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Love Spells: Fact or Fiction?
by Terrie Leigh Relf
Love spells. Are they real, or are they the stuff of myth and legend? What makes something real? Belief, right? So, one could argue that if you believe a spell will work, then it will. Or do you “just” make it work?
I’m not going to argue whether love spells are real in this article, and I’m not going to provide you with a long list of spells gleaned from my library or throughout the web, either. What I am going to do is share some thoughts and information gathered over the years.
The mere sound of the words, “Valentine’s Day,” may be enough to invoke a spell for many love and romance seekers, but what about those of you for whom this isn’t a strong enough spell?
Is “love” a simile for “romance”? Many would say not; others would agree. It’s the feeling that counts, right, and whether or not it is true. There are so many sayings—and yes, clichés—about love. One of my favorites is “listen to what they do—not to what they say,” as actions do scream louder than words. Ironically, many people may have the love they seek already in their lives—even though their beloved doesn’t say the words, “I love you”. Aren’t those words empty if the person who says them does so out of obligation? What if they say them “only” because they believe it’s what you need to hear to keep you involved?
“Love” may just be a word and not the experience itself, but uttering it may reverse even the strongest love spell and create a banishing spell instead! After all, some people get totally freaked out by confessions of love. They’d rather have a root canal—and without anesthesia! Yes, uttering the phrase, “I love you,” could be a major death sentence for what may otherwise have seemed to be a committed relationship.
What about relationship addicts? You know the type. . .They just have to be in a relationship, and often go from one to another in their search for the proverbial (and may I add, nonexistent?) perfect relationship. Sometimes, these individuals are referred to as “serial monogamists”. It’s possible they don’t know how to be alone, are afraid to be alone, or perish the thought, they just bore easily. It’s also possible that they are lonely even when in a relationship because they don’t know how to connect with themselves—or anyone else, for that matter.
Don’t forget the rebounders, too! Sometimes, these individuals are rebounding from rebounds and are so twisted up in knots that they don’t even know which relationship they’re trying to get over with the next one. . .
So, are there spells to remedy the above “issues”? Why even bother with a love spell when “all” anyone needs is a good Shaman or Priestess to get them on track? Where did that neighborhood Yentl move? She’d tell you that once a good match is made, you can learn to love each other.
Love is a learned behavior? Hmmm. Now there’s a good topic for the next APA conference!
Since love spells have existed for the proverbial “all times”, we know people believe in them. Check out the web! There are hundreds-of-thousands of entries. Yes, some are cheap marketing ploys, but others actually have some juice.
When I think about casting a love spell, some of the first thoughts that arise in my mind are that it can potentially be an abuse of trust and a misuse of “the power”. Aren’t “we” taking advantage of someone by magically binding them to us, if only for a short time? After all, we wouldn’t need a spell if they really wanted to be with us, would we? How would that feel?
There’s an old saying that we can’t control whom we “fall-in-love” with or even when we fall out-of-love. Philosophers both ancient and modern have filled massive tomes with their ideas on love and desire. There are plays, movies, novels, poems, lyrics, art, an infinite array of themes and variations on all aspects of this complex emotion.
Then there’s obsession. . .the agony and the ecstasy all churned up like full-moon madness! For those who are obsessed--and tortured by their obsession—be careful you don’t make it to the 6:00—or the “special broadcast” news.
What about the karmic debt of using spells? It’s definitely something that bears contemplation.
But who knows, if you cast the spell(s) right, you may just get what you want—or not, as there’s another saying: be careful what you wish for as you might just get it. What if it’s not what you wanted after all? Can you break the spell? Be sure you know how before you cast it, as you don’t want your proverbial love object to follow you around throughout all eternity when the feeling is gone. Unfinished business can carry over into multiple lifetimes. . .
Here are a few “spells”. Use with caution. Really. I mean it. Seriously. They might just work! For those of you who take umbrage with the tone of some of these, please accept my apologies in advance.
1. Get a picture of your loved one and focus all of your love on the picture. Hold it face down against your heart chakra and send loving energy to them.
2. Contact a past-life counselor to “regress” you so that you understand how this life of not being loved began. Work with the current manifestation of this accordingly.
3. Love yourself like you would like to be loved.
4. Take a shower, use deodorant, brush your teeth and hair. . .these simple tasks can work miracles!
5. Stop talking about what you need and want and start listening to what others may need or want.
6. Hire a Feng Shui consultant.
7. Stop hiding out in the living room eating peanut butter cups and watching Star Trek reruns.
8. Log off the computer and put that cell phone in your laundry hamper—and wash your clothes while you’re at it!
9. Hey—maybe you don’t really want to be loved after all. . .is there anything so wrong about that? (said in the voice of Harvey Fierstein).
10. Maybe you prefer to be alone and just haven’t come to terms with it.
11. Utter these power-filled words: I will NEVER have love in my life. Go ahead, do it in front of the mirror.
12. Write all your fears on pieces of paper then burn them in a safe place.
13. Collect items that belong to the object of your affection—or ones that they have touched or otherwise used. There are powerful spells for this sort of thing. . .In closing, I thought you might like this one from the chapter on “Contagious Magic” from The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, by Sir James George Frazer. This is actually a reprint of the 1922 edition. (NOTE: I do realize that the text has been updated, and many scholars argue that the more recent edition is “more accurate”, and that much of the books contents have been “disproved”. But where else will you be able to find some of these ancient gems?)
Among the South Slavs a girl will dig up the earth from the footprints of the man she loves and put it in a flower-pot. Then she plants in the pot a marigold, a flower that is thought to be fadeless. And as its golden blossom grows and blooms and never fades, so shall her sweatheart’s love grow and bloom, and never, never fade. Thus the love-spell acts on the man through the earth he trod on. (51)
So, dear readers and love-seekers, be careful where you tread (be you male or female), as there may be someone following close behind you to collect the earth you walk upon. Could this be the origin of the phrase, “I worship the ground you walk on”?
So, love spells. . .fact or fiction? You tell me. . .
© Relf, 2010
Work Cited
Frazer F.R.S., F.B.A., Sir James George. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. New York: Macmillan, 1951.