commonplace. With the plethora of aromatherapy products now available, most oil essences and scented candles can be bought commercially. For the more unusual ingredients, try your local health food market, herbalist, or metaphysical store.
Performing a spell at the optimal time in the lunar cycle will maximize your power. As you read the spells in this book, keep this elemental magic in mind:
Each Lunar cycle begins with a “new” phase when the moon lies between the sun and the earth, so the illuminated side cannot be seen from earth. The moon gradually “waxes” until it has moved to the opposite side of the earth. When the moon has reached the far side of the earth, its lit side faces us in the “full” moon phase. It then begins to “wane” until it reaches the new moon phase again. The entire cycle takes a month, during which the moon orbits the earth. To determine the sun sign governing the moon, you will need a celestial guide or almanac. My favorite is Llewellyn’s Daily Planetary Guide. The moon moves from sign to sign every two or three days.
Any metaphysician will tell you that the most common request for help involve matters of the heart. Witchcraft is based on the knowledge that our destinies lie in our own hands, even where love is concerned. So why suffer the slings and arrows of love gone wrong when you can do something about it? Why spend a Saturday evening alone when you already know the object of your desire? And why doubt your own power to attract love when a little herbal chemistry can make you virtually irresistible? Magic not only influences desired outcomes but empowers one’s self and fosters personal growth. What better way to begin this process than with spells for love: spells that create the potential for love, draw the attention and devotion of a lover, strengthen the union between an existing couple, invoke sexual magic, heal a broken heart, and perhaps most importantly, fill your own heart with love and compassion for yourself. Inside this book are secret recipes for aphrodisiacs, ritual celebrations for the high holidays of love, and insight into the mysterious realm of the moon and the stars.
An altar is a place of power—your personal power—where you can make magic. It should be an expression of your deepest self, filled with artifacts that hold personal resonance. Allow your altar to be a work in progress that changes with the seasons and reflects your inner cycles.
To create your altar, find a small table and drape it in richly colored, luxurious fabrics—perhaps red satin or a burgundy velvet scarf. Take one red and one pink candle and arrange them around a sweet-smelling incense such as amber, rose, or jasmine. Decorate your altar with tokens that represent love to you: a heart-shaped chunk of ruby glass, potpourri made with rose and amethyst, a photo of your lover. Fridays are the time for spelling love, right before dawn. Before you light your candles, anoint them with a love oil you select from the following pages.
Scent your wrists, your throat, and your left breast over your heart with the same oil. Jasmine and rose have very powerful love vibrations to attract and charm a lover. If you desire sexual results, look into the flame of the red candle; if your desire is affection or flirtation, look at the pink candle instead. This simple spell, said aloud, will create loving magic:
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Venus, cast your light on me,
a goddess for today I’ll be.
A lover, strong and brave and true,
I seek as a reflection of you.
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To attract new love, two nights before the full moon, take a pink votive candle and place it inside your cauldron or any large metal pot. Lay a rose and a bell beside the cauldron and your altar. Use either rose or apple blossom essential oil to anoint the candle’s wick. For the next two nights, cup the candle in your hands and direct loving thoughts into its flame. On the night of the full moon, take a thorn from the rose and carve the name of your heart’s desire into the candle’s wax, reciting:
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I will find true love.
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Light the pink candle and ring the bell thrice, saying:
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As this candle begins to burn, a lover true will I earn.
As this flame burns ever higher, I will feel my lover’s fire.
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Ring the bell three more times and watch the candle burn completely.
Lunar Almanac—Twelve Months of Full Moons
Many of our full moon names come from medieval books of hours or from Native American spiritways. Here is a list of rare names from these two branches of traditions that you may want to use in your lunar rituals.
•January: Old Moon, Chaste Moon; this fierce Wolf Moon is the time to recognize your strength of spirit.
•February: Hunger Moon, the cool Snow Moon is for personal vision and intention-setting.
•March: Crust Moon, Worm Moon Sugar Moon; the gentle Sap Moon heralds the end of winter and nature’s rebirth.
•April: Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Fish Moon; spring’s sweet Pink Moon celebrates health and full life force.
•May: Milk Moon, Corn Planting Moon, and Dyad Moon, as well as the Flower Moon provides inspiration with the bloom of beauty.
•June: Hot Moon, Rose Moon, the Strawberry Moon heralds summer solstice and sustaining power of the sun.
•July: Buck Moon, Hay Moon; this Thunder Moon showers us with rain and cleansing storms.
•August: Barley Moon, Wyrt Moon, Sturgeon Moon; summer gifts us with the Red Moon, the time for passion and lust for life.
•September: Green Corn Moon, Wine Moon; fall’s Harvest Moon is the time to be grateful and reap what we have sown.
•October: Dying Grass Moon, Travel Moon, Blood Moon, Moon of Changing Seasons; the Hunter’s Moon is when we plan and store for winter ahead.
•November: Frost Moon, Snow Moon; Beaver Moon is the time to call upon our true wild nature.
•December: Cold Moon, Oak Moon; this is the lightest night of the shortest day and is the time to gather the tribe around the fire and share stories of the good life together.
I know this has happened to you, too. You met someone at a party, or you had a brief but meaningful moment in line for coffee, or perhaps you exchanged looks of longing on the train crossing town on your way to work. Now, your only hope is that chance will bring you together, right? Wrong!
Try this surefire attraction spell:
Take a man-shaped mandrake root (commonly available at herbalists and metaphysical shops), or any statue, photograph, or figure of a man. Place it on your altar and surround the figure’s base with red and pink rose petals, then add red and pink candles. Place two goblets of red wine beside this arrangement and burn candles every night for a week starting on Friday, Venus’ Day. Sip from one of the goblets and recite:
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Merry Stranger, friend of my heart,
merry may we meet again.
Hail, fair fellow,