So why Sex Spells? Surely you'd have to be desperate to resort to magic to enhance your sex life. Surely there are enough books on the subject. Well actually, no!

There seem to be several fundamental parallels between sex and magic:

• They can be transformative
• Seeking and putting into practice new knowledge or techniques in either field enhances the experience
• They can lead to deeper self knowledge and reliance
• They can be practiced alone or with others

Harnessing and utilizing the power raised by sex into our magic allows us access to some of the most vital energies, which will continue to flow through and around you after the ritual has been completed, often leaving you with an amazingly attractive/fascinating new aura.

Sex and magic can be performed perfectly satisfactorily each on their own, but when put together the result is often greater than the simple sum of the two parts, thus making sex one of the most obvious themes with which to begin or enhance your journey along the magical way. Whichever path you chose, with or without a partner, it seems that sex can help you.

To take the first steps into initiation on a new journey is the hardest part, as every word, idea or phrase can seem threatening, puzzling or downright baffling. For instance, the word "magic" has been spelled in several different ways, never mind the many often contradictory definitions the word has inspired. Awakening to the magical life can at times be a case of trawling through books and articles. Learning can be a bit dry and boring, but using sex as the inspiration behind your spells makes things much more enjoyable and fun.

In Sex Spells, you will be guided gently through several magical techniques that are influenced by many strands of the magical world, all having sex as the central theme. It is hoped that the readers of the book will have sufficient curiosity and knowledge of their own sexuality to enable them to feel comfortable enough to concentrate on the magical side of the spells they are enacting.

In a sense this book is an introductory or initiatory course to some of the basic magical methods and ideas, although sometimes with a modern twist—not unlike fusion cooking, which takes traditional influences and plays around with flavor and texture to produce something fun, exciting and often totally unexpected! After getting a taste for some of these new "flavors," it is hoped you will be equipped to seek out and become adept at those techniques to which you are most drawn.

The benefits of opening up to a greater knowledge of sex or magic are many: practice can bring a greater self knowledge, a sense of self worth or of self image, to name but a few. In short, the practitioner undergoes an alchemical process, a transformation where all thoughts, dreams and desires are brought under inspection, broken down and rebuilt.

This process can be unsettling, but without the self-assurance of having conquered fears, and defining your will, it would be quite difficult to learn how to maximize the potential in life, magic or sex. As your confidence is boosted, you can often view life from different angles that help you to achieve your goals more easily by enabling connections between you, other people and the universe. Taking responsibility for yourself is one of the most liberating, empowering and radical magical actions you can do. You will only have your negativity, inhibitions and restrictions to lose and everything to gain.

So who is this book written for? As many people as possible; anyone capable of practicing magic or sex; anyone who wants to enrich their lives. Your gender, race, sexuality, or beliefs should not be an automatic disqualification for the practice of magic, so these spells are all written with this in mind and, as a result, are readily adaptable to your needs. Magic is not a separate thing you do outside of your regular life; you, and everything you are, is the magic.

Many of these spells have been inspired by some wonderful people and all of them have been tested with a little help from my friends and loved ones (incidentally one of the most sensual, magical, intelligent, strong, and creative networks of people a girl could ever hope to know). So I hope that you will have fun discovering or rediscovering the mysteries and how they enrich and empower your life.

As we reweave the fabric of our lives, as we would choose them, we can all strive to maximize our potential, bringing intelligence, healing, responsibility and laughter into our lives and all our relationships.