Iriy,Vyrai (Belarusian:Вырай,Polish:Wyraj),Vyriy (Russian:Вырий, Ирий, Ирей,Ukrainian:Вирій, Ірій, Ирій), orIrij (Croatian,Czech,Slovak:Ráj, Raj, Irij,Serbian:Ириј) is a mythical place inSlavic mythology where "birds fly for the winter andsouls go after death" that is sometimes identified withparadise.[1]Spring is believed to have arrived on Earth from Vyrai.[2]
According toAndrzej Szyjewski [lt;pl], initially theEarly Slavs believed in only one Vyrai, connected to the deity known asRod—it was apparently located far away beyond the sea, at the end of theMilky Way.[3] According to folkloristic fables, the gates of Vyrai were guarded byVeles, who sometimes took the animal form of araróg, grasping in its claws the keys to theotherworlds.[3] It was often imagined as a garden beyond an iron gate that barred the living from entering, located in the crown of thecosmic tree. Whereas the branches were said to be nested by the birds, who were usually identified as human souls.[2]
The etymological reconstruction of the word, supported by preserved beliefs, allows us to connect the Iriy with the oldest Slavic ideas about the other world, which is located underground or beyond the sea, where the path lies through water, in particular, through a whirlpool.[4] The paganSlavic peoples thought the birds flying away to Vyrai for the winter and returning to Earth for the spring to be human souls.[3] According to some folk tales, the human soul departs the Earth for Vyrai during thecremation of its deceased flesh on apyre; however, it does not stay in paradise forever, returning some time later to the womb of a pregnant woman (traces ofreincarnation can be seen in this belief)—carried by astork ornightjar.[3]
Boris Uspenskij, having analyzed the extensive ethnographic material about Iriy, concluded that "Iriy" is a general designation of theotherworld (i.e., not a real geographical place).[4]
This term is sometimes said to be derived fromrai, theSlavic word for paradise, but this is probably afolk etymology.[5] It could be derived from theProto-Slavic*rajъ in connection with thePersianrayí (wealth, happiness).[3] Similarities to other languages have also been found, for example: theGreekéar (spring),Sanskritáranyas (alien, distant), or theProto-Indo-European*ūr- (water), but none of these three theories have found common recognition or approval.[2]
Eventually the idea of Vyrai was split into two separate realms, most likely under the influence ofChristianity. One Vyrai, for birds, was located in the heavens (simply another version of the original myth) and another underground for snakes/dragons, which is perceived as analogous to Christian hell.[6][3] During theChristianization of Kievan Rus' and theBaptism of Poland, people were able to imagineheaven andhell based on the idea of Vyrai.[7][3]
Storks carried unbornsouls from Vyrai to Earth.[3][8]
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