Living in the Shadow of a Snake:MY RITUALIST HUSBAND LEFT HIS SNAKE BEHIND AND NOW IT'S TORTURING US.
It was supposed to be a simple life—safe, peaceful, and filled with love. I never imagined the darkness that would follow the death of my husband. When I first met him, I knew he was a ritualist, but I had no reason to believe that his practices, particularly the snake, would ever cause harm. The snake, a constant presence in our lives, was harmless. It would sleep with him once a week, and life seemed normal. However, after my husband’s passing, everything changed. The snake’s presence became a nightmare, and now, months later, it still haunts us.
It sleeps with us, but it brings no blessings—only curses. We are now living in a constant cycle of bad luck, isolation, and fear. Worst of all, I am not believed. No one understands what we're going through. And so, I share my story anonymously, hoping someone might understand the depths of my suffering.
When I first met my husband, I knew he had a certain lifestyle, one that was steeped in rituals and practices that many would call unusual. He was a ritualist, and one of the most prominent aspects of his practices was the snake he kept. At first, I was hesitant. But I was assured that the snake was harmless.
It was only needed for a ritual once a week, a private affair between him and the snake. It wasn’t aggressive or dangerous to anyone, and it seemed almost like a part of his life that didn’t affect me. I grew comfortable, believing that if I respected his ways, everything would remain peaceful. I never thought twice about it. He was kind to me, and there were no signs that this unusual part of his life would ever become a source of danger.
Every week, my husband would perform the ritual with the snake. It would slither onto his lap, curl around him, and remain in a tranquil state as he meditated. He would tell me it was necessary to maintain the balance of his spiritual practices, and I trusted him. The snake never caused harm to me or anyone else around us. It was a small part of his world, and it seemed to coexist peacefully with the rest of our lives.
Little did I know that the peace we had would soon shatter. When he passed away unexpectedly, I felt a sense of relief at first—no more rituals, no more secrets. But what came next, I could never have prepared for.
The first sign that something was wrong appeared just days after my husband’s funeral. The snake, which had been quiet and docile for so long, began to act out. It slithered into our living spaces without warning and began to take up residence in places it had never been before. What was once a calm and contained creature now seemed restless and aggressive. It didn’t stop there.
The snake began to sleep with us. At first, it would curl up beside me as I slept, a strange warmth emanating from its body. It wasn’t the same snake that had been a part of my husband’s rituals. This one was different—darker, more dangerous.
As the days passed, the situation worsened. It would slither into the children’s rooms, forcing itself upon them, and my mother-in-law, who had always been a calm and composed woman, grew silent. She wouldn’t speak to anyone. I could see the fear in her eyes as the snake slept with her, and I felt helpless.
Things only escalated. The snake became violent. It began to lash out, striking at anyone who tried to remove it. I woke up one night with bruises all over my body—bruises that weren’t there the night before. It had slapped me with its tail as I tried to move it off my bed. The children were no better off. They’d wake up with fresh marks, and when I asked them what had happened, they could only say, “We don’t know.”
The situation got worse when I sought help. Desperate, I called in prophets, hoping they could rid us of this malevolent presence. But each time they came, the snake grew angrier. The more we sought to free ourselves from it, the worse the punishments became. We would receive long, painful lashings from the snake’s tail, and even worse, I could see the fear in my children’s eyes. I knew they were scared, but they couldn’t understand what was happening.
We moved houses in a desperate attempt to escape. We packed up, hoping that a change of location would break whatever curse had settled upon us. But within a week, the snake had found us again. It followed us, no matter where we went. It was as if we were trapped in its grip, a grip that tightened with every passing day.
And then, the community began to turn on me. People started noticing the bruises on my children, and the rumors began to spread. The neighbors called the police, accusing me of being abusive to my kids. I tried to explain, but how could I make anyone believe what was happening? When asked, my children would say they didn’t know how the bruises appeared. How could they explain something they didn’t understand?
I love my children more than anything in this world, and it breaks my heart that no one believes me. I am a mother, and yet, no one can see the pain and fear in my eyes. They only see a woman who has somehow hurt her kids. The accusations have only added to the isolation and the torment we’re living through.
My mother-in-law, who once held her head high, is now a shell of the woman she used to be. She hasn’t said a word since the snake started forcing itself upon her. The trauma is too much for her. And every time I look at her, I feel the weight of her silence, her suffering.
The worst part is that since my husband’s passing, our lives have spiraled. We were once stable, with a future ahead of us. Now, we are poor, struggling with bad luck that seems to follow us everywhere. Nothing goes right. Every decision we make feels like a step further into the abyss.
The snake brings no wealth, no blessings—only pain. It sleeps with us, yet it does not offer protection. Instead, it steals our peace and our hope. We are left with nothing but the bruises and the fear of its next move.
I write this in anonymity, not for pity but in hopes that someone, somewhere might understand. Perhaps there’s a chance that someone who has been through something similar might offer insight or a solution. Right now, all I can do is wait, trapped in a life I never chose, and hope that someday, the nightmare will end. But until then, I remain lost in the shadow of a snake.
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