There are four worlds beneath our world. Those are linked to one another by a hole that goes through the middle of all worlds. We live in the fifth world according to some versions. The fourth world is where the spirits of the decease go. The sky of one world is the seat of the above world.
In Diné bizaad, you can count through colors. The first world is the dark world or ni’nodiłhił. The second world is the blue world or ni’hodotł’izh. The third world is the yellow world or ni’hatsooí. The fourth world is the white world or ni’halgai, yet in Zolbrod they speak that everything was red, so in other versions this could be ni’hołchí. Our world is ni’hodisxǫs or the glittering world.
The sky has four colors in each world: łitsoí=yellow, dootł’izh=blue, lígai=white, and black=łizhin. Sunrise and sunset shows us all colors at the same time, and the sizes of colors progress through the day. The same way, sky colors progressed through worlds. In today’s world, white and blue are the largest on the sky.
Niłch’í dine’é=people of the air were the first people in the worlds. They had the shape of insects. They were called to have children all around. We don’t understand them. They seem too many small things flipping around, because their call is to bring life. That’s why they were seeking romantic relationships wherever they went.
Ni’ hodiłhił – Dark World
In the dark world all colors exist, yet no one really stands out. Chief Cháł=toad dominated the West. At the North there was ii’ní (thunder) and reed=lókʼaaʼ. At the East there was dą́ą́=food or the essence of naadą́ą́=corn. At the South there was táłtłʼááh álééh (blue heron). Four rivers flowed through the middle. Big tó=water was sitting far beyond land. The reed that someone may despise as weed was sacred.
The world was quite simple, but the insects had a call. They went all around spreading love and seeking to have children. This didn’t like Chief Ch’áł. Waters raised all around and flooded the world. Insects survived because they were light and they could fly. They found a way up until they saw a hole. A blue-headed person called them in.
Ni’ hodotł’izh – the blue world
The second world was blue, ni’ hodotł’izh. In this world there lived the swallow people. Swallow people lived in blue houses. They didn’t speak to nich’í dine’é. The insect people sent the grasshopper and the locust to see if there was something in the world. And there was nothing. Then the insect people asked the swallow people if there was something in the world. And they say it was nothing. Lesson for our lives: always ask. Never let a doubt call you into danger. But if a doubt calls you, and you respond, embrace the adventure.
The swallow people welcome the insect people. They lived together. But the insect people had a call, and this didn’t like the swallow people. They were expelled once again. And the waters also raised, and flooded the place. But the insect people could fly. They found a way up until they saw a hole. A yellow-headed person called them in.
Ni’ hatsooí – The yellow world
The second world was blue, ni’ hatsooí. In this world there lived the yellow people. Yellow people lived in yellow houses. They didn’t speak to nich’í dine’é. The insect people sent the grasshopper and the locust to see if there was something in the world. And there was nothing. Then the insect people asked the yellow people if there was something in the world. And the yellow people say it was nothing. “Ok” said the insect people.
The yellow people welcome the insect people. They lived together. But the insect people had a call, and this didn’t like the yellow people. They were expelled once again. And the waters also raised, and flooded the place. But the insect people could fly. They followed a red smoke, and they found a way up until they saw a hole. They entered a red world. I took the liberty do call it ni’ hołchí, but this needs to be confirmed.
Ni’ halgai – The white world
The swallow people welcome the insect people. They lived together. But the insect people had a call, and this didn’t like the swallow people. They were expelled once again. And the waters also raised, and flooded the place. But the insect people could fly. They found a way up until they saw a hole. A yellow-headed person called them in. The article in Wikipedia skips this world, and probably it’s tradition to jump right into the glittering world.
Four red rivers crossed the place from all cardinal points. There lived the people with upright houses or the k’isáani (the Pueblos). But bits’íí’ łigai, the white body, whispered from the East, and the insect people follow. And they were called to clean themselves. Then bits’íí’ łigai, the speaking God made first woman=áłtsé asdzá and áłtsé hastiin=first man out of corn. They made the sun and the stars. They even made all necessary stuff to have children.
These were animals of the fourth world: nééshjaal = owl, tazhí = turkey, bį́į́h = deer, jádí = antelope, dlǫ́ʼii = weasel, nahashch’id = badger, and atseełtsoi = yellow eagle. And so for other reasons more complicated than having children, a new wave flooded the place. They were too heavy to fly up, but a lók’aa’ provided shelter. They lived inside the shelter for 24 days, I think.
Ni’hodisxǫs, the glittering world
This is the world where we live right now, thus where the monsters will be born, the twin brothers will fight them, and all the stories about the Coyote will take place. However, some traditions consider we live in the fourth world. Oral tradition may differ from source to source, and none is wrong.
Each world is more complex than the previous world, but they mirror one another. All of them have four directions: e’e’aah (=West), nóhookǫs (=North), ha’a’aah (=East), and shádi’ ááh (=South). The West is up on the paper or up our minds when we envision the territory. The place where the Sun goes down, probably where the migration came from (Alaska), and they traveled Southeast following the Sun, just like European explores marked their own place of origins up in the paper.
Based on:
Diné Bahané’: The Navajo Creation Story
Paul Zolbrod (University of New Mexico, 1984)