Wicca Love Spells (Citadel Library of the Mystic Arts) [Paperback]

Gerina Dunwich (Author)

Book Description

Series: Citadel Library of the Mystic Arts | Publication Date: June 1, 2000

Covering nearly every aspect of Love Magick--from spells and potions to mythology, astrology, superstition, and more--this book takes readers on a mystical journey of love from ancient times to today. Readers learn how to attract a spouse, win platonic love, transform a once-dull partner into a "sex machine," and more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Citadel; Carol Pub. Group ed edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806517824
• ISBN-13: 978-0806517827
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #705,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gerina Dunwich (b. December 27, 1959, Illinois, United States) is a professional astrologer, occult historian, and New Age author, best known for her books on Wicca and various occult subjects. She is also involved in paranormal research and is the founder of the Paranormal Animal Research Group, which investigates cases of alleged hauntings by animal spirits.

Her first newspaper article (co-written with her cousin, Barbara Williams) was published in October 1976. It was an interview with singer/songwriter Jim Peterik from the local Chicago band, the Ides of March (and later, Survivor). By the spring of 1980 Dunwich was publishing a small press literary journal called Golden Isis, a one-woman operation that specialized in Goddess-inspired poetry and off-beat fiction.

In December 1993 she moved to Fort Covington, Franklin County, New York, where she opened a small shop on High Street called "The Country Witch" (later renamed "The Calico Cat Whatnot Shop"), which sold antiques, curios and various occult supplies. She officially established Coven Mandragora on Candlemas 1996 and served as its High Priestess. That same year she established the Wheel of Wisdom School (an educational organization offering correspondence courses on the sabbats) and the Pagan Poets Society (a literary circle for writers and publishers of Pagan poetry), along with a local networking organization known as North Country Wicca. In February of 1998 she received a ministerial license from the Universal Life Church. Dunwich is also the founder of the Bast-Wicca tradition.

A respected spokesperson for the Wiccan/Pagan community, Dunwich has been a guest on numerous radio talk shows throughout the United States and Canada. She has lectured and presented workshops at festivals and gatherings across the country, such as the CraftWise Pagan Gathering (Waterbury, Connecticut), the Real Witches' Ball (Columbus, Ohio), and Panpipes' Pagan Day Festival (West Hollywood, California).

A member of the Fellowship of Isis, Circle, the Pagan Poets Society, the Authors Guild, and the Authors League of America, Dunwich's biography is listed in a number of reference works, such as Who's Who in the East, Personalities of America, The Wicca Source Book, The Modern Witch's Complete Sourcebook, and Crossroads: Who's Who of the Magickal Community (published by The Witching Well Education and Research Center, 1988). She is also mentioned in Anne Carson's Goddesses and Wise Women (The Crossing Press, 1992) and other works. Her articles, poetry, and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including Playgirl, American Woman, Magical Blend, Sage Woman, Circle Network News, and Pagan Free Press.

Gerina Dunwich lives in Western New York, where she owns and operates an antique shop. She is currently working on a new book.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good. Nothing else., August 9, 1999

By 

Philip Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wicca Love Spells (Citadel Library of the Mystic Arts) (Paperback)

There was a lot to this book, don't get me wrong, but it's a bit impossible. I don't doubt at all that Gerina Dunwich put some research into this book, but some things in this book are out of line. First of all, most Wiccans wouldn't do most of these spells. They are unethical, and she emphasizes the dangers at the beginning of the book, yet puts so many spells to attract a specific lover. Spells to call no specific lovers are poor and there are very few of them. Some of the spells themselves are book and make me wonder where she got them. They have hard to find ingredients and call for some bizarre practices in them. Some of the charms and amulets aren't bad, but some of them aren't the best either. Her info on Mojo bags and Voodoo isn't bad and she is knowledgable, but once again, Gerina Dunwich seems to have never heard of the word practicality. She has some great information on Love Astrology (yet doesn't include some important information) and Love Palmistry. She also has some good, yet bizarre in some cases, information about Love Divination. She also includes information about love gods and goddesses, some which are really rare, which is good. Also, in the love divination section, she includes a page on Love Numerology, which is also very interesting. Her information on Love Omens is very interesting, she covers topics such as Love, Marriage, Engagements, Love Letters, Bridesmaids, and so on. It is very entertaining to read and would be of interest and liking to Wiccans as well as non-Wiccans alike. Her chapter on Handfasting is interesting and she includes a full non-legal ceremony, which is pretty good, but I wish she would have included for information on Handfasting and Handparting itself. Finally, she includes a glossary of terms for those hard to come by words as well as some normal terms possibly included for beginners. This is not a begginners book, nor did I expect it to be, nor should other Wiccans. People should get an overview of basic magick before they buy books on specific types of magick in my opinion. If you are a beginner, please read something else first. This isn't a bad book to read, it covers so many topics, it's just so hard to apply any of her techniques because of the various practices and ingredients she calls for. Anyways, it is so unethical and not nice to cast love spells on people or work against their will in almost every case on almost every situation. Bye.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could've been better..., June 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Wicca Love Spells (Citadel Library of the Mystic Arts) (Paperback)

... but it's interesting. "Wicca Love Spells" (formerly released as Secrets of Love Magick) includes many spells, charms, and information about the magick of love. She spends some time explaining the secrets of love magick, with notes on feeling, sincerity, and proper timing and visualization. This was very responsible of her to do, as many books do not offer anything for you to consider before doing the spell. The spells themselves, however, fall very flat. Do some go against the Rede? Absolutely, there are spells to attract certain people and to bring an old lover back. But, keeping in mind that not all who read this book will be Wiccan (despite the name) I have not rated lower because of that, just because many of the spells don't seem to be... very practical or do-able. Some require strange ingredients such as your intended's blood (just so easy to get! *LOL*), toenails from a rooster, and an oil lamp made out of the root of a lily. Some spells in this section are to be considered, but some just seem like too much of a hassle to me when there's so many easier ways of doing a love spell.

The section on Love Charms fares better, including information on Love Talismans, Magick Squares, and Mojo Bags designed to attract love. The worst part of the book, however, comes next. Although Gerina says that the spells in the Ancient Love Magick section should NOT be done and are only included for curiousity and historical sake, I think it should've never been included at all. Even with that warning, someone new at spellcasting may pick up the book and attempt one of these spells paying no attention to the warning. These "spells" include pinning a frog bone on your intended's clothing, eating dove's hearts, and drinking the ground liver of a black cat. After this low point, Gerina devotes an entire section to herbs, something she seems to do in every book. Love potions and aphrodisiacs come next, most of which seem simple to do. The section Star Signs of Love is too simple, as it just lists the signs of the Zodiac and what signs are compatible, pretty standard fare if you're familiar with astrology. I would've liked to see her expand this some more, along with the section on Love Palmistry, which seems a bit confusing, almost like it's not explained well enough.

My favorite part of the book has to be the listings of the Goddesses of Love, as many are uncommon and she offers some fascinating information. The same goes for the Gods of Love. The section on Love Divination is interesting enough, sadly most of her information is taken directly from "The Dictionary of Omens and Superstitions" by Philippa Waring. I would've liked to see more "actual" divination information, such as Tarot spreads or the like, rather than just omens. Gerina's handfasting ceremony is nice and she offers some simple background on the ceremony itself. There's a single page on Love Numerology, but it's useful. The book ends with a glossary and bibliography.

Although a lot of different information is crammed into this book, I wish the author would've gone into more detail about some aspects. I also wish the spells would've showed more variation and that some would've been simpler... Some more spells to attract a non-specific lover would've been nice too. Aside from these low points, I found this book interesting to read, and I recommend it to anyone with some basic knowledge already of how love magick works.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This book wasn't that helpful, March 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Wicca Love Spells (Citadel Library of the Mystic Arts) (Paperback)

This book was okay, but many of the spells were unuseable. It contained many old spells that are not easy to obtain the ingredients to. I'd be interestesed to know if any of them worked for others.