2

Getting It

Love is the magick, and the magick is love. What do you bring to the banquet of love? What type of feast do you expect? What is love to you? How will you react to the gift of love when you partake of the most powerful elixir in the universe? All these questions need to be addressed before you cast a single spell to bring love toward you. Love isn’t just a notion, a potion, or even a wish—love is an eternal energy. Love is an unconditional gift.

Swan Love Water

In Celtic mythology, swan feathers were used to make the ceremonial cloak of the bard (tugen) because of the bird’s association with the love and power of words and music. Associated with the Pagan festival of Samhain, the swan is also the representation of the threshold between the worlds.1

In this spell, we wish to bring the love, grace, and natural beauty of the swan into your home—and this requires a thorough cleansing of your environment. I know, cleaning is yucky, but not only will this magickal operation give a green light to the love that awaits you, I bet you’ll also find something you lost last week (or maybe last year)! Give your living quarters a good cleaning, and follow with a spiritual bath or shower. Then mix up this great little potion and place in a spray mister.

Supplies: 1 quart spring water; a clear, empty 2-quart bowl; 1 teaspoon lavender (love); 1 teaspoon angelica (cleansing); 1 apricot pit (love); a new wooden spoon; a fine strainer or cheesecloth; 1⁄8 teaspoon sea salt; a white feather; a bell or singing bowl; a clean empty spray bottle or spray mister.

Note: In some areas of the country it is illegal to own a swan feather, so any white feather representing the swan will do.

Instructions: Pour water into bowl. Add lavender, angelica, and the apricot pit, then stir with wooden spoon, thinking of the essence of love. Place bowl in direct eastern sunlight for one hour. Strain and dispose of flower/fruit products. Add the salt. With the feather, stir counterclockwise nine times to remove any negative residue. Stir clockwise seven times. Hold your hands over the water, saying:

Angelica to cleanse.

Apricot brings love.
Lavender for peace.
Sunlight from the east.
Salt to kill the beast.

Swan’s blessing I entreat.

Ring the bell four times to bless, then once to seal the spell. Place liquid in your spray bottle or mister. Walk through your home or apartment, repeating the above rhyme in every room. When you are finished, stand in the center room of your home and repeat the rhyme one last time. Ask Spirit to enter your home, bringing blessings, love, and joy. Seal your work by drawing a large equal-armed cross in the air over the floor in the center room. Then say:

This home is sealed.

So mote it be!

Hang the feather prominently in the home.

Equal-armed Cross

Drawing Down Love

Before we begin any type of magickal application—whether we are talking about a working for money, protection, health, or love—we need to assess where we are and what we would like to accomplish. We need to sit down, relax, and determine what it is that we truly desire. Without some sort of game plan most people tend to get stuck along the way. Love is such an important part of human existence that we certainly don’t want to get discouraged before we get going! Whether we are looking for true love or a special friendship, let’s begin by using this simple spell to start mapping our road to a fulfilling relationship.

Supplies: 1 white rose; 1 pink taper candle; scratch paper; a red pen; 1 pink heart cut out of construction paper; 1 pink ribbon.

Instructions: Remove the thorns from the rose. (Save the thorns to use for banishing an unwanted love, negative energy, or helping a friend disentangle from a stalker by sticking them in a lemon.) On a full moon, in a quiet place, set the rose by your pink candle. Light the pink candle, saying:

Love come calling,

to mine own self be true.

Write down on your scratch paper what you think love is. You don’t have to create full sentences or get all emotionally twisted. Word association is fine and simple, free-flowing thoughts will do nicely. Maybe you think love is a crisp winter morning when the sun dances and dazzles on a garland of icicles. Perhaps love is gazing at a full harvest moon or walking through crisp colorful autumn leaves. Take it wherever you want it to go, and make it as crazy or as sedate as you wish. Now list what type of relationship you desire. A friendship? A partnership?

Do you want stability, loyalty, or something simpler? Dig deep. Be true to yourself and what you feel you need. When you are finished, look carefully at your list. Did you write down anything that is truly unattainable? Have you been honest with yourself? Have you made a request that would be unreasonable or controlling? Finally, did you forget anything?

When you are satisfied with your list, copy your desires with the red pen onto the pink heart. With the heart, candle, ribbon, and rose, go to where you can see the full moon. The technique you are about to practice is a variation of an old Craft practice called Drawing Down the Moon, wherein the magickal person draws in the essence and power of the Goddess through the symbolic energy of the moon. Find a safe surface for the candle and allow the taper to continue burning. Place the heart underneath the candle, with the ribbon beside the candle. Hold the rose out and toward the moon with both hands. Begin the process with three deep, cleansing breaths. Say:

With this rose I draw to me

the love and joy I need from thee.

The moon is high, the power near,

whisper love/friendship/partnership
(you pick) in my ear.

Each petal glows with enchanted light

as I transform this very night.

From bloom to stem, then to my heart,

love circles round and won’t depart.

With this rose I draw to me

peace, and joy, and harmony.

Take a deep, cleansing breath. Lower your arm and read aloud the list you prepared on the pink heart. When you are through, take a deep breath, and say:

As I will, so mote it be.

Take seven rose petals and place them on the heart. (Save the remaining petals for your love altar.) Roll the heart and rose petals securely. Tie with the pink ribbon. Hold the heart up to the moon (as you did with the rose) and say:

As the wheel of the year turns

I draw toward me the desires

emblazoned upon this heart.

Seal the ribbon with a bit of the pink wax from the burning candle.

To complete, place the rolled heart in a safe place. The magick has begun! Allow the candle to completely burn. If you cannot let the candle burn, then extinguish the flame with a candle snuffer or your fingers (be careful of burns), and then light again the following night. Burn the candle every day, repeating the ritual wording above, until one inch remains. Bury the candle end on your property.

The Love Altar or Shrine

Most practicing magickal people have a shrine or altar in their homes that is dedicated to magickal use. I have two altars (working magickal areas with a flat surface) and one shrine (to the dead). Shrines and altars can be work specific, meaning that you only do certain types of magick while connecting to that magickal place, and they can be inside or outside your home. The rules of placement are yours to choose. In matters of the heart, a traditional Wiccan altar or shrine for love might be placed in the south (creativity and passion) or in the west (transformation and love). Then again, if you are looking for stability, you may choose north. Finally, if you are after a witty friendship based on intelligence and wisdom, east would be ideal. (Yes, it is true, in Wicca and in magick you are allowed to make choices.) If you follow feng shui (the Chinese art of placement), you may wish to put your altar or shrine in the northeast, the position of relationships.

Now that you’ve figured out where you are going to put your love altar or shrine, you can have lots of fun choosing what items you wish to place on it. Are there any rules? Just two—first, all items should be placed on the altar or shrine in honor, love, and harmony. Negativity is not allowed. Throughout this book you’ll find lots of correspondences, such as flowers, deities, colors, astrological symbology, etc. The most important aspect of any magickal place or thing that you use is that the item or energy chosen represents your goals, desires, and personality. If you don’t like gobs of red, then choose another color. You don’t have to complete your altar or shrine in less than an hour. Take days, weeks, months . . . it doesn’t matter. You can change the focus, move things around, or replace items. Second rule? Try to keep your altar or shrine free of dust and debris—no hair curlers as you rush out for a date or tool belts flung in that direction as you buzz into the shower (unless, of course, you are actually using these items in a magickal application. Do you think I jest? Hey, I met a guy once who, as a standard practice, cast a circle with a screwdriver!)

A love altar for a single individual may have a different focus than one for a married couple. A family love altar may include pictures of your children, awards they have won, or items they have made.

The colors that you use on your love altar also carry importance. Red is for action and passion, blues and purples for soul companionship and truth, whites are usually associated with purity and the love of divinity, green for healing and growth, yellow and gold for success, silver if you intend to do a lot of moon magick, orange for movement or love at work, brown for friendship, and finally, pink for compassion and universal love.

Blessing the Love Altar or Shrine

All three-dimensional items carry an imprint of energy. When a person enters your home, they not only leave fingerprints and fibers scattered all over the place, they leave an imprint of energy on everything they touch. Likewise, wherever an item has been, it has sucked up various and sundry energy imprints. An item or shrine is considered a magickal, holy part of your environment. It also, over time, accumulates power—the power of you! When you begin to work magick in your home, it is a good idea to cleanse and bless your altar or shrine. For this procedure, you can use the swan love water listed earlier in the chapter, rose oil, or one cup of spring water mixed with the juice of one fresh lemon and one fresh lime. If you have your own secret recipe for holy water, that’s okay, too.

Instructions: Kneel in front of your empty altar or shrine surface. Think carefully about what deity energy you will call. If you are unfamiliar with a particular god or goddess energy, please research that deity before you work with them. If this makes you nervous, you can simply ask for the blessings of the Lord and the Lady, Spirit, a saint, or some other deity energy. Again, the choice is yours. I have been accused of being ecumenical, and let me state for the record that I am exceedingly proud of it! You can’t try to help people if you have your head in a box and your you-know-what in the air! Say:

Blessings of (deity name) upon me now.

Rise and hold your hands over the altar or shrine. Say:

I call the north to bring stability and growth.

I call the east for intelligence and wisdom.
I call the south for passion and creativity.
I call the west for love and transformation.
Imbue, great Spirit,
the essence of unconditional love
into this shrine/altar.
May I bring forth honesty, integrity, patience,
sincerity, and harmony with every

magickal application I endeavor to pursue.

Make the infinity sign () with the rose oil/herbal water on the surface of the shrine or altar. End by saying:

So mote it be.

You can also dedicate the altar in the name of a particular god or goddess and add a statue to represent that deity at the conclusion of this simple ceremony. You don’t have to be prowling the streets for love to erect a love altar or shrine. You can do any type of magickal operation, including work for healing, protection for friends and relatives, increasing your talents, and progressing in your career.

Hummingbird Spell

Of Haitian origin, though also used in Mexico, this great spell works faster than most.

Supplies: Your choice of love-drawing incense; a picture of a hummingbird (the old spells called for a real hummingbird, but we’ve progressed a bit, I hope); a lock of your own hair; cellophane tape; a red flannel bag; oil (Come to Me Oil, Compelling Oil, Venus Oil, or your love oil, perfume, or water); dirt from your property; 2 small lodestones (or magnets); a bit each of orris root, lovage root, and beth root.

Instructions: Charge all items on a Friday, Sunday, or in a Venus hour. Light the incense, drawing all supplies through the fragrant smoke. Write your name on the back of the picture of the hummingbird, chanting:

growing, growing,

love now flowing,
come to me,
my heart’s desire,
love and lust,

burning fire,

as I will, so mote it be!

Tape your hair over your name. Charge all items to draw love toward yourself, repeating the chant. Anoint the bag with a few drops of oil. Fill bag with the picture, dirt, lodestones, and herbs. Tie closed. Hold the bag in your hands and repeat the chant several times. Carry with you to quickly draw love into your life.

Morgana’s Herbal Love Spell2

Many of the spells in this book call for the use of incense, and it wouldn’t be very cricket of me to let you wander out there and pick up just any old thing. The more energy you place into creating the supplies for any spell gives you an added edge for success. To that end, I’ve collected several recipes for incenses and magickal powders to be used as you see fit (just don’t eat them, for pity’s sake!).

Supplies: 1 teaspoon ground copal; 1 teaspoon crushed lavender; 1 teaspoon crushed jasmine or substitute 3 drops jasmine oil; 3 drops gardenia oil; a little bit of crushed mandrake root; a red fabric or muslin bag.

Instructions: Add ingredients to bag, one at a time, concentrating on the intention of drawing love to you. Empower bag and carry with you. The best time to make is during the new moon. Charge again in thirty days. Renew every ninety days. You may wish to use this all-purpose chant:

Fresh herbs, nature’s delight,

magick leaves release.

Dried herbs, enchantment bright,

negative thoughts cease.

Pungent blooms, nature’s goods,
secret garden, Mother’s woods,

swirl above and carry home

love’s sweet speech for me alone.

Aphrodite’s Aphrodisiac Incense3

The best time to use this is during any magickal work that involves love or healing, during ritual, or when giving offerings to Spirit.

Supplies: 1 teaspoon sandalwood powder; 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon powder; 9 drops ylang ylang oil; 3 drops neroli oil; 1 teaspoon crushed jasmine flowers.

Instructions: Use the conjuration below while adding ingredients as listed, mixing after each addition. Empower. Burn on charcoal. Keep remaining incense in a sealed plastic bag or jar.

The best time to make: Full moon.

Conjuration:

I conjure thee, O leaves of gold,

thrice for love, both young and old.

Pulse and course, O circle round,

let the love inside abound.

Within this smoke love will flow

luscious magick bloom and grow.

Gods of love with me will meet
throbbing lust and passion greet.

Fulfill me with sweet desire
lover’s spirit of the fire.

Lord Byron’s Love-Drawing
Herbal Blend

Lord Byron exhibits the embodiment of the romantic spirit both in his poetry and in his personal life. The son of an English sea captain with the matriarchal lineage of lawless Scottish nobles, it is no wonder that his words strike to the depths of the Celtic lover’s soul.

Supplies: In this mixture we use nine empowered herbs: 7 dried orange seeds (sun); 1⁄8 teaspoon each aster (Venus), clover (Mercury), coltsfoot (Venus), mistletoe (sun), mustard (Mars), orris root (Venus), lovage (sun), and rue (Mars).

Instructions: Combine all herbs. Grind into a fine powder. Burn on incense charcoal brick to banish negativity in the home, or to pull love energies toward family members.

While mixing this powder, use Byron’s poetry as your herbal conjuration, contemplating the art of a love goddess (Venus, Aphrodite, Oshun, etc.):

She walks in beauty, like the night

of cloudless climes and starry skies;

and all that’s best of dark and bright

meet in her aspect and her eyes:

thus mellowed to that tender light

which heaven to gaudy day denies.4

This herbal blend can be used as an incense (when added to an incense charcoal brick), sewn into sachets or poppets (magickal dolls), added to the base of a candle, strewn on your front doorstep as a magickal powder, or placed in a conjuring bag.

Lust Powder or Incense

This is my husband’s favorite!

Supplies: The herbs of lust are dried avocado, ground cardamon seeds, dried carrot, celery seed, cinnamon, red clover, damiana, daisy, dill, dried endive, galangal, ginseng, hibiscus, lemongrass, licorice, mint, dried olives, parsley, dried radish, saffron, sesame, sugarcane, vanilla, and violet.

Instructions: When you are ready to mix the incense, combine 1⁄4 teaspoon of any of either three or seven of the above herbs. Rub the herbs repeatedly in your hands, saying:

Midnight blooms with passion’s embrace,

lust encircles the lovers’ haste.

Hearts beat as one, pulsing with fire,

rising strong, fulfilling desire.

Enchantment brings a throbbing delight.

Magick’s afoot, as our bodies unite.

Add a red base for a magickal powder. Empower in a Mars hour to catch a fella, a Venus hour to find a woman. When burned on charcoal (without the red powder addition), repeat the incantation.

Silver Sorceress Powder

This herbal blend requires a trip to your local florist. An all-purpose love powder, you can load this into candles, sprinkle around a candle, place in conjuring bags, leave under your desk at work, scatter under the bed, etc.

Supplies: From the florist, one each of the following: daisy (Venus), daffodil (Venus), gardenia (moon), orchid (Venus), rose (Venus); from the grocery store: cinnamon (sun), clove (Jupiter), chamomile (sun), ginger (Mars); 1 fresh cherry (Venus); from your magickal cabinet: dragon’s blood herb (Mars), a pink powder base or baby powder, musk incense.

Instructions: Dry flowers and place petals in separate, labeled plastic bags. When you are ready to create the powder, repeat the following chant as you combine the ingredients (as instructed below):

Sorceress power in fingertips

enchantment silver flows from my lips.

Powder, mortar, pestle grind

fine grains waltz in tune with mind.

Fingers be nimble dancing so quick

potion run o’er the wax and the wick.

Words strong and true will seal the magick.

Combine 1⁄8 teaspoon of each flower: cinnamon, clove, chamomile, ginger, and dragon’s blood. Grind well. Add base. Grind. Add three drops of cherry juice. Mix well. Burn the musk incense, blowing the smoke gently over the mixture. Pray, chant, and sing for love. This mixture can be used as an addition to any spellcasting or ritual for love. It isn’t edible.

Note: Write a specific petition for love in cherry juice on white parchment. Add orris root to keep fresh. Use echinacea to strengthen any herbal powder. Keep in a sealed jar or plastic bag. Because of the cherry juice, mixture lasts only a few short weeks.

Portuguese Love-Drawing Powder

The Victorian Age produced a number of magnificent female poets, including the famous Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861). During her courtship with the popular poet Robert Browning, Elizabeth wrote over forty-four sonnets proclaiming the passionate depths of her love. Robert was so impressed that he begged her to publish the poems. Fearing retribution (she was a woman, after all), together they concocted a story that Elizabeth found the poetry and merely translated the work from Portuguese to English.

Here’s a great powder, named in the honor of the sonnets, that works especially well for family love matters. As you combine the ingredients, intone her most famous sonnet (43) to the gods:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

for ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

in my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

with my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.5

Supplies: Combine 1⁄8 teaspoon each barley (Venus), basil (Mars), chili pepper (Mars), dill (Mercury), ginger (Mars), marjoram (Mercury), rosemary (sun), and thyme (Venus); 3 drops vanilla oil; 1⁄8 teaspoon orris root; green powder base.6

Instructions: Grind herbs to a fine powder. Add three tiny drops of vanilla oil. Grind mixture again. Add orris root to keep the powder fresh. Mix herbs with a green powder base. Place a small amount in a sealed packet and place in your shoe. Sprinkle on the front and the back doorstep, or place a little powder under your bed. Save the remainder for loading in candles or adding to other love spells.

Note: Ingredients as they stand are for an all-purpose love spell. If you wish to attract a specific type of woman, use only the Venus herbs. If you wish to attract a specific type of man, use the herbs of Mars and the sun. If you wish to attract a friend, use one herb to specify gender (Venus or Mars) and the Mer- cury herbs.

“Come Jump Me” Love-Drawing Oil

Ray Malbrough and my husband, Mick Trayer, put their heads together on this one and came up with a fantastic homemade oil that really works! If you have Puritan sensibilities, though, you may want to skip this one. And making magickal oils can become an art all of its own. As fresh herbs can spoil easily in oil, it is recommended that you combine the ingredients in small batches, then use immediately.

Supplies: Mortar and pestle; 6 roses; 3 cloves; 1⁄4 teaspoon allspice berries; 1⁄2–1 ounce saffron oil; a jar; strainer or cheesecloth.

Instructions: With mortar and pestle, bruise and crush the petals of one rose, the cloves, and the allspice, mixing in just enough oil to soak the herbs. As you work, focus on red and pink light infusing the oil. Chant:

Love, love, come jump me.

Passion, lust, infused will be.

Pulsing, throbbing, come jump me!

Let mixture sit for twelve hours. Strain into jar. Add the petals of another rose and a bit more oil. Grind. Repeat the incantation. Wait twelve hours and strain again. Continue this process for four more days.

Note: This oil may not carry a strong odor (different roses carry varying degrees of perfume). You can always add a drop of essential rose oil if you feel the need for a stronger scent, or allow the mixture to sit for three days before straining and adding a new mixture of rose petals. After you have completed the oil, you may wish to empower again, adding six additional rose petals. Allow these petals to remain. Don’t forget to use the oil as quickly as possible.

Ray Malbrough’s Seduction Oil

This oil can be worn by a man or woman.

Supplies: Essential oils of rose, honeysuckle, and verbena in the following formula: 3 parts verbena oil (major influence); 2 parts rose oil (minor); and 1 part honeysuckle oil (trace added for fast luck); 1 piece verbena root, 1 stick cinnamon, and 1 clove.

Instructions: Mix essential oils. Add verbena root, cinnamon, and clove. Charge for love.

Ina’s Love Oil

During the Depression in the United States, money was tight and circumstances hard. To make ends meet, a member from the West Virginian branch of my family would make herbal sachets and love oils to sell for a penny or two a bottle or package to the women in her small town. Carrying a small basket filled with flowers, ribbons, and her potions, she would visit the ladies on a weekly basis. Her all-time bestseller? Empowered vanilla extract, which she sold as Ina’s Love Oil. To her dying day she swore that half the marriages in the town occurred due to her empowerment of this over-the-counter baker’s additive.

Love-Drawing Cologne

We can thank Ray Malbrough, Llewellyn author, for this three-day spell. For years he has advised clients how to get love, how to keep it, and how to get rid of it (if necessary). It also works extremely well for business purposes where that initial interview is important, or where you would like your own true goodness to shine through the protective mask you normally wear.

Supplies: Your favorite perfume or aftershave (an inexpensive cologne works well if this is the first time you are trying this spell and don’t want to use that fifty-dollar bottle of cologne); a bowl; 13 rose petals; 1⁄8 teaspoon orris root; 1⁄8 teaspoon lovage; 1 lodestone; jasmine oil; a pink candle; a red candle.

Instructions: Pour cologne in the bowl. Gently place roses, herbs, and lodestone in bowl. Hold your hands over the bowl, empowering the contents to allow the goodness in you to shine through. Rub the candles with jasmine oil. Place the candles where their combined light will shine on the bowl. On the first evening, light the candles, repeating your desire. Allow one-third of the candles to burn. Put out the flames with a candle snuffer (some magickal practitioners feel that you should never blow out the flame as you will be blowing your wishes away from you).

On the second evening, relight the candles, verbally repeating your desire to allow personal goodness to shine through, and allow the candles to burn another third. Allow the candles to burn completely on the last evening. Strain the contents of the bowl (though some magickal people continue steeping the herbs— this is up to you). Each time you apply the cologne, repeat your desire. If you have removed the herbs, bury them in your back yard.

Hathor’s Mirror

The Egyptian goddess Hathor is solar deity. Among her titles are Queen of Heaven, Queen of Earth, Lady of the Cemetery, Goddess of Joy, and Mother of Light. She is said to nourish the souls of the deceased and the newly born. This sexy Queen of the Nile (in the earliest dynasties) was thought to encompass all of the royal Egyptian lineage. A powerful goddess indeed, Hathor is portrayed in medieval myth as the fairy godmother(s) as well as Mother Goose. Her birthday is celebrated on New Year’s Day. Hathor’s powers are not relegated to the dividing line between the worlds—she is also the patron of beauty and of female business acumen.

The Hathor’s mirror we will use here is to conjure beauty and secure our self-esteem by imbuing us with strength and grace. This spell has two parts in preparation.

Supplies: A new mirror; decorations for mirror (see ideas below); a 3 x 5-inch card; a gold candle.

Part I. Purchase a new mirror, one that you can look into each morning and evening. Decorate the frame of the mirror with shells, ribbons, glitter, etc. Go wild!

Part II. Choose a favorite poem, mantra, or affirmation. Write the words down on a 3 x 5-inch card and keep them by your Hathor’s mirror. On the back of the card write three affirmations—positive thoughts about yourself or goals you intend to master.

Instructions: Light a gold candle and place it before the mirror. Hold your hands over the reflective surface, and say:

Greatest Hathor! Mother Goddess!

Queen of the Light! Queen of the Heavens
and Earth. Mother of Joy.
Help me change myself, to allow myself
to enrich my mind, my spirit, and my body.
Where there is hate, let me sow love.
Where there is discontent,
let me sow happiness.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is discord, unity.

Where there is despair, hope.

Take several deep breaths, allowing universal love to move through and around you. Now read your poem, then look at yourself in the mirror and repeat your three affirmations three times. Try to do this every morning as soon as you wake up (and have enough of a clear head to find your mirror). Close out your evening by reading a new poem, followed by your affirmations. If you like, keep a yellow taper or seven-day glass candle by the mirror. Light during your devotion. Extinguish when the devotion is finished.

The Conjoined Candle
Spell for Love

Hailing from Texas, this zesty love spell comes from Oriana Uleseia, a treasured Black Forest member and one of the smartest gals I know! This is an all-purpose operation that can be used to draw love to you, and then, once you have it, to keep love flowing in your direction. All you need to do is change the words slightly once you have that dreamboat in your arms!

Supplies: Cookie dough (or Play-Doh—bread dough also works); dried lavender; dried rose petals; 2 small blessed candles (I let Spirit tell me which colors to choose)—one candle represents the spellcaster, and the other is for the man or woman of his or her dreams; a pen; a small piece of parchment paper; a lighter (the sulfur from a match can erode the positive vibrations for love).

Instructions: Dim the lights and put on soft, romantic music. For the female spellcaster, put on fresh lipstick and some perfume. Feel pretty. (You are pretty!) For a gentleman, use your favorite aftershave or cologne and something else you like to wear often, like a shirt that you feel is flattering, a magickal necklace, etc.

Cleanse and consecrate the dough to remove all negativity. Knead in your hands until you feel that enough of your energy has passed into the dough. Shape the dough into a heart (you can also use a cookie cutter). Press the lavender and rose petals into it. Place the candle that represents you in an upright position into the dough heart. With the pen, draw the rune Laguz () on both candles and on the paper. Laguz is the rune of flow, love, sorcery, and of facilitating mutual feelings. Light the candle that represents you and begin staring at Laguz. As you do, recite aloud all the reasons a lover should want to be with you. Are you honest, sincere, happy, faithful, athletic? Go ahead and brag about yourself. Take as long as you need; don’t be shy, this is not the time for humility. You are selling yourself!

When you are satisfied you have listed all your many attributes, take the other spell candle (representing Mr. or Ms. Right) and, as you light it, stare at Laguz and recite all the things you want in a lover. Yes, you can be very anatomically precise. Don’t leave anything out. Take as long as you need. When you feel you have described the lover of your dreams, gently tilt the two candles together so that the flame burns as one. While the two flames are together, meditate on what your life will be like with this new person, all the fun you are going to have, and the romance you will share.

Allow the candles to burn down and burn the paper that says Laguz in your cauldron or, in a pinch, your ashtray. When extinguished, wrap the candles in the dough, add the ashes from Laguz, put all in a plastic bag and place under your pillow for one full cycle of the moon. Take out of the bag, then place in a flower pot or in your garden for love to grow!

Self-Esteem Quickies

• Every time you look in a mirror, say three good things about yourself.

• Each evening, think of one amazing thing that you did today. Drop a coin in an old jar. When the jar is filled, wrap the coins in coin wrappers and give to charity.

• When you have accomplished something, share the limelight.

• Say something nice to a stranger, and say two nice things to someone you know every day.

• Each morning or evening, light a candle to signify the joy of life and the availability of universal love.

• Remember your manners, and your rewards will double.

Friendship Stick

Finding new friends of like mind isn’t always easy. Whenever you trod the path of the Wise it is an absolute given that old friendships and relationships will fold, making way for new ones that are more spiritually attuned to your path. Sometimes the loss leaves us adrift, wondering if we have made the right choice. This friendship garland can help to open the channels for new, more fulfilling relationships.

Supplies: Sturdy thread, 25 inches long; a needle; flowers of your choice; 13 ribbons (your choice of color), 17 inches long; 1 stick or dowel rod, 20 inches long.

Instructions: Thread the needle. Fill the thread with your favorite flowers. Securely knot both ends of thread. Wrap the flower garland around the stick. Tie in place with the ribbons. On a full moon, point the friendship stick at the moon, asking for blessings from the Mother. You may like to use the following petition.

Great Mother, my path has led me

to new realms of spirituality.
I seek relationships that will
show me the fulfillment of life,
that can allow me to exercise true harmony
on my spiritual path, and bring toward me

eloquence of thought and deed.

So mote it be.

Place your friendship stick on your altar until the human interaction you desire has manifested. This is a great spell for kids who have had to move to a new area or who will be changing schools.

Note: The friendship stick may bring several new faces and exciting experiences into your life—don’t just stop at one!

Gentle Breezes Chant for Love

The astrological air signs of Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius work well with spells that incorporate the element of air. Keep in mind that Libra energy is to begin a situation and bring honesty and balance, Aquarius is to keep what you have and support humanitarian ideals, and Gemini is to finish a project or provide flow in the situation, as well as easily communicate with others. To work this spell, use your planetary guide or magickal almanac to determine when the moon is in one of these three signs.

Supplies: Scrap paper; several slips of colored paper; a black marker; a plastic bag.

Instructions: On a piece of scrap paper, write down a list of all the things that you believe constitute a fulfilling relationship. Be sure to define the type of relationship you are seeking, such as friendship, a good boss, harmony with co-workers, a better relationship with your children or spouse, or finding someone new. Transfer each item on your list to a strip of colored paper. Tear up the slips to make a colorful confetti. Seal in a plastic bag along with your list. On a windy day, go to a place where you will be undisturbed and able to enjoy the breeze blowing around you. Say the following incantation while scattering the confetti in the wind:

Spirits of air

lend your ear

I call you here.

Take my wishes

and my kisses

on gentle breeze.

Blow three kisses to the wind, then call out the things written on your paper. Follow by saying:

As I will it shall be done,

from stars to heavens and earth to sun!

So mote it be!

You can also use this spell for a child’s birthday or for a New Year’s spell. Take a bit of wrapping paper from each present and have the child cut it into tiny pieces. While they are cutting, tell them to think of a very special wish. Take them outside and perform the spell. If you choose to work this spell on the common New Year’s Eve, scatter the paper at midnight.

Queen of Love Spell

Oshun is a Yoruban goddess known as the Queen of Love. As long as you are totally honest in your intentions, her energy will work well for you; but if you do anything underhanded, expect the situation to blow up in your face and the effects to last for a long time after the initial blast subsides.

Supplies: A small white ceramic plate; a pencil; 4 orange slices (to make love come faster); 3 drops of honey (an offering to Oshun); 3 cloves (for protection so that you don’t pull in the wrong person); 1⁄4 teaspoon brown sugar (to sweeten yourself and promote friendship); 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 7 yellow candles (gold and yellow are the colors for Oshun).

Instructions: On the night of a full moon, on a Friday of a waxing moon or in the Venus hour, write your name on the white plate horizontally, then over the top, vertically—your name becomes a balanced, equal-armed cross. Arrange the orange slices on the plate. In the center (where the two names and orange slices meet), place honey, cloves, sugar, and cinnamon. Hold the plate under the full moon, and say:

Oshun sings a sexy tune

she who cradles, loves, and croons.

Bring to me love’s energy

bless me with love’s unity.

Honey, sugar, moon’s sweet glow

Mother Goddess, love bestow.

Orange nectar plate of life

banish any type of strife.

Magick mixes, grows, and blooms

touch my life, surround this room.

Place the plate on your love altar. Surround with the yellow candles. Burn the candles each night for seven days. Leave the plate on the altar until the type of love you seek has entered your life. Dispose of the fruit and sugar mixture out-of-doors, whispering Oshun’s name, as these items now belong to her. This is also a great spell to use when requesting healing for mental or physical difficulties.

Note: Oshun loves gifts of gold—just remember that she gets to keep anything you give to her! She’s very picky about what belongs to her.

Make the Future Spell

This is an old Pennsylvania Dutch technique for both looking into the future and understanding past events.

Supplies: A new, circular mirror (don’t look into it); a pencil; a piece of black cloth large enough to cover the face of the mirror; a white candle.

Instructions: Before performing this spell you must find a legitimate crossroads, where the roads are right angles to each other. You must also be able to bury the mirror there, unseen, so this might take a day or two of looking until you find the right place. On the evening of the full moon, at eleven o’clock, write on the mirror in pencil, All things shall be known in heaven and on earth. Bury the mirror at the crossroads. Three days later, at precisely eleven o’clock in the evening, go back to the crossroads and dig up the mirror. Wrap the mirror in a black cloth. Do not look into the mirror. Offer the mirror to a cat or dog.7 Once they have seen their reflection, the mirror is safe for you to use. If the animal refuses to look into the mirror, break the glass and try again. It is thought that animals can sense positive and negative energy vibrations, and therefore they can give you a heads-up on people, situations, and, as shown here, magickal tools. This spell is in no way designed to harm the animal.

To have your questions answered about relationships, light a white candle and gaze into the mirror. Let yourself relax. If you push yourself, you won’t see anything. Allow your mind to drift. Eventually, it will appear as if the mirror is clouding—much like a light mist. Ask your question. Wait for the answers to appear. Sometimes you will see physical objects or people in the mirror, other times you will see them only in your mind. The experience will be different for each person. Keep the magick mirror stored in the black cloth.

Hex Sign for Love
and Romance

Pictured here is the Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign for love. This is a typical representation of dutchified love, with big fat red hearts and a multicolored rosette for luck, success in love, and power over evil. Some experts feel that the triangles represent the ups and downs of married life, but I believe the triangles carry a deeper meaning, touching on the feminine trinity. Pointing outward, these triangle pickets serve as an unbroken protection for the happy unity drawn therein. The primary colors of this particular sign are usually blue for true blue, heavenly love and protection; red for romance, the blood of life, and power; and yellow for the power of the sun, divinity, the hope of children, and truth in all things. Some artists will use hearts of different colors to express not only love, but kindness as well. The romance sign is even used if you are one who stumbles over everything—you know, doppick (schooslish or hinnersich—one who goes backward).

Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Sign for Love

You can either make a copy of the sign provided, or raw your own. It is preferable to design the sign yourself. Empower the hex sign with love oil and love incense. If you like, you can write your name in the center of the sign or on the back with your petition to find love. Other interesting love conjuring by the Pennsylvania Germans included making large hearts on paper, surrounded with black and white pen drawings of mythical birds, flowers, and intricate vines. One would write their petition for love in the center of the heart, then place the drawing inside their personal bible.

Web of Love

This spell is designed to trap negative behavior patterns that can ruin relationships.

Supplies: If you have a specific behavior pattern that you know you need to break, write that habit on a piece of paper and roll into a small tube; a Mason jar and lid; angelica; cinnamon; an olive; a spider web; black wax; a black marker.

Instructions: Place the paper in the jar along with the angelica, cinnamon, and the olive. Now it’s time to scout out a good spider web. From Barbara Walker’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, we learn that the spider, also known as Arachne, “was a totemic form of the Fate-spinner, otherwise known as Clotho or Athene. In Hindu myth, the spider represents Maya, the virgin aspect of the Triple Goddess, spinner of magic, fate, and earthly appearances.” If you are a clean freak, you’ll probably have to go outside, but if you have a basement you might be able to find a good one there. Please don’t capture or harm the spider—they are friendly house guests. Place the web in the jar (good luck, this is the hardest part of the spell).

On the dark moon, a Saturday, or in the hour of Saturn, hold the jar in one hand. With the other hand begin to trace a counterclockwise spiral that begins on the rim of the jar and works inward, whis-pering the following spell:

The banishing wind flows

softly over the meadow,

the spider web trembles in the eaves.

An ebony moon glides in the misty-black heavens

while magick whispers through the trees.

The true love of our Lady empowers these herbs

to capture, to change, and transmute.

With the assistance of our Lord I will conquer

those habits I need to refute.

The dark hour of Saturn stealthily approaches

cloaking his wisdom about me.

The enchantment spins an ever-tightening circle

and with grace I know it shall be.

Seal the jar with the lid. Drip black wax around the edges of the lid. Draw a black equal-armed cross (page 18) with marker on the lid to seal the spell. Bury at a crossroads or in a place off your property.

Communion of Love

Most religions believe that the faithful should offer some sort of gift to the gods, whether that exchange be a prayer, good thoughts, or a physical object. In Wicca, we believe that the physical offering is an exchange of energy between ourselves and the divine. We also believe that if you give love, you will receive that same energy threefold. The love offering here is not money; instead, it is a collection of items that correspond to love energy (as you perceive that energy).

Supplies: Slip of paper; pen; red plate; goblet of sweet red wine (a nonalcoholic beverage, such as apple juice, may be substituted); a selection of oranges, grapes, apricots, and apples; white sugar (your choice of amount); red candle; rose oil, love oil, or patchouli oil; athame; white cloth.

Instructions: On a Friday evening, in the Venus hour or on the full moon, write your name on a piece of paper and place in the center of a red plate. Cover your name with a goblet of sweet red wine. Surround the wine with oranges, grapes, apricots, and apples. Sprinkle with white sugar.

Dress a red candle with rose oil, your brand of love oil, or patchouli oil (but be careful, patchouli is also called the two-faced oil, meaning it has a habit of enhancing the dark as well as the light). Place the candle and plate on your love altar (or in the center of your dining room or kitchen table).

Hold your athame (magickal knife) over the goblet, and say:

From the moon to the vine,

from the vine to this wine,
I bless and consecrate this brew

in the name of love,

and in respect for our Lord and Lady.

Hold your athame over the fruit, and say:

From the sun to the tree,

from the tree to this fruit,
I bless and consecrate the bounty of our Mother
in the name of love, and in respect

to the Lord and Lady.

Slowly lower the athame into the goblet, saying,

As the rod is to the God,
and the chalice is to the Goddess,
so the two become one.
In the name of the Lord and Lady,
I ask for harmony and love to enter my life
as shown in this magickal union.

So mote it be!

Wipe the blade with a clean white cloth. Drink half the glass of wine.

Leave the love offering (wine and fruits) on the table for seventy-two hours, then remove and dispose. This offering is not to be eaten.

Shakespeare’s Love Candle
Cauldron Spell

William Shakespeare was one of the most magickal contributors to literature that humankind has ever known. His sonnets were published in 1609, but many experts feel that they were originally written in the 1590s. The sonnets are unusual in that they suggest a story throughout, with three parts. Totaling 154 sonnets in all, the first section appears to be written by the author to a young man of Adonis’ nature (in other words, a totally sexy dude). The second portion speaks to a rival, yet the rival and the aforementioned dream date appear to be one in the same. The last grouping of sonnets are written to a young woman of dark eyes and complexion, yet indicate that although she is not of great beauty, she certainly knows how to trip the author’s love trigger. Just goes to show you that the more things change, the more they stay the same!

While casting this spell, seek to find the magick by intoning the words from William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

and summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

and often is his gold complexion dimmed.

And every fair from fair sometimes declines,

by chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed.

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

nor lose possession of that fair thou owest,

nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade

when in eternal lines to time thou grow’st.

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see

so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Supplies: A self-burning powdered incense of your choice (a bit of benzoin helps to eliminate blocks in your life and creates an atmosphere for higher spirits, such as angels, to enter); crushed, dried rose petals; mortar and pestle; a large metal cauldron; a red candle; a carving tool; rose oil or love oil of your choice; charcoal lighter or a long match.

Instructions: Mix the incense and rose petals together with mortar and pestle. On the inside of the cauldron, around the edges, scatter the incense mixture. Keep the center clear of incense.

On the red candle, carve the sigils for Venus () for love, Mercury () for speed, and Jupiter () for expansion. (A note of caution: if your life is really in the pits, don’t use Jupiter, as this energy could expand the negative circumstances around you. Better to do a complete cleansing ritual and use Jupiter energy as your life gradually improves.)

Carve your initials on the candle below the symbols. Dress the candle with rose oil, perfume, or a love oil mixture.

Place the candle in the center of the cauldron. Hold your hands over the cauldron, asking that Spirit bring true love into your life. With a lighter designed for lighting charcoal grills (or a long match), slowly pull the flame around the self-igniting incense. As the smoke begins to rise, move your hands over the cauldron in a clockwise motion (a feather also works well). Soon the smoke will begin to spin. As the smoke is spinning, light the candle and repeat Shakespeare’s sonnet. Allow the candle to burn completely, then dispose of the ashes left by the incense mixture by scattering to the winds while asking for additional blessings.

Seven-Knot Love Spell

The symbol of the knot relates to tying something together, or to keeping something stable. Stability in astrological magick would include the fixed signs of Aquarius (air); Leo (fire); Taurus (earth); and Scorpio (water). With this in mind, you could cast this spell when the moon is in any of these signs (check your magickal or planetary almanac) or you could fine-tune your enchantment by considering the nature of the sign. Air speeds, fire encompasses, water cleanses, and earth roots. Call on all four elements to ensure success!

Supplies: A red ribbon, 17 inches long; love oil or your favorite perfume.

Instructions: Take the ribbon and recite the following spell as you tie each knot, beginning in the center and working outward on each side.

With knot of one, love’s begun.

With knot of two, love shines through.

With knot of three, love comes to me.

With knot of four, my heart will soar.

With knot of five, the passion’s alive.

With knot of six, the love is fixed.

With knot of seven, by blood and kin.

This spell is cast, love comes in!

So mote it be.

Dip the ends of the ribbon in love oil or your favorite perfume. Wear on your person. Renew every thirty days.

Enchantment of Yemaya

Figure candles are just what they sound like—candles shaped into human figures. Granted, you can’t pick one of these babies up at your local drug store, but many occult and new age shops do carry them. Choose either a male or female candle to represent the love you wish to draw toward you and the appropriate candle that matches your gender.

Yemaya is the Haitian goddess of moon and night, worshipped as a Mother Goddess. Her primary element rests in the power of the sea and the tides of the ocean. She is also the protectress of mothers and children. Her colors, should you wish to make offerings to her, are blue, silver, and white. Other offerings to her can include silver, watermelon, duck feathers, and water colored with bluing.

Supplies: A white plate; a picture of you; white sand;
2 figure candles; 6 seashells; rose petals from 12 white roses; white gauze; chosen offerings (see above); a necklace of white beads (or pearls, should you be lucky enough to have one).

Instructions: Set the plate on your love altar. Place your picture on top. Cover with the white sand. Place the figure candles on the white sand. Position the candles so that they are facing each other. Surround the plate with the seashells. Cover with rose petals from six of the roses (take special care of the other six; you will use them later). Consider what type of love you are seeking: mere companionship, a passionate meeting with a stranger, an individual who is unafraid of long-term commitment, etc. On the new moon, draw your initials in the sand. Cover the candles with white gauze and add a few rose petals on top. Hold your hands over the candles, saying three times:

Yemaya, Haitian Queen,

ocean skirts of white and blue.

Raise your hand! Intervene!

Part the waves for love that’s true.

Bright circles round the heart

with burning tides of passion.

Let love become an art

imbue these flames I fashion.

The whirlpool spirals deep

entwining heart’s desire.

Bring love my soul can keep

and seal with pearls of fire!

From the new to the full moon, each day place rose petals from the other six roses around the base of the figure candles. On the evening of the full moon, repeat the incantation three times, then lift the veil of gauze and rose petals. Place the necklace around the candles. Set the love offering (feathers, watermelon, silver, etc.) near the base of the candles. Light the candles and allow them to burn completely. (If you don’t want to hurt the necklace, you can lay the circle of pearls at the foot of the candles, out of reach of flowing wax.) Fold the gauze and rose petals together and place in your dresser drawer. Wear the pearls. Leave the offering on your love altar for seven days, then dispose. When your love arrives, dismantle the shrine. Burn the gauze and rose petals, asking for continued harmony in your relationship.

Dream Lover Love Apple Spell

Fantasy isn’t a bad thing, and if you’re down in the dumps, try conjuring yourself a dream lover!

Supplies: A red apple; a toothpick; a box of cloves; red ribbon; dream-drawing powder (made of 1 part lavender, 1 part patchouli, and 1 part red powder).

Instructions: Using the toothpick, pierce holes in the skin of the apple. Insert a clove in each hole—the closer together, the better. Tie a red ribbon on the stem of the apple. Dust with dream-drawing powder. Set apple in a well-ventilated, dry area of your bedroom. Repeat the following chant nine times before falling asleep:

I conjure a dream lover this evening.

His/her kisses will taste warm and sweet.

His/her eyes will be dreamy and simmering.

His/her touch will be gentle and deep.

I’ll sleep safely until dawn’s first glimmer

when the world turns back to the light.

My love waits for me in dreamland

and he’ll/she’ll meet me at stroke of midnight.

Remember, this is only a fantasy spell. A dream lover is not the real thing; however, sometimes when we are in a relationship and for some reason an infatuation grabs us, a dream lover can assuage those hunger pangs until we can get our heads out of the proverbial clouds and our feet back on solid ground. In time you may be thankful that you didn’t leave your partner, and realize that your feelings were temporary and a direct result of other matters in your life that you had not properly dealt with.

Are You Too Busy
for Love? Spell

Obligations, personal priorities, family responsibilities, special interests . . . so many things can snatch at your time that, when the day is over and you sleepily wiggle your toes as you get ready to slither beneath the sheets, you realize that again, today, there was no room for love. We often forget that we do have the freedom to choose how we spend our time. Whether we are looking for new friendships or better communication with spouse, family, or children, it is our choice to set aside the necessary time to allow this love energy to blossom.

Supplies: Five minutes of your time each day; a daily planner; a picture cut from a magazine that you feel embodies the type of love you would like to draw toward you; a picture frame to match the size of your magazine cutout; patchouli oil; a pink candle; a small white cloth square.

Instructions: Each evening for seven days, take five minutes to write down the various tasks you have accomplished during the day and evening hours in your daily planner. On the eighth day, place your open planner on your love altar. Put the magazine picture in the frame and place the frame beside your planner. Rub the patchouli oil on the pink candle while staring at the picture. Imagine that you are drawing this type of love into your life. Consider how you will feel once you have reached your love goal. Light the candle, and say:

I draw my visualization of love into my life.

Hold your hands over the planner, and say:

I allow myself to make room in my life

for the type of love I desire.

Soak the square of white cloth in the patchouli oil. Hold your hands over the cloth and repeat the two aforementioned statements. Let the candle burn until the flame goes out by itself. Allow the cloth to dry. Carry the cloth with you in your pocket or purse. If you can, keep up the notations in your planner. Every thirty days review what you have done. Consider how you could better manage your time. Make firm choices to remove those tasks from your life that you feel are unimportant.

Spell of Character

Ask yourself this question: is your perception of love crippled in a way that you feel you must avoid the topic altogether? In magickal training we are taught that in order to create change, we must first begin with ourselves—which includes altering our perceptions of life and our reactions to the events happening around us. Magick also requires us to match our inner values with that of our reality, which at times can be a more difficult task that we first assume.

Supplies: 13 pieces of colored tissue paper, cut in 3 x 3-inch squares; a pen; your choice of love oil.

Instructions: With the pen, write one of the words below in the center of one piece of tissue paper. The thirteen words are: Love, Honor, Service, Courage, Com- passion, Success, Patience, Integrity, Humility, Justice, Self-Reliance, Wisdom, and Joy. Put a bit of love oil at the four corners of each piece of paper, inviting the named energy into your life. Ask that your inner values and your outward perception of reality meld harmoniously. Roll the tissue paper into little scrolls, or fold into small squares. Place under your pillow, asking the keeper of dreams to help you absorb these energies into your life as you sleep. Remember, in order to bring something different into our lives, we must rise to the challenge of seeing and believing in an altered way.

Circle of Beauty

Some magickal practitioners would call this space in your home or apartment the beauty altar, because here is where you keep your personal selection of perfumes, lotions, cosmetics, jewelry, aftershave—whatever items you feel you need to enhance your physical self. There is no reason why you cannot make this area a magickal place! In the center of my self-esteem altar I have a small circle of stones, flanked by two-foot pillar candles. Before I wear any jewelry, lotions, or perfumes, I place them inside the magick circle and banish any negativity on them. I may bless them with oil or incense, depending on the type of activities I will be doing in my daily work. Sometimes I leave the items in the stone circle overnight for additional empowerment. If you are working on inner or outer beauty, you may wish to make a circle of jade inside the stone circle. If I am trying to integrate something important into my life (patience, wisdom, compassion, etc.), I write positive affirmations on three-by-five-inch cards and stick them around my mirror, which backdrops my altar. Each morning and evening I repeat those affirmations while looking into the mirror. On occasion, I will add fresh flowers or colorful scarves. If you admire the qualities of a specific person, then you may wish to put their picture on the self-esteem altar. This is not to say you are worshipping that person, but that you are trying to achieve the type of energy that they exhibit. The key to your self-esteem altar is to keep the area clean and remove any old products you no longer use.

Want to Be Sexy?

Learn to listen. That’s it. That’s the spell!

Basic Seven-Day Love Spell

Spiritual baths are prevalent in southern magickal applications, especially around the New Orleans area. Many practitioners there believe that proper magick cannot be performed until the body is properly prepared through physical and mental purification. In this spell we’re incorporating the spiritual bath as well as the familiar seven-day spell.

Supplies: A coffee filter; crushed lovage, orris root, and cinnamon (use your intuition as your guide to choose the amount you feel you need of them); 1 teaspoon honey; a stapler; a carving tool; 2 pink candles; lemon juice; a white candle; sage or benzoin smudge; a love-drawing oil of your choice.

Instructions: This spell begins with a spiritual bath, which contains a love filter, on a Friday evening (Venus day). In a coffee filter place crushed lovage, orris root, and cinnamon. Drip honey over the herbs. Staple the filter shut. Light a pink candle, plop your filter in hot bath water, then relax and take a nice, soaking bath. Rinse with clear water and a bit of lemon juice (to remove any negativity from your body). Smudge yourself with sage or benzoin smoke for an additional cleansing once out of the tub.

On your love altar, place two pink candles seven inches apart. Place a third white candle in between the pink candles. We use pink in this instance to start an affair, friendship, or sweet deal. (In this spell, use red candles only if you want lusty sex without commitment.) Inscribe your name on one pink candle. On the other pink candle, write The right person for me. The white candle is to ensure that Spirit watches over your spellwork and draws the proper person to you. You may wish to write the name of a god or a goddess on the white candle. Rub all three candles with love-drawing oil or an oil of your choice. You can also use the love-drawing cologne (page 37) for this purpose.

Each day, for seven days, light all three candles, asking Spirit to bring love into your life. Allow the candles to burn seven minutes, then move the pink candles one inch closer to each other. On the last day, all three candles should be very close together. If you choose to put the candles tight against each other, watch them carefully as this could create the wrong kind of fire (if you get my meaning). Better to keep them a bit apart for the sake of safety.

On the seventh day, allow the candles to burn completely. Take any candle ends (don’t worry if there aren’t any) and wrap them in pink cloth. Place the cool candle ends under your bed. When your lover appears, bury them in your back yard. Continue to take the love bath every Friday until your lover manifests.

Venus Spirit Pot

This spell is a bit more complicated than the others, but for those of you who really want to go all out to bring in that sparkling essence of love—well, this one’s for you!

Supplies: A statue or picture of Venus; a decorative pot with lid, your choice of size; the astrological symbol of Venus () drawn on white parchment; petals from 21 (yes, 21) different flowers; 1 tablespoon vervain; 1 teaspoon crushed bay laurel; 1 teaspoon of dirt from the entrance and exit of your city limits; 1 piece of rose quartz; 1 piece of amethyst; your favorite love incense; 13 pink candles rubbed with your favorite love-drawing oil or the love-drawing cologne (page 37); a dowel rod, your height, decorated with 7 colored ribbons (the colors of the rainbow) and 7 bells; 1 glass of water; 1 orange.

Instructions: Place Venus statue or picture on your altar. On a Venus day (Friday) in the Venus hour (if you can), pray over all supplies, cleansing and consecrating. Ask Our Lady Venus to assist you in your ritual. Cast a magick circle and call the four quarters, asking for blessings of love. Place the Venus sigil in the bottom of the pot and fill the pot in the following order, asking for blessings each time you place an item in it: the flower petals, vervain, bay laurel, dirt from the entrance and exit of your city limits, rose quartz, and amethyst. Leave the pot open. Light your love incense. Draw the symbol of Venus on the floor in the center of your circle. Surround with the thirteen pink candles. Light the pink candles. Add more incense if necessary.

With your decorated dowel rod, tap the floor seven times, asking Venus to bring you the Spirit of Love to assist in drawing love toward you. Walk around the pot clockwise seven times, tapping the pot repeatedly with the dowel rod while singing, praying, and talking to Venus, asking for assistance in love. Warning: put no anger or frustration into this spell, or that’s exactly what you’ll create! Place the lid on the pot and seal with pink wax from one of the candles.

Put out the candles with a candle snuffer. Place the pot on your altar. Save the candles. Thank Venus, release the quarters, and then the circle. Do not touch the pot for seven days. On the following Friday, again cast your circle, call the quarters, and ask for the presence of Venus. Draw the sigil of Venus once more in the center of the circle. As before, place the lit incense and the candles around the Venus pot in the center of the circle. Light the candles. Again, seven times, walk the circle clockwise, calling on Venus, singing, praying, and tapping the pot repeatedly with the decorated dowel rod.

Here’s the tricky part. Open the pot. Specifically state your desire. For example:

Spirit of Love, in the name of Venus

I ask you to search the universe for the person
who is right for me,
and bring them to me if the time is proper.

Give me a positive sign so that I will know this person when I meet him/her.

The sign will be: (state the sign).
If the time is not right,
please tell me the positive actions
I should take to prepare myself for this person.
When you return, the water and the orange
are given to you as my offering.
You have seven days to complete this task!

So mote it be!

Transfer the pot and candles to your love altar. Thank Venus, release the quarters, and then the magick circle. Leave the lid off the pot for seven days. On the following Friday, cast a magick circle, call the quarters, and petition Venus for assistance. Place the open pot in the center of the circle with the glass of water and the orange. Surround with the pink candles. Light candles and incense. Call the Love Spirit back to the pot, tapping once on the pot with the decorated dowel rod. Close the lid. Place the pot back on the altar with the fresh water and orange.

If, in seven days, you have not discovered love, then look carefully at the information you have been given during these three weeks about how you might improve yourself. Take action and make those improvements, then send your love spirit out again to retrieve your love. If in sixty days your new love has not entered your life, repeat the entire pro-cess again.

Once you have received your gift of love it is abso-lutely necessary that you pour consecrated water into the pot, then remove the contents. Bury the contents off your property, break the pot, and send love energy back to the goddess Venus. If you don’t do this, the love spirit will get bored and bring more harm than good into your life. (Hey, I told you this was a tricky spell!)

Spell to Bring a Loving
Pet (As in Animal!)

Take a walk in the pet aisle of a grocery store or an establishment designed specifically for pet lovers. If you know the species of pet you would like to have, spend time in that area. Think about the personality of the kind of pet you would like to own. Consider the amount of your personal space, how much time you might have to devote to a pet, and what kind of relationship you would like to have with the animal. Do you have other pets? How will their personalities match with a new resident?

Supplies: Purchase a small toy that your new pet might use; a book about the care of the animal; and 1 can of pet food manufactured for that species; white construction paper; colored markers, pencils, or pens; a white candle.

Instructions: At home, completely read through the pet care book. You must do this first for the spell to work. Even if you have already owned a pet and are sure that you know all about that species, there is always something new to learn. After you have read the book, cut a piece of white construction paper to wrap around the can of food. With colored markers, pencils, or pens, write down those things you considered while on your pet walk on the construction paper. Should the pet be large (are you sure you have enough room)? Would you prefer a male or female (does it matter)? How much time will your pet spend alone? If it is too much, think twice about bringing an animal into your life. Just because they have four paws (or two birdie feet) doesn’t mean they are less than a human being. Do you have the finances to care for a pet? Think carefully about this, please. The person in charge of a city food bank once told me that when people fall on hard times, they are often forced to get rid of their pets because they cannot afford to feed them. If you have thought carefully about these things and are comfortable you can meet the needs of your new friend, proceed with this spell.

Tape the construction paper onto the can of pet food. Place the toy on top. Hold your hands over the items, and say:

Mother of the forest, Father of the glen,

bring to me a loved one,
a beautiful animal friend.

I promise to take care of it,
to make its needs my own.

I promise to be responsible,
to provide a special home.

Mother of the forest, Father of the glen,

please bring to me a loved one,

a beautiful animal friend.

So mote it be.

Place the toy and food by your front door. Allow the items to remain there until your pet finds their way into your home. This is not to say the animal will sashay right into your house—you are required to go looking for them. Give the spell at least seven days to gather speed. On the seventh day, if you have not found the animal you seek (or if you have preferred to wait), light a white candle on your love altar and repeat the spell while you hold the can of food and toy in your hands. Let the candle burn completely.

Once the new resident is ensconced in your home, take another trip to the pet store. After you find lots of goodies for your pet, purchase ten cans of animal food above what you will need for your friend. As an offering to the Goddess, drop the ten cans off at your local food shelter on the way home.

Spell to Bring the Job You Love

In love with our careers? Hey, if you aren’t happy with your employment on a daily basis, it is pretty hard to be amorous after hours.

Supplies: 1 green seven-day candle rubbed in 3 drops of your favorite success oil; a natural bowl (made of shell, wood, or other natural material—no metal); spearmint; yellow dock; cinquefoil; 4 ground cash-ews; 1 tonka bean; 7 wheat heads (you can get these at a craft and hobby store); 1 rolled ten-dollar bill; green powder base; your favorite incense; lodestone (optional).

Instructions: Take a spiritual bath. Consecrate all supplies in the name of deity and state your purpose. Begin on a new moon, as close to Sunday (success) or Friday (benefits) as possible. Light a candle. Ask Spirit (or your favorite archetype) to bring a positive change of career into your life. In the bowl, slowly add the herbs, cashews, tonka bean, and wheat heads, followed by the rolled ten-dollar bill. Sprinkle with green powder base (you can also use green incense, though you won’t be lighting the incense). Light your incense in a separate container (not the incense you put in the bowl). With your breath, blow the fragrant smoke over the bowl, concentrating on a positive change in your career. Blow the smoke over the lodestone. Carry the stone in your pocket or purse to draw your avocation to you. Allow the candle to burn completely. If you have not had a positive change in career in thirty days, repeat the spell.

May Love Water

Use as a room cleanser, to rub on candles, or to sprinkle on love sachets, poppets, or knot spells.

Supplies: An empowered quartz crystal for love; water collected in the month of May; 1⁄4 teaspoon silver glitter; a clean jar with lid.

Instructions: Combine ingredients in a clean jar. Empower under the light of the full moon in May (best on Beltaine—May 1).

Personal Love Poppet

From my research into folk spells I’ve discovered that just about anything can be used as a poppet. I’ve seen onions, potatoes, carrots, hand-sewn dolls, and creations of wire, wood, and stone. In this spell, we’ll be using white felt to make the doll, but feel free to try any of the above items.

Supplies: White felt; pink thread; cotton; herbal blends of your choice; a small picture of yourself; a white candle dressed with love-drawing oil or cologne; a silver bell.

Instructions: On a new moon, create the doll with your own hands, using white felt and pink thread. Stuff with blessed cotton and any of the herbal blends given in this chapter. Add a small picture of yourself. Sew the poppet shut. On your love altar, draw the astrological symbol of Venus () with the same type of herbal blend. Lay the poppet over the sigil. Light a white candle dressed with love-drawing oil or love-drawing cologne. Ring a silver bell three times over the poppet, then intone the following prayer three times:

I beseech thee, Venus,

goddess of love, growth, and beauty,
to bring order to my life.
Bless me with love, sensual experiences,
and self-confidence.
Mother Venus, protect the garden

and vineyards of my heart.8

Place the poppet under your bed.

Love Magnet Bath Salts

Who better knows the nuances of love than someone who has written over twenty-eight romance novels? Thanks to Maggie Shayne, author of Eternity, Infinity, and recently released Destiny (all from Berkley Books), here is a special recipe to attract the love of your dreams.

Supplies: 3 cups Epsom salts; 2 cups baking soda; 1 cup table salt; 10 drops vanilla oil; 10 drops geranium rose oil; 3 drops lavender oil (to attract a man) or 3 drops patchouli oil (to attract a woman); 2 drops clover oil. 20 drops red food coloring; 1 handful dried rose petals, red or pink; a clear glass jar with a lid.

Timing: Mix on a Friday during a new or first quarter moon. (If the moon’s in Libra, that’s an added bonus!)

Instructions: Begin with Scott Cunningham’s Basic Bath Salts Base by mixing the first three ingredients listed above. Pour them into a large earthenware bowl and mix well. Use your hands. You want to be personally involved and intimate with your creation!

Add geranium rose oil (for love), saying something like:

Man/woman of my dreams,

come to me, and bring true love!

Mix again. Add vanilla oil (for passion), saying:

Come to me, and bring your passion!

Mix again. Add lavender oil (for attracting a man) or patchouli oil (for attracting a woman), saying:

Like a magnet, I draw love in!

Mix again. Add clover oil, saying:

Lasting love that’s true, begin!

You can tweak this—use less vanilla and more rose for a sweeter, tamer love, or reverse it for the wilder variety. Don’t add any more of the lavender/ patchouli and clover, however, or their scents will overpower the others, and there’s symbolism in the number of drops chosen. While mixing with your hands after each addition, be sure to charge the salts with the magickal intent. Add the vanilla and mix with thoughts of great sex and abiding passion. After the geranium rose oil, mix with thoughts of a deep and abiding love that’s true and long lasting. With the patchouli or lavender, visualize the kind of person you want, but do not visualize a specific person. With the clover oil, visualize fidelity—a true and abiding love. Visualize, and push that energy into the salts. Mix with a repetitive grasping, squeezing, and releasing motion until the oils are thoroughly distributed through the mixture.

Next, add around twenty drops of red food coloring. You can add more for a darker color (a more passionate love) or less for a lighter color (a more romantic love). Again, mix with your hands. You might want to give it a stir or two with a wooden spoon first to avoid putting your hands directly into the dye, but once you do, go back to using your hands again. This is the key—getting your hands into it, feeling the texture as the grains of mingled salts run through your hands, through your fingers. It’s a sensual experience. Lots of this kneading sort of handwork is necessary to distribute the oils and the coloring evenly, but it’s even more necessary to empower the salts.

Finally, add a few dried rose petals to the mixture if you like. They’ll float on the bath water, a subtle reminder of the purpose behind the creation of these salts. Again, choose the color according to your needs: deep red, hot pink, pale pink. Stick with reds or pinks, though. Mix the rose petals into the salts with your hands. Visualize the love of your life floating out there in the world somewhere right now, just waiting to find you, as the rose petals will float on the water. Pour the salts into a clear glass jar, and cap tightly. (Mason jars, jelly jars, and the like work very well for this.)

To Use: Add a half cup to your bath and soak when you want to attract love into your life.

As you add the salts, you might want to speak a little charm to reinforce your intent:

Perfect lover, come to me,

bring passion, love, fidelity.

Offer me a heart that’s true,

and I will offer mine to you.

So mote it be.

Bathe by candlelight. Pat dry with towel.

All You Need Is Love

If you are feeling sorry for yourself and just want a little love, or crave the feeling of being in love, then this spell is for you. Written by SilverStar, a rock star that hails from Ohio, you’ll love the sexy way this spell works to stop you from sabotaging the love you already have or the new advances that you turn away. You have to remember that you deserve love. This is one of those spells that crosses the line between “getting it” and “keeping it,” and can be used for both purposes.

Supplies: A pink candle; a mirror; a magickal knife or a pin; 1 bottle of vanilla-scented oil, love oil, love cologne, or blessing oil (vanilla’s correspondences include Venus, the element of water, and the energies of love, lust, and mental power); a handful of dried, ground lady’s mantle herb (perfect for love spells: feminine, Venus, element of water); a special candle holder that speaks of love to you.

Supplies: On the day and hour of Venus during the waxing of the moon, hold the pink candle in front of you while gazing into the mirror. Say:

Lady Venus, I add my name

to this candle times three.
Aid me in my desire to be one,
to be loved, and be free.
I hereby take the first step in reclaiming my life,
by my will, by my word,
by the Elementals and Wights.9
Be with me through the painful cold nights,
for through me comes the change

that brings love to my life.

Take your magickal knife or a pin and inscribe your name three times on the pink candle: once to love yourself (envision yourself feeling good, happy, and secure, and see yourself taking pride in everything you do), twice to love another (picture yourself happy and in love—remember not to specify one particular individual, that’s a no-no), and thrice for another’s love for you.

Hold this visualization in your mind as you anoint the candle with your special oil. Chant the following:

At one with the flame,

my inner fire,

Venus grant

my heart’s desire.

Feel the power and emotion of what you wish to accomplish pouring through your hands and fully charging the candle until your fingers throb. Roll the anointed candle in the lady’s mantle herb. Put the candle in a special holder and light the wick. Sprinkle the remaining herb around the base of the candle. You may burn the candle at various times up until the full of the moon, at which time it is appropriate to burn until it is “all” (until it burns itself out) or bury the remainder on your property. Blow the loose herb from your palm into the winds of change. You should see results by the next full moon. I also recommend burning the candle while taking a spiritual bath, meditating on the changes needed in your life to make you a better person and how that change will affect your confidence level and overall appearance to others.

Tom Cat Potion
(Just for the Fellas)

Here’s a great spell to help you strut your stuff!

Supplies: 1 teaspoon each of the following herbs: damiana, saw palmetto, yohimbe, gensing, gotacela; a bottle of vodka; your favorite men’s cologne; a dark bottle with a cap.

Instructions: Steep the herbs in the vodka for two weeks. Strain. In a separate, dark bottle, mix one part vodka herbal mixture to ten parts cologne (you don’t want to smell like a brewery, that’ll turn her off). You might want to experiment to determine what mixture works for your body chemistry, as each individual is different. Apply a little bit of the mixture to chakra points (crown, forehead, throat, heart, naval area, solar plexus, and groin), then go huntin’ (in a positive way, of course). You can use the remainder of the vodka mixture to anoint poppets, etc. Just be careful, alcohol is highly flammable. You don’t want to blow up your love altar!

Gotta Get Me Some Spell
(For Guys and Dolls Alike!)

While getting ready for that big date, light a red taper candle and intone the following prayer.

Aphrodite, Grecian goddess of the heavens,

bringer of beauty, love, and sexuality,
open the doors of love to me tonight.
Aphrodite, bring to me

the same desire you have for Adonis!

Carry the taper to the front door. Make the sign of the invoking pentagram (see page 85), open the door, and say three times:

Goddess of the moonlit night,

don’t let me sleep alone tonight!10

Be careful, though—this spell can blow all the lights in the house. No kidding. You can also intone these words while at a party, dance club, or other social outing.

Warning: Effects are only temporary.

Invoking Pentagram

Love Spell for the Dead

This is a gift of love and energy offered to someone that you loved dearly who has passed away (yes, you can use this spell for a pet, too). You may have just lost someone and feel that you need to “do more,” or perhaps the person has been gone for about six months and you think you are ready for some type of closure. It might be their birthday, and you would like to honor them in some way. How you employ this spell in your life is up to you.

Supplies: A picture of the deceased; a favorite food or flower of the deceased; a favorite item of the deceased; a purple candle rubbed with patchouli oil.

Instructions: In the hour of Saturn (the hour of the dead) or at midnight, stand in front of your love altar. Erect the picture. Surround with the flowers (food) and favorite item. Hold your hands over the picture and say:

Blessings upon you, my distant one.

In the name of the Lord and Lady,
I send positive energy to wherever you may be.
From the heights of the heavens
to the depths of the earth’s core,
I gather the power you need
to grow and change in a positive way

in the world
beyond the grave.

Feel the power grow within you, then light the candle, saying:

I send this loving energy to you.

May blessings flow to you through eternity.

So mote it be.

Allow the candle to burn completely.11

Note: Many magickal individuals have ancestral shrines in their homes dedicated to specific people or loved ones in general.

Kipona’s Pep’em Up Homemade Magickal Candle12

Love life in the doldrums? Need to spice things up just a bit? Here’s a spell that tells you exactly how to make your own magickal candles and provides that added enchantment to bring a little zing into your love life.

Supplies: An old pot or double boiler; wax; catnip; old spatula or stirring stick; a wick; molds; onion skin; lemon verbena; sage; chamomile and wildflower roots; a few rose petals; a pink or white candle (or the candle color of your choice); and a tin can (discussed further in body of spell).

Wax-melting vats are available at several candlemaking suppliers and are specially made for this purpose. They have thermostatic controls for temperature and many types come with several separate vats for dipping. These are usually fairly expensive and used only by candlemakers who sell their candles. For the home candlemaker, I suggest buying old pots and pans at a local Goodwill, Salvation Army, garage sale, flea market, etc. You won’t want to use any of your good cookware because of the mess! You must place the pot in which you plan to melt the wax inside a pot of water to make a double boiler. NEVER melt wax directly on the burner or in the microwave. If you want to melt several colors at once, try saving a few tall family-size spaghetti sauce or coffee cans—this way you can fit several cans in a large pot of water at the same time to make multicolored candles. Don’t forget to use a pot holder to remove the can when you’re ready to pour the wax. You may even wish to use pliers to make a spout for easier pouring. Also old metal pitchers or even large heat-resistant glass measuring cups work well for small quantities. The measuring cup is handy since it already has markings to help measure your wax. Or you can make your own measurement markings on your cans or pitchers.

Instructions: Fill pot with water. Let the water come to a boil, lower heat, then put containers in the water. Watch the containers very carefully. If you try to melt too much wax at one time a fire may occur. If an accident does happen, have a lid handy to put over the pot. This method of melting wax will work with a gas or electric stove as long as caution is used while melting the wax.

As the wax is melting add just a little bit of the herb mixture, stirring with a wooden spatula no longer used for cooking or a small piece of stick found lying about that has fallen from a tree. Add wick to the mold you have chosen before you begin to pour the wax and make sure it is centered before letting the wax cool. You can do this by tying the wick around a pencil or a small twig, balancing it over the top of the mold—anything that will keep the wick centered as the wax cools. Molds come in endless shapes and sizes. Commercially made candle molds can be purchased at any candlemaking supplier and many craft stores. They are made of several different materials such as metal, acrylic, latex rubber, and glass; however, you are not limited to these. Many containers can be used as a mold. Almost anything that will stand up to the extreme heat of molten wax will work, as long as the opening is large enough to remove the hardened candle or the container is disposable and can be peeled off. You can reuse old glass candle containers, and just remove the old wax by placing the container in the freezer for a little while—the old candle should pop right out. If you are making a free-standing candle, make sure you coat the inside of the mold with a nonstick cooking spray or silicon spray first. This will help your candle come out much easier. Or you can use a disposable mold such as a plastic jar, milk carton, frozen juice can, etc., that can be torn and peeled off when the candle is hard.

When the wax has completely melted, let it cool a little, but no longer than two minutes, then pour into a mold of your choosing. Remember to use a pot holder when removing the container from the water as the container will be hot. Pour a little melted wax in your mold then add some herb mixture, then add more wax. Keep doing this until your container is almost full. Done slowly, this will disperse the herb mixture throughout the candle evenly. In between pouring and adding you can set the container back in the hot water so it will remain pourable and not start setting up.

Let cool for twenty-four hours to set or you can put it in the refrigerator (not in the freezer) for a couple of hours. Once completely cooled you may have a dent in the top of the candle from where it settled. You can sprinkle a few herbs there and seal with wax. Let stand for a few hours, then take the candle out of the mold.

Once the candle is out of the mold, hold it in both hands, seeing in your mind’s eye exactly for what reason you are going to use the candle and the purpose for making the candle. I always thank the God and Goddess, then I wrap up the candle and give it to the intended person.

Rite of the Perfect Mate13

One of the interesting aspects of this spell is that it seems to draw all kinds of people to you, even old lovers and friends, all of whom want to get romantic. Before the spell is finished, you may stop the spell and choose one of the people who shows up. My experience is that the people who appear before the spell is over are not the perfect mate you requested, merely individuals who wish to play mates or even friends. You have to keep to the schedule and finish the spell. The perfect mate may be around the corner or on the other side of the country, so be patient—they will normally show up within the year. (Hey, don’t complain, what’s a year for the perfect mate?)

This rite is performed at the same time every day for twenty-one days. (Oh, stop groaning!) Begin on the full moon and don’t stop for any reason. Each day move the image candles closer, so that for the last three days they touch and can melt together. (Please keep fire hazard precautions in mind.) If, for any reason, a candle should melt down before the rite is over, transfer the flame to another candle of the same type.

Supplies: A spell table (see page 92); tablecloth; sea salt and crushed bay leaf, mixed together; common stones at least 11⁄2 inches in diameter (you choose the number of stones you wish to use in the spell); god and goddess candles; love incense and attraction oil; live rosebuds (one per week to be kept in the stone circle in the south); red male and female image candles; dishes for the image candles; a list of the qualities of one’s perfect mate: good habits and bad, physical appearance (be very explicit), spiritual state and path, future goals, likes and dislikes, and as many other details as possible; a paper sack.

Note: One way of making this easier is to write these topics out in letter form, as though you were writing to your most intimate friend about this perfect lover/friend that you are seeing. Keep a copy of the letter for the spell and an extra in a safe place for future reference. It is vital that you take enough time to write these qualities; I always suggest that an initial draft be made, then put away. The draft should be taken out every few days for no less than one lunar cycle, updating and refining the characteristics and qualities with each draft. The more detail the better, and the more time taken in thought and heart, the easier the spell will be to cast.

Love Spell Table: Set up your spell table (which is not your normal altar) in the northwest corner of your room. It does not have to be a large table, but something square is best. Place a nice tablecloth on the table. In a large circle sprinkle the salt and bay leaf mixture on the table. Lay out your stones on the salt mix. Once the circle is completed, take two stones from the eastern side, leaving an opening in the circle. Set up your deity candles at the head of the table (outside the circle), your incense in the east, and the rosebuds at the northwest of the table (outside the stones).

Instructions: When you are ready to do the spell, anoint the candles (male and female), and place each in a small dish (image candles tend to be messy and can stain a nice tablecloth). Place the candle representing you (the one of your gender) within the circle of stone and salt with its back at the west, facing east. Place the other candle outside of the circle, facing in.

Light the god and goddess candles, incense, and the image candles. Say:

Blessed Mother, Queen of Heaven,

hear my words and my desire.
Mighty Lady, guardian of the heart,
I seek a perfect mate to be guided into my life. Mother, hear my plea,

guide this perfect mate to me.

Read over your list (letter) of qualities and build up the image of your ideal mate in your mind. Remember to include all the details and be consistent each night.

Let the candles burn for at least twenty minutes, then say,

Beautiful Lady, Mother and Queen,

you have heard and you have seen.
A perfect mate is my desire,

with him/her in my life I shall never tire.

When the rite is completed place all residue (incense ash, candles, stones, and rosebuds) in a paper sack and throw it into the ocean or a deep, swiftly moving river (choose an outgoing tide if you are using the ocean). If water is nowhere around, bury the sack in a deep hole and pour at least two gallons of water over the sack. This should be done at the new moon.

Love Chant14

Like most magickal folk poems, this one doesn’t seem to have an owner. It is reputed to have been translated from a Witch’s secret notebook, written in German, and you are to cast the spell just as the chant indicates.

On Friday early as may be,

take the fairest apple from the tree,

then in thy blood on paper white,

thine own name and true love’s write.

That apple thou shalt in two cut.

And for its cure the paper put,

with two sharp pins of myrtle wood,

join the halves till it seem good.

In the oven let it dry,

and wrapped in leaves of myrtle lie,

under the pillow of thy dear,

yet let it be unknown.

And if it a secret be,

he/she will show his/her love for thee.

Black Madonna Love Spell

I have a special place in my heart for the Black Madonna so I certainly couldn’t write a love spell book without including her, too! Probably the most well-known of the Egyptian goddesses, Isis represents ceremonies, immortality, time, astrology, earth, nature, moon, night, and, in the incarnation of the Haitian goddess Yemaya, love (also known as Our Lady of Regla). With Rome’s occupation of outlying territories came the expansion of Isis worship. Statues of Isis holding her son were numerous. When Christianity entered the religious scene, many of the chapels in Europe already dedicated to Isis changed the motherly representations of this goddess to the Virgin Mary carrying Jesus. Because Isis was dark-skinned, these statuaries were called the Black Virgins or Black Madonnas.

Supplies: A white enamel basin; 2 seven-day candles (white and blue—you can also use Our Lady of Regla candles); your love prayer written on white virgin parchment; and 1 bluing square or ball.

Note: Laundry bluing is packaged in squares or balls and is used for whitening clothes. You should be able to find this ingredient in the laundry section of your supermarket because, lucky us, some of our grandmas still use it and demand that managers keep the product in stock!

Instructions: Place the basin and candles on your love altar. Put your prayer at the bottom of the basin. Fill the basin with water (not too full, you don’t want to make a mess). Add enough bluing to color the water a light blue (though some prefer darker). Light the candles and call the Black Madonna, stating aloud your love prayer. Pray every day for seven days, repeating your specific petition in your devotions. On the seventh day, release the water.

Note: The original spell called for releasing the water into the ocean; however, with all the contamination these days, we certainly wouldn’t want to add to it! Therefore, if you wish, you can place the bluing water in a jar and bury, pouring only a capful of the water on the ground, or you can release the water in the same area that accepts your wash water.

How to Find an Old Lover

It’s been five years, maybe ten, and you wonder whatever happened to so-and-so. Perhaps you wish you had that person back in your life? STOP! THINK! Memories are funny critters—they have a habit of growing fuzzy and warm, while those cutting edges that hurt in the past become blunted and dulled with time. It might be better to stop, wonder, smile, and then go onward. Turning the page in the mental photo album might just be the best thing for you. Maybe you don’t want that person physically back in your life, but you are curious to know what happened to good old what’s his name. I have two spells here that have worked for magickal people in the past. You’ll have to choose just how far you want to take them.

Supplies: Assuming you have searched the Internet, canvassed old friends, and still can’t dredge that person up from the element of time, try this one. To “just find out,” you will need 2 wire coat hangers. (Yes, you’ve seen this in other divining applications.) On a piece of paper, write the person’s name. (This actually works better if you have a picture or something that belonged to the person.)

Instructions: Place the item or name at your feet. Bend or cut the hook part of each hanger off above the joint (the hanger will remain together). Empower the hangers to perform as “information gathering only.” Stand in the center of a room. Hold each hanger loosely along the longest edge (so it looks like the hangers are wings) about a foot apart. Ask Spirit to bring you information about the individual. Slowly, in a clockwise direction, turn in a circle. The hangers may (or may not) begin to move toward each other. This is a signal that you are homing in on the individual. If they turn significantly toward each other, stop, close your eyes, and concentrate on gathering information. When you are finished, take a deep breath and thank Spirit, asking that the information be brought to you as quickly as possible. You should hear something in about thirty days.

To Physically Draw Them to You: Be careful, because you don’t want to inhibit that person’s free will. Make something from your own hands (a goblet out of clay or ceramics works well). Tie an item that belonged to the individual around the stem of the cup. If you don’t have anything, then use their name on a piece of paper. You can also make a fetish out of feathers, beads, and rawhide to guide that person to you, tying the magickal item to the stem of the goblet. In the cup, place a petition to Spirit, asking the energies of the universe to physically bring that person to you; however, it is wise to add something like, “If this is best for both of us,” etc. If you don’t want someone to read the paper, burn it and place the ashes in the cup. I would also add, “No one and nothing save the energy of Spirit can intervene.” Take the cup to the last place that you know the person frequented. It doesn’t matter where (and no, you probably won’t get the goblet back). If you are to see that person, you will receive a call in about thirty days.

This chapter contained over forty ideas, spells, potions, incenses, and rituals to bring love into your life. Now we have the interesting task of keeping it!

[contents]

1. Carr-Gomm, Philip and Stephanie. The Druid Animal Oracle: Working with the Sacred Animals of the Druid Tradition. New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1994, pp. 70–71.

2. Created by Morgana of Morgana’s Chamber, 242 West 10th Street, New York, NY, 10014. Be sure to visit Morgana’s shop next time you cruise the Big Apple.

3. Ibid.

4. Lord Byron, 1784–1824, “She Walks in Beauty.”

5. Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. Sonnets from the Portuguese 43: How do I love thee?

6. Powder bases may be obtained from Morgana’s Chamber. 242 West 10th Street, New York, NY, 10014.

7. Hark, Ann. Hex Marks the Spot. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1938. p.63.

8. The Roman Venus is associated with the Sabine Vacuna, the Etruscan Turan, and the Greek Aphrodite. Her feast day is April 23.

9. Wights is a German word for “magickal spirits.”

10. From “The Little Black Book” of Lord Ian Markiv.

11. See my book Halloween (Llewellyn, 1999) for more in-depth rituals for honoring our deceased loved ones.

12. Written by Kipona of the Black Forest Clan, Coven of the Pale Horse, © 2000.

13. From “The Little Black Book” of Lord Ian Markiv.

14. MorningStar, Black Forest Clan, Coven of the Pale Horse, ©2000.