Živa (goddess)

For other uses, see Živa (disambiguation).

Šiwa. Westphalen's book print, 1740.

Živa, also Żiwia, Siva, Sieba or Razivia, was the Slavic goddess of love and fertility. She was worshipped throughout what is now Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Germany (and especially the Elbe (Labe) river valley), before Christianity expanded into the area. Her name means "living, being, existing". Sieba's consort was Siebog, her male equivalent. Živa is mentioned in the Baptism on the Savica, an epic poem by the Slovene national poet France Prešeren.

External links

• Studia Mythologica Slavica page