Book Review of Shadows: Love Magic by Lilith Dorsey

This is really “the big little book of love magic.” Magical maven Lilith Dorsey has packed into this fun, informative, and practical book over 250 spells, potions, rituals, and recipes devoted to all facets of love and sex.

Based on years of magical experience and prodigious research, this book includes sections on such topics as self-love, marriage, fertility, erotic adventures, the ethics of love magic, and more. The spells are drawn from a wide diversity of magical traditions and focus on an equally diverse situations. There are spells for finding love, keeping love, and healing yourself so that you are ready for love. The book also includes rituals for invoking goddesses of love. Dorsey considers and discusses all facets of the romantic experience.

Let’s face it we are obsessed, inspired, delighted, and in love with love. And here is the go-to book for every spell you will ever need for finding and keeping romance, passion, sex, marriage, fertility, and love in your life. Rooted in serious scholarship while still exploring the weird, wild, and wonderful side of love magic, this book provides expert advice and genuine spells that work to bring you your heart’s desire. – Weiser Books

At this point in my life, I’ve never recommended a book of love magick to anyone. I’ve actively steered people away from them in my jobs at metaphysical stores because I found the whole subject just way too creepy. Love spells are the things that send movies spiraling out of control and ruin people’s lives. Love spells are magickal roofies. Love spells are no good, bad, very bad, and to avoid.

Or are they?

As I mentioned in Valentine’s Day for Fat Feminist Witches, love magick’s downfall is that everyone assumes it’s only for romantic love! Just as there are many different types of love, there are many different kinds of love magick, and this book gives spells, recipes, and rituals for ALL of them. The book starts with spells for happiness and love then moves through spells for romance, potions for passion, spells for marriage, fertility magic, realistic love spells, sex magic and even a chapter called “Universal Love Spells”, which honestly has stuff for every day use.

I never once felt creeped out or like the book was actually telling me I had to bend anyone’s will. The author talked about ethics without a hint of judgement and even talked about different ethical situations for different paths. There were spells and potions for people who are not in heterosexual or monogamous relationships, sex spells for those in the fetish and kink communities, and tons of stuff that even I as a celibate person found incredibly useful.

Another thing I really liked was all of the recipes. I recently interviewed the author, Lilith Dorsey, and she mentioned that the book originally started as a full on magickal recipe book but evolved to include all other kinds of magic, and the result is absolutely perfect. With only this one book you can weave love magick into every single thing you do, whether you’re actively practicing and doing ritual, or want something more low key and less overt.

Some of my favourite spells in the book include the “Bob Marley ‘One Love’ Candles” which uses 4 votive candles in traditional Rasta colours to help bring a loving vibe to your home, the “Ring My Bell Gris Gris for Your Phone”spell which gets your cell phone working in your favour, the “Catfish Reveal Incense” for help with sketchy online dating, and the “Breakup Barbie Doll Spell” which actually talks about the proper ways to use a barbie in a love spell that won’t send your life spiraling out of control a la Circle of Three. One of the things I liked so much about these spells is that within the small blurb talking about the spell or its origins, you learn some general magickal advice about that specific topic. If you’re not trying to get someone to call you, but are still looking for magickal ways to work with your phone, the Ring My Bell Gris Gris still gives you enough info to form your own spell from that format.

Since it’s mainly a spell book you might not read it cover to cover, but if you have any questions about love magick in general, you’ll find them in here. It’s an amazing reference! I mean, I still read it cover to cover because the stories and style of writing are funny and share exciting little anecdotes or bits of advice. I also found this book just innately syncs up with music, or includes music in your spells. I could hear songs in my head like the book came with a soundtrack. This is no doubt part the author’s own energy, and part the fact that most music has to do with love and sex and the way you feel for others. This is just another way to weave that love magick into every part of your life.

The book and author have roots in Voodoo, Santeria, and Celtic Paganism so you might find that some of the herbs or waters or crystals are unknown to you or have different uses than you’re used to, but they’re all explained a little bit further at the back of the book. There’s also a guide to popular psalms for spells at the back if this isn’t something you already use.

I absolutely loved this book and am proud to say it’s the first book on Love Magic I’ve ever recommended or tried anything out of! The writing was fun and very personal, while conveying so much information and the selection of spells and recipes and rituals make it clear that this book really is for everyone – just like love!

If you liked the book check out the podcast on Tuesday february 21st for my interview with the author herself, Lilith Dorsey! “Lilith is a magical practitioner and voodoo priestess with training in several traditions, including Celtic, Afro-Caribbean (Santeria and Vodun), and Native American spiritualities. She owns her own magickal consulting business and is editor and publisher of Oshun-African Magickal Quarterly.” (Weiser Books) In the episode we talk about the book, about love magic in general, music and love, and some of the requests she gets as a professional practitioner. Find it on Podbean or iTunes.