"Everybody needs a place to rest,
Everybody wants to have a home,
Don't make no difference what nobody says,
Ain't nobody want to be alone, I tell you,
Everybody's got a hungry heart..."
----- Bruce Springsteen

Love is the most important thing in the world, and there is nothing immoral or mean or wicked about working magic for love! Of course you don't have to do it if you don't want to, but if you want to, then you will find that there is a vast store of knowledge and many, many different wanga, traditional Caribbean spells, intended to do just exactly that. I would estimate that at least half of my magical clientele comes to me for love magic.

Some people feel that it is somehow "wrong to try to influence the will of another person". I'm sorry, but I can't help laughing! What do people think that women do when we wear makeup and sexy clothes? What do people think that men do when they wear sexy clothes and spend money on women? Gay men dress to impress too! And lesbian women have their own ideas about what makes a woman attractive. There is no group on earth, and no individual on earth, who does not try in some way to influence other people, especially when it comes to love and sex. A wanga, a magical spell, is just one more way of doing so.

Furthermore, people with these objections about "influencing the will" of others seem to assume that magic is overwhelmingly powerful! To hear them tell it, a good love wanga will turn the object of that wanga into a mindless zombi who will be forced, against their will, to go to bed with someone they don't want. Nothing could be further from the truth. If I was such a powerful Mambo, such a powerful priestess, that I could work a wanga and the person would just automatically run to whoever they were supposed to love, I would be rolling in money! Tying a wanga to restrain an adulterous husband, for example, can have some effect, but it can't stop him if that is what he really wants to do - even something as tangibly immediate as beating him over the head is not going to stop a man bent on adultery.

So why bother? I'm not saying that magic is totally ineffective either. Magic gives a person a push in the right direction, it can make that person think about you, be interested in you or attracted to you.

Let's say that you are a woman and you do love magic to attract the love of a man you desire. I would expect, before long, for that man to be interested in having a conversation with you. You will appear more attractive to him, you will have a sort of "glow" in his eyes. Then the rest is up to you! If you are pleasant and polite, naturally he will continue to talk with you. If you dress attractively, naturally he will be more likely to invite you out to public places. But if you are rude and abusive, if you wear frumpy clothes and look haggish, naturally he will be repelled, right?

If the man is already your husband or partner, but he is cheating or he has left the home, love magic can create discord between him and your rival. It can make him remember his home with nostalgia, and think about returning. But if that home is dirty, filled with anger, and the scene of constant arguments, no wanga on earth is going to make him stay. So in addition to a love wanga, that house should undergo a thorough physical and spiritual cleansing! Take out the trash, and then sweep out bad vibes too!

All of this is true for men too - if you love a woman, let's say, and she has left you, love magic can make her think about returning, it can cause bad feelings between her and her new love interest. But when that woman meets you on the street one day, recriminations and accusations are not going to attract her! Instead, take an herbal bath to soothe and smooth your vibe. You will feel better, and she will feel safer and more peaceful with you. And again, when she comes home, make sure that house is clean, pick up your dirty socks, vacuum, wash the dishes, and do a spiritual cleansing to kick out those rotten vibes!

Another misconception is that a person should not need the love of another. Over and over I have seen lovelorn people on some forums asking to know how to do magic to attract someone - only to be told, "Oh no! You are emotionally needy, you must learn to live alone, you can never expect another person to bring you happiness, it is wrong of you to try to attract this person..." What nonsense!

Every single human being on the face of the planet needs to be loved, and to give love to others. Children who are in institutions where they don't get hugged and cuddled enough sometimes develop what is called "failure to thrive" syndrome. They don't grow, and sometimes they die! Even adults need the physical attention and emotional support provided by a loving partner. People who live without love often become depressed - that is why the mortality rate among people whose partner dies shoots up in the year following their bereavement. In Haiti there is a great deal of magical work intended to protect the life of a bereaved person, and it is performed as a matter of course following the death of a partner.

Telling a person seeking love to "go get a life" or "work on yourself" is cruel and unsympathetic. How do you know that the person needs to "get a life"? That person might very well be happy and successful in most ways, they just want to attract a particular person or they want love in their life - that's normal! And they are trying to improve their chances in every way possible, which is smart.

What isn't smart is trying to hang on to an abusive partner, trying to "change him" or "reform her". I can't tell you how many times I have heard from women who tell me some variation of the following: "Mambo Racine, you must help me. My man and I have been together for several years, we have two children. From the day we got together, he hasn't worked a day, I am the one supporting us. He cheats on me. He swears at me. He beats me. Now he has left me. I want you to bring him back!"

"Why?", I ask such clients. "Why do you want him back, he's a jerk! Dump him!"

"But I LOVE him!", they wail.

Hmph! That person is dangerously misguided. Most Houngans (traditional priests) and Mambos (traditional priestesses) in Haiti would do the work the client specifies, but as a general rule I won't. I am not going to bring an abusive person back into a home. Instead, I generally recommend cleansing baths, a spiritual housecleaning, work to help the person regain their balance. But then I will happily do a love wanga to attract someone else, a real man, a man who will give the woman the respect, affection, protection and support she so richly deserves.

(Let me just interject that the same goes for men seeking the love of a woman, or gay people, I'm using this situation as an example.)

Now, if that woman persists, if she gives me no rest and no peace, and she really wants that abuser back... well, I've been known to make her pay double and insist that she do protective work first, to prevent him from hurting her. I had one case like that - I did the reading and I saw that the man had another woman, and that if he were to come back, the future held police, hospitals, and job loss. But this client wasn't having any of my helpful suggestions, she wanted that man and no other. She emailed me twice a day, she persisted and persisted!

Finally I agreed, but I made her do very elaborate protective work first. Then I tied that love wanga. Sure enough, the man came back to town. He started calling my client. But he wouldn't give up the other woman. At last things came to a head, but instead of abusing my client, he got in a big fight with the other woman, police came, he fell down the stairs trying to get away and cracked a few ribs, and ended up in the hospital. He couldn't go to work for a while, and since he was already not a terribly desirable employee, he lost his job. My client, however, remained safe and serene in her home.

Once she saw all this come to pass, the client started to believe me a little! She accepted my suggestions, and within a year she had a new man in her life who treated her nicely. "I don't know what I was thinking of," she said to me. "Why couldn't I see that this guy was never going to give me what I wanted, but someone else might?"

And that's the key! The person doesn't need the love of an abuser, but they don't need to be left all alone either, they need the love of a decent person, and that is the aim of magical work.

One question often asked is, "Which lwa, which Vodou spirit, should I invoke for love?" And often enough, people with a superficial understanding of Vodou will automatically respond, "Erzulie Freda, she is the lwa of romantic love." This is yet another misconception.

Yes, Erzulie Freda is identified with romantic love, but actually, any lwa, any lwa at all, can be invoked in a love wanga, or in any other wanga. All lwa work! They just work in different ways. Erzulie Freda will bring you love in a very incandescent sort of way - lots of flirtation, high-pitched romance, but maybe not a lasting relationship. Ogoun will bring love into your life in a rush! And the person who comes into your life is apt to be a person with power and authority, or a military person, or a person who is highly organized and goal oriented. La Sirene will bring you love in a flowing, intuitive way, and the person who appears may be kindly, motherly, wealthy... or just dreamy and intuitive. And so on.

If you want to make a wanga for love, here is what I suggest you do. I am offering a Love Magic Kit that anyone can use, no matter what spiritual tradition you come from. I am not God, I can not give a 100% guarantee that this magic will send your desired person running into your arms, but... magical work like this usually gets good results.

Finally, if you can't make a service because of where you live, or you are not confident in your ability to make an effective service, you can ask a Houngan or Mambo to work for you. The Houngan or Mambo will advise you - each case is different. Maybe they will suggest a food offering to a particular lwa, maybe an herbal bath, maybe a magical object that you make and bury, maybe all of the above! And you can expect to pay money for the work, or for the Houngan or Mambo to teach you how to do some work on your own. These fees can vary, but they should not be exhorbitant and the Houngan or Mambo should be very clear about what the total will be, they shouldn't keep you coming back and coming back to pay more and more and more!

I hope this information is helpful to you, dear Reader. If you decide to do a wanga to attract a specific person, or in general to bring love into your life, more power to you! And if you decide that you want my help, or the help of another Houngan or Mambo, that is what we are here for. Good luck!

:-)

Peace and love,

Mambo Racine