In the search for love, a girl sometimes needs help. Meet three bachelorettes who tried a witch, holographic repatterner and a feng shui practitioner to smooth the rocky road to romance.

(Wicca excerpts from article only)

Cast A Spell To Catch A Man

Michelle Brownlee, 22, turned to magic with the help of Reverend Donna Darkwolf Vos.

Beyond the eagle-topped gateposts, the house looked less than inviting, a picture of a wolf pasted at eye level and heavy chains barring entry. My calls of "hello" reverberated as I waited outside.

Finally, Reverend Donna Darkwolf Vos arrived in a swirl of velvet and black hair. Extending a hand garnished with rings and dark nail polish, she welcomed me inside.

"So, you're looking for a man?" she inquired sagely. "Why?"

Good question, and one I had asked myself all week. Shuffling tarot cards, I stammered that I had ended a relationship a month ago. "I want someone in my life, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for it so soon after my break-up."

Donna paused dramatically. "As part of the spell, I'm going to ask you to drink nasty potions," she said, "and run around the room." I laughed nervously, but she was joking - proof that witches have a sense of humour. I relaxed a little.

She placed two cards face down on the table, and told me to choose one. I pointed and she turned over the rejected card, saying, "This would have meant a new romance. This," she turned over my card, "means your ex-boyfriend."

She then explained each card in the spread. "This epitomises your relationship," she said, holding a card of a man staring straight ahead and a woman dancing. "He's taking no notice of her. You've felt like the woman on the card, your effort going unnoticed." True. "But," she continued, "he wants to be with you - he's just feeling insecure, and can't focus on your needs."

Donna announced that she would give me a spell to make him realise how important I was. Spells can't make someone love you, she explained. "Wiccans work with the law that they harm no one." But, she said, my spell would nudge my man in the right direction.

She selected a pink candle, the colour of love and friendship, dressed it with oil and called it by his name. "This candle is your ex, and you must engrave the qualities that you desire on it."

That night, I engraved words like "passion", "expression" and "love" on my candle and placed it next to my bath, alongside a candle in yellow (symbolising clarity), black (for his bad qualities), and red (representing my Scorpio passion). Then, with Donna's sweet-smelling potion in my bath, I began making magic. Focusing on the pink candle, I visualised what I wanted.

Donna had told me to be specific, so I sent mental messages, telling him that he missed me and couldn't stop thinking about me.

I repeated chants Donna had given me: "In me you find love, comfort and sure support" and "Me you can't resist, my attraction is too great. For me you will fall, captured by my being and my call."

Provided I repeated this ritual every night, Donna guaranteed that he would phone me within two weeks. He phoned three days later to say that he couldn't stop thinking about me. I was thrilled.

After this I visualised him writing to me while he was on holiday and, when we spoke again, he said he had a letter for me, but hadn't posted it yet.

Donna assured me that our future is together, but that he needs to go through a painful rebirth. Her inspiration was a card on which a woman is a tree and a man is leaning against the base of it. "You're his support, but he can't see it yet. He must turn around to see that you're there for him." I don't know if he will, but so far, the magic has worked - or, better, it's my magnetism.

Cast Your Own Spell

Looking for romance? Donna suggests the Friday night candle spell. "Friday nights are associated with Venus, the goddess of love," she explains.

The Ritual

Anoint a pink candle with coriander oil. Draw a picture of your ideal partner; it needn't be lifelike - use symbols like a coin to represent wealth or a stone for strength. Take a willow twig and tie a love knot in it. Roll the drawing around the candle, unroll it, put the candle in a holder with the drawing in front of it. Wrap the twig around your right wrist and light the candle with the same hand.

Do this on Friday night, between 6pm and 7pm, when the moon is waning. Be sure to ask Venus for a blessing. Concentrate on the flame and feel its power and warmth. Imagine sharing happiness with someone close. It's important to let the candle burn out - check it every half hour, visualising happy moments as you do. When the candle is very low, blow it out. Keep the love knot with you the next 24 hours. At the same time the next night, untie the love knot to free the spell. Burn the willow twig and the drawing. The result: by the next waning moon you may be introduced to your new love.

(Original images courtesy of Marie Claire)

Recommended Reading

A little Book of Love Magic by Patricia Telesco.
Practical Candleburning Rituals by Raymond Buckland.

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