I notice those are all object
I notice those are all object nouns - are abstract nouns like "Betrayal" or "Remorse" acceptable?

If so,

Betrayal
Remorse
Curiosity
Mistaken Identity
Revenge
Wisdom

more motifs
awakening
endless sleep
bargaining with death
traditions of gifting
taboos of birth
strength of roots
falling leaves
birds' wings
animals tails
shadow
starlight
sunlight
witchlight
mushrooms
clouds
forgiveness
selfishness
sacred sex
virgin's lust
community discord
murder
trickery

an idea
We could have a matrix of objects and themes--frex: Old woman + selfishness: "the story of the old woman who gave away stones"

Hmm...
hate
anger
wrath
disapointment

It seems to a lot of the Navjo stories my great gram told us when we wrere kids were all centered around these things and how these things were to be avoided or how they were the consequence of ill actions. To me these seem very appropriate, but because they are emotions maybe they don't fit in well here?

I like Emily's suggestion a l
I like Emily's suggestion a lot.

emotions
Sound right on to me.

So how are we trimming the li
So how are we trimming the list down?

number and majors
Correct me on this: we need as many major motifs as players+1 or 2. Charles, Dylan, Matt, Kip, Jenn, Jake, Barry, Kim. Who am I missing? That's 9-10. We need as many minor as we want shelves, which is equal to how many entries each player will make. Will that be 12 or so? We just about got that for the library game, and several folks on this list have said they might just do a few anyway.

Hmm, 10 and 12, the numbers just about the same. Fewer Major motifs seems necessary, like 5-7 or so.

My question is, how do we pick the major motifs? Are they known already? Should we each pick one major to do stories dealing with all the minor motifs on? Should they be beings/characters rather than objects or themes?

Each pick one or two
Well, we could either do some sort of complex voting system, or we could just each pick one or two major motifs, and two minor motifs each, either off of the list so far, or anything else that strikes our fancies.

Maybe we should each give one major motif, and then we can add on a few more to round out the set of major motifs, so they feel like they cover a good part of the cultural range.

I think that maybe the major motifs should be people or things, but should also have a theme attached. The person or thing culturally symbolizes the theme, but the only requirement is that either (or both) the thing or the theme show up in the story (so if Salmon/abundance were a slot, then a story in that slot would either need to include salmon or issues of abundance, but the mere presence of salmon in the story will suggest that the story should be read in relation to abundance).

I think this would give a good degree of freedom to the players, while simultaneously giving structure to the game and to the reading of the stories.

Does that sound good?

Tailless Female White Monkey
Its an Irish story

Mercy
Mercy patience,and kindness are the glue of love.

Mythology Motifs
father
salt
fire
egg
plow
ink
snake
dust
gold
Rose
Lily
Ginger
Honey
Tangerine
feathers
fur
scales
skin
bone
algae

I am missing
Can I play?