Candle Magic, A Personal Insight

Can you remember ever making a wish and blowing out the candles on your birthday cake, or perhaps watching another person blow out their own candles? Perhaps you have seen vigil candles lit in honor or remembrance of a person or event. These are both very common practices and are considered sympathetic magic. The idea of candle magic is that when you light your candle, you are setting your intent or goal on fire. The lit flame of the candle symbolizes the flame or spark of the intention you are setting, whether the intention is to manifest something or to honor someone or something.

Candlelight offers a very calming and mysterious ambiance. I find candles to be a great substitute for artificial lighting during spells or rituals. For this reason, I prefer to have candles lit during ritual even when I am not performing candle magic. The thing I like most about magic of candles is that it is simple and practical. There are a variety of shapes and sizes of candles to choose from. One of my very first experiences with the magic of candles was using birthday candles. As a teenager, money for things like candles was hard to come by and we always had a pack of birthday candles in the junk drawer so I would use them for various spells.

Can you remember ever making a wish and blowing out the candles on your birthday cake, or perhaps watching another person blow out their own candles? Perhaps you have seen vigil candles lit in honor or remembrance of a person or event. These are both very common practices and are considered sympathetic magic. The idea of candle magic is that when you light your candle, you are setting your intent or goal on fire. The lit flame of the candle symbolizes the flame or spark of the intention you are setting, whether the intention is to manifest something or to honor someone or something.[fsbProduct asin=’1508551405′ size=’300′ align=’right’]

Candlelight offers a very calming and mysterious ambiance. I find candles to be a great substitute for artificial lighting during spells or rituals. For this reason, I prefer to have candles lit during ritual even when I am not performing candle magic. The thing I like most about this approach is that it is simple and practical. There are a variety of shapes and sizes of candles to choose from. One of my very first experiences with this type of magic was using birthday candles, and as a teenager, money for things like candles was hard to come by and we always had a pack of birthday candles in the junk drawer so I would use them for various spells.

Candle magic can be utilized in many ways.

My process generally (although not always) begins with me inscribing my candle with symbols or words to correspond with my intent and anointing the candle with an oil as I hold the candle between my palms and move my hands back and forth so that the candle twists back and forth. Palming my candles is a technique that I always do so that I can add my own personal energy to the candle. As I do this, I am both visualizing my intent manifesting and speaking my intention, whether out loud or to myself. As my visualization gets stronger, so does the energy I am raising. I generally have one rule when it comes to candle magic: use what is available. I have found that even though the color of the candle will help to boost the energy, the real power comes from the energy behind my intent. The candle itself is merely just a tool or vessel in which my energy flows through. When available, I like to use red for passion, justice, love and lust/sex; green for prosperity, money and abundance; purple for protection, balancing emotions and self healing; and yellow or blue for healing. I often use black candles as a filter for negative energy and white candles to banish negativity or as a substitute for other colors. How strong the flame of the candle is and whether or not it goes out on its own can be an indicator of how strong my spell is and what the end result may be. The length of time it takes for the candle to burn down can be an indicator of how long it will take my intent to manifest. I often use the wax flow and flame of the candle as a means of divination by interpreting symbols and shapes that may form as the wax melts and as the flame flickers. I also find it useful to meditate by focusing on the flame. This practice is mostly done at night so that I can focus entirely on the flame and the feelings or messages that come to me during the meditation.

The way you use your candle can be symbolic of the type of work or spell you are doing. Burning a candle on top of a mirror can aid in self-reflection but it can also repel negative energies and influences. Fire is both purifying and destructive so if you want to banish something or bring cleansing or even destruction to a situation, write the situation and your intention on a piece of paper and burn it in the flame. Placing thumb tacks or push pins into the candle can be useful when doing spells to bring justice when righting wrongs or to punish or incite revenge on another. The idea here is that the candle can represent the person/people in the situation or the candle represents the situation and the push pins are your way of “stickin’ it to them”. Once the candle has burned down, I like to save the wax drippings to combine them with other wax drippings of the same intent. For instance, if I have an abundance of candles used in healing work, I will combine all of the wax from those particular workings to make a new candle or to use in folk bags or folk dolls. To send something away, the wax drippings can be buried or discarded somewhere away from you, such as near a train track to “carry” it away. To bring something towards you, the drippings can be buried close to you or left at the train track to “deliver” something to you. Often times, lighting a candle can simply be a means of purifying an object or item by passing it through the flame.

On many occasions, candles are lit on my altar to honor or represent loved ones, deities or events. My daily ritual consists of lighting a candle for the deities and spirits that watch over my family and home.I have special candles that I light during my menstrual cycle and when I am working with certain deities. My candles serve as more than just magical tools or vessels. They also serve as focal points or reminders for whatever work I am doing at that particular moment. By keeping certain candles out on my altars, I am reminded to light them and send my vibrations of intent out into the universe. In circumstances of death, such as when a loved one passes away, I will often light a candle so that the flame will help them find their way to the afterlife, or if a loved one feels lost or hopeless, I will light a candle to help them find their way back.

[fsbProduct asin=’1519755597′ size=’300′ align=’left’]A simple yet practical way of doing magic, candle magic has been a common practice in all of my years as a practicing witch. Whether it is to honor my deities or to add spark to a spell, candles will always have a place on my altar. can be utilized in many ways. My candle magic process generally (although not always) begins with me inscribing my candle with symbols or words to correspond with my intent and anointing the candle with an oil as I hold the candle between my palms and move my hands back and forth so that the candle twists back and forth. Palming my candles is a technique that I always do so that I can add my own personal energy to the candle. As I do this, I am both visualizing my intent manifesting and speaking my intention, whether out loud or to myself. As my visualization gets stronger, so does the energy I am raising. I generally have one rule when it comes to candle magic: use what is available. I have found that even though the color of the candle will help to boost the energy, the real power comes from the energy behind my intent. The candle itself is merely just a tool or vessel in which my energy flows through. When available, I like to use red for passion, justice, love and lust/sex; green for prosperity, money and abundance; purple for protection, balancing emotions and self healing; and yellow or blue for healing. I often use black candles as a filter for negative energy and white candles to banish negativity or as a substitute for other colors. How strong the flame of the candle is and whether or not it goes out on its own can be an indicator of how strong my spell is and what the end result may be. The length of time it takes for the candle to burn down can be an indicator of how long it will take my intent to manifest. I often use the wax flow and flame of the candle as a means of divination by interpreting symbols and shapes that may form as the wax melts and as the flame flickers. I also find it useful to meditate by focusing on the flame. This practice is mostly done at night so that I can focus entirely on the flame and the feelings or messages that come to me during the meditation.

The way you use your candle can be symbolic of the type of work or spell you are doing. Burning a candle on top of a mirror can aid in self-reflection but it can also repel negative energies and influences. Fire is both purifying and destructive so if you want to banish something or bring cleansing or even destruction to a situation, write the situation and your intention on a piece of paper and burn it in the flame. Placing thumb tacks or push pins into the candle can be useful when doing spells to bring justice when righting wrongs or to punish or incite revenge on another. The idea here is that the candle can represent the person/people in the situation or the candle represents the situation and the push pins are your way of “stickin’ it to them”. Once the candle has burned down, I like to save the wax drippings to combine them with other wax drippings of the same intent. For instance, if I have an abundance of candles used in healing work, I will combine all of the wax from those particular workings to make a new candle or to use in folk bags or folk dolls. To send something away, the wax drippings can be buried or discarded somewhere away from you, such as near a train track to “carry” it away. To bring something towards you, the drippings can be buried close to you or left at the train track to “deliver” something to you. Often times, lighting a candle can simply be a means of purifying an object or item by passing it through the flame.

On many occasions, candles are lit on my altar to honor or represent loved ones, deities or events. My daily ritual consists of lighting a candle for the deities and spirits that watch over my family and home.I have special candles that I light during my menstrual cycle and when I am working with certain deities. My candles serve as more than just magical tools or vessels. They also serve as focal points or reminders for whatever work I am doing at that particular moment. By keeping certain candles out on my altars, I am reminded to light them and send my vibrations of intent out into the universe. In circumstances of death, such as when a loved one passes away, I will often light a candle so that the flame will help them find their way to the afterlife, or if a loved one feels lost or hopeless, I will light a candle to help them find their way back.

A simple yet practical way of doing magic, candle magic has been a common practice in all of my years as a practicing witch. Whether it is to honor my deities or to add spark to a spell, candles will always have a place on my altar.

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