The ethics of love spells

[Garnet]

The thoughts put forward are mine and mine alone. In no way am I suggesting that anyone do anything uncomfortable

I’ve always been a little uncomfortable with the whole idea of love spells.
Although you cannot make someone love you, you can make a type of subliminal suggestion. In this, someone can do something out of character and not know why.
To me that is a type of emotional slavery and that is bad juju.
Karma alert!
The idea of effecting your ‘karma’ isn’t new. Old wives tales, even biblical parables have used this theory.
You reap what you sew.
Nothing in life is free.
You get what you pay for.
Pay it forward.
*3 fold laws - What you do comes back to you X3. emphasized text
And the best that I can remember is this cartoon.

Karma doesn’t sit in judgement, but will reward it justly.
I think I feel the same on casting for someone without their express permission. But as with everything in life, there are exceptions to every rule.
I like to bless babies, pregnant mothers and their progeny. I like to send calming thoughts to someone who is angry.
Sometimes Magical ethics are like running on an ice ball. No matter how far or fast you run, you get nowhere.
Blessed be
Garnet

[jim]

Cupid would disagree life is short and all is fair in love and war. I am not sure my stance either but I can easily think of worse uses of time and magick

[BryWisteria]

In my book, magickal ethics are always a worthwhile thing to ponder! Thanks for opening up this discussion, @Garnet!

Love spells are likely one of the most popular requests magick-users encounter, and yet it is an area of magick that quickly falls into the “gray” category when it comes to ethics.

Francisco wrote it really well in a past post, so I’ll quote him here:

@Francisco

Using Magic to influence a person (such as an ex) is not always recommended. Most of the time, it’s unethical to interfere with someone’s free will or cast spells on a person without their permission.

On the other hand, Magic has been used for this very purpose (love, marriage, loyalty) for thousands of years . So I considered important to include a honey jar spell in the Love Spells page .

However, you’ll notice that most of the spells are focused on self-love and/or opening up to love, without targeting anyone directly .

I recommend that you cast a spell for clarity , for example, to identify what caused the relationship to end, to determine if there was anything that you could do or say, and to work out whether this situation might be positive for you in the long run.

I think every problem has multiple ways to approach it, so long as the caster takes a bit of time to think creatively.

Want someone to fall in love with you? Rather than casting a spell on someone else, cast a spell on you to increase your beauty and self-confidence. Want to find your soulmate? Rather than picking someone out and casting on them, send a prayer to a deity or the Universe for a good and wholesome match for yourself.

I’m with you, Garnet- I have my code of witchy ethics and I don’t want to violate those sacred lines I’ve set for myself. The good news is is that we don’t have to! With a bit of crafty thinking, it is often still possible to reach your desired outcome without having to forfeit your morals or violate ethics

Personal witchy ethics are always a great and important thing to explore- thanks again, Garnet!