The Ethics of Love Spells

I'm not a witch, nor do I play one on TV. Before sharing my opinion on the ethics of love spells, I thought it prudent to make this point. It's quite likely that my views on love spells will be different from someone who practices magic. They may also differ from someone who has asked for a love spell to be cast. This is to be expected, as opinions are formed by each persons lifetime of unique experiences. Based on my personal experiences, I don't believe most love spells are ethical.

I spent many years of my early life yearning to be loved. I fervently wanted a white knight to swoop me off my feet and carry me off to love-land. I held the mistaken belief that if a man were to love me, then I would therefore BE lovable. If I had taken up witchcraft and cast a love spell, or found someone to do it for me, I would never have come to a most important life revelation.

This is, of course, the revelation that no one can really, truly love us until we discover that unconditional love for ourselves. We need this self-love to be present in our own hearts first and foremost. Without it, every relationship is a farce. Ethics aside, I daresay it would feel terribly unfulfilling to be loved by someone simply because a love spell made them do it. If you didn't come by the love honestly and naturally, wouldn't you still feel unworthy of their love? Of course you would!

Now, all this assumes that love spells really do work, and that you really can "make" another human being fall in love with you by casting a spell. As I said, I have no experience with love spells so I really couldn't say. For the sake of argument, let's presume that love spells do work. Are they a morally acceptable way to find love? Should someone cast a spell for a mate?