MIPC: The Perfect 10 Love Spell

 Note: MIPC stands for Magic in Popular Culture and this is a series of posts in which I take a magical belief or practice from a work of fiction such as movies, books, comic books, or tv shows and analyze them against real-world magical beliefs and practices.

The Spell or Belief 

This Wiccan spell should be performed in a cemetery at midnight on Friday the 13th. Preliminary to performing this spell, you should spend some time in meditation for the purpose of writing a list of ten things that you desire most in the perfect lover.

For example

• sexy
• talented
• style
• nice eyes
• thick hair
• sense of humor
• attractive
• ambitious
• fun
• good taste

Form a circle of candles using a candle that is larger than the other to indicate North. Light the candles and smoke yourself with incense. Next, step inside the circle with your list. Invoke the Goddess and wait for a sign of Her presence. 

When you are ready, take a few hairs from your head and fold them in your perfect ten list towards you three times then burn the paper in the North candle and recite a spell [incantation] which you have written yourself such as:

"Venus, find for me a perfect fit,
a boy of beauty, talent and wit;
someone to love and to love me,
as you will, sop mote it be!"

Source:

The Perfect Ten (2017)
L. Philips 

Commentary

I would like to begin this commentary by stating that I found this book in my local dollar tree for (not surprisingly) a dollar! As soon as I saw it involved a gay boy looking for love and witchcraft was involved, I purchased it without another thought. Incidentally, this is the second gay-centric book that I found at the Dollar Tree, the other book being Love and Other Curses. I highly recommend both books. 

Let's begin our dissection of this spell by looking at the prescribed timing for the spell. The book advises the witch to perform the spell in a cemetery at midnight on Friday the 13th. 

• The Date - Fridays are good for love work. However, Friday the 13th is traditionally believed to be an unlucky day. 
• The Time - Midnight is a good time to cast a spell in Wicca or witchcraft. I was taught to perform spells at true midnight - a process which requires taking into account the times for sunrise and sunset on a particular day and performing your spell at the exact midpoint between them. 
• The Place - Cemetaries are places where the dead are buried, where you go to bury things and leave negativity behind.  I personally would never perform a love spell in a cemetery - unless I was petitioning an ancestor or other spirit buried there. The cemetery in this story was attached to a church so the teenagers probably thought of it as a holy place or a place of power where they can perform their spell without getting caught. 

Wiccans often smudge themselves with incense or sage or anoint themselves with holy water or oil prior to entering a magic circle. This is done to cleanse themselves. In this case, I would say that smudging yourself with incense prior to this spell is to cleanse yourself of your past relationships. 

Wiccans usually cast a circle prior to ritual in this case, the circle of candles represents the circle, but no actual circle casting is performed. 

The book does not give words for invoking the Goddess. If I were to cast this spell, I would tailor my invocation to the work at hand. For example 

Oh beautiful Venus, Lady of Delight,
I invoke your name tonight;
shower me with your magnetic beams
that I may find the man of my dreams! 

It's a good idea to write a list of what you are looking for and you can make it as long or as short as you like. However, keeping it to ten qualities gives you the opportunity to think about what you really want, or what is really important to you. The list also represents your intention. Burning your list sends your intention out into the universe so that it came come back to you in another form - your perfect ten! 

Folding the paper towards yourself is symbolic of drawing the person to you and adding your own hair is akin to letting a hound dog get your scent - that is, so your magically conjured lover cand find his (or her) way to you.  

Finally, spells (incantations) are often recited to support framing your intention. It is the "things said" that works with the "things done" - you are essentially putting your intention out into the universe in two languages. 

A good formula for writing your incantation is to keep it to four lines. The first two lines represent the issue or condition, and the second two lines describe what is needed or wanted to address your issue. For example, if I were to cast this spell, I might say

I call upon Venus above me,
to bring me a man who will love me.
a perfect ten who fits this bill,
so mote it be just as I will. 

and there you have it! 

- Carolina Dean