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substances to include in potions and other forms of mixing magick. In the case of these Roma love potions, such ingredients are enough to win attention and sway affections. While love itself can’t be magickally manifested, these potions were apparently enough to incite some interest!
    In Papau New Guinea also, mixing magickal potions for the purpose of inducing love is a widely known practice. In a seminar given in 2006 by Steven Edmund Winduo of the University of Canterbury, the modern use of a potion to procure love is described. The Nagum Boiken he references are a coastal culture of the Prince Alexander Mountains:
The Nagum Boiken use A. Wilkensiana in love magic to attract a woman. The leaves are squeezed and rubbed on smoke or mixed with drink and given to the woman who is the target of a man’s love magic. 31
    The herb he refers to, Acalypha wilkensiana , is an evergreen shrub with known value as an anti-fungal agent. 32 Commonly called copperleaf and known for its vivid and colorful foliage, it’s perhaps the plant’s enduring beauty more than its medicinal properties that makes it an appealing ingredient for a love potion. In this example, we find two ways the copperleaf’s essence can be combined with an individual’s essence to produce the desired magickal effect. By rubbing the plant on other herbs to be smoked and inhaled, or by mixing the plant with a liquid and drinking it, the energies of the plant are effectively blended with those of the intended target of the love spell.
    As wise witches know, the use of love potions shouldn’t be taken lightly, as the practice does have its potential side effects and consequences. In Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde’s 1887 work Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland , the author relates some traditional Irish wisdom regarding the love philtre: Some of the country people have still a traditional remembrance of very powerful herbal remedies, and love potions are even now frequently in use. They are generally prepared by an old woman; but must be administered by the person who wishes to inspire the tender passion. At the same time, to give a love potion is considered a very awful act, as the result may be fatal, or at least full of danger.
A fine, handsome young man, of the best character and conduct, suddenly became wild and reckless, drunken and disorderly, from the effect, it was believed, of a love potion administered to him by a young girl who was passionately in love with him. When she saw the change produced in him by her act, she became moody and nervous, as if a constant terror were over her, and no one ever saw her smile again. Finally, she became half deranged, and after a few years of a strange, solitary life, she died of melancholy and despair. This was said to be “The Love-potion Curse.” 33
    One might suspect that the potion given to the poor young man here mentioned contained poisonous herbs or other toxic ingredients, but the spiritual warning in the story also warrants attention. If a potion is used in any way to control a loved one, that loved one will no longer act like themselves because they’ll no longer be just themselves—combined with your own magickal will, the potential lover’s spirit will be faded from the lack of freedom and diminished by the restrictions placed upon it. Be wise and think twice before using a love potion!
    Potions for love and other purposes were common in Mexican culture, as well. In her essay “Customs and Superstitions among Texas Mexicans on the Rio Grande Border,” Florence Johnson Scott relates a traditional potion recipe for calming the nerves. The susto here mentioned means literally fright, and refers to a state of nervous shock: Should his malady be pronounced Susto, he must go to a graveyard and take a pinch of dust from four corners of a grave. If not near a burial place, he may, instead, go to a crossroads and take a pinch of dust from the four corners of the highway. Then to the