Welcome to the second Novice’s Grimoire post! This week we’ll be discussing Aphrodisiacs and Love Potions—yes, this is what we all have been waiting for. Perhaps your Valentine’s Day didn’t go as planned: the flowers, the chocolates, the lace didn’t work like they were supposed to. Or perhaps you had a day full of love and wonder. Either way, it is time to take the powers of subtle seduction into your own hands.
If we willing buy into the commonly held ideas of Aphrodisiacs and Love Potions, then we are essentially saying that these things can determine and create our love for us; I am not of this belief. Instead, I will suggest that so-called Aphrodisiacs and Love Potions are simply a means to engage and stimulate what the heart or body already desires—here the key is desire; nothing can come from a heart or body where desire isn’t already present. Below are three recipes (to be used in sequence) for piquing your lover’s natural desires through their senses.
(Remember, when using the following recipes, try to energetically connect with the ingredients and process, this will aid in providing valuable results. Also keep in mind that these recipes can and should be used by both women and men alike.)
The first recipe is for a Milk & Oatmeal bath:
- Run your bath water for desired temperature and volume. I suggest the warmest water you can handle, with ample amount for bodily submersion.
- Take 1/2 cup loose oatmeal (the microwavable kind will do), and place it in a large draw-string sachet (like those used for loose-leaf tea). Place tied sachet into the bath.
- Pour 2-4 cups of milk into the water, depending on personal preference. And stir around until evenly distributed.
- Hop in, relax, and let the bath do its job.
The purpose of this bath is to relax the body, ease the mind, and bring an ethereal softness to any skin type. Feeling the skin’s texture is an inalienable part of physical contact—pleasing if soft, highly displeasing if not. Milk and Oatmeal make the skin perceptually softer for oneself and one’s lover, while adding a slight luminescence; hopefully encouraging closer physical contact.
Our second recipe is for a Cardamom (or Cinnamon) essential oil perfume:
- Pour 2 Tbsp apricot oil into a sealable, sterilized container (preferably made of colored glass, this helps preserve the mixture’s potency).
- Add 7-10 drops Cardamom essential oil to your apricot oil
- Note: if female; use the Cardamom oil, if male; use Cinnamon instead; if preferring to not self-identify, try each to see which brings about better results.
- Seal container and give it a few gentle mixing shakes.
- Apply a small amount of oil perfume to your neck and wrists.
- Note: be mindful of your personal emotional and physical sensitivity to the oils.
- Increase proximity to your love and see what happens.
In this case a female would use the Cardamom oil, because it has a highly feminine energy, to bring out her ideal feminine self. Conversely, Cinnamon has a male energy and brings out the ideal masculine self. Both Cardamom and Cinnamon have powers of love and lust, along with their uniquely exotic scents. These scents and heightened ideals are likely to catch the attention of your love, and make them wonder how you came to be so spicy and mysterious.
The final recipe is for a Rose Water Champagne:
- Take a small handful of dried rose petals and/or buds, and place them into a draw-string sachet. Place sachet in mug.
- Pour boiling water over the rose sachet and let steep to desired strength.
- Remove sachet and let Rose Water cool.
- Take Rose Water and add liberally to a glass of your favorite champagne.
- Note: Non-alcoholic champagne may be substituted if desired.
- Share mixture with your love, perhaps while sitting down to a plateful of strawberries.
The aphrodisiacal power of alcohol has been documented time and time again—a little to loosen up is a hardly a bad thing. Rose has many attributed powers, but the most relevant here are love and luck, which also happen to be the powers belonging to strawberries. Rose Water Champange and strawberries, together, might just tip the scales of love and luck in your favor; may it be to your benefit.
This week we have covered Aphrodisiacs and Love Potions’ ability to subtly seduce your love, heightening their awareness of touch, smell, and taste; I’ll leave the sights and sounds up to you! And I look forward to seeing you here next week, where we’ll be discussing our first mystery topic of my choosing. I’ll give you a hint: it has to do with love and the stars.
Z. Smith is a cookie connoisseur, moonlight meanderer, and aesthete at large. His work has previously appeared in 13 Experiments, Folio, Stone Soup Review, SLUG Magazine, and CATALYST Magazine. He earned his BA in English from The University of Utah and currently writes from a room with many plants.
Sources:
The Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews by Scott Cunningham
Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham
Herbs and Things by Jeanne Rose
Magical Aromatherapy by Scott Cunningham