Previously: Lingsir Wengi.
Note: Please don’t copy/paste or republish the text of this post on other websites without permission.
The earliest version of the ritual game Dragon’s Luck I’ve found on the internet was uploaded to the Creepypasta Wikia by user Chelsea.adams.524 (remember them?) in 2014. That’s also pretty much the only version that exists; the few times I’ve seen the ritual elsewhere, it’s been a full copy-paste job, making it a true creepypasta.
Ostensibly, Dragon’s Luck is a ritual that’s meant to be performed only by the pure of heart, and only to aid someone else — never for your own personal benefit. Its name refers both to the creature it summons and to the prize awarded following its successful completion. As the original source puts it, some types of dragons are symbols of luck and good fortune, while others are associated with health and healing; the goal of the ritual is to harness these abilities and bestow their gifts — to bestow this dragon’s luck — upon someone about whom you care deeply.
[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]
I do, however, suspect that the ritual is a piece of fiction more than anything else.
According to the original source, the incantation used in the ritual is meant to be recited in Latin, although the English translation is also included. I’ve chosen to feature primarily the English translation here, due to the fact that the Latin one… felt a little off to me. Granted, my Latin is a bit rusty, but the grammar didn’t seem quite correct. Some of it may have been where the punctuation has been placed (fun fact: Classical Latin was typically written without punctuation); some of it may have been the word choice; either way, though, it read to me more like someone had come up with an incantation in English and then run it through a Latin-to-English translation program than an authentic piece of Latin text.
It’s probably also worth noting that Roman dragons, which borrowed heavily from the characterization of dragons in ancient Greece, were more like giant snakes than what we typically think of as dragons today. To me, this again suggests the ritual to be made up — the work of someone who aimed for authenticity, but didn’t go quite deep enough with their research.
Of course, it’s also possible that we’re dealing not with classical Latin (which I studied), but with church Latin (which I didn’t) — that is, what we’re looking at isn’t meant to have come out of the Roman Republic, or even the Western Roman Empire, but possibly the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, or somewhere else during some other time. And if that’s the case, then the whole thing is an entirely different can of worms.
Regardless, if you wish to give someone you love a bit of a boost — and if you’re positive you’re doing it for purely selfless reasons — here’s how to go about it.
As always, play at your own risk.
Players:
- One principal.
Requirements:
- A glass of milk.
- A beneficiary — someone you care about whom you wish to help.
- An offering.
- A candle.
- Matches or a lighter.
- A sharp object.
- A quiet room.
- A safe room in which to sleep.
Instructions:
Making The Preparations:
- Begin at midnight.
- Bring your supplies to your quiet room and close the door behind you.
- Draw the curtains or otherwise block the windows of the room.
- Place the candle on a flat surface.
- Place the glass of milk to the right of the candle.
- Place the offering in front of the candle and the glass of milk. The three objects should form a triangle, with the offering forming the point closest to you yourself.
- Turn out all the lights in the room.
Performing The Ritual:
- Using the matches or lighter, light the candle.
- Think of your beneficiary. Call up their image your mind. Focus all your attention on them, on your affection for them, on the challenges they face, on the good fortune you wish for them.
- Keeping your beneficiary in your thoughts, recite the following words aloud: “O great beast of fire. Mighty dragon. I beg you, vanquish that which ails my companion, so that they may suffer no more. Accept my offering in exchange for your help.”
- Using the sharp object, perform one of the following actions: Prick your finger until you draw blood; snip off a lock of your own hair; or clip a piece of your fingernail. (See: Additional Notes.)
- Add a drop of blood, the lock of hair, or the piece of fingernail to the glass of milk.
- Dip your fingers in the milk. Then extinguish the candle by pinching the wick with your milk-soaked fingers.
- Go to sleep.
- No matter what you hear during the hours that follow, do NOT, at ANY POINT:
- Open your eyes;
- Get out of bed;
- Or leave the room.
- Remain where you are until the sun has risen.
Reaping The Rewards:
- Once the sun has risen, you may open your eyes and get out of bed.
- Return to the candle, glass of milk, and offering.
- If the glass is empty and the offering is gone: The ritual has succeeded.
- If the glass is empty, but the offering is still present: The ritual has failed. Remove the offering from the premises and burn it to ash. Dispose of its remains as far away as possible.
- If the offering is gone, but the glass is still full: The ritual has failed. Remove the glass from the premises and empty it onto the ground. Wash it thoroughly, smash it to pieces, and dispose of its remains as far away as possible.
- If the glass is still full and the offering is still present: The ritual has failed. Remove both the glass and the offering from the premises. Empty, wash, and smash the glass. Burn the offering to ash. Dispose of their remains as far away from both yourself and each other as possible. Do NOT dispose of them in the same location.
- If the ritual succeeds, your beneficiary will experience several years of good fortune and good health. Watch them thrive, and be happy for them. Know, too, though, that your own days have been cut short: You will lose from your own life a number of years equal those during your beneficiary experiences their good fortune. That is the price of your wish; no good deed, as they say.
- If the ritual fails, however, tread carefully from here on out — and keep an eye on your would-be beneficiary, as well. You must now live with the consequences of your actions — and you may not be the only one who suffers.
Additional Notes:
Your offering should be an object of personal value — something which holds great meaning to you.
Any variety of milk may be used, although a non-plant-based variety is recommended.
For best results, it is recommended that you use blood in Steps 4 and 5 of Performing The Ritual. Although hair and nail clippings may also be used, the strength of the ritual increases greatly with the use of blood.
Should you choose to use blood, ensure that you have properly sterilized your sharp object in advance and clean and bandage your wound adequately upon completion of this portion of the ritual.
Your place to sleep may be the same location as the quiet room in which perform the ritual. If your sleeping location is different than your quiet room, you may open the door to the quiet room and leave it in Step 7 of Performing The Ritual in order to reach the place in which you intend to sleep.
You do not necessarily have to sleep in a traditional bed. If you choose to sleep in a different fashion — in a sleeping bag, curled up in a pile of blankets on the floor, simply lying wherever you are without blankets or a pillow, etc. — you may re-interpret the requirement not to get out of bed in Step 7 of Performing The Ritual however necessary: Do not get out of the sleeping bag; do not get out of your nest of blankets; do not move from the spot you have chosen to lie down upon; etc.
It is not recommended that you perform any part of this ritual outdoors. ESPECIALLY do not sleep outdoors.
The precise number of years your beneficiary will experience their good fortune may vary; it is not possible to determine how long an individual’s lucky, healthy streak will last. As such, it is also not possible to say how many years you may lose off your own life.
Concerning Motivations And Intentions:
Do NOT perform this ritual for personal gain. If it is to be performed at all, it is only to be undertaken for the most selfless of reasons.
Even if you are positive your intentions are truly pure, examine them carefully before you begin. Then examine them again. Do you truly wish only to help someone about whom you care deeply? Are you positive? Are you certain you do not harbor any sort of tangentially related wish that benefits you yourself in any way? If you find, deep in your heart of hearts, even the tiniest thought that indicates but a hint of selfishness — the thought that if you help this person, maybe they’ll gift you with a smile; that if, thanks to this aid you have granted them, they were to gain wealth, or fame, or power, then maybe you might share in their good fortune just a bit; that if you were to bestow upon them this dragon’s luck, you yourself might experience even a shadow of what they do — DO NOT PROCEED.
Be truthful.
Be honest with yourself.
Because if you aren’t, you’ll lose much more than just a few years of your life.
***
Please don’t copy or republish this post on other sites. Linking to it or sharing the URL is fine (and encouraged!), as is writing your own unique version of the game, but copying/pasting, republishing, or otherwise reproducing the text of this piece in its entirety or near-entirety on other websites without permission isn’t.
***
Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Twitter @GhostMachine13 and on Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!
[Photo via Wikimedia Commons, available via public domain.]