| ISBN: | 1556706529 |
| Publisher: | Stewart, Tabori & Chang, Inc. |
| Pub. Date: | Sept. 1997 |
I was given this as a gift, and I simply must share it with you. Titania Hardie and photographer Sara Morris have created a lovely little tome of over 75 lovespells for a variety of applications. The layout is cute, the images are inventive and beautiful, and the book as a whole is a delightful little morsel.That said, I should point out something significant about the book: It's a book of real spells, by a real 3rd generation white witch, handed down from her real wise-woman grandmother, and it takes real effort for me not to put quotes on or '(sic)' after most of the reals in this sentence. The spells' specific and painstaking directions are the result of true belief rather than mere historical or scholastic interest. I have never seen a more well done, cookbook-like spellbook in my life, with the potential to be actually used. Now, if you, gentle reader, have travelled with me in this site for long enough, you will understand that I have little truck with pseudo-occult phenomena and tend to have a rather patronizing patience with its practitioners. Frankly, they tend to give me a headache. Titania is vastly less straining to my patience than most, largely because of her realistic tone and concession that many effects are caused by things which are hardly magical.An exception would be Red ribbon #3. If you sprinkle aromatic oils on a ribbon and carry it on your person, and "seduce him with all your charms" while wearing "beautiful thigh-high" stockings, romantic success should hardly be thought of as magically aided. The scented ribbon will obviously thereafter have wonderful connotations to the recipient of your attentions, and no incantation to Aphrodite will alter that one way or another. Still, it's a "spell," complete with the words to speak. Ah, well.Setting aside dificulties with cognitive dissonance, I have to tell you that I not only like this book, from one red velveteen cover to the other, but I can even recommend it as useful. As the example above indicates, it's littered with good romantic ideas which may bring luck in love of their own accord or may simply give the reader that most attractive of features, self-confidence. On top of that, many of the spells are historically based, which gives it additional value as a resource for people like myself. Thirdly, the actual book's loveliness and exotic nature have mood-setting abilities which the inventive romantic will find helpful. Lastly, writers may have good use for the specifics of spellcasting in their work. I'm looking forward to using it in that way for my own little endeavors.I recommend this to the clear-minded who are unafraid of its subject matter.|
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