batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg-l3540-l3604
---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg-l3540-l3604
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER I. THE KING OF THE WOOD. / MACAULAY. / CHAPTER II. THE PERILS OF
THE SOUL. / HEINE.; lines 3540-3604
start: '3540'
end: '3604'
translation: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2)'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Frazer surveys beliefs and customs in which a person’s shadow or reflection
is treated as the soul or a vital part of the self. The passage gives examples
of shadow injury causing bodily harm, noon or shadow loss bringing danger, and
foundation customs in which a measured or trapped shadow functions as a substitute
for a living foundation victim.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage states that a shadow or reflection may be regarded as a soul or
vital part of a person, so that trampling, striking, stabbing, or detaching it
causes injury or death.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: In several examples, magicians, demons, a stone demon, or another human actor
harm or gain power over a person by attacking, holding, or affecting the person’s
shadow.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: obs:3
text: The story of Sankara says that when he rose into the air, the Grand Lama stabbed
his shadow on the ground, after which Sankara fell and died from a broken neck.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: In the Amboina and Uliase example, people avoid going out at midday because
a person may lose the shadow of the soul when little or no shadow is cast.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Tukaitawa’s strength is said to increase and decrease with the length of his
shadow, and he is slain at noon when his shadow and strength are lowest.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The passage links diminished noon shadow with dread of the noon hour and notes
Greek sacrifices at noon to the shadowless dead.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Ancient belief about the hyaena says that treading on a human or animal shadow
can deprive the shadow’s owner of speech, motion, or bodily control.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Entering the sanctuary of Zeus on Mount Lycaeus is said to cause a person
to lose his shadow and die within the year.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: In modern Greek foundation customs described here, an animal may be killed
and buried under a foundation stone so that its blood and body strengthen the
building.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: In South-Eastern European foundation customs, a builder may measure a person’s
body, part of the body, or shadow, bury the measure under the foundation stone,
or lay the stone upon the person’s shadow; the person is believed to die afterward.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: obs:11
text: The passage says the buried measure of the shadow is treated as equivalent
to the shadow itself and therefore to the person’s life or soul.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: person whose shadow is soul-like
description: A human whose shadow or reflection is treated as the soul or a vital
part of the self.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- ev:10
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Wetar magicians
description: Magicians in Wetar who can make a man ill by stabbing or hacking his
shadow.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Sankara
description: A figure said to soar into the air and then fall and break his neck
after his shadow is stabbed.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Grand Lama
description: A figure who perceives Sankara’s shadow on the ground and strikes a
knife into it.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: demons associated with shadows
description: Demons in the Babar Islands and a stone demon in Melanesia that gain
power through a person’s shadow or draw out a soul when a shadow falls on stones.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Tukaitawa
description: A mighty Mangaian warrior whose strength waxes and wanes with the length
of his shadow.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: hero who kills Tukaitawa
description: A hero who discovers the secret of Tukaitawa’s strength and kills him
at noon.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: hyaena
description: An animal said to deprive a man, or a dog through its shadow, of speech,
motion, or control by treading on the shadow.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: foundation builders and shadow-traders
description: Builders, architects, and shadow-traders who obtain, measure, or use
shadows for new buildings.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: foundation shadow victim
description: A person whose shadow or body-measure is taken for a foundation and
who is believed to die as a result.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: foundation sacrificial animal
description: A cock, ram, lamb, or other animal whose blood and body may be placed
at or under a foundation stone.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
roles:
- id: role:1
label: shadow-soul bearer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:10
basis: These figures are described as vulnerable through their shadow, whose condition
is linked to life, soul, strength, or death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:10
- id: role:2
label: shadow assailant or controller
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
basis: These figures harm, hold, tread on, measure, or otherwise use a shadow to
affect its owner.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:3
label: foundation victim or substitute victim
assigned_to:
- fig:10
- fig:11
basis: A person’s shadow or measure, or an animal body and blood, is placed at the
foundation to strengthen the structure; the human owner is believed to die.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: role:4
label: noon-vulnerable figure
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:6
basis: Sankara’s shadow is exposed on the ground while he rises, and Tukaitawa is
weakest at noon when his shadow is shortest.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: ritual provider of shadows
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The passage mentions shadow-traders who provide architects with shadows for
securing walls.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: shadow as soul or life
literal_form: shadow or reflection
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- ev:10
- id: sym:2
label: wounded shadow
literal_form: shadow stabbed, hacked, struck, held, or trodden upon
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: sym:3
label: noon and shortened shadow
literal_form: midday, noon, little or no shadow, shortened shadow
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: foundation stone
literal_form: foundation stone under which blood, animal body, shadow-measure, or
shadow is placed
associated_figures:
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: sym:5
label: shadow measure
literal_form: secretly measured body, body-part, or shadow buried under a foundation
associated_figures:
- fig:9
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: sym:6
label: sacrificial blood at foundation
literal_form: blood of a cock, ram, or lamb flowing on the foundation stone
associated_figures:
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Shadow or reflection treated as vulnerable soul
summary: The passage introduces the belief that a shadow or reflection may be a
soul or vital part, so harm to it harms the person and its loss can cause death.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Attacks on shadows cause illness, loss of soul, or death
summary: Wetar magicians, the Grand Lama, Babar demons, and a Melanesian stone demon
act on shadows to cause illness, falling death, control, or extraction of the
soul.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Noon as a moment of shadow danger
summary: People avoid midday in equatorial islands, Tukaitawa is killed when his
shadow and strength are shortest, and the passage connects noon dread and sacrifice
to diminished or absent shadows.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Animal treads on shadow
summary: A hyaena is said to disable a man or dog by treading upon the shadow.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Loss of shadow in sanctuary
summary: A person entering the sanctuary of Zeus on Mount Lycaeus is believed to
lose his shadow and die within the year.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Foundation sacrifice and shadow immurement
summary: Foundation customs kill and bury animals or use a person’s measured body
or shadow beneath a foundation stone; the shadow owner is believed to die, and
the act is said to strengthen the structure.
figure_refs:
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Shadow as external soul or life-part
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage repeatedly describes shadows or reflections as equivalent to
the soul, life, or a vital part of the person or animal.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The passage uses Frazer’s comparative framing; extraction records the
claim as presented, not as verified ethnography.
- id: motif:2
label: Injury to shadow causes injury to owner
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Examples include stabbing, hacking, holding, striking, or treading upon a
shadow, with resulting illness, death, loss of speech, loss of motion, or loss
of soul.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: Specific cultural examples are summarized from Frazer’s cited reports
within the passage.
- id: motif:3
label: Noon vulnerability through shortened or absent shadow
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage gives examples of avoiding midday, Tukaitawa’s lowest strength
at noon, and broader dread or ritual association of noon with diminished shadows.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: Frazer states some connections as possible or perhaps; the causal explanation
is not asserted with certainty.
- id: motif:4
label: Death through loss of shadow
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage states that total detachment of the shadow causes death and gives
examples of sanctuary entry, foundation shadow-taking, and midday shadow loss
as fatal or dangerous.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: Belief outcomes differ by example, ranging from danger to death within
a stated time.
- id: motif:5
label: Foundation sacrifice by shadow substitute
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Animal blood and burial, measured human shadow, and foundation-stone placement
are described as means of giving strength and stability to a building, with the
shadow-owner expected to die.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The passage explicitly interprets the shadow measure as a substitute for
immuring a living person; this is Frazer’s analysis within the passage.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: Across the examples cited, the shadow has the same functional role as a vulnerable
life or soul component whose injury or loss affects the owner.
claim_level: same_function
target: shadow-soul beliefs in Wetar, Nepal/Sankara story, Babar Islands, Melanesia,
Amboina and Uliase, Mangaia, ancient Arabia, Arcadia, and South-Eastern Europe
as presented by Frazer
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:10
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: This is a passage-internal comparative claim; it does not establish
historical contact or common inheritance.
- id: claim:2
claim: The foundation shadow custom is presented as functionally equivalent to a
living foundation victim, because the buried shadow-measure is treated as the
person’s life or soul and is used to strengthen the structure.
claim_level: same_function
target: foundation sacrifice or immurement customs described for modern Greece,
Bulgaria, and Transylvania
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The equivalence is Frazer’s interpretation in this passage and requires
human review against primary sources.
- id: claim:3
claim: Several noon-related examples are compared by the passage through the shared
pattern of diminished or absent shadow being dangerous or ritually significant.
claim_level: same_function
target: midday avoidance, Tukaitawa’s noon vulnerability, noon dread, and Greek
noon sacrifice to the shadowless dead
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: Frazer marks some explanatory links as possible or perhaps, so the
comparison should be treated cautiously.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3540-3546
quote_or_summary: The passage states that a shadow or reflection may be regarded
as the soul or a vital part; injury to it harms the person, and detachment can
cause death.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 3546-3552
quote_or_summary: Wetar magicians can make a man ill by attacking his shadow; in
the Sankara story, the Grand Lama stabs Sankara’s shadow, causing him to fall
and break his neck.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 3552-3558
quote_or_summary: Babar demons gain power by holding or wounding a shadow; a Melanesian
stone demon can draw out a soul when a shadow falls on stones; in Amboina and
Uliase, people avoid midday because of danger of losing the soul’s shadow.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 3558-3564
quote_or_summary: Tukaitawa’s strength follows the length of his shadow, being greatest
in the morning, weakest at noon, and returning in the afternoon; a hero learns
this and kills him at noon.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 3564-3569
quote_or_summary: The passage cautiously connects diminished noon shadow with dread
of noon among several peoples and with Greek noon sacrifices to the shadowless
dead.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 3570-3575
quote_or_summary: An ancient belief says that a hyaena treading on a man’s shadow
deprives him of speech and motion, and treading on a dog’s moonlit shadow makes
the dog fall as if dragged.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 3575-3579
quote_or_summary: Frazer states that the shadow is treated as a living part of the
person or animal; a person entering Zeus’s sanctuary on Mount Lycaeus was believed
to lose his shadow and die within the year.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 3579-3589
quote_or_summary: In modern Greek foundation customs, an animal may be killed and
buried under a foundation stone to strengthen the building; alternatively, a builder
may measure a man or his shadow or place the foundation stone on the shadow, and
the man is believed to die within a year.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 3590-3598
quote_or_summary: Bulgarian custom may use the shadow of an animal if a human shadow
is unavailable; Roumanians of Transylvania say a person whose shadow is immured
dies within forty days, and shadow-traders are said to provide shadows for architects.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 3598-3604
quote_or_summary: The passage states that the shadow-measure is treated as equivalent
to the shadow, life, or soul; burying it deprives the person of life and substitutes
for immuring a living person in a new building’s walls or under its foundation.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary only.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The literal extraction is straightforward from the supplied passage. Motif
and comparison confidence is lower where Frazer offers speculative causal links
or broad comparative interpretation.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No external taxonomy IDs beyond the provided motif family 'sacrifice' were added. Shadow is treated as a passage-derived symbol without an available taxonomy symbol reference.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg__l3540-l3604
passage_sha256=fd3df7cdb8b212c23aef1cf1d2b3dd6d5f238c252e9b389c7b276eeeb545bd60