batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l5420-l5482
---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l5420-l5482
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
passage_locator:
label: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) / CONTENTS;
lines 5420-5482'
start: '5420'
end: '5482'
translation: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2)'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Frazer surveys reported beliefs and rules concerning menstruation and puberty
seclusion across several peoples and regions. The passage describes avoidance
of menstruating women, separate dwellings or retirement, restrictions on movement,
contact, water, paths, hunting and fishing areas, and alleged harmful effects
on men, animals, crops, food, drink, tools, and other objects.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage states that the seclusion of girls at puberty is grounded in fear
of menstruous blood.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Among the cited Australian groups, boys are warned that seeing menstrual blood
will cause premature gray hair and loss of strength.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The cited Australian rules require a woman at such times to live apart and
require men or boys to avoid approaching her or crossing her tracks.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The cited Australian rules forbid the woman from walking on paths used by
men, touching objects used by men, eating fish, going near water, crossing water,
or fetching water for the camp.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The passage says that severe beating or death could be imposed on an Australian
woman who broke these rules.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The Bushmen are reported to think that a girl's glance during the time of
required retirement can immobilize men and transform them into talking trees.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The Guayquiries of the Orinoco are reported to think that anything stepped
on by a menstruating woman will die, and that a man treading where she passed
will have swollen legs.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: The Creek and related Indians are described as compelling menstruating women
to live in separate huts away from the village, where approaching them is treated
as dangerous pollution.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The passage says that enemies who killed such women had to cleanse themselves
from pollution with sacred herbs and roots.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: Among the Chippeways and other Hudson Bay Territory Indians, menstruating
women are described as living outside the camp in branch huts and wearing long
hoods concealing the head and breast.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: The Chippeway and Hudson Bay rules forbid touching household furniture or
men's objects, walking on common paths, crossing animal tracks, walking on river
or lake ice, going near hunting or fishing areas, eating animal heads, or crossing
tracks where animal heads were carried.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: obs:12
text: The Lapps are described as forbidding menstruating women to walk on the shore
area used by fishers setting out fish.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:13
text: Pliny is cited as listing harmful effects attributed to menstruating women,
including turning wine to vinegar, blighting crops, killing seedlings and bees,
damaging gardens, mirrors, razors, and metals, and causing mares to miscarry.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:14
text: The passage reports European beliefs that a menstruating woman's presence
or touch can sour beer, spoil beer, wine, vinegar, or milk, prevent jam from keeping,
cause miscarriage in a mare, wither buds, or kill a cherry-tree.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Girls at puberty
description: Girls whose seclusion at puberty is discussed at the opening of the
passage.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Women at menstruation
description: Women described as subject to seclusion, movement restrictions, contact
restrictions, and attributed harmful effects during menstruation.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:11
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Men and boys
description: Male persons described as avoiding menstruating women, avoiding their
tracks, or being endangered by sight, proximity, glance, or treading where a woman
passed.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Fishers and hunters
description: Men whose fishing or hunting success is said to be endangered by a
menstruating woman's presence, movements, or crossing of tracks.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Enemies
description: Enemies who might attack secluded women and who, if they killed them,
were required to cleanse pollution.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Pliny
description: Ancient author of the Natural History, cited for a list of dangers
attributed to menstruation.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: secluded female subject
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:2
basis: The passage describes girls at puberty and menstruating women as kept in
retirement, apart, or in separate huts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: attributed source of danger or pollution
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage repeatedly reports beliefs that a menstruating woman's blood,
glance, touch, steps, or presence endangers people, objects, animals, crops, food,
or drink.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: role:3
label: avoidant or endangered male observers
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Men and boys are warned, avoid approach and tracks, and are described as
endangered by sight, glance, or treading where a woman passed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: success-dependent providers
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Fishing and hunting success is said to be averted or endangered if menstruation
restrictions are violated.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:5
label: pollution-affected attackers
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Enemies who killed secluded women are described as needing cleansing from
pollution.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: cited authority
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Pliny's Natural History is cited as a source for a list of dangers apprehended
from menstruation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: menstruous blood
literal_form: menstrual blood
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: separate dwelling
literal_form: living apart, separate huts, huts of branches
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: paths and tracks
literal_form: paths used by men, women's tracks, animal tracks, tracks where animal
heads were carried
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: sym:4
label: water boundary
literal_form: water, rivers, lakes, ice, shore
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:5
label: concealing hood
literal_form: long hoods concealing the head and breast
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: talking trees
literal_form: men changed into trees which talk
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:7
label: spoiled food and drink
literal_form: fish, beer, wine, vinegar, milk, jam
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- milk
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: sym:8
label: damaged plants and crops
literal_form: crops, seedlings, gardens, fruit trees, buds, cherry-tree
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: sym:9
label: damaged tools and metals
literal_form: mirrors, razors, iron, brass
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: sym:10
label: sacred cleansing materials
literal_form: sacred herbs and roots
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Australian menstrual avoidance rules
summary: Women at menstruation live apart; men and boys avoid them and their tracks;
the women face restrictions involving paths, men's objects, fish, water, and camp
water, with severe punishment for violations.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Bushmen transforming glance
summary: A girl who should be in strict retirement is believed capable, by a glance,
of fixing men in place and changing them into talking trees.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Guayquiries fatal footprints
summary: A menstruating woman's steps are believed to kill what she steps on, and
a man who treads where she passed is believed to suffer swollen legs.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Creek and related separate huts
summary: Menstruating women are required to live in distant huts; approach is considered
dangerous pollution, and enemies who kill them must cleanse themselves with sacred
herbs and roots.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Chippeway and Hudson Bay exclusion from camp
summary: Menstruating women live in branch huts, wear concealing hoods, and avoid
household objects, men's objects, common paths, animal tracks, ice, hunting and
fishing areas, and animal heads or their tracks.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:6
label: Lapp shore restriction
summary: Women at menstruation are forbidden to walk on the shore area from which
fishers set out their fish.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: scene:7
label: Pliny and European harmful-contact beliefs
summary: The passage cites Pliny and later European beliefs attributing spoilage,
blight, miscarriage, withering, rusting, and other harm to the presence or touch
of menstruating women.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: menstrual seclusion and avoidance taboo
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage repeatedly describes girls or women during puberty or menstruation
as secluded, housed apart, or kept in strict retirement, with others required
to avoid them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage is a secondary comparative account by Frazer; it should be
checked against the cited primary or ethnographic sources.
- id: motif:2
label: dangerous menstrual blood, touch, glance, or footprint
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage reports beliefs that seeing blood, a girl's glance, a woman's
touch, or stepping where she has passed can harm men, objects, plants, animals,
food, and drink.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: The motif label abstracts across several reported cultures; individual
contexts may differ.
- id: motif:3
label: ritual pollution affecting hunting and fishing success
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage describes restrictions near fish, water, hunting grounds, fishing
nets, animal tracks, animal heads, and fishers' shore areas because violations
are believed to endanger hunting or fishing success.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The evidence concerns reported practical taboos and luck beliefs rather
than a developed narrative episode.
- id: motif:4
label: pollution cleansed by sacred herbs and roots
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage says enemies who killed menstruating women had to cleanse themselves
from pollution by means of sacred herbs and roots.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: This motif is supported by a single reported example in the passage.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage itself presents a cross-cultural comparison in which Australian,
Bushmen, Guayquiries, Creek, Chippeway/Hudson Bay, Lapp, Pliny's Roman-era account,
and European beliefs share the function of treating menstruation as dangerous
and requiring avoidance, seclusion, or restrictions.
claim_level: same_function
target: menstrual seclusion and pollution-avoidance practices across the cited traditions
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is based only on Frazer's presentation in this passage
and does not establish historical contact, common inheritance, or equivalent local
meanings.
- id: claim:2
claim: Several cited cases share a pattern in which contact or proximity to a menstruating
woman is said to damage subsistence success, especially fishing and hunting.
claim_level: same_function
target: taboos linking menstruation to failure in fishing or hunting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:8
- ev:9
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The evidence is limited to Frazer's summaries and does not show whether
the same underlying explanation was used in each culture.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 5420-5423
quote_or_summary: Frazer states that the seclusion of girls at puberty is grounded
in a widespread dread of menstruous blood.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 5423-5430
quote_or_summary: Among the Australian blacks, boys are warned that seeing the blood
will cause premature gray hair and loss of strength; women live apart at such
times, and males avoid approaching them or crossing their tracks.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 5430-5438
quote_or_summary: Australian rules forbid the woman from men's paths and objects,
fish, water, crossing water, and fetching camp water; violation can be punished
by severe beating or death.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 5438-5442
quote_or_summary: Bushmen are reported to believe that a girl's glance during required
retirement can fix men in place and change them into talking trees.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 5442-5446
quote_or_summary: The Guayquiries of the Orinoco are reported to believe that what
a menstruating woman steps on will die and that a man who treads where she passed
will have swollen legs.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 5446-5454
quote_or_summary: Creek and related Indians are described as requiring menstruating
women to live in separate huts away from the village; approaching them is dangerous
pollution, and enemies who kill them must cleanse themselves with sacred herbs
and roots.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 5454-5461
quote_or_summary: Among Chippeways and other Hudson Bay Territory Indians, menstruating
women are excluded from camp, live in branch huts, wear long concealing hoods,
and may not touch furniture or men's objects because these would be defiled.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 5461-5472
quote_or_summary: The same women may not walk on common paths, cross animal tracks,
walk on river or lake ice, approach beaver hunting or fishing-net areas, eat animal
heads, or cross tracks where animal heads were carried, lest hunters lose success.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: 5472-5474
quote_or_summary: The Lapps are said to forbid menstruating women to walk on the
shore area used by fishers setting out their fish.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: 5475-5480
quote_or_summary: Frazer cites Pliny's Natural History for attributed menstrual
dangers including souring wine, blighting crops, killing seedlings and bees, damaging
gardens, dimming mirrors, blunting razors, rusting metals, and causing mares to
miscarry.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: 5480-5482
quote_or_summary: Frazer reports European beliefs that menstruating women can sour
brewery beer, spoil beer, wine, vinegar, or milk, prevent jam from keeping, cause
mares to miscarry, wither buds, or kill a cherry-tree.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is strong because the passage is explicit. Motif and comparison
labels are abstractions from Frazer's secondary comparative framing and require
human review against the cited sources.
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 historical-contact or common-inheritance claims are made; comparison claims are limited to shared function as presented in the passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg__l5420-l5482
passage_sha256=ad222e2661df3b72edd3471a762d82e7be6c9c5fd9d929677d71b6e8990a1c9b