Fairy Tale and Biblical Motifs

• motif
• recurring object, structure, character type, phrase, or concept in a work and/or numerous works of art.
• Fairy Tale Motifs:
• i.e. the poor family, the weak father, the evil stepmother, the forest (unknown), enchantment (magic), destruction of evil, wedding, sympathetic animals, naive protagonist(s), etc. 
• Biblical motifs:
• i.e. creation-recreation, three days, seven days, the eighth, the garden, the serpent-dragon, the forbidden fruit (tree), banishment from the garden, brother-murder, breath of life, new creation
• "In the beginning God [was the Word]" (found in Genesis and John)
• Seventh Day of Rest: God rested on the seventh day after creating the world; Jesus "rested" (died) after re-creating the world just as the sixth day was ending
• Adam in the Garden (of Eden); Jesus in the Garden (of Gethsemane)
• Serpent in the Garden; Judas and the soldiers in the garden
• Forbidden fruit; Bathsheba; the cross
• Brother-murder: Cain and Abel, David and Uriah, Jews and Jesus 
• Breath of Life: God breathes on Adam; Jesus breathes on His disciples
• New Creation: Eve from Adam's side; the Church from Jesus's side