Wraiths appear as a portent of death. They move impossibly fast towards their objective in the darkness. If you’re unlucky enough to catch a glimpse of a wraith, you can bet it was by their design. Granting you a look at their power and beauty just long enough to carry a savory feeling with you into your next chapter. A chapter where your soul is divorced from your body and begins a new occupation.

Wraiths are the blade on scythe wielded by fate. Sure, they may have opinions and even preferences for who they usher into the abyss, but it is not their place to express them. Instead, they dutifully execute fate’s will. Only taking time to question who they are and why they do what they do in guarded solitude.

As a wraith faces introspection, they find themselves with a daunting chore on their hands. The very shapelessness and darkness that allows them to be an effective shepherd of souls also prevents them from knowing and loving themselves. Grasping for the outline of who they really are, it feels nearly impossible to take hold of something real. So they find more and more comfort in the darkness, where being able to see oneself is less relevant than the actions and results that skillfully flow from their hands.

One must be determined to peer through the darkness if they’re to see the wraith’s beauty. Although her form may shift, her actions leave a uniquely artistic signature, but only for those looking intently. After looking carefully for a long while, you may be fortunate enough to stitch together her artistic signature into a form. A form that holds what feels like an impossible amount of power for something so slender and beautiful. A form that seems to be ever-shifting, yet has something so striking and rememberable about it.

The beauty and power of the wraith is intoxicating for most men. So much so that many men have met an early demise from seeking the love of the wraith. Alas, if only someone would have told those men that a wraith’s love is not for seeking. And how could it be? When loving others is done on the foundation of loving one’s self.

For our shifting beauty of darkness to love herself with any consistency, she first has to have confidence in her identity. A tall order for someone who specializes in manipulating herself and her environment to accomplish her objectives. Yet, if she can’t settle on a clear version of herself to love, she’ll have nothing but her results to love. In such a case, her confidence comes from her results and misleads others to fall for the things she can do for them, instead of falling for her character.

So the struggle goes for the wraith-- the source of her power prevents her from experiencing true and wholesome love. Where people (herself included) love snapshots of her without actually being capable of loving the patternless collage. A collage that’s too abstract to contain, but also too abstract for anyone to love.