Love and attraction
Charms and rites for love, marriage, fertility and desire.
Love magic covers attraction, courtship, marriage and fertility. It includes the Hoodoo and folk charms of the American South, the love spells of the Greek Magical Papyri, the Italian and Spanish traditions of amulets and saints, the Indian use of mantras and charms for a wedding, and the Afro-Caribbean rites for Erzulie and Oshun. This page covers what people ask for, the consent problem, and the stories told about it.
What people ask for
Requests are varied: to find a partner, to keep one, to mend a quarrel, to conceive, to have a safe birth. Many customs are playful, such as young women in Europe watching for omens on certain nights to see a future husband. Others are weighty, such as rites to protect a marriage from a rival or to cool a husband's anger. The practices often mirror a society's anxieties about marriage and family.
Consent and coercion
Magic aimed at making a particular person love someone raises questions of consent, and many practitioners and traditions regard it as wrong or dangerous. Historical records show people accused of using love potions, and some trials of women in Europe included such claims. Today, many practitioners say they only work to attract love in general or to improve their own confidence. Examples include a Hoodoo sachet, an Italian saint's novena, a Greek papyrus recipe and a Hindu mantra, all of which are recorded as customs and none of which are recommended here.
Gender, religion and law
Women have often been the customers and the specialists, and also the ones blamed. Medieval clergy lists included love magic among sins, and the Inquisition tried people for it. In some Muslim societies, charms for love and marriage are sold at shrines, while scholars object to them. In Hindu and other weddings, protective rites are woven into the ceremony. In most of these places the stories are cautionary: the charm works too well, or goes wrong, and love obtained by trickery is shown as empty.
Commercial love
Love spells are a major online product. The market is full of promises, and some sellers ask clients to pay again and again as the spell is said to need more work. Scholars read love charms as a way to speak of desire and risk. For real distress in a relationship, counselling and support are the reliable routes. Rites for fertility and a safe pregnancy are also grouped here, and for these, couples should of course seek medical advice and not rely on a ritual.
Love and attraction on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreFreyja
Norse goddess of love, war, and seiðr magic who rides a chariot pulled by catsBeing · Love and attraction · Seeing and foretelling Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreYue Lao月下老人
The Chinese deity of marriage who binds destined couples with red cordsBeing · Love and attraction · Binding and oaths Legendary
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreSelkie
Mythical seal-people who shed their skin to walk as humans on landBeing · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇨🇱 ChileTrauco
A small forest spirit from Chiloé mythology known for seducing women and causing pregnancyBeing · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇬🇷 GreeceCirceΚίρκη
A Greek goddess and witch known for turning men into beasts with her potionsBeing · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreFox spirit狐狸精
A shapeshifting creature from Chinese folklore that can take human form and live for centuries.Being · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreFenghuang鳳凰 (fènghuáng)
A mythological bird symbolizing virtue and imperial harmony in East Asian cultureBeing · Power and authority · Love and attraction Legendary
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 2 moreKuntilanak
A vengeful female spirit of Indonesian and Malaysian folklore, known for luring victims with beauty before revealing a mBeing · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreParīپری
A winged being of Persian origin, linked to beauty and the spirit world across AsiaBeing · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreCupidCupīdō
A Roman deity of desire and erotic love, often depicted with a bow and arrow.Being · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreKinnaraकिन्नर (Sanskrit)
A half-human, half-bird creature from Hindu and Buddhist myth, known for music and devotion.Being · Love and attraction · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇷🇴 Romania and 2 moreZmeu
A humanoid dragon from Romanian folklore that kidnaps maidens and steals treasures.Being · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic and 1 moreCiguapa
A back-footed forest spirit of the Dominican Republic known for seduction and jealousyBeing · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary
🇮🇹 ItalyAnguane
Cloven-footed water nymphs from Northern Italian folklore who nurse infants with their backs.Being · Love and attraction · Healing Legendary
🇵🇹 PortugalEnchanted Mouramoura encantada
A supernatural maiden from Portuguese and Galician folklore who guards treasures and ancient stones.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇮🇪 IrelandGancanaghgean cánach
A male Irish fairy known for seducing women and tricking humans.Being · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary
🇮🇳 IndiaEcheneis
A legendary fish said to hold back ships and influence legal proceedingsBeing · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary
🇮🇩 IndonesiaNini Pelet
A West Javanese sorceress legend linked to Mount Ciremai and the origin of the word for love charmsFigure · Love and attraction · Power and authority Legendary
🇮🇩 IndonesiaKeong Emas
A Javanese legend about a princess turned into a golden snailFigure · Love and attraction Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreSwan maiden
A folk motif where a man steals a bird-woman's feather cloak to force marriage.Figure · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇬🇹 Guatemala and 1 moreEl Sombrerón
A tall, hat-wearing figure from Guatemalan legend who courts young women and haunts neighborhoods at dusk.Figure · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇸🇪 SwedenVittra
A forest spirit from northern Sweden linked to livestock and seductionBeing · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanAmorōnagu天降女子
A celestial maiden from Japanese folklore who descends to Earth for love or soulsFigure · Love and attraction Legendary
🇮🇳 IndiaHenjunaha and LairoulembiHensunaha Lailoulempi
A Meitei epic of lovers who die and return from the underworld through devotion.Figure · Love and attraction Legendary
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreSebile
A medieval enchantress who evolved from a classical prophetess into an Arthurian fairy queenFigure · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇨🇦 CanadaChasse-galerieLa Chasse-galerie
A French-Canadian folktale about lumberjacks who fly a canoe to visit lovers on New Year's EveFigure · Love and attraction · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Selkie: Carolyn Emerick, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Trauco: Seo2 (Cristian), CC BY 2.0, source
- Fox spirit: Chen Menglei, Public domain, source
- Fenghuang: Supremo Editor, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Parī: Ismoon ( talk ) 22:26, 10 February 2013 (UTC), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sebile: tony_57, CC BY 3.0, source
- Freyja: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Cupid: Bertel Thorvaldsen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Circe: Wright Barker, Public domain, source
- Yue Lao: 仔仔好帥, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Anguane: Elena Alexandrina Bednarik, Public domain, source
- Chasse-galerie: Henri Julien, Public domain, source
- Keong Emas: Post of Indonesia, Public domain, source
- Enchanted Moura: Henrique José Teixeira Matos, Public domain, source
- Swan maiden: Walter Crane, Public domain, source
- Kinnara: ผู้สร้างสรรค์ผลงาน/ส่งข้อมูลเก็บในคลังข้อมูลเสรีวิกิมีเดียคอมมอนส์ - เ, Public domain, source