Heartbroken, I sent my checklist for a dream husband out into the Universe. Within weeks I'd met him. It may sound like woo woo - but every woman looking for love needs to follow THIS spell

Sitting in a circle in a suburban garden with 12 other women – some I know, some I don’t – of all ages and from all walks of life, I breathe in the incense burning around us.We’re each perched on a cushion on the grass to keep us close to Mother Earth. Candles flicker and rose quartz crystals have been intentionally arranged in a pattern to invite in love. As one woman begins to speak, she holds a ‘talking stick’, a symbolic object which is passed around the circle. Only the woman holding it speaks, while everyone else listens without interrupting. It ensures each person has the space to share and be heard.This is a ‘goddess circle’ and I have attended dozens of them. At times, we invoke goddesses from different religions and civilisations using their name and a mantra associated with them. At others, we focus on a particular intention. As a result of the energy created during these circles, I have witnessed women fulfilling wishes they’d always wanted, from job promotions to pregnancies, and even relationships.Jennifer Aniston, 57, revealed that not only did she celebrate her 50th birthday in Mexico with a goddess circle, but she has attended them with close friends for three decades. And a report this summer claimed that during recent circles, she has been asking the Universe for a proposal from boyfriend Jim Curtis, a 50-year-old hypnotherapist and wellness author. The couple have not – so far – announced an engagement.It may sound like Hollywood whimsy, but as a 64-year-old psychic medium, tarot reader and witch living in Hertfordshire, I can testify that such circles really work. Don’t believe me? Within weeks of asking my circle to help me manifest a husband, I met a stranger who fulfilled almost every item on my painstaking ‘must-have’ list. We married in 1998 and, 27 years later, are still together.It’s not just asking the Universe for a gift, though. A good circle acts as a mirror. Trusted women within the circle may point out that you keep choosing unavailable partners, that your actions contradict your stated goal or that the job you covet would make you miserable. The ritual focuses the mind; the group makes self-deception harder.Drawing on ancient traditions of goddess worship, the modern goddess circle grew out of 20th-century Wicca and the feminist spirituality movement of the 1960s and ‘70s. Now it has become a fashionable spiritual ritual, popularised by social media. Linda Rauch has attended dozens of goddess circles. At times, she invokes goddesses from different religions and civilisations using their name and a mantra associated with them. At others, she focuses on a particular intentionSearch Instagram or TikTok for #goddesscircle, #manifestation or #divinefeminine and you tumble into a world of women using moon ceremonies, candlelit altars and crystals to conjure up confidence, a new career – or love.Everyone seems to be discussing the occult these days – thanks in part to the imminent release of Practical Magic 2, the sequel to the 1998 film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witchy sisters. But I believe I was a witch long before I knew what the word meant. As a little girl growing up in north London in the 1960s, I mixed ‘potions’, listened for the calls of birds and watched the cycles of nature. An older woman living next door was probably what we would now call a ‘white’ or ‘good’ witch, although she would never have called herself one. We made daisy chains together and whispered wishes and spells into them. To me, it felt entirely natural.I came to witchcraft formally in my late 20s, after moving from Britain to San Francisco in the 1990s and meeting someone who was part of a coven, or group of witches. I felt as though a door into a new world had opened.For the six years I lived in the city, I became immersed in that world. I took part in rituals, spellwork, celebrations and goddess circles, and trained to become a priestess to hold my own circles. By then, it was the 1990s in California and, in my world, interest in alternative spirituality was so commonplace that anyone who did not explore it could actually seem unusual.Our goddess circles were not the polished, book-a-place events you see advertised on social media today, but larger groups gathered for public rituals and to mark important dates, such as solstices and equinoxes. We built altars, shared food, sang, danced and honoured the goddesses and the seasons. Smaller circles grew organically out of friendship. We were women who performed rituals together, went dancing together and turned to one another when life was hard.In our circles, if one woman was heartbroken, we would gather for healing after her relationship ended. If another felt stuck, we could work on clarity about her career. We chose plants, candles, crystals or other symbols – a key if she felt ‘stuck’, lucky pennies if she needed money – to reflect the intention. Sometimes there would be prayers, meditation, chanting or spells. To me, a spell is an intentional prayer: a focused way of articulating what you hope to bring into your life.By my late 30s, I realised it was time to settle down. I had been through several disappointing relationships and a particularly painful break-up. I had not lost faith in finding a boyfriend, but I had lost faith in finding a decent man with whom I could build a family.My close friend Gale and I decided to form a goddess circle for a love ritual. I wasn’t vague about who I wanted to meet. Rather, I listed every characteristic in minute detail.Due to past bad experiences, I knew exactly what I wanted: I needed a man who wanted to be a father, was willing to return to the UK with me and shared my values. He needed to be emotionally decent, compatible with my spirituality and ready for commitment.I became so specific that we joked that once we whittled down all the men in San Francisco who fit the bill, only three would be left.We picked roses, that represent pure love, and scattered their petals, burned lavender because it represents spirituality, and performed a spell around the intentions I had written. As I read it out, I asked for this only if it served the good of everyone affected. I believe magic is energy; it must be used carefully, ethically, or there can be unexpected consequences.For example, a couple I knew had been performing abundance spells and focusing intensely on receiving money. Then the woman’s mother died unexpectedly and far too young, apparently leaving a whopping inheritance. While I would never claim that their magic caused a death, the timing shocked me and taught me how dangerous it can be to demand an outcome from the Universe without considering where it might come from. A report this summer claimed that, during recent goddess circles, actress Jennifer Aniston, 57, has been asking the Universe for a proposal from boyfriend Jim Curtis, a 50-year-old hypnotherapist and wellness author. The couple have not – so far – announced an engagement Linda with her husband Bertram. 'It was as though we had known one another for ever,' she says. 'I knew instinctively it was safe to move so quickly because he was the man that I had manifested at our goddess circle'You can’t insist that one named person falls in love with you; you can ask to meet the right partner, while accepting that the answer may not arrive in the shape you imagined.Did I walk away from our goddess circle absolutely certain it would work? Not quite. I had seen enough magic to respect the ritual, but heartbreak had made me cautious. I was willing to leave it in the lap of the goddess. Then, within weeks, something astonishing happened. One evening at around 7pm, Gale called with a spare ticket for a dance performance. I had already gone to bed because I had to be at the clinic where I worked as a therapist, helping people with addiction issues, at 6am the next morning. I told her no.She persisted.In the end, I pulled a coat over the jumpsuit-style pyjamas I was wearing and went out without make-up. As we queued at the theatre, I turned and saw a sweet, ordinary-looking man holding a motorbike helmet. Yet around him I had a sudden vision of an enormous angel, perhaps 20 or 30ft high. Angels are known as spiritual messengers – was he being delivered to me? Goosebumps swept over me. I’d had visions before, but this was so powerful I assumed I must somehow recognise him.Inside, I persuaded Gale to wait with me so we could watch him enter. When he came through the door, I realised I had never seen him before. He took his seat. Then Gale and I checked our pre-bought tickets in a theatre containing hundreds of seats – and discovered that mine was directly beside his.I asked him what time the performance began. He answered in a strong German accent. As the curtain rose, a fully formed thought landed in my mind: this is the man I am going to marry. I immediately scolded myself for being ridiculous. I decided that if it were truly meant to happen, I would not chase him or ask for his telephone number. I would allow events to unfold.We spoke briefly during the interval, but when the performance ended he left so quickly I assumed that was that. What I did not know was that he, too, had experienced an insistent thought: if he did not ask for my number, he would regret it for the rest of his life. He stopped outside and waited.Bertram, as he introduced himself, approached me and said that he was beginning dance lessons with the group and could tell me about future performances if I was interested. Would I give him my number? I was stunned. He called a few days later. Our first proper date followed within a week and, within a month, we were living together. It was as though we had known one another forever. I knew instinctively it was safe to move so quickly because he was the man that I had manifested at our goddess circle.Bertram fulfilled almost every requirement I had written down. He was prepared to come to Europe and wanted a family. While raised a strict Catholic, he was interested in Zen Buddhism and open-minded about my beliefs. Within months we travelled to Europe to meet one another’s families. We married in 1998, 16 months after our first meeting, and went on to have our son a year later.While I have always felt a current of magical energy runs beneath our relationship, it doesn’t mean married life became a fairytale. My husband is practical, linear and grounded, while I joke that I am away with the fairies. But that makes us a good team. 'Do I believe I conjured my husband through magic? Yes – although I don’t expect everyone to share my certainty. But within weeks of naming an extraordinarily precise list, I met one of few men who could satisfy it. I saw him as an angel before we had spoken' 'For almost four years I have taught tarot, psychic mediumship and witchcraft to students around the world and continue to take part in goddess circles'When we returned to Britain, however, I shelved much of my witchcraft life, or kept it private. I came from a relatively conservative family, my son attended a traditional school and I did not want my beliefs imposed on him or used to make his life difficult. That changed when I turned 60 and was approached out of the blue by a young techy businessman to teach online.For almost four years I have taught tarot, psychic mediumship and witchcraft to students around the world and continue to take part in goddess circles – and have even repeated my successful detailed-list love ritual for others. One male friend asked me to create a spell for him in one of my goddess circles. While I was open to helping him, I had my doubts it would work.He had been celibate for 16 years and asked for a younger, attractive, financially independent partner. But he has now been married to a beautiful professional woman for several years and they have a young child. Again, I can’t prove the spell was responsible, but that’s what happened after we set the intention.Perhaps that’s why goddess circles appeal in an age when so many women feel lonely despite being permanently connected online. There’s power in putting down the phone, sitting face to face and being witnessed – using a talking stick or not – without interruption or judgment. The best circle does not promise every wish will be granted. It gives a woman safety to say what she truly wants and friends brave enough to ask whether it is right for her.Do I believe I conjured my husband through magic? Yes – although I don’t expect everyone to share my certainty. But within weeks of naming an extraordinarily precise list, I met one of few men who could satisfy it. I saw him as an angel before we had spoken. Among hundreds of pre-allocated theatre seats, his was beside mine. I knew I would marry him, and he felt compelled to wait and ask for my number.And 27 years after our wedding, he still ticks the important boxes. To me, those synchronicities are too exact to dismiss. The deepest magic of a goddess circle is not controlling the Universe or another human being. It is combining clarity, community and intention – then making yourself ready when the answer walks through the door carrying a motorbike helmet.How you can manifest the love of your life too As Gale and I did, you may wish to create a circle of trusted, soul-connected friends who support your intention. But you can do this on your own too. First create an altar – that’s really a space in your home that is an area of focused intent (I use my grandfather’s chessboard) – and gather symbols of love to put on it: pink or white candles, rose petals, lavender and rosemary. Add rose quartz to open the heart to tenderness and self-love, and rhodonite to encourage healing and healthier relationship patterns. Write an honest list of the qualities you need and desire in a relationship, such as kindness, attraction, humour, reliability, shared values, emotional honesty, freedom and respect. Be very specific and, most importantly, be realistic: seek compatibility, not perfection, and never name or attempt to influence a particular person. Then place your list on the altar. The ideal time to do this is on a New Moon, which represents new beginnings, but Fridays also work because the day is represented by Venus, the planet associated with love. Speak your intention aloud, remain open to love arriving unexpectedly, and take steps to welcome it into your life. Smile at the man at the gym and ask your friend about her single brother-in-law. Revisit your altar and list throughout the lunar cycle. Add or remove qualities as your understanding deepens.The Psychic's Way: At the Threshold between the Seen and the Unseen Worlds, by Linda Rauch, is available now at Waterstones.As told to Samantha Brick