In one point in my story, a sorceress performs a specific ritual, and I'm trying to work out a convincing ritutal.
Its use is essentially finding the other half of your soul in someone else, like a platonic soulmate.
Advice
What have you got so far?
Mind if I get a little 'technical' in relation to the story?
Not at all
So first off, I'll clarify the situation.
The ritual is performed on a girl who is stuck in the Underworld without being dead. It's done to establish a link with someone who's alive to sort out the things that need to be sorted out on the living side to bring Lili (the girl) back to life. It's less a soulmate and more of a possession, as in the dead is possessing the living. I've called it a Carrier (the living person of the two).
With a strong enough link, the dead can control the living. At the very least there is a telepathic link. I've generalized it to a soulmate because the two souls have to be compatible for the link to hold. Another necessary element I chose is that the living has to have had a near-death experience, the idea behind that being that it has brought them closer to the Underworld.
As for the ritual, I don't have a huge amount set in stone. I know that the dead has to be unconscious; I also figured there would shackles or something of the sort to establish a physical link, and some sort of element to enhance the focus of the mind so they don't get lost in between the worlds in the search for their Carrier.
Maybe the person casting the spell has to bathe in the river Styx or Acheron?
Yeah that works really well!
And are there any plants in the underworld
There could be. Theoretically the only plants aren't accessible to the 'public', but considering the standing of the sorceress I could justify it. What's the idea?
They drink a concoction of woodworm powder, white poplar ash, and a bit of hemlock and bath in the river Styx
Wow specific, thank you! I'll look into that all
As far as I know, Pomegranates also grow in the Underworld. There are probably grasses in the Elysian Fields, too. It wouldn't be much of a field, otherwise.
As far as I know, Pomegranates also grow in the Underworld. There are probably grasses in the Elysian Fields, too. It wouldn't be much of a field, otherwise.
Indeed although I think the 'field' part is moreso about the space it occupies than it is a literal field