Zhiva is the Slavic goddess of fruitful power, youth, beauty of all nature and man – that is, spring. Life reigns when fields and forests, gardens and vegetable gardens are green, blooming, when people, waking up from a dull winter sleep, seem to see for the first time the beauty of spring nature, the beauty of blossoming youth, for the first time know the charm of love and tenderness. It is in spring that you can see Zhiva or Zhivits, her young servants: in the form of beautiful maidens, they hover over the earth, casting such affectionate glances at her that she blooms and turns green even more.
The cuckoo was accepted by our ancestors as the embodiment of Zhiva. Arriving from Iria, from that cloudless country from which the souls of newborns originate, where the deceased retire and where the maidens of fate reside, the cuckoo counts the hours of birth, life and death. And to this day, when they hear the cuckoo, they ask her how long they have left to live, taking her answer for a prophecy from above. Even in Christian times, the folk rite of honoring the cuckoo was preserved: girls baptized her, worshipped each other and curled wreaths on a birch tree. This rite has always been associated with the full awakening of the forces of nature from winter sleep, as if with the end of spring. Honoring the cuckoo, the Slavs also honored the goddess Zhiva, who took her form.
The Western Slavs believed that her sanctuary was located in the Polabian city of Ratzerburg, where a gold and silver idol stood. Zhiva holds an apple in one hand and a bunch of grapes in the other. In the first days of May, people gathered at her temple, asking the goddess for a long life and good health. Zhiva was most often addressed by those to whom the Rod indicated a too short life span. If you ask her carefully, she may even violate the regulations of the Rod and prolong a person's life. Entire groves were dedicated to Zhiva, where celebrations were held in her honor, because she was revered as the creator of forests.