Chapter Twenty-One

Love

There are many forms of love. Most of the foods mentioned in this chapter can be used for love in all of its manifestations: self-love, love among family members, friendship, love in small group situations—yes, even for that love which one human being blindly flings at another while hoping to receive love in return.

All love starts from within. We cannot and must not give love to others before we have respect and love for ourselves. Except out of compassion or pity, who would love us if we don’t even like ourselves?

One of the physical manifestations of self-love is taking care of ourselves. Food, which certainly affects our bodies, also affects our emotions. It can be a powerful tool in creating self-love and, once this has been accomplished, to bring us into a loving, multifaceted relationship with another person.

The old saying “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” is certainly true, even if sexist. In the early stages of a relationship, preparing meals for your love is an outward manifestation of your feelings. You not only care enough to cook for him (or her), you’re also directly contributing to that person’s survival by offering him or her the food necessary for life.

On the other hand, eating food specifically prepared for you by another is not only a gratifying, nourishing experience, it also shows your trust in that person (at least, your trust that she or he won’t deliberately poison you).

Candlelit dinners in a small restaurant, with splits of champagne and tasty food, are designed to create emotional and physical intimacy between the diners. Dining out is an accepted part of the “dating” process, and can certainly be continued with good effect during magical diets.

To gain the magical effects of these love foods, however, they should be prepared and eaten at home. If you’ve already estab-lished a relationship with another person, prepare the dishes to-gether. This implies an equal, harmonious relationship. Simply eat these foods and visualize if you’re not currently enjoying a relationship. You soon will be.

In the folk magic tradition of many cultures, food is prepared and served to another person with the sole purpose of magically “forcing” him or her to fall in love with the cook. This is common in folk magic even today. You will find no such magic in this chapter because such rituals are manipulative. The first rule of folk magic is to respect all other persons’ rights as human beings with free will. When we trespass on that free will and attempt to force someone to do something, we’re practicing negative (“black”) magic.

Besides, it’s impossible to force another person to fall in love with you. Love is much more magical than that. This powerful emotion can’t be created out of thin air, no matter what you may read in cheap spellbooks. When contemplating a ritual of this kind, ask yourself this question: would you want someone that you simply don’t like to serve you love-charged foods?

If you’re preparing and serving love-energized foods to your longtime mate, matters become simpler and yet more complex. You’ve already established a relationship, which implies not only trust but also a measure of give and take. Serving him or her a love-charged meal won’t trespass on free will as long as you announce what you’re doing. Saying something like “Oh, by the way, this dish is said to increase love” as you bring it to the table is sufficient. For a relationship that has worn at the seams, involve your partner in your cooking. Fully explain what you’re doing and why.

He or she just may get into the spirit.

Remember: start with love for the self, then branch out in search of another. If you already have another, deepen the relationship with these foods.

Don’t make the common mistake of believing these foods will produce a desire for sex. These are love foods, after all. See chapter 25 for more information along this line.

Spices and Herbs

Anise	Ginger
Basil	Licorice
Cardamom	Marjoram
Chicory	Poppy seed
Cinnamon	Rose
Clove	Rosemary
Coriander	Thyme
Fennel	Vanilla

Add these spices to soups, fish, and other love-inducing foods. Use fresh herbs when available. Combine with other foods listed below, for potent love-inducers. Visualize as you grind the herbs and spices, or snip the fresh leaves. Visualize as you add them to the food. Visualize as you eat.

What do you visualize? Yourself as a loving, accepting person. Don’t visualize yourself involved with another person unless you’re already involved with him or her.

Vegetables

Beet	Sweet potato
Pea	Tomato
Rhubarb	Truffle

Serve warmed to stimulate the warmth of love.

Fruits and Seeds

Apple	Nectarine
Apricot	Orange
Avocado	Papaya
Banana	Passion fruit
Carob	Peach
Cherry	Pineapple
Guava	Quince
Lemon	Raspberry
Lime	Strawberry
Mango	Tamarind

Serve fresh fruit salad. Carve a heart into the peel of an apple and eat, or share the apple with a lover. In making pies with any of these fruits, trace a heart with a knife on the upper crust (or lower, if one-crusted). Or, cut steam vents in the shape of a heart. Visualize!

Nuts

Brazil nut	Pine nut
Chestnut	Pistachio

Place a bowl of nuts on a table. Sit before it. Hold a nut in your hand, visualize love, and eat the nut. Repeat nine times. Any dishes that contain these nuts, such as pesto (the basil-pine nut treat), are also effective love-enhancers if they’re prepared (or eaten) with visualization.

Desserts

Apple pie (flavored with cardamom)

Brownies

Carob bars (obtain at health-food stores)

Cherry-vanilla ice cream

Chocolate cake

Chocolate ice cream

Gingerbread

Ginger ice cream

Fudge ripple ice cream

Lemon chiffon pie

Key lime pie

Neapolitan ice cream

Strawberry ice cream

Also, pies made from any of the fruits listed above.

Beverages

Creme de cacao	Limeade
Dessert wines	Milk
Kirsch	Orange curacao
Lemonade	White wine

Other Love Foods

Carob

Chocolate in all forms

Dill bread

Fish

Honey

Maple syrup

Pickles

Rye bread

Strawberry jam

Sugar

Preparing and Cooking Love Foods

Burn a pink candle. in the kitchen while preparing foods. Chop vegetables and fruits into round, flat shapes, or use a melon ball tool to create spheres (circles and spheres are symbols of love). Or, cut into heart shapes.

Combine the foods in various ways:

—avocado and tomato sandwiches on rye

—cinnamon toast served with chicory coffee and fresh, sliced strawberries (naturally heart-shaped)

—a love shake of milk, vanilla ice cream, and a melted chocolate bar

—fruits in juice or nectar form

Recipes

Oranges of Love

2 ounces soaked and strained gum arabic§§§§

1 cup orange flower water

1 ounce powdered sugar

2 egg whites

1 ounce granulated sugar (colored orange with food coloring)

While strongly visualizing love, mix together the softened gum arabic and orange flower water with enough powdered sugar to form an elastic paste. Set aside. Blend together egg whites with the orange-colored sugar and the remaining powdered sugar. Make small balls of the orange mixture; cover with the egg-white mixture and set on waxed paper.

Fruit Salad Spell

Fruit of mango, fruit of pine,
let the one I love be mine.
Fruit of apple, fruit of peach,
bring him [her] close within my reach.
Fruit of banana, fruit of cherry,
let his [her] love for me not vary.
As I work my magic spell,
warmly in his [her] heart I dwell.
I now invoke the Law of Three:
this is my will, so mote it be!

The “fruit of pine” can be either pine nuts or pineapple.

Make a salad of the above-mentioned ingredients, concentrating on the love you wish to share. Chant the spell as you chop and slice. Mingle the fruits and place your hands on either side of the bowl, while visualizing you and your loved one building a life together. Then serve the salad. (Courtesy Morgana of Hawaii.)

Cheese of Love

1⁄2 pound cottage cheese

1⁄2 handful of at least three of these fresh, minced, mixed herbs: dill weed, lemon thyme, chives, basil, marjoram, thyme, rosemary

Visualize as you gently mix the herbs into the cottage cheese. Serve by the light of pink candles with a lettuce and tomato salad and crisp pickle chunks.

Love Philtre

5 hazelnuts

1 teaspoon lavender flowers

1 clove

Dash ginger

Dash cinnamon

Place in a mortar and pestle. While visualizing, powder together until finely reduced. Add very small portions to food to increase love.

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§§§§ Gum arabic is available at herb stores and through some mail-order suppliers.