The Lake of Seferan and the Offerings of the “Earth’s Fair Ones”

Along the shores of the lake, the first leaves of the white water lilies had just begun to unfurl. Soon, the maidens of the nearby village would take part in the ceremonies held in honor of the Goddess of the Waters. Since ancient times, the lake had been considered sacred. Young women, at the threshold of marriage, would choose the finest figurines — adorned with garlands and clusters of unopened flowers, pure and unblossomed as they themselves were — and offer them to the goddess, asking for her protection, for the fertility of the land and for happiness in their future homes. The maidens imbued those small clay figures with their wishes and dreams, their prayers and hopes. Through them, they sought the godesses’s favor— her blessings to move forward in life, to build a family and to bloom like the lilies that graced the lake’s surface each spring.
On the last evening of spring, as the air still carried the scent of damp earth and the water flowed silently, the young women descended by the lake. Dressed in white, their hair loose and woven with wildflowers, walking barefoot over the tender grass. Each carried in her hands her own figurine — the delicate image of her purity and devotion. The elder women followed from a distance, silent but proud. They knew this path well, for they too had once walked it, in the same ancient ceremony.
They reached the blessed lake. In the stillness of the night, one could hear the distant song of birds and even the soft rustling of ripples upon the water. One by one, the maidens knelt and placed their figurines upon the broad leaves of water lilies. Gently, without a sound, they set them afloat. In the moon’s pale glow, the figurines began to drift, some slowly and others swiftly, until they vanished from sight, sinking into the lake’s silence and depths.
By morning, when the first rays of sunlight touched the water, new lilies had blossomed — white and pure like the maidens’ own souls. The Goddess of the Waters had accepted their prayers. On quiet spring nights, when the moon shimmered on the lake’s surface and the breeze carried the lilies’ fragrance, sweet melodies rose from houses nearby — ancient songs, long prayers, blessings and endless tales spun around the girls who had been received by the Goddess. These were unbroken threads weaving across generations, keeping alive hope and replenishing the strength of life in this sacred place.