blessed obedient river versus disobedient wandering river 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- slavic
- Bound antagonist empowered by water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- slavic
- boundary landscape of hot and cold waters 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Boundary river associated with named mythic land 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- Boundary river before divine dwelling 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- boundary-water escape after defeat 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- persian
- Broken treasure enriches the waters 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- finnish karelian
- captive antagonist restored by water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- slavic
- castaway survives by clinging to floating wood and reaching land 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- islamicate folklore
- Central ritual water in painted cosmogram 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american southwest
- Ceremonial road to a sacred water threshold 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- zuni
- Chain of threatened actions ending in safe river escape 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- afro caribbean
- chief as living bridge over an impassable river 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- celtic welsh
- child carried over water by dolphins 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- child disappears into water after following an animal 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
- Child water-sprinkling rite 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- norse
- Cleansing and healing bath vapors 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- finnish karelian
- cleansing pollution by diverted rivers 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- Closed-eye magical transit over water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- inuit
- coerced passage through personified waters 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- commanded water creates or preserves a ford 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american plains
- Commanding water to restore sea-animal kin 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- native american northwest coast
- Compelled carrier at a water crossing seeks release knowledge 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- germanic
- Concealment in water known to gods 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hawaiian
- concentric cosmic waters surrounding worlds 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hindu
- condemned being escapes execution by returning to water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- hawaiian
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