- “Boiling an egg, removing the yolk and filling the center with salt and then eating the whole, shell included!”
- “Sticking 9 pins into a red onion, taking it backwares to the bedroom and sleeping with it under the pillow.”
- dumb cake ceremony.
St. Agnes was a Roman Catholic child martyr who was sentenced to death for refusing to marry. “St. Agnes, the patron saint of virgins, died a martyr in fourth century Rome. She was condemned to be executed after being raped all night in a brothel;however, a miraculous thunderstorm saved her from rape. St. Agnes Day is Jan. 21. ” One of the oldest superstitions associated with this night is that “if she went to bed without looking behind her and lay on her back with her hands under her head, he would appear in her dream, kiss her, and feast with her”.
But personally, every year I perform the spell listed in Gerina Dunwich’s Everyday Wiccaon page 87.
The basic instructions of the spell say that right before bed you should light a pink candle (anointed with the love oil of your choice) and stare into a hand mirror. While looking into the mirror you say:
“Dear Saint Agnes, sweet and fair
I call to thee with humble prayer:
with clarity I wish to see
the face of my true love to be.
tonight let him be dream-revealed;
with a kiss this rhyme is sealed.
So mote it be!”
Then you kiss the mirror ( I like to wear lipstick so it leaves the kiss mark), then you place the mirror (glass up) under your pillow and prayer to St. Agnes to thank her for listening to you. Gerina’s end note states:
“If there is marriage in your future (anytime within the next twelve months), you should receive a vivid dream about the man who is destined to become your partner in matrimony.”
Now, obviously the spell was written (by a woman) for women. But I see no reason it can’t be used by men with a few alterations!
Sources (In order of use):
http://gypsymagicspells.blogspot.com/2011/01/st-agnes-eve.html
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/st_agnes.html
Everyday Wicca, Gerina Dunwich, 1997, Citadel Press