The Ethics of Love Spells by Mike Nichols It seems to be an immutable law of nature. You are interviewed by a local radio or TV station, or in some local newspaper. The topic of the interview is Witchcraft or Paganism, and you spend the better part of an hour brilliantly articulating your beliefs, your devotion to Goddess and nature, the difference between Witchcraft and Satanism, and generally enlightening the public at large. The next day, you are flooded with calls. Is it people complimenting you on such a splendid interview? No. People wanting to find out more about the religion of Wicca? Huh-uh. People who are even vaguely interested in what you had to say??? Nope. Who is it? It's people asking you to do a love spell for them! This used to drive me nuts. I'd take a deep breath and patiently explain (for the thousandth time) why I won't even do love spells for myself, let alone anyone else. This generally resulted in my caller becoming either angry or defensive, but seldom more enlightened. 'But don't you DO magic?', they ask. 'Only occasionally,' I answer. 'And aren't most magic spells love spells?', they persist. That was the line I really hated, because I knew they were right! At least, if you look at the table of contents of most books on magic, you'll find more love spells than any other kind. This seems as true for the medieval grimoire as for the modern drugstore paperback. Why? Why so many books containing so many love spells? Why such an emphasis on a kind of magic that I, personally, have always considered very negative? And to make matters even more confusing, the books that do take the trouble of dividing spells between 'positve' and 'negative' magic invariably list love spells under the first heading. After all, they would argue, love is a good thing. There can never be too much of it. Therefore, any spell that brings about love must be a GOOD spell. Never mind that the spell puts a straightjacket on another's free will, and then drops it in cement for good measure. And that is why I had always assumed love magic to be negative magic. Years ago, one of the first things I learned as a novice Witch was something called the Witch's Rede, a kind of 'golden rule' in traditional Witchcraft. It states, 'An it harm none, do what thou will.' One uses this rede as a kind of ethical litmus test for a spell. If the spell brings harm to someone -- anyone (including yourself!) -- then don't do it! Unfortunately, this rule contains a loophole big enough to fly a broom through. It's commonly expressed, 'Oh, this won't HARM them; it's really for their own good.' When you hear someone say that, take cover, because something especially nasty is about to happen. That's why I had to develop my own version of the Witch's Rede. Mine says that if a spell harms anyone, OR LIMITS THEIR FREEDOM OF THOUGHT OR ACTION IN ANY WAY, then consider it negative, and don't do it. Pretty strict, you say? Perhaps. But there's another law in Witchcraft called the Law of Threefold Return. This says that whatever power you send out, eventually comes back to you three times more powerful. So I take no chances. And love spells, of the typical make-Bobby-love-me type, definitely have an impact on another's free will. So why are they so common? It's taken me years to make peace with this, but I think I finally understand. The plain truth is that most of us NEED love. Without it, our lives are empty and miserable. After our basic survival needs have been met, we must have affection and companionship for a full life. And if it will not come of its own accord, some of us may be tempted to FORCE it to come. And nothing can be as painful as loving someone who doesn't love you back. Consequently, the most common, garden-variety spell in the world is the love spell. Is there ever a way to do a love spell and yet stay within the parameters of the Witch's Rede? Possibly. Some teachers have argued that if a spell doesn't attempt to attract a SPECIFIC person into your life, but rather attempts to attract the RIGHT person, whomever that may be, then it is not negative magic. Even so, one should make sure that the spell finds people who are 'right' for each other -- so that neither is harmed, and both are made happy. Is there ever an excuse for the make-Bobby-love-me type of spell? Without endorsing this viewpoint, I must admit that the most cogent argument in its favor is the following: Whenever you fall in love with someone, you do everything in your power to impress them. You dress nicer, are more attentive, witty, and charming. And at the same time, you unconsciously set in motion some very powerful psychic forces. If you've ever walked into a room where someone has a crush on you, you know what I mean. You can FEEL it. Proponents of this school say that a love spell only takes the forces that are ALREADY there -- MUST be there if you're in love -- and channels them more efficiently. But the energy would be there just the same, whether or not you use a spell to focus it. I won't attempt to decide this one for you. People must arrive at their own set of ethics through their own considerations. However, I would call to your attention all the cautionary tales in folk magic about love spells gone awry. Also, if a love spell has been employed to join two people who are not naturally compatible, then one must keep pumping energy into the spell. And when one finally tires of this (and one will, because it is hard work!) then the spell will unravel amidst an emotional and psychic hurricane that will make the stormiest divorces seem calm by comparison. Not a pretty picture. It should be noted that many spells that pass themselves off as love spells are, in reality, sex spells. Not that there's anything surprising in that, since our most basic needs usually include sex. But I think we should be clear from the outset what kind of spell it is. And the same ethical standards used for love spells can often be applied to sex spells. Last year, the very quotable Isaac Bonewits, author of 'Real Magic', taught a sex magic class here at the Magick Lantern, and he tossed out the following rule of thumb: Decide what the mundane equivalent of your spell would be, and ask yourself if you could be arrested for it. For example, some spells are like sending a letter to your beloved in the mail, whereas other spells are tantamount to abduction. The former is perfectly legal and normal, whereas the latter is felonious. One mitigating factor in your decisions may be the particular tradition of magic you follow. For example, I've often noticed that practitioners of Voudoun (Voodoo) and Santeria seem much more focused on the wants and needs of day-to-day living than on the abstruse ethical considerations we've been examining here. That's not a value judgement -- just an observation. For example, most followers of Wicca STILL don't know how to react when a Santerian priest spills the blood of a chicken during a ritual -- other than to feel pretty queasy. The ethics of one culture is not always the same as another. And speaking of cultural traditions, another consideration is how a culture views love and sex. It has often been pointed out that in our predominant culture, love and sex are seen in very possessive terms, where the beloved is regarded as one's personal property. If the spell uses this approach, treating a person as an object, jealously attempting to cut off all other relationships, then the ethics are seriously in doubt. However, if the spell takes a more open approach to love and sex, not attempting to limit a person's other relationships in any way, then perhaps it is more defensible. Perhaps. Still, it might be wise to ask, Is this the kind of spell I'd want someone to cast on me? Love spells. Whether to do them or not. If you are a practitioner of magic, I dare say you will one day be faced with the choice. If you haven't yet, it is only a matter of time. And if the answer is yes, then which spells are ethical and which aren't? Then you, and only you, will have to decide whether 'All's fair in love and war', or whether there are other, higher, metaphysical considerations.
------NEW STUFF---- The spells below are copyright by their respective authors. They may be electronically reproduced without profit as long as this copyright notice and the source attributions are preserved. Contact the individual authors before use for any other purposes. ====================================================================== == CHINESE LOVE SPELL take a lock of her hair, some nail clippings, and menstrual fluid. take a lock of your hair, some of your nail clippings, and some of your semen. wrap these items neatly in bright red paper. with gold ink write the chinese characters for love, good fortune, and happiness on side. on the other side write your true name. now gather your chi and infuse the package with your chi. you must do this at sunrise after the chinese new year and before the vernal equinox (northern hemisphere). note: make sure you gather the semen correctly. write the chinese characters precisely. know your true name. know how to gather chi and infuse chi. warning: this is not a minor undertaking. technically you're binding your life into this spell. if you do not protect or properly undo this spell, you risk serious harm to yourself. if you do not do this spell properly, you risk serious harm to yourself. if you really mess up this spell, you mess up your life and her life. © 1996 key@n... (peter li'ir key) ------------------------------------------ LOVE SPELL (for male) Obtain a photo of the victim-to-be. If no photo is available, get some hair or finger-nail clippings. Get anything that fits into whatever model of magick you hold and combine this with a sigil (a pictorial glyph) of the girl of your own design. Sit in a still clean place (Your Temple) and declare the circle to be cast, through a banishing ritual or reciting a poem and waving your arms around, etc. Put the likeness of the girl onto your altar (or similar) and channel energy up through your legs, torso, arms and into the likeness. Keep doing so as you pick the object up (both hands) and hold it tight, (because you love her impression). Tell her over and over that you love her absolutely and that she loves you dearly. Tell her that she loves you and that you love her and that you were meant to be together, repeatedly. When satisfied, close the circle and declare the ritual over. Take the object and wrap it up, to 'bind it' and store it in a clean, safe place such as strapped to the bottom of her bed or buried in her lawn, etc. Usually I would have some purple candles on the altar. You specified 'white magic' so use white candles. © 1996 seans@c... (Sean Robert Scullion) -------------------------------------------- AFRO-CARIBBEAN LOVE SPELL Take 15 gms of High John root, 8 cc fresh blood from a sacrificial chicken (or lamb), 2.7 mg of saffron and a dash of sweat or, better yet, moon flow from the unsuspecting member of the opposite sex. While drumming, rattling, or chanting whatever comes to mind draw the following in Corn Meal on the floor in front of you...... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Place the High John mixture in some Rum, in a glass bottle, and shake. Dance over and around the maraasa sigil above and swish the Rum mixture in your mouth, spitting and spraying it over the sigil (veve). After you're finished, dip your hands into the Rum mixture and sprinkle a bit of it on the earth, giving thanks to one of your ancestors while you do. For the maximum effect, pour the rest of the mixture in the MOS' car, sink, garage, or lawn, as you give thanks to the ancestor. Wait 3-5 days and call the MOS from a pay-phone and plan a date !!!! By the way, remember the ol' magickal addage, what goes around COMES around, wait until MOS does first !!!! © 1996 foste018@m... (Poobah) ----------------------------------- THE MOON GLANCE Due to the overwhelming popular demand, here is my description of the Moon Glance technique. It was originally conceived by Chaos Magician Peter J. Carroll. The Moon Glance is a simple technique of magickal seduction. To begin, choose a person to whom you wish to direct the glance. It is preferable if they are seated (or otherwise stationary) and not involved in any particular activity. This is not required, but it makes it somewhat easier. Close your eyes. Visualize a glowing, silver crescent moon that passes through the middle of your head, with the "horns" protruding forward in the direction of your line of sight. Try to visulalize your "target" and sensitise yourself to him/her. After a moment, try to sense when they are looking in your direction. When you feel this is so, open your eyes and look into theirs. If they have moved or are not looking in your direction, you must try again or choose another person. As you look into their eyes, visualize a shaft of silver light extending from the tips of the horns into their eyes. Hold your mind still and blank. You should be able to sense immediately if the person has been affected by the spell. The Moon Glance is an excellent example of the effectiveness of combining a magickal technique with psychology. By closing your eyes, your pupils become dilated so when you catch their glance, you send a universal, subliminal "body language" signal of sexual interest. The Glance also almost always generates a slight smile which also signals attraction. It should be pointed out that seduction spells, perhaps more than any other kind, are subject to the deleterious effects of "lusting for results" (pun intended?). To be effective at all, one must remain detached as much as possible from the outcome. For someone desperate to get laid, this may be all but impossible. I've found that the most effective way to accomplish this is to be more concerned with simply generating a response from the target that actually landing them in the sack. It's the "thrill of the chase", so to speak. I tend to use the Glance "for fun" at parties and other gatherings just to see how well it will work and to practice my visualization. I would say the vast majority of those persons I've gotten a response from do NOT end up being sexual partners. I'm pretty particular about whom I do the wild thang with. Any magician with sufficient power to make the Moon Glance really work will very likely have no shortage of potential sex partners anyway. © 1996 "Joseph Max.555" (maxx@s...) --------------------------------------- 4TH VENUS PENTABLE ...You have to use the 4th Venus pentacle in The Key of Solomon. Write it on paper (after ceansing it) or copper and perform the rituals that are mentioned in the book. After that, you will have to put it in a green silk bag and wear it around your neck. When you meet the girl (boy) you desire, just show it to her (him). This will make her (him) fall helplessley in [love] with you! © 1997 biv94cjn@l... (cjn) ------------------------------------- LUST SPELL DOLL Well, this spell isn't for love, it's for lust. It's all a chemical thing anyway, so love might evolve out of it. Materials: target's picture, your picture, target's action figure, your action figure, colored cloth, and yarn, 3 candles, 2 rubber bands, a lighter, and a shoe box. Doll Making. Pick a target you are truely in lust with and find their picture. Buy a doll or action figure for your gender and one for the target's gender. Put their picture over the doll face and secure it with a fastener. Do the same for the doll that represents you. Cloth Making Use the color that represents lust, love or both to you. Buy a cloth of that color that is large enough to wrap, cover the dolls. Find string, or yarn of the same color to fasten it. Write on the cloth, "Lust" Tie two knots in the yarn. The Ritual Light a love candle for you and a love candle for the target. Say; "This candle is my burning love for you." "This candle is your will to love." Place the target's doll near the target candle and your doll near yours. Place a third candle between the two candles unlit. Say; "This is the growing lust between us, attracting us to each other." Take the two candles with both hands and light the center candle with them at the same time. Extinguish the light of the target candle and your candle. Say; "By the light of our growing lust for each other, I bind us with it until I should choose to break the bonds and part ways with you." Cover the dolls facing each other with the cloth and bind it with the yarn by making one more knot in addition to the two. Place the dolls in a shoebox and make sure no one disturbs the box. [to make a generic lust-attractor:] ...just wrap your own doll in the cloth but don't bind it. Place it in the shoe box. Say once a day while holding the wrapped doll; "I have increased my power to attract!" Do this until you feel that other's attraction to you is sufficient for your needs. -fin © 1997 ren@i... (Ren) ------------------------------------------ CONJURATION WITH AN ACTION FIGURE Find a quiet place where you can turn out all the lights and be undisturbed. You will need a rock, candle and lighter, bed sheet, action figure, a cup, rubber band, (man's) picture, a pink cloth, shoe box, and a black magick marker. Step 1: Magickal Clothing: Put on a piece of clothing or jewelery that you designate as magickal and only wear it while practicing magick. Step 2: Magician's Circle: Get a bed sheet and make a circle out of it by tying the ends together. Take some salt and trace a triangle with the apex to the circle on a flat surface, like card board over carpet. Place a rock at the base of the triangle and place a candle at the apex. Light it and step into the circle. Sit down in it. take the action figure and fasten his picture to it with a rubber band. Hold the action figure. Step 3: Conjure the Spirit: Trace a unicursal hexagram clockwise begining in the upper left corner with the cup. Visualize lines, the color pink. Then say this. "Jupiter, I summon they to aid me in this rite, to empower me with what I need." Take the pink cloth and sign your name. Then sign; Jupiter. If you know Automatic Handwriting, have the spirit sign the cloth. Then take the cloth and wrap the action figure in it and place it all in the shoe box. Thank the spirit from Jupiter and license it to depart by tracing the hexagram counterclockwise at the same upper left point. Say so be it. -fin. © 1997 ren@i... (Ren) ------------------------------------------ RELATIONSHIP RITUAL Dark Moon Cleansing What you will need: a cup of water cauldron or pot on a trivet or filled with sand or kitty litter parchment paper lighter black candle white candle 1. Take a ritual bath or shower to get in the proper mindset for this ritual. 2. Come into sacred space. For this ritual I recommend casting a formal circle and inviting the quarters to join you. 3. Ask Hecate to join you. Say: "Lady Hecate, dark moon mother, please join us this dark night as we seek to release the pain and suffering of the difficult period. Please help us to let all this go that we may be refreshed and renewed." 4. Charge the cup of water with fresh, clean energy. Imagine a bolt of white light entering the clear water. Say: "This water is charged that it may renew our hearts with purity and joy." 5. Light the black candle. As it burns, write your troubles, cares, concerns, fears, peeves, angers, and anything else on the parchment paper. Don't edit, just let it all flow out. Don't try to write pretty. Write as angrily as you need to. 6. When you feel that all the energy has been poured into the paper and you can't think of anything else to write down, light the paper from the candle and drop it in the cauldron. As the paper burns, feel all the negativity float away. All is gone. Know that you are recharged and refreshed. Make sure that everything in the cauldron burns away. Use your lighter to char any remaining scraps of paper. 7. Pick up the cup of water. Drip a couple drops onto the ashes. Offer each other a drink from the cup saying, "May you be blessed with renewal." 8. Take hands and couple breathe and eye gaze. As you do so, draw refreshed clean energy in through the tops of your heads until every empty space is filled with new hope, joy, and love. Say, "We are filled with renewed life." 9. Release Hecate from your circle. Say, "Lady Hecate, dark moon mother, we thank you for joining us this dark night and assisting us as we released all that was negative in us. Thank you for carrying it away that it will not return to us. We are honored by your presence with us tonight. Stay if you will, go if you must. Farewell and blessed be." 10. Release the circle. 11. Pour the ashes outside on the earth or into a moving body of water such as a river or ocean.
<< My crush is driving me crazy, so can anyone recommend a good spell to get your mind off of someone? >> To rid oneself of fascination Gather you thread used for embroidery and think very fondly of he or she call to mind the qualities that become to you and the following sit down and do Select the colors that represent those qualities that are heaven sent the things that call out to your heart and then this spell you shall start Bind them together to gather in all your feelings for her or him then with intention and with care braid them together as you would hair While working, let you mouth for the sound "My love for him/her now is bound" When no more strands are hanging free say "as is my will, so mote it be" Know your feelings of love in this braid are contained but friendship and civility in you remain Place the braid in a hidden box and no longer shall the fascination be your pox. From Sylivan Emreys book of shadows
To become open to new ralationships: (Dorothy Morrison) Inscribe a pink candle with your name, then annoint it and a rose quartz crystal with sunflower oil. Light the candle. Hold the stone in your hand, and visualise friendships comming your way and new relationships forming. Chant this three times: "Open mind, and gain new life, Gone from you, all stress and stife. Open heart, gain life anew, Accept all love that's offered you. Positive thought and word and deed Enter now - of bane I'm freed. Ancients, hear me - grant my plea To new relationships, open me." Place the stone by the candle and leave it there until the candle burns all the way down. Carry the stone with you.
The Perfect Soulmate Spell (Deborah Grey & Athena Starwoman): Take a shower or bath, put on some white clothing, take a stick (or your wand) and some glitter outside where you can see the stars (the best time is a new moon). Clear your mind. Pick up the stick, dip one end into the glitter then raise the stick towards your chosen star and say: "With these magic words I begin my spell. Hear me now, O mystic star, Hear me well - Let your magic light Send me the love of my life. The spell has been cast - So be it." Your glitter is now magically energized, and you should sprinkle some near your front door. You can even take some glitter out with you and sprinkle it here and there. Your perfect mate should be brought to you.
To Rid Yourself Of A Persistent And Unwanted Lover For this spell you need an item of your former lover's clothing. From the material, cut a square large enough to write his or her name on. On the night of a full moon, light a pink candle. Write your admirer's name on the cloth. (Chalk works particularly well.) Wishing your suitor well, burn the name on the material in the candle flame while saying: This light will burn out any flames of passion [name of person] has for me. He [or she] is gone, I am free. Leave the candle to burn down until it extinguishes itself. To conclude the spell, the candle stub should be burned, or buried in the remains of the clothing from which you cut the square. -The Good Spell Book by Gillian Kemp
If your not sure weather you have/still have a person's love here is a spell that To Bring Out The Love of Another This is an interesting spell. It does not interfere with another's free will. All it does is give them the courage to state what is on their mind. It is done when you feel very strongly that the person is in love with you but that they hesitate to say so. If it turns out that they are not in love with you after all, then it simply won't work, so that's why it doesn't exert undue pressure. This should be done at the same hour on seven consecutive Fridays, ending on the one closest to the Full Moon (before the moon reaches full, not just after). Take a pink candle and mark six rings around it, at equal distances apart. This will give you seven sections of a candle. Light the candle and call out the name of the one you think loves you. Then say: Gana, be with me in all that I do. Gana, please bring me a love who is true. Give him (her) the strength to put into words His (her) fee, lings, and sing like the song of the birds. Think about the person for a few moments - think of them coming to you and declaring their love then repeat the chant. Keep doing this until the candle has burned dawn to the first line. Then extinguish the candle (by pinching it out, never by blowing) and put it away till next week. On the final week, keep it up until the candle burns itself out.