The Witch has always had in interesting part to play in terms of Love.
They had to the power to command hearts and minds, and the rest of the world had an old dream of being loved. Mix them up and you get love witchery.
Those who came to them toting gold and gift in exchange for a boy’s head or a girl’s hand saw that old dream, glinting on the surface of possibility. The witch could grant it for them. No matter the cost, no matter the price, love was the life they wanted.
And if they were bitten by their love? They were warned. Love witchery is some of the darkest magic ever brewed up. It is manipulation, control, deceit. It is dominion and domination. Worst of all, it doesn’t outwardly look like it. It has the worst venom with all of the brightest colors, a beautiful, poisonous frog shoved into the mouth of a lover.
Every culture has it because that old dream is one mankind will never get over. So here it lands, 21st century, still chasing that old dream.
If caution wasn’t already underlined here, it should be doubly noted. Love witchery is deceitful and manipulative, even to the witch if they approach it blindly. Like anything with venom, it should be handled cautiously.
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For The Love Trade
Love is the result of a happy theft. The soul is traded from one hand to another. So the witch may replicate this with their art.
They must first steal something from the intended bewitched. This may be hair, a possession of theirs, something they discarded, or something that can be linked to them.
“A piece of thee I’ll steal today
a soul splinter kept in pocket
and you shall seek it by tomorrow
and I’ll keep your heart and lock it.”
And in exchange, the witch must place something of their own or their client’s in the same space. This must be something that the soul has hooks in. Either hair, nails, or something the witch holds sentiment to.
“Do my will and find your mark,
little master of the heart.
Crawl inside their chest and head
and infect them with my art.”
The witch shall sleep with the stolen object, kept inside a charm or locket if too small, and when they wake, their bewitched will seek them. If every they wish to command them or seek to excite passions, the object may be used for further manipulation. If the spell is to be undone, the objects must be given and taken back.
For the Blessing and the Breaking
If the witch wished to give blessing to two lovers, they would gather seven fava beans, soak them in wine, and gift them to the couple.
If the witch was in opposition to their union, they might break it through similar means. Nine fava beans burnt in salt and wine, desecrated and cursed, are gifted to the couple.
For the Defixio
Many know the Defixio to be an object of maleficium and baneful power, but it also comes to use when employed for love witchery as well. It must be made on a Friday and in the hour of Venus, three hours after sunset.
The witch must acquire a very thin sheet of copper, a large nail, and a stylus with which to write.
First the witch will impress upon the surface an image of their loved, and upon that the alchemical glyph of Venus.
Then around that they will write their spell, calling upon the spirits of Venus to bring either a specific person to them or a lover with specific traits. Call for them to be consumed by a sense of movement, towards you and away from where they stand.
When you complete the writing portion, leave a space for what is known as Voces Magicae. Some call this the Devil’s Tongue. It is a combination of words, usually a corruption of languages, which have no apparent meaning, but are made with ecstatic aim. Write the words of divine inspiration upon the spell.
When the spell has been written, it will be rolled up and pierced through with a nail, sealing the spell. After this, it must be taken to a watery place and hidden there.
“Spirits of this place, I entrust this to you, that you will make (XYZ event) to come, and that you will not rest until it is done.”
Once the spell has completed, you must go back to the place you hid your spell and pay the spirits well.
For the Loving Dream
If the witch wishes to divine a future lover in the depths of sleep, they will make a philter out of a brewed combination of herbs.
Lavender, Thyme, Sage, Marjoram, and Bay leaves are to be crushed and joined into an herbal mixture. This will be added to a pot of hot water, honey, and a touch of white vinegar.
When it has finished boiling and become a fine tea, it will be taken from heat, cooled slightly, poured into a cup, and used to mark the body.
Touched by it are the stomach, the chest, and the lips. Then it is strained and drank.
“Oracular dream shall break on me
that a love to come I shall see
or the fate of my heart be set plainly.”
Immediately after this, the witch must sleep, or else the dream shall flee.
If the witch wishes to see a relationship come to a slow and drawn out end, they will cut a small apple from a tree.
Upon the apple, they will carve the names of the couple, as well as a calling for infernal spirits to break them apart. The words Comedu Et Separatum will do.
“Spirit of the inferno, spirits below
devouring and withering and teething
I offer you this union
that you shall make one into two.”
This will be placed near a nest of insects which will consume it.
As the apple is eaten from the inside out, the union will waste away.
For Loyalty and Fidelity
If a lover is suspected of unfaithfulness and the witch wishes to change this, they will begin by gathering beeswax, licorice, orris root, molasses, cumin, and red thread.
The licorice, orris root, and cumin will be crushed into a fine mixture. The wax will be melted and the herbal mixture added. The wax is then removed from the heat and left to cool, not until it’s hard or stiff, but until it can be formed with the hands.
The witch will form the wax into an image of the person in question, repeatedly speaking their name until it is complete. Then, they will tie eleven knots into the red thread.
This will be wrapped around the waxen image. Upon finishing, the witch will coat the image in molasses. This will be sealed inside of a bag, a chest, a box, or a container of some sort and kept near the couple’s bed.
If the eye of someone is being given, but it is not wanted, there is a way to repel it.
Lavender, rue, garlic, and clove will be placed together and burned until they turn to ash.
Make the sign of the cross three times over it and spit three times around it.
Rub the hands in it.
“For the wandering eye, for the skin,
turn it to the wind, to the road.
turn it to the seas, to the fields,
to Heaven, to Hell,
and away.”
Speak their name into the ash, and blow it in their direction.
Dash the rest on your front stoop.
For Breaking Love Witchery
If a bewitchment is placed by an enemy and the witch wishes to undo their work, a working is known.
Sage, Hyssop, Rue, Birch leaves, St John’s Wort, and Pine needles are to be placed in water to boil along with a strand of hair from the bewitched.
Once the brew has boiled, remove it from the heat and have the bewitched take in the steam from the pot with a black cloth over their head.
Once that is done and the brew is cool enough, wash their head with the cloth and the water.
“Every ill thing in thee,
I’ll cast it out into sea,
And into the skies,
And on the rocks,
Until it’s so lost,
not even God
can bring it
back home.”
Once their head has been washed, dig a small hole, have them spit into it, and pour the rest of the brew into it. Cover the hole back up, pat it down, walk away and don’t look back.
If you wish to know who it was the bewitched the individual, take the hair from the brew, wrap it up in the cloth, and stick it through with a lengthy hot needle. The witch will be revealed through display of discomfort.
