Love Potions Throughout the Ages

Drakkar Noir and Jazz were good ones. They have since been discontinued here. More's the pity.

I love books that have these little twist or forgotten facts in them. I always meant to look up if the apple peeling in water shaping the initial of your true love was actually something that was once believed or if it was just something the writers for Charmed came up with for one of their episodes. Does anyone know off-hand? I could search for hours and probably never find it. LOL I'm not good at narrowing down my search when I google. I always end up with hundreds of thousands as a result.

The mandrake root was a popular aphrodisiac in medieval times.

Ingredients of another medieval love potion included the blood of a red-haired person, tongues of vipers and winged ants, soaked in alcohol.  My guess is that you probably strained out the other ingredients and the alcohol did the trick.

Love potions have been a popular literary device from way back in time. In some versions of Tristan and Isolde, the couple are smitten after mistakenly drinking a love potion that is intended to bind Isolde to King Mark.  Shakespeare's Puck used the juice of a certain flower squeezed on the eyes of sleeping subjects to make Titania fall in love with Nick Bottom and causing all sorts of trouble between the four young lovers.

Rae, about the stone spell...it probably only works if you don't already have a guy.  If you have one, it could be invalid, so no need to worry?!  Maybe.

Best, Carol

PS I guess popsicle sticks are like candy cane or sticks of rock in the UK?

I get it!  Lollipop sticks!

Best, Carol

Cool spell, Mary-Kay!

Rae, I know what you mean about not suing the stones.  I wouldn't want to mess with success either.

I did a little digging and found one scholar who says alcohol was always used in medieval love potions, but was never considered the active ingredient.  Hmmm?  

I read somewhere that the smell of cinnamon is a turn-on for guys.  Apparently there was a study done on the effects of various scents.  I would think it would remond them of Mom's apple pie -- not exactly a sensual image!

Deb

Have just checked out in Culpeper's Herbal and apparently a pillow stuffed with hops helps sleep.    Also, an infusion made with the flowers helps curb (?!) excessive desire in men.

So, now you know.

Best, Carol

It turns out there is a scientific basis for oysters and other seafood being considered aphrodisiacs.  They're loaded with zinc, which is used by the body to produce testosterone.

Hi Crystal!  Your bichons are so adorable!  And I know pictures don't begin to capture their true charm.   Button is napping under my desk at the moment.  Resting up so she'll have lots of energy to bark at the mailman.

Carol, those suggestions from Culpepper are interesting.  I find it such a great resource.

Deb

This is one you have all heard about I am sure ....

You make a list of qualities, values and physical traits that you want your true love to have. Then you toss the list in the fire and put it out of your mind. And voila! Mr. Right will be on his way!

Try not fill the page with superficial details. For example: Don't just say you want him to be wealthy. That's superficial. Understandably no one wants a bum though but focus more on core. You can say something like "He will have a fulfilling career" or "He will be ambitious". If you find someone with those qualities, chances are he will be financially stable.

It builds on the whole notion of "it will happen when you are not looking". Basically if you just chill out, ease up and don't get so obsessed with all the details, you will find exactly what you want.

By the way ... I have my doubts on this one LOL. I am a skeptic when it comes to matters of the heart. But still love the topic

I've heard that some modern witches will write the name of the person that they are hoping to give a cold shoulder to on a piece of paper and then put the paper in an icecueb tray and freeze it. So, would the opposite—for example, putting the paper in the oven or on a radiator—have the opposite effect?

but an interesting fact I discovered looking for fun Valentine's Day facts.

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

Of course there are always things like tarot cards.  Or palm reading. Marriage lines and the number of children. That sort of thing.

And isn't there something about dropping bit of molten candy into water to see what shape they make...

 Michelle S

My apologies.

 WIth all the posting you do, you do quite well to respond, never mind putting the name with the comment.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!

I agree, Rae, all the holidays are getting super commercialized.  And I'm as guilty as anybody since I've used the valentine hook to get promotional exposure for my books.  It's the one time of year the media outlets actually want to hear from romance writers.  I think it's nice to have a time to remind us to let the people we love know how we feel about them, but I don't think that has to mean buy, buy, buy. 

Wow, Carol -- that's wild about the astrologist and the eye color.  I don't believe in the stars shaping our destinies -- they're just big old gas balls out in space.  But the personality stuff I can't dismiss because it's so spot on for most of the people I know.  I always know the signs of my heroes and heroines.  I'm just starting one with a Leo hero and Capricorn heroine. 

Deb

Well, if you really want to have a reading done, you should come and visit me. I live about 30 minutes from an entire community that are spiritualists. They have a booming tourist season where everyone comes for a reading. My mom went to a reading once and they were spot on. They told her she was the youngest of 7 children and she would marry the oldest of 7 children. She did. They told her she would have 3 children. She did. They told her she would get divorced which was unheard of back in the day. She did. There was a bunch of other things and then at the end, she said that there was a spirit that really wanted to get a message to her. I guess my mom's aunt had a few things she didn't get a chance to say. My mom said that the person doing the reading couldn't possible know about some of the things she said and the message from the aunt was so like the aunt that it gave chills to my mom. She never went back for another reading.

As for Valentine's Day being commercialized to much. Yep, it is but that is how stores make their money. All we can do is get what our heart tells us to get and don't follow the masses. Good job teaching your son that Rae.!

I think we'd have to start with a cauldron full of chocolate and work from there...

Deb

The rum definitely sounds promising, Rae!

Which reminds me, I have a recipe for Rum Cake that I haven't made in ages.  I may have to dig it out...

 Deb