Valentine's Day and the Love Spell

I was watching an episode of Charmed, when it was about Valentine's day and love spells, in the episode, it said more woman tend to believe in love spells, and try to do them around Valentine's day. It got me to wonder, is this true, and to my surprise, in my research, I found thousands of sites that do love spell, give advice how to cast one, or sell supplies to create your own.

What is so special about love spells?

So let us begin with the basis of all things associated with spells.

Spells are one of many ritual activities that many Wiccans engage in. Not all Wiccans cast spells; they are a matter of personal preference.

Spells can be designed to attempt to either harm or help others. Thus, there are both evil spells and healing spells. The same magickal processes are used for both

Wiccans are prohibited by their belief system from engaging in spells or other activities which harm others. This is a logical result of Wiccans' belief in the three-fold law, and their commitment to follow the Wiccan Rede -- their prime rule of behavior:

Three-fold Law: "All good that a person does to another returns three-fold in this life; harm is also returned three-fold."
The Wiccan Rede: "An it harm none, do what thou wilt." (In modern English: "Do whatever you wish as long as it harms no one.") 11 More information.

The Rede obviously prevents a Witch/Wiccan from doing harm to themselves or to others, or attempting to manipulate others, taking harmful drugs, etc. Thus, many activities that have been traditionally attributed to Wiccans -- from the laying of curses to conducting love spells -- are strictly forbidden to them.

"Evil Witches", according to the early Christian church, never existed. But by the 15th century, the church had changed its mind. They taught that Witches did exist, that they sold their souls to Satan, flew through the air on broomsticks, were capable of shifting their shapes to resemble animals, and that they dedicated their entire life to harming and killing their victims. This fictional belief was used as justification for the church's subsequent burning at the stake of hundreds of thousands of religious heretics of all types. In reality, few if any evil Witches existed in the 15th century; they do not exist today either, in any significant numbers. Some individuals portray themselves as Witches for monetary gain and offer to cast evil or healing spells at a price. But they are rare and should not be confused with Wiccans. Such "witches" are not bounded by the Wiccan Rede or Threefold Law. so, they feel quite free to cast evil, manipulative spells and curses.

Christians sometimes pray to their God with the intent of obtaining God's power to change their life or to heal friends and family. Some light a prayer candle in their home or church. Such rituals have many parallels with Wiccan spells. What some Christians call prayers, Wiccans may call magickal spells.

Followers of other religions also cast spells. "Not all witches cast spells, and not all spells are cast by witches. There are many magical religions out there, wicca being one of them." Most Satanists, for example, cast spells. Their rules of behavior are different from the Wiccan Rede, since Satanism is a separate religion from Wicca. Satanists are not prohibited from casting evil spells on their enemies.

Wiccans are prohibited from doing harm to others. This is generally interpreted as forbidding any spell that seeks to dominate, manipulate or control another person without their expressed wishes. Consider a love spell as one example:

A Wiccan could design a spell to make a specific person fall in love with her/him. That would be a negative spell, because its intent, goal and effect would be manipulative -- to control the other person for the benefit of the spell caster. A Wiccan cannot ethically perform such a spell.

A Wiccan could design a general spell to make a specific person more open to love in their life. That again is excessively manipulative. The target person could be trying to avoid romantic relationships at this stage in their life, for whatever reason. However, this type of spell might be allowable, if the Wiccan first obtained the permission of the target of the spell.

A Wiccan who is desirous of starting a romantic relationship could cast a spell to make themselves more open to love in their life. That would not manipulate anyone else; it would not harm others; it would not harm the spell caster. It would be acceptable under the Wiccan Rede.

Before performing a spell, Wiccans carefully think through all the possible repercussions of a spell to make certain that it does not have a manipulative component. Wiccans believe that spells alter the course of the universe and are not to be entered lightly without thoroughly considering all of its possible effects.

There are probably as many types and designs of Wiccan spells as there are Wiccans:

Some spells are very simple, consisting of only a few phrases and actions.
The spell may complex and may involve a full Wiccan ritual, including casting a circle, invocation of deities, statement of purpose, working of the spell, meditation, thanking the deities, and closing the circle.
Silver RavenWolf recommends a sequence of tasks, including 4 main steps: to know (yourself, what is to be accomplished...)

to will (belief in yourself, Divinity, your sills, practicing)

to dare (to change circumstances, to change your environment...)

to be silent (before the spell, and afterwards...)

Many Wiccans believe that it is not important that you follow a spell precisely. Spells may work better if you modify them to match your personality, thoughts, and the specific situation

So Why Does Valentine's day popular with casting of love spells?

Valentine's Day has its origins in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia celebrated every year in mid-february in honour of Lupercus, the god of fertility and Juno, queen of the Roman gods and goddesses and patron of women and marriage. The festival was held in the Lupercal, where Romulus and Remus, the twin founders of Rome, were said to have been nurtured by Juno-Lupa, the she-wolf. The festival celebrated the coming of Spring in the Roman calendar and hopefully ensured the fertility of flocks, fields and people. At one point in the festival... some say on the evening of February 14.. all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

As Christianity became prevalent, priests attempted to replace old Pagan practices, so to Christianize the ancient pagan celebration of the Feast of Lubercus, church officials changed the name. The most popular candidate for St. Valentine was a 3rd century Roman priest who practised Christianity and performed secret marriages against direct orders from Emperor Claudius II, who believed single soldiers were more likely to join his army. Saint Valentine had been beheaded for helping young lovers marry against the wishes of the mad emperor Claudius. Legend also has it that before execution, Valentine himself had fallen in love with his jailer's daughter. He signed his final note to her, "From Your Valentine", a phrase that has lasted through the centuries. In recognition of his sacrifice for love... and to lure people away from celebrating the Pagan way... Lupercalia was renamed.

There is also speculation among linguistic scholars that the name 'Valentine' has Pagan origins. It was customary for French peasants of the Middle Ages to pronounce a 'g' as a 'v'. Consequently, the original term may have been the French 'galantine', which yields the English word 'gallant'. The word originally refers to a dashing young man known for his 'affaires d'amour', a true galaunt. This seems a plausible explanation since Valentine's Day has always been associated with the secular pleasures of flirtation and courtly love

As Valentine's Day falls falls within the Candlemas season, Wiccans honor this celebration as well. It has been recorded that ancient pagans recognized this loving event. If marked by love, they often wore a lover's knot on Valentine's Day. This symbol of two intersecting circles side by side can either be woven into clothing or fashioned with a ribbon or yarn and tied to a garment. Love and merriment are essential in our lives. The joy of giving and receiving special treats such as chocolate is sacred, as well as just plain fun.

The best love spells help you to open your own heart chakra and put yourself in the path of loving energies. You can work a spell to feel and therefore appear more attractive, sexy, interesting, and desirable to others. Or you can work a spell to enhance your own unconscious "love radar" so that you're in the right place at the right time for romance. Love is one of the most powerful forces on this planet so it's not a good idea to try to force someone to love you against his or her own will... this goes against Universal Law and there will be a price to pay! But if you do have a particular person in mind, a spell can create an opportunity for you to make yourself more known to to that person and to present yourself in a way that's likely to interest them. If you're in a relationship that you would like to be more loving, a spell can improve your own powers of communication, intuition and responsiveness so you will be better able to know your lover's heart and have him or her know yours. That said, here are a few spells you can try. Remember, in spellwork as in most of life, intent is key so focus all your energy on what you want, visualizing it coming to pass as clearly as you can.