The Vuzhyny Karol is a Belarussian folkloric figure. He is the king of all serpents & snakes, wearing a magic crown endowed with golden horns. Acquiring the crown, or at least a few horns from it would grant one wisdom - sounds familiar? Let's continue :

A few other (here transliterated) names for him are Hozyan Uzhey, Tsar Uzhoy, Gaspadar Zmey, all meaning more or less ''The Snake Ruler''.

The Prussians called him Zhalguin-Karalus (that name is also present in Western Belarus).

Zhalguin-Karalus is said to be the brother of Akapirms (derived from Old Prussian uka+pirms "first of all").

Akapirms is the progenitor deity, the fiery essence/Sky Father, cognate to Svarog, but also Perun/Svarozich, for all of them represent the eternal reincarnating spirit.

The Vuzhyny Karol/Zhalguin-Karalus is the chthonic deity representing the dead ancestors to be reborn into the kin. He guards the underground treasures - the ancestral possessions within the burial mound, your past belongings & knowledge.

The obtain his horned golden crown is to be reborn, to find back to yourself & your ancestral essence/wisdom. The horns are like the antlers, they are the keys to the gate of remembrance & shovels to undig the ''underground treasures''.

Zhalguin-Karalus is brother to Akopirmas because they are one & exist through each other - the Akopirmas / Perun / initiate defeats Zhalguin-Karalus / Veles / the ancestor to be reborn.

Up until the beginning of the 19th century, many Belarussian & Lithuanian households kept a domestic snake that they honored & considered a family guardian (representative of the forebears).

Jan Barszczewski's fairy tale ''Вужыная Карона'' (Snake Crown) is strongly influenced by Pagan folk tales about the Forebear-Snake King. It talks of Semyon, an unfortunate hunter. He despairs from his lack of luck...

...& decides that he will do anything to obtain fortune, even ''worship the devil''. Suddenly a black dog ran next to him (the black dog is an image of the underworld, the dead ancestors). Then a mysterious old man appears.

The old man is Semyon's ancestor (as is The Snake King, of course). He advises Semyon to seek the Snake King.

When Semyon meets him, he is to obtain his golden crown (the meaning of which you read earlier). He journeys through difficult paths, but nevertheless reaches the king.

He acquires the crown & all the fortune that comes with it. Soon rumors spread that he is a ''magician''. He falls in love with a girl & has to swear on the cross for her that he isn't one.

As soon as he does so, his fortune/luck disappears, the crown is no longer golden & all snakes turn against him - we can interpret that as him dishonoring his ancestors & Pagan heritage ; He isn't worthy of rebirth/''fortune'' anymore.

The Vuzhyny Karol/Snake King & all his snake subjects retreat to their realm during winter, Ulasnyi Vyrai (''Personal Paradise''). Their Vyrai realm is the world of forebear spirits, the grave, ''Valgaldr'', the mythic cave & the mother's womb.

In a similar manner, in South Slavic lands the samodyvi (elves) are said to reside in a village called Zmeykovo (''Of Serpents'') during winter.

Winter symbolizes the state of being dead or ''unborn'', the Snake King's (& the samodyvi's) return in Spring is the ancestor's return/reincarnation - the everlasting cycle of rebirth is everywhere, in Nature & within us.

The image of the ancestor as a serpent or a snake king is present in all Slavic & other European peoples accordingly - the basis of our native worldview & mythology is the same.

Thank you for reading.