Bribri, Cabecar, Térraba; Chiriqui (AD 800-1500) iconography



Tradition title rus: 
Брибри, кабекар, терраба; иконография культуры Чирики (800-1500 нэ)
Areal ID: 
14.2.2.1
Language: 
Tradition analysis result motif count all: 
74.00
Tradition analysis result motif count cosmo: 
52.00
Motifs: 

Motif

a3


Name_eng: 
Male sun and female moon
Description: 

The Moon is female or bisexual, the Sun is male




Motif

a31


Name_eng: 
The incestuous Moon
Description: 

As a result of some intimate contacts and/or love affair, the Moon acquires its present appearance (often, the stains on his face) and/or ascends to the sky




Motif

a35


Name_eng: 
Spots on the lunar disc
Description: 

Dark spots on the lunar disc are dirt, blood, paint, traces of beating, burning, scratching, etc. on the Moon person's body or face (Kiliwa: spots on the Sun) and do not form any particular figure




Motif

b2a


Name_eng: 
The female earth
Description: 

The earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman




Motif

b2b


Name_eng: 
The earth eats the dead
Description: 

The earth devours bodies of the people when they die and are buried




Motif

b2c


Name_eng: 
The earth is a human body, is born by the woman
Description: 

The earth, elements of the landscape or the fertile soil are the transformed body of a person or the earth (islands) were born by a woman




Motif

b3b


Name_eng: 
Earth grows big
Description: 

Original earth was small and later increased in size or the fertile soil grew from a small amount of original substance




Motif

b9


Name_eng: 
Water in the tree trunk
Description: 

There is enormous amount of water inside a trunk of a tree or a tree turns into water




Motif

b56


Name_eng: 
Fire tongue of the crocodile
Description: 

After the crocodile or caiman swallows or loses fire (that he possessed before), he remains without his tongue; or the crocodile's tongue is cut off to make something related to celestial fire (thunderbolt, sun beams, etc.




Motif

b86


Name_eng: 
Babylonian tower
Description: 

To reach the sky (the Sun, Moon, particular star), people build a ladder or tower that consists of separate modules (bricks, logs, sticks, etc.). This construction collapses




Motif

c5b


Name_eng: 
Animal-scouts
Description: 

During the creation of the world or after the world cataclysm animals run around making the earth big, reporting about its condition or they are sent to report the size of the growing earth




Motif

c23


Name_eng: 
Tree eclipses sky-light
Description: 

Growth and falling of giant tree defines the condition of the sky with luminaries on it (tree eclipses the light of the sun, can destroy the sky, tears the sun off the sky, etc.)




Motif

d1b


Name_eng: 
Male spirit of fire
Description: 

The fire is personified as an elder man (alone or with his wife, mistress of fire)




Motif

d6a


Name_eng: 
Fire and crocodile
Description: 

Crocodile or cayman is an original or temporary owner of fire or lighting




Motif

d6b


Name_eng: 
Burned person becomes a caiman
Description: 

Badly burned person turns into caiman or crocodile




Motif

e9


Name_eng: 
The mysterious housekeeper
Description: 

Person observes traces of some activity that takes place in his (rare: her) house in his (her) absence and then takes by surprise the responsible one




Motif

e9f


Name_eng: 
Parrot-wife
Description: 

Man maries parrot- or parakeet-woman




Motif

e11


Name_eng: 
The burned skin
Description: 

Magic person reveals his true nature and/or remains with the real people after the object responsible for preserving the non-human appearance (usually an animal skin) is destroyed (usually burned)




Motif

e33


Name_eng: 
People from seeds
Description: 

People emerge from grains, seeds




Motif

f9


Name_eng: 
A dangerous woman
Description: 

For different reasons, sexual contact with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man




Motif

f9a


Name_eng: 
Vagina dentata
Description: 

There are teeth, blades or sharp stones in woman’s genitals, vagina is the biting mouth. (Only texts that are believed to correspond to reality are considered but not anecdotes and jokes)




Motif

f18b


Name_eng: 
Long penis after prohibited sex
Description: 

After contact with a non-human or prohibited partner (close kin, animal, spirit) man's penis becomes so long that he had to carry it in a basket, etc.




Motif

f30


Name_eng: 
Snake paramour
Description: 

A woman or a girl takes a snake, an eel (i.e. Pacific snake-eel), a lizard, or a worm for husband or paramour. People kill or badly injure him, the woman and/or her progeny or the woman herself is transformed into snake. Cf. motif k76b: the snake-husband becomes and remains a handsome man




Motif

f32


Name_eng: 
Tree fruits for a woman
Description: 

Baby child or children who come out of mother's womb and turn themselves into adult men or a snake who lives in her womb climb up a tree and help the woman to gather fruits, bark, edible fungi, etc. Usually the child who is a snake returns to his mother's womb and adult man turns back into a baby; or the girl's love affair with a snake is discovered when her father climbs a tree to gather fruits for her




Motif

f34


Name_eng: 
Land animal paramour
Description: 

Certain woman or a group of women takes for a paramour a big land animal. Husbands, brothers or (adoptive) children kill or maim paramour and (sometimes) the woman




Motif

g1


Name_eng: 
A kidnapped child
Description: 

Valuables (earth, soil, sun, crops, fire, sacred knowledge, hunting luck) are got or returned when son or daughter is stolen from his or her parent




Motif

g3


Name_eng: 
A rock of crops
Description: 

Cultivated plants or fertile soil to plant them are hidden inside a rock. Birds or Thunders get them destroying the rock




Motif

g6


Name_eng: 
Primeval tree
Description: 

One of the trees is the principal, original one (emerged before all the other; ancestor of wild or cultivated plants; ocean or rivers inside it; world axis; higher than all the others; overshadows sky)




Motif

g7


Name_eng: 
Blunt axes
Description: 

Ancestors try to fell a tree (more rare a high rock) that has different useful fruits on its branchs (on its top) or contains water and fish in its tunck. The notch disappears as soon as the woodcutters abandon their work for a while or periodically




Motif

g8


Name_eng: 
Restored tree
Description: 

A deep notch in the tree (or in the sky support) is magically restored as soon as persons or creatures who cut or gnaw it stop working




Motif

g8d


Name_eng: 
Falling or growing up of a tree is dangerous to the world
Description: 

To save the world (gods, king, etc.) certain persons or creatures try to cut or gnaw a tree (post, mountain) or do not permit the others to do. The notch disappears and the tree (post, etc.) becomes intact




Motif

g12


Name_eng: 
Tree is a person
Description: 

A giant tree (often with water inside it or with different cultivated plants on its branches) grows out of the human body or is transformed person




Motif

h5


Name_eng: 
People and snakes
Description: 

Reptiles or invertebrates possess the medicine of immortality; are contrasted with men as immortal with mortals and/or are responsible for originating of death; or a snake's bite inflicts the first death




Motif

i3


Name_eng: 
Weapon of Thunder
Description: 

The lightning (and thunder) is (produced with) an object (axe, sword, mirror, belt, stones, skin, etc.) in hands of anthropomorphic being




Motif

i10a


Name_eng: 
Colored layers of the sky
Description: 

Different sky levels or different categories of clouds have different colors




Motif

i13a


Name_eng: 
The horned serpent
Description: 

Giant water-chthonic or sky serpent or dragon has horns or antlers on its head




Motif

i22


Name_eng: 
Objects in permanent movement
Description: 

There are objects which remaining on the same place are moving permanently or periodically (meet and part. rise and fall down, shut and open, rotate)




Motif

i27


Name_eng: 
Chthonic canine
Description: 

A dog is the lord, guard or guide of/to the land of the dead; or dogs live on the way to the land of the dead




Motif

i27b


Name_eng: 
Dog as a ferryman
Description: 

A dog ferries person across a river that forms a border between the worlds




Motif

i28


Name_eng: 
Animals in the underworld
Description: 

Game animals live inside a mountain, in a cave or in the underworld where they often look like humans and have a master




Motif

i43a


Name_eng: 
The celestial monster
Description: 

Giant reptilian monster (serpent, more rare fish, chain of fish) extends in the sky and/or supports the sky being associated with Milky Way or the rainbow




Motif

i43b


Name_eng: 
Milky Way is a serpent or fish
Description: 

Milky Way is a reptile, fish, or chain of fish




Motif

i57


Name_eng: 
Thunder pursues his enemy
Description: 

Thunder's enemies are evil spirits, reptiles, animals living in burrows. They hide from him in different objects, Thunder destroys these objects




Motif

i62


Name_eng: 
Milky Way is a river
Description: 

Milky Way is a sky river, water body, chain of beings that swim




Motif

i83


Name_eng: 
The sky of birds
Description: 

Birds, first of all vultures and eagles, live in the sky, usually at one or more layers of the upper world




Motif

j22d


Name_eng: 
Two animals from one cut in two
Description: 

Two halves of one animal or person which was cut in two turn into two animals of different species or into foreigners




Motif

j28a


Name_eng: 
Truth about father
Description: 

Hero asks how one of his parents died and receives a series of false answers. Usually he successively exposes himself to the same dangers, survives and thus demonstrates that truth is still concealed from him




Motif

j29


Name_eng: 
Shadow of the father
Description: 

A murdered parent of the hero comes to him as a ghost and informs about the circumstances of his or her death




Motif

j30


Name_eng: 
Parents’ remains
Description: 

Before the hero destroys the antagonists or escapes from them, he finds or receives the remains or possessions that belonged to the antagonists' victim




Motif

k10a


Name_eng: 
Battle with a bird: a shelter
Description: 

Heroes kill a dangerous bird. During or before confrontation they hide inside a shelter (hut, cage, vessel, bag, hollow log) or cover themselves with a protective object




Motif

k10b


Name_eng: 
Cage carried away
Description: 

A giant bird carries away to its nest a cage or bag with people inside




Motif

k25


Name_eng: 
Magic wife
Description: 

A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world




Motif

k41


Name_eng: 
Thunder against a serpent
Description: 

Thunder or giant bird fights against a reptile, big water animal or other big and strong creature who lives in water or under the earth




Motif

l5c


Name_eng: 
Rolling head is a dangerous monster
Description: 

Rolling head is a dangerous mobster (pursues celestial bodies, people etc.)




Motif

l11


Name_eng: 
Turtle-bench
Description: 

In a non-human world objects of everyday life have appearance of animals and monsters, mainly fish, amphibians and reptiles




Motif

l18


Name_eng: 
Multi-headed bird
Description: 

A bird with two or more heads on top of one body is described in tales or represented in art




Motif

l28


Name_eng: 
The snake-eater
Description: 

Person who have eaten a prohibited meat or fish turns into monstrous snake or fish




Motif

l28a


Name_eng: 
Eating of snake meat triggers flood
Description: 

Because people (or certain person) eat the meat of a snake (dragon, strange fish), a flood begins or a landslide occurs, or a river (lake) appears




Motif

l31


Name_eng: 
People stick to monster
Description: 

People against their will must follow an object, a creature, or a person (usually stick to it) who/which leads or carries them far away, usually into the water or to the sky




Motif

l41


Name_eng: 
Hero escapes on the way
Description: 

An ogre or ogress catches a person and carries his or her prey home but the person escapes on the way or immediately after reaching the ogre's house




Motif

l52


Name_eng: 
Hero escapes from top of a tree
Description: 

Hero hides in a tree from an ogre. Before the ogre gets to fell the tree, the hero flies away or a bird helps him to escape




Motif

l53


Name_eng: 
Stones into the maw
Description: 

A monstrous being is killed or neutralized by (burning hot) stones (pieces of metal, heavy fruits, etc.) thrown into its maw or anus or the being retreats when they menace to throw a stone into its maw




Motif

l85


Name_eng: 
One-sided people
Description: 

One-sided people have one leg and/or also one arm, one half of a head, etc. The second leg is not cut or burned off, preserved as a stump but is absent completely




Motif

m8


Name_eng: 
Breaking the obstacle
Description: 

Non-human persons work hard to destroy a strong and durable obstacle that blocks access to some place or object




Motif

m23


Name_eng: 
Mock plea
Description: 

Person or creature pretends to be afraid of a particular sort of treatment that really cannot do him any harm




Motif

b75d


Name_eng: 
Sounds of the time of creation: a murmur of the forest
Description: 

The murmur of the forest or grass swayed by the wind is heard from the time of creation




Motif

m29k


Name_eng: 
The turtle (tortoise, toad, frog) wins thanks to his smartness
Description: 

Being smart and persistent, the turtle (toad, frog) overcomes strong adversaries




Motif

j26


Name_eng: 
Babies come out of the water
Description: 

Baby heroes, embryos or objects from which they emerge are found in a river or lake or come to people out of the water




Motif

l65b3


Name_eng: 
The escape on the tree
Description: 

Persons climbs a tree and thanks to this escapes from a demon (who usually tries to fell the tree)




Motif

l19a


Name_eng: 
Beings with even number of heads
Description: 

Beings (any besides birds) with even but not more than ten number of heads are described in tales or represented in art. Beings that with even number of heads named in a row with other multi-headed beings and the highest number is even or bigger than ten are not considered




Motif

k10


Name_eng: 
Fight with the monstrous bird
Description: 

Monstrous bird (giant bat) predates on humans. Heroes fight with it




Motif

i22f


Name_eng: 
Clashing trees
Description: 

Person must go beyond relatively small objects (trees, logs, blades) which are incessantly clashing and parting, rising and falling




Motif

f18a


Name_eng: 
The long penis
Description: 

Penis is so long that he can turn it round his waist or send into a woman who is at a long distance from him. (Only texts considered to describe real events and beings and not anecdotes are included)




Motif

f34b


Name_eng: 
The paramour is not a human being
Description: 

A girl (a woman, a group of women) intentionally takes a penis-being, a snake, an eel, a lizard, a worm, a big water animal or water monster or a big terrestrial mammal for paramour. People kill or maim the paramour, the woman and/or her progeny or she is transformed herself into an animal. She is blamed for her behavior





Similar traditions based on Cosmology and Etiology motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Witoto, Ocaina
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Tojolabal, Chuj, Jacalteca, Kanjobal, Mocho (incl Tuzantec), Acatec
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Zoque; Izapa iconography (I millennium BC)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Kogi (Cagaba), Sanha, Creols of Aritama Valley
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Nahuan groups of Puebla and Huasteca after AD1900
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Maue (Mawe)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Chorti
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Baniwa (incl. Wakuenai), Bare, Piapoco, Curripaco, Siusi, Guarikena

Similar traditions based on Adventures and Tricks motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition:
Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition:
Witoto, Ocaina
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Trio
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Andoque
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Sicuani
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Paya (Pech), Sumu, Misquito
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Alabama, Koasati
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Hitchiti
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition:
Creek, Seminole; Tuskegee; iconography of Kentucky Hopewell
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition:
Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo