“In the beginning of the story, the gingerbread man is created when a little old woman decides to bake a gingerbread snack. When she looks into the oven to check the progress of her creation, the gingerbread man jumps out of the oven. The woman desires to eat him, so the gingerbread man runs away from her. He encounters an old man, a dog, a pig and a group of cows who also express their desire to eat him. The gingerbread man continues to flee until meeting a fox.

The gingerbread man was ready to run away from the fox, but the fox expressed no apparent desire to eat him. Instead, the fox offered to help ferry the gingerbread man across a river. The gingerbread man agreed and climbed on the back of the fox. As the river began to get deeper, the fox urged the gingerbread man to come closer and closer to his mouth in order to stay dry. When the gingerbread man got to the nose of the fox, the fox quickly devoured him.”

This is the gingerbread man story, but it doubles up conveniently as excellent dating advice for anybody currently working on charming a proposal of marriage from the romantic object of their choice. Remember, in that scenario, you need to be the fox.

Since Eve tempted Adam with an apple in the Garden of Eden, food has been intrinsically entwined with courtship and seduction – love potions are every sorceresses go-to basic everyday most requested item, but here we will consider the ancient magic of the gingerbread man, or dough boy.

We witches find it very effective romantically to form an edible effigy of the person that we wish to charm, and ginger has always been considered an important ingredient of love potions.

In order to enchant the man of your desire, you should bake your biscuits- by candlelight, if possible, and drink a glass of brandy or Amaretto while cooking. Have his photograph before you, and keep an eye on it:

Chewy Gingerbread Love Spell

Ingredients

Makes: 5 oversized gingerbread men (always good to keep your options open)- alternatively, form one large man-biscuit and use the rest of the dough for delicious small cookies and distribute them to friends and co-workers. This is a clever investment for the future. Even if the spell is not aimed directly at them, it will still have an intrinsic effect of provoking desire.

350g (12 oz) plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger, a dash of cinnamon, and a dash of mixed spice

115g (4 oz) butter, cubed

175g (6 oz) soft dark or soft light brown sugar according to your taste

4 tablespoons golden syrup- you can substitute butterscotch sauce or black treacle if you prefer

1 egg, beaten

Method

1.Preheat the oven to 190 C / Gas mark 5. Lightly grease or line three baking trays.

2.Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger into a bowl. As you do, describe to yourself the lusts that will fill the man who will be represented, what he would like to do to you. Imagine them as vividly as you can- form a clear mental picture of the sensations you will both feel when you are together.

Rub in the butter with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs; add the sugar. Absorb yourself completely in your scenario, and enjoy the sensual pleasure of burying your fingers in the ingredients. Think about touching him, how he will feel.

Beat syrup into egg then stir into flour mixture. Don’t let your concentration falter. Think sexy thoughts!

3.Knead the dough until smooth. Roll or press out to 3/4 cm thick on a lightly floured surface; cut out or mould desired gingerbread men shapes. Don’t use a generic cookie cutter- form the shapes yourself. Add raisins or cake decorations for detail.

4.Bake in the preheated oven until golden and puffed, about 10-12 minutes. Let them sit on the tray for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack.

5.Cool completely before decorating with icing, adding any identifying marks which can reasonably be represented with icing.

Tie narrow red ribbon, string or wool around the creatures neck, to effect a binding. Speak his name as you tie the knot. The crinkled little red ribbons and bells that come around the necks of Lindt chocolate bunnies are perfect for this. Repurposing household items is good for the environment, and appropriate for spellbinding.

Now, you just have to get him to eat it.

If that is not possible, this charm still has a certain efficacy. Putting out concentrated effort with enough intensity can produce an effect, especially when combined with appropriate ritual and an act of creation. The figure will bring you closer together regardless.

So if he is not available, eat it yourself and revel in the voodoo of devouring your man in the form of food- this will give you power over him.

I have described this here as being a spell for a woman to use on a man, but of course it is multi-purpose and for any combination of genders.