The Drowning Bride- Ritual of the Lantern on the Shore

🌒 The Drowning Bride — Continuing our Study of Dark Tales for People Pleasers

Once, there was a girl who defined herself by how she held the grief of others. All she knew was what a need to be needed. She was taught this was noble, this was pure, this was duty.

She could not pass by a bird tangled in thorns or a neighbor sighing behind their door. When she saw pain, her heart leapt into the river of it.

One day she heard weeping by the water. A pale bride stood there, veil trailing in the current. Her gown was soaked, her hair dripping with reeds.

“Please,” the bride whispered, “come closer. Hold me. Save me.”

The girl, heart aching, stepped into the river. The water gripped her ankles, then her knees.

The bride smiled through her tears that flowed like the river itself. “Stay with me,” she said, tugging the girl deeper. "Stay with me like the other didn't...."

The girl’s chest tightened. She realized the bride was not asking to be saved — she was asking for someone to drown with her.

With shaking hands, the girl uncurled the grip of those reed-thin fingers. She bowed her head and said, “I cannot follow you under. I will light a lantern on the shore, and if you wish to rise, you will see it.”

The water moaned, and the bride sank beneath the reeds. The girl stumbled back to the bank, coughing, wet, alive. That night she lit a lantern by her window, steady flame shining into the dark. She did not know if the bride would ever come, but she knew she had chosen life — and that was enough.

🕯 Ritual: The Lantern on the Shore

For when someone’s storm tempts you to drown with them.

You will need:

• A candle, lantern, or jar with a tealight

• A bowl of water

• A stone (fits in your hand)

Steps:

1. Prepare. Place the bowl of water before you. Hold the stone.

2. Name the pull. Whisper the situation or person who feels like they are dragging you under.

3. Release. Drop the stone into the bowl. Watch the ripples spread. Say:“This is your water to swim, not mine to drown in.”

4. Light the lantern. Place it beside the bowl. Say:“I will shine from the shore. You may find your way, but I will not follow.”

5. Close. Pour out the water outside or down a drain, leaving the stone behind. Extinguish the flame when you are ready.

   
   

Reflection Prompts

• When have I felt pulled into someone else’s storm? What did it cost me?

• How can I tell when help turns into entanglement?

• What does my “lantern on the shore” look like in my life — what ways can I signal care without drowning myself?

• What boundaries keep me afloat, and how can I honor them?

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✨ Compassion does not mean collapse. Witnessing is sacred. Boundaries are a kind of magic — the spell that keeps you breathing long enough to sing.

Feel free to print this page to stick in your own Grimoire!