Nawie and Wyraj

Nawie is a place where the spirits of the dead go in Slavic beliefs. They are supervised by Weles - the harsh lord of the underworld. In folk beliefs, it was described in various ways - once as a vast pasture where Weles leads souls, another time as a vast swamp, in the middle of which there was a golden throne, on which Weles sat wielding a sword. It was also said that near this throne were the roots of the Cosmic Tree, which was the axis for the whole world. It was also believed that the entrance to Nawia was guarded by Żmij - a winged reptilian creature. There was also a common view that the Nawie were separated from the world of people by a great sea or river.

The name of this afterlife should be derived from the Proto-Slavic root *navь meaning a corpse or a dead person. Another name of Nawia is Wyraj snake. The meaning of the Proto-Slavic root is also related to the fact that 'nawie' and 'nawki' are also terms for the souls of the dead. According to S. Urbańczyk, this term was typical of the souls of people who died tragically: suicides, drowned, murdered, etc. It was sometimes believed that these were unfavorable, even hostile souls who envied people's lives. They often appeared as birds.

Wyraj, in turn, is a magical, fabulous land to which birds fly in winter. From this place also came spring, awakening the world to life. In folklore, there were also stories about storks coming from Wyraj, which were supposed to bring children. Wyraj had a similar location to Nawia - it was located on a large water (perhaps even at the end of the Milky Way), but much higher - in the crown of the Cosmic Tree. It was imagined as a garden behind an iron gate, which according to folklore could be guarded by Weles in the form of Rarog (a firebird) or the Golden Hen.

The birds present in Wyraj were identified with human souls that flew in in winter and flew away in winter. The etymology of these afterlife is not fully known. She was led out, among others from the hypothetical Proto-Slavic root *rajъ, which when associated with *rayí could be associated with something like happiness and wealth.

Originally, one Wyraj was probably present in the beliefs of the Slavs. The division into Wyraj bird and Wyraj serpent (identical to Nawia) became present in the beliefs of the people probably due to contacts with Christianity.