thumb|, an artistic vision by Filip Gutowski. Excerpt from The Sarmatian Bestiarium by Janek Sielicki
(, plural: strzygi, masculine: strzygoń), sometimes translated as striga, (which is also the Latin term for it) is usually a female demon in Slavic mythology, which stems from the mythological Strix of ancient Rome and ancient Greece. The demon is similar to a vampire, and is predominantly found in Polish and Silesian folklore.
Etymology and origin
According to Aleksander Brückner, the word is derived from Strix, Latin for owl and a bird-like creature which fed on human flesh and blood in Roman and Greek mythology. Hungarian sztriga, the Albanian shtriga and are also cognate and related.
It is unclear how the word was adapted by the Polish people, though it might have been through the Balkan peoples. The term could also sometimes mean a vampire or upiór. After the 18th century, there was a distinction between and upiór; the first one was more connected to witchcraft, while the latter was more of a flying, vampiric creature.
Beliefs
thumb|Scrambles amongst the Alps, an illustration by [[Edward Whymper of the Notre Dame Cathedral gargoyle called La Stryge.]]
A is a usually female demon similar to vampire in Slavic (and especially Polish) folklore. People who were born with two hearts and two souls, and two sets of teeth (the second one barely visible) were believed to be strzygi. Furthermore, a newborn child with already developed teeth was also believed to be one. It is said that strzygi usually died at a young age, but, according to belief, only one of their two souls would pass to the afterlife; the other soul was believed to cause the deceased to come back to life and prey upon other living beings. These undead creatures were believed to fly at night in a form of an owl and attack night-time travelers and people who had wandered off into the woods at night, sucking out their blood and eating their insides. were also believed to be satisfied with animal blood, for a short period of time. burying the body face down with a sickle around its head was believed to work as well.
- Putting small objects in the 's grave to make it count them.