surrender to love’s power.
Tonight, I will heat the night with my fire.
As I drink this cup, my juices flower.
I am alive! I am love! And so it is.
•
You will radiate passion and be intensely drawn to your lover.
I always giggle when I see over-the-counter sesame body oil in the pharmacy. Unknowingly, a woman will apply the oil and never understand why she feels so much sexier and attracts more glances her way. While that marketplace version will do in a pinch, a potion you’ve made yourself will be ten times as effective. You can use it as a skin softener or a massage oil.
In a cup of almond and sesame oil, add twenty drops of musk, sandalwood, or orange blossom oil. Shake well and heat very slowly and carefully. I use a clay oil warmer with a votive candle beneath, but the stovetop will do.
While you are tending the concoction, look into the candle or gas flame and whisper:
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My lover’s eyes are like the sun.
His body like the land.
His skin is soft as rain.
Tonight, we are one.
•
When the oil is a perfect temperature to your touch, pour it into a pink bowl and place it beside the bed. Tenderly undress your lover and gently lay him down on clean sheets or towels. With each caress, you will deepen his desire for you and raise his temperature. Tonight, two lovers will slide into ecstasy.
A tea of mandrake root, when mixed with the sweat of a lover, can be sprinkled around the bedroom to heighten ecstasy if accompanied by this chant:
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Brew of mandrake, brew of desire,
enchant this bed with passion’s fire.
Cast a spell of ecstasy.
This is my will. So mote it be.
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Tantra, a greatly overused and gravely misunderstood term, comes from the Sanskrit meaning “Ritual, Meditation, and Discipline.” It involves a form of mutual worship of the Godhead (lingam) and the Goddesshead (yoni), in which divinity is achieved through simultaneous erotic and emotional union. This exquisite approach to deepening the love between you and your partner requires you to share mutually held intentions.
At the nearest greenhouse or floral show, buy as many gardenias as your purse will allow. Ten or twenty of these heavenly flowers will fill your bower with a sweet, seductive air. Place some of the flowers in crystal-clear bowls of water and some in a warm footbath, and scatter some petals in your bed. Undress and light a single gardenia-scented candle at the head of the bed. Crush some of the petals and rub them into your skin and hair, then chant this love spell:
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From the soles of your feet to the holy lingam
to the hair that crowns you, I will worship you tonight.
Love and God, on this evening, I share my entire being in ecstasy.
So mote it be.
•
Wearing nothing but one of the priceless blossoms behind your left ear, greet your lover at the door. Sit him in the bower bed and worshipfully wash, dry, and anoint his feet. The lovemaking that follows will reach new heights of sustained passion and spiritual intensity.
For men, this oil stimulates desire and prowess. In a favorite bottle or jar, ideally red or pink, mix together the following recipe with a silver spoon:
•5 drops rosemary oil
•5 drops patchouli oil
•10 drops yohimbe extract1
•A pinch powdered ginseng root
•2 tablespoons sesame oil
Use the oils on your fingers to anoint candles or to massage your lover’s body. For a chant or spell, you should speak lovingly to the object of your affections while you rub the magic massage oil into his skin.
For women: Follow the same instructions, but instead of the ginseng and yohimbe, which are greatly stimulating to men, substitute pinches of saffron and ground dong quai (also known as angelica root), long honored in the Orient as a tonic for females.
This is the witch’s high holiday of love, observed on April 30 with feasting and ceremonial ritual. The Celts of old made this day a day of wild abandon, a sexual spree, the one day of the year when it is okay to make love outside your relationship. After an all-night pagan lovefest, May Day is celebrated with dancing around a beribboned May Pole. You decide how you want your Beltane to go, just as long as it is a fully sensual experience with food, dance, sex, and lots of laughter.
Ideally, you will celebrate Beltane outdoors. But if you are indoor-bound, at least serve the food and the drink on the floor and insist on bare feet and comfy clothes. Serve an ambrosial spread of finger foods with honeyed mead (available from some microbreweries), beer, and wine. As you light incense, set out a few dozen white, red, and green candles and arrange spring’s new flowers: daffodils and narcissus.
With arm extended, point to each of the four directions and say:
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To the east,
to the south,
to the west,
to the north.
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Then recite:
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