Simple Love Spells

Apples are sacred to the Goddess because of the five-point star shape that appears at the centre when the apple is cut, crossways. They are also an underworld fruit, special to the festival of Samhain/ Halloween, and we all know how love connects us to our own personal ‘underworld’! Cut an apple in half, crossways, and give half to your lover to eat, eating one half yourself. This ensures an undying love and eternal connection. Sharing any fruit partakes of this symbolism. If you don’t have a lover but wish to attract one, you could make an apple part of your ritual, consecrating one to the love-goddess in full ritual, cutting it in half, eating one half and burying the other, feeding it to the birds, or floating it downstream. Don’t forget to affirm strongly the type of person you want to attract so you do not throw yourself open to all manner of advances. At the least, you may find an apple tree growing from the buried core!

• Carry rose petals or rose quartz crystals, for both of these attract love. Preferably consecrate them in a ritual first.

• It may be cheating to use Feng Shui, as this is an Eastern tradition and here we are primarily concerned with Western ways. However, the Chinese system of Feng Shui (which means wind, water) is extremely popular and effective. It is concerned with the meanings and sacredness of the space we inhabit. This is a complex and delicate art, but there is no harm in cautiously using some of the basics, to effect a specific result. A Feng Shui consultant told me that it is a big mistake to obtain a book on Feng Shui and to go madly reorganizing your home on the basis of it when your life is pretty tidy, anyway. However, for a specific task, you can make a small change and see if it works. Feng Shui is based on the arrangement of the environment and the relationship area of the home is the far right-hand corner. Take your bearings from your front door, whether or not it enters the house from the side, or you have a flat that you enter from a hall or the back of the house. This is still your ‘front’ door. Where is the far right-hand corner? This is the love and marriage section. If this area has been cut into by irregularities of the building, draw energies back into it by using a crystal at the window. You may merely place a piece of rose quartz in the relationship area, or perhaps a pair of soft toys, or a statue of an embracing couple. There are some lovely candles obtainable that are shaped like a pair of entwined lovers. Here you could choose according to your wish – a red candle for passionate love, blue or purple for soul-mates, etc. I have found such things to work, especially in respect of the money corner, which we shall discuss in the next section. Unless you are prepared to hire a qualified Feng Shui practitioner to comment on your area, you need to keep the changes small and wait a couple of months to see if they take effect before doing anything else. Of course, if your ‘love corner’ is home to a pile of old magazines, half-eaten packets of biscuits, torn envelopes and a dirty ashtray, I would suggest tidying it up first!

• Simplest spell of all, adopted by a friend of mine: add ‘lover’ to your shopping list!

• To ensure the continuance of love, break in half a bay twig and each one of the couple keep half. Or feed each other chestnuts.

• Brazil nuts, carried, are a love talisman. Women can also carry ivy. For men, it is best to carry holly.

• To choose between several admirers, take a green rose leaf for each, name them and note which shrivels last. This is the most enduring love. (However, if you are this unsure, perhaps you need to do some spells to make you more decisive!)

• To find love, tie a hair or two taken from your head to a blossoming cherry tree. (The Latin name for this tree is Prunus avium. As it is a beautiful tree, why not plant one in your front garden, anyway?)

• If you fear that someone has put a love spell on you, eat pistachio nuts.

Gabby Benson, Spells and Rituals: A Beginners Guide To Spells And Rituals