A (Real!) Lust Provoking Spell from Ancient Greece

One of my favorite examples of a (legitimate!) Grecian love spell that incorporates all of the power of Eros, and definitely not the reason and sanity of Anteros: the passion, the insanity, the desperation, the urgency. Key players are: Apalos, who had the spell cast for him, and Karosa, the object of his uncontrollable lust. Try not to read this like the pursed lip wiccan church ladies, with one eye searching for a contemporary restraining order, and the other trying to remember the twitter account of the Wiccan Inquisition. (Dollars to doughnuts they’ve already given the Wiccan Inquisition my name anyway, so you have nothing to worry about.)

Instead, read it with one eye on the Eros-inspired erotically urgent desire that provoked this spell:

"Aye lord demon, attract, inflame, burn, cause her to swoon from love as she is being burnt, inflamed. Goad the tortured soul (psyche), the heart of Karosa, whom Thelo bore, until she leaps forth and comes to Apalos, whom Theonilla bore, out of passion and love, in this very hour, immediately, immediately, quickly, quickly ... do not allow Karosa herself, whom Thelo bore, to think of her own husband, her child, drink, food, but let her come melting for passion and love and intercourse, especially yearning for the intercourse of Apalos, whom Theonilla bore, in this very hour, immediately, immediately, quickly, quickly."
Source: Faraone, Christopher. Ancient Greek Love Magic. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA), London. 1999. Spells for Inducing Uncontrollable Passions (Erōs), page 59.

Now ... did Karosa, the object of this spell, actually spin on a dime, run away from her husband and child and run to Apalos’ home for a wild and crazy night of never-ending sex?

"Of course she didn’t!" snaps a pretentious know-it-all from Yale. "They didn’t even HAVE dimes in ancient Greece!" (*sigh*)   See, and this is exactly why you Yalies get beaten up all the time.

It is this sort of spell that has today’s wiccan women all a-twitter. They insist that Apalos, by not asking Karosa’s permission to cast this spell, has interfered with Karosa's free will - proving that none of them have any idea what true "free will" actually is - and messed up his own karma, completely forgetting that:

(1) his karma is none of their business and none of them are in any position to judge or evaluate such things in the first place, and,

(2) Karosa had plenty of options available to her as well, and her "free will" is fully intact. Karosa (assuming Apalos was more or less an overheated weirdo following her around and drooling unattractively) could just as easily have had someone whip her up a counter curse designed to rebound HIS spell.

Here’s an example: "May Apalos’ lust be reflected off of me and be turned in another direction, and cause him to fall madly in love with a crazed bull."

Source:  Me!  I made it up!  Just now!!

We’ve just come up with our very own restraining order, and Apalos is now entertaining the townsfolk being chased by a crazed (and seriously pissed off) bull through the local pasture.

If, on the other hand, Apalos was a serious stud, Karosa might have chosen to let herself be caught up in his wild, insatiable lust. Could be fun! And what would have happened if either one of them had stopped to ask the other for permission? 

If any bad karma is going to rebound on anybody, I’m guessing it’s going to land squarely on the heads of the dainty, inept little twinkie witches of the 21st century for failing to impart any real power or strength to the budding witches they should be training properly, and for turning nights of wild,  crazy, lustful and passionate sex into a frowning old biddy lecture on mathematically calculated possibilities, requiring a frown, a slide rule and a protractor. No wonder Eros is depressed these days.

More later.