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.
Before a special date night or big evening event, you can enhance your own energy field with jewelry magic. Charging a gem or crystal imbues it with your intent. Upon charging your jewelry, you can use it in spellwork or anytime you want to surround yourself with the magic you put into the gemstones. While picturing your truest wish and hope, and what you ultimately want to achieve through this process, anoint a candle with an essential oil that most expresses your energy. Perhaps it is rose or, as in my case, amber.
Begin by lighting the candle and gazing into the flame. Then, place the piece of jewelry in front of the candle and say aloud,
A remarkable kiss is a gateway to ecstasy. A kiss provokes the senses, excites the heart, and offers the singular gift of yourself. Here is a list of kisses from the Indian book of love, the Kama Sutra:
Bent kiss – the classic movie-style smooch where the lovers lean into each other.
From time immemorial, witches have enchanted with their magical beauty. That is because we know how to supplement Mother Nature’s gifts. Before a special evening, employ a “kiss of glamour” by adding one drop of clove oil to your favorite pot of lip gloss and gently stir in, saying aloud three times:
The ripest fruit, The perfect petal Each kiss is a spell of utmost bliss
And so it is.
This will make your lips tingle in a delightful way and give your kisses a touch of spice. The lucky recipient of your affection will be spellbound.
Here is a quick recipe to create exactly the right mood for a dreamy evening:
Stir together in a clockwise motion:
1 ounce dried and pulverized rosehips
1⁄2 ounce peppermint
1⁄2 ounce dried lemon balm
You can store this in a tin or colored jar for up to a year for those special evenings. When you are ready to brew the tea, pour boiling water over the herbs, two teaspoons for every cup of water. Say the following spell aloud during the five minute steeping and picture your heart’s desire:
Herbal brew of love’s emotion
With my wish I fortify
When two people share this potion
This love shall intensify
As in the Olde Garden of Love.
Sweeten to taste with honey and share this luscious libation with the one you love.
Many a witchy woman has enjoyed the fruits of long-lasting love by reciting the following charm while mixing rye and pimento into a dish shared with her object of affection. While stirring in these amorous herbs, declaim:
As you walk into your bedroom, the relationship corner will be the back right corner. Your love and sex energy have to be nurtured there, so you might as well consider placing your altar there to serve as your personal erotic wellspring.
Look at this area with a fresh eye—what is cluttering your love corner with dead energy? Half-empty perfume bottles or near- empty cosmetic bottles could be impairing your relationship energy. You must clear unhappiness out of this space and clear the area of any clutter by getting rid of all unnecessary objects and tidying up.
Erin Lale
Fellow faculty at Harvard Divinity School posted an open letter to Wolpe in response to his article. It's available on this page, below the call for p...
Erin Lale
Here's another response. The Wild Hunt has a roundup of numerous responses on its site, but it carried this one as a separate article. It is an accoun...
Erin Lale
Here's another response. This one is by a scholar of paganism. It's unfortunately a Facebook post so this link goes to Facebook. She posted the text o...
