Love in magick

There are many opinions on love spells, and it is a very debatable topic on this site.

First, let's break it down to what you are trying to achieve in a love spell:

• You want to love yourself

This is a very realistic one, say one may be putting themselves down and are tired of feeling awful and just want to give themselves a break, which is reasonable. Someone else may say reaching out to a deity [Example: Cupid, Eros etc] that can be known to assist in issues like this.

What else is known to be helpful is what is called a love bath that includes:
2 TBSP Salt and 1/4 CUP Rose Petals 
Pour the salt and stir in a clockwise direction, get in and for about 15 minutes, visualize and feel the rose petals spreading their energy into the bath with you. This is best done at night since when you get out you should sleep (or nap) and wake up feeling better.

• You want to bring a new soulmate into your life

Another realistic point, some may be ready to find a new love but don't know where to go, how to look, etc.

Spells often work through instincts for example: Wanting to find a career that will pay your rent, buy your food, etc. You would cast a career spell and while walking past a store you would see a newspaper rack and something tells you to take one, you get home and read to find a job offer then that accepts you after the interview. 

These types of love anonymous spells often work that way, such as deciding where you should spend your weekend, how you should, etc; all that could be leading up to a new love. 

There are many ways to cast a spell like this and many of them include the same, or different things here is a common one:
Two roses, Two red taper candles, and one long red ribbon
Placing the candles on the table after filling them with loving energy making it sure that you are open to what will help you find someone for you. Light the candles (first light one candle, and then light the other with the first candle). Tie the two roses together concentrating on their petals imagining you and someone else meeting. 
Then chant the following: "This ribbon does bind two loving hearts. True love I desire. Kindred spirits now unite. So this will be."
Gaze at the candles and allow them to burn down. Trust the work has been taken.

• You want someone in specific to love you

This is likely the reason most people come to this site, is because their ex had broken up with them and they still want something with them, it is understandable how desperate anyone can be in situations like this, and it isn't easy going through these kinds of situations. Let's look at the different viewpoints of these types of spells: 

1. You cannot interfere with free will
   Some have the belief that no matter what, you cannot control what someone does and how they think, so you shouldn't waste your energy with these kinds of spells because it is impossible to manipulate someone's free will like that. 
    
2. Attraction must already be there between the two if it has a chance of working at all
   More than looks, personality, traits, etc unless some type of romantic attraction is already between the two people, love spells will not work.
    
3.  Love spells will work, but you have to know the person personally
   Let's be realistic: You can't expect a celebrity or even someone from school to fall in love with you especially if they don't even know who you are! It would have to ( in most cases ) to be more than just a 'hello' every day. Some may suggest a confidence spell that will help you become more confident in coming up to this person, saying more than hello and building a relationship with them. Then a spell like that would work.
    
4. Love spells shouldn't be cast because they are not real feelings
   Some believe that you shouldn't cast a love spell on anyone, because they would only be under the influence of a spell and it wouldn't be 'real love

Since we have boiled it down a bit, everyone has their own opinion, and you are entitled to your own without judgment.

To answer some common questions I hear about love spells, I have listed a few questions below, you are welcome to add a comment asking about something that wasn't listed

• Can love spells change someone's sexuality? 
  Likely not, the most it will do is they will want to be close friends with you.
   
• Are love spells dark/black/evil magick? 
  That all depends on the intent of the spell, what are you trying to achieve? Would this person be hurt that you did this in the first place (if another person is included in the spell)? Often, 'evil' magick is defined by the intent of the person that cast the spell.
   
• Will a love spell backfire on me? 
  When most people think of a spell backfiring, they think of bad luck coming to them, and there are also many opinions about this, some believe in the rule of three Wiccan law (mainly Wiccans of course) that whatever energy you send out, it will come back to you three times, some may just believe whatever you put out acts as a mirror will come back to you (also called the boomerang effect) and some believe that with protection beforehand, there would be nothing coming back to you. It all depends on what you believe. 
   

To cover some of the things that were not talked about in this article, you may have heard of the 'honey jar sweetening spell' and I did not include that because it technically is not a love spell, it is only to help someone's attitude towards you or something a bit smoother. I had not included a spell in the last bulleted list because there are tons upon millions of those kinds of spells you can find on this site, in books, online and on youtube.