Candle With Care

An introduction to candle magick. Hello lovelies! Don’t forget to like this post and subscribe! We need your encouragement! Feel free to chat with us at the bottom right corner of your screen if you have any questions or suggestions for content you’d like to see. We do all the research for you and then compose it into these spunky articles for your entertainment.

Candles are effing amazing for magick, but we mean what tool isn’t? So far we have covered herbs, bibliomancy, sigils, and tarot. Candles can be used for all sorts of things and we have briefly touched on them in our other articles, so definitely check them out for more information!

We all know what candles are, but many of us may not know all the different ways we can use them for magick. In this article, we will explain some basic practices, how to read the smoke, how to read the flame, what colors to use and when, and how to apply candle magic to your spells.

Getting Started

*Disclaimer* Candles can be very dangerous. Please be careful. Do not leave a candle unattended. Keep it about a foot away from anything flammable. Be careful of your pets. Our cat has been curious and singed his fur. Don’t be like us. Be better. You do not want to be that person in your apartment complex that makes the fire alarm go off. Don’t be that person. Be CAREFUL.

Candle Sizes

This is a debatable topic. Some witches believe candle size doesn’t matter (we know it does ;) ). We disagree. Candles emit energy while burning, thus if you channel your own intention into the candle it gives it a specific purpose for that energy. The longer it burns the more power your spell will have. Most of us don’t have 12+ hours to sit with our spells, so we typically opt for a smaller candle. For more important spells, we do use bigger candles.

Another debatable topic is snuffing your candle and relighting it at a later time. As an aside, you should never blow out your candle. You should either let it burn out or snuff it. If you do blow it out, the belief is that your intention will blow away with it. Your breath is part of your energy and it is powerful. Don’t forget that you are powerful. We choose to believe this, because it doesn’t take a lot of effort and we don’t want our intention to blow away if it is true. So, take our advice, and don’t blow out your candles. SNUFF THEM.

There are bountiful numbers of candle sizes out there in our wide wide world.

Birthday candles are great if you only have 30 minutes to an hour to spare. They also come in all sorts of colors. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of options for stands. So, you can do a couple of things to keep them up right (also with other smaller candles as well).

• You can use a match or lighter to melt the bottom of the candle and stick it on a surface. We typically use metal condiment holders to catch the wax, because the

wax doesn’t typically evaporate.

• Try ordering these candle holders and stick them in some hard foam. You can cut the foam up using a sharp knife. We used to sell Cutco knives, so we will obviously recommend the world’s unarguably best knives!

• OR you can just not listen to these suggestions and start a fire, you pyromaniac

Tea Light Candles burn for about 4 hours. They come in their own little cups so you don’t have to worry about spillage. The wax evaporates making it an easy clean up. Tea light candles come in large packs typically, which makes them great for spells that require more than 5 candles.

Votive Candles are kind of like the tea light’s older brother and burn for about 10 hours. Most of the time they come with a glass holder, but sometimes they don’t. You can buy the holders on Amazon.

Chime Candles are our favorite. They are like baby taper candles and burn for about 3 hours. These are our favorite holders for them.

Filled Candles are something we typically do not use. However, you can buy handmade filled candles that are catered to your specific needs. For example, you can buy energy

cleansing candles, which are really good for meditation. We don’t use these for spells, but you do you. If they are attractive to you, go for it!

Taper Candles are tall chime candles and burn for about 10 hours. There are a bunch of lovely stands on our fav website, Amazon.

Pillar Candles are the witchiest and you see them all the time in movies about witches! They come in all sizes. Short and Tall. Fat and Skinny. Like people! This means their

burn time varies between 2-12 hours. These guys can be drippy or the wax will evaporate. Typically, if it is a beeswax candle it will melt and get everywhere. We use a tea dish to catch the wax, but if you plan to burn the whole waxy candle, we would recommend using a large plate so the wax doesn’t overflow.

Candle Ingredients

Regular candles are great because they are cheap, but as with all cheap things there is a downside. These candles are extremely toxic when the wax evaporates. You breathe it all in. It is your choice to make, but we typically only use the below.

Soy candles are a little more expensive. Some of them evaporate and others melt, so you will just have to be diligent and check the description.

Beeswax candles will melt. They are the most expensive of these three choices, but are also the most organic.

Want to make your own candles? Check out this post!

Candle Colors

Despite popular belief you cannot only use white candles. You cannot substitute a colored candle for a white candle. BEWARE some sellers of candles will paint a white candle and call it a colored candle. It is still a white candle and will muck up your spell. Here is a good resource on color theory so you can choose your candle color

Charging Your Candles

And you thought we only charged crystals! Bah! A couple of ways to do this are:

• Leave them outside in the moonlight

• Leave them outside in the sunlight

• Charge with crystals

• Charge with your intention by holding the candle in your hands and meditating on your intention.

How to charge with the moon:

Sigils on Your Candles

What better way to emphasize your intention than with sigils! Check out this guide on how to make them! Carve them into your candle. For tea light candles, you can take the candle out of the holder and carve it on the bottom. For birthday candles, you are SOL!

Anointing Your Candles

This is super IMPORTANT. You should always always ALWAYS AlwAyS anoint your candles! Some important points for anointing:

• To bring something to you (patience, courage, love, etc) you put oil on the candle and rub it in a downward motion toward you.

• To push something away (banishing bad thoughts, weight loss, etc) you put oil on the candle and rub it in an upward motion toward the wick

• Be careful not to get oil on the wick

Some Common Oils:

Basil: energizing and great for stimulating the mind and aiding focus - giving clarity and mental strength

Frankincense: Increases connection to spirit, raises consciousness, spiritual strength and protection, ritual and ceremony

Cypress: relieves fatigue and helps one to be able to concentrate

Angelica: protection, calming, and purification

Bay Laurel: healing, banishing, protection against misfortune, protect against negative energy, bring luck in athletic competitions

Myrrh: grounding, helps to mellow out the emotions

Orange: bringing happiness and warmth to the mind, encourages releasing negative and highly charged emotions like obsessions and fears, assisting emotional balance to be restored

Peppermint: stimulates the mind and focuses concentration relieving mental fatigue and depression, refreshes the spirit, stimulates mental agility, improves concentration, aphrodisiac

Sandalwood: reducing tension, addressing all negative emotional states: depression, fear, stress, nervous exhaustion and anxiety; grounding, helps to instill a sense of inner peace, an aphrodisiac

Sage: mentally stimulating, induce trance states, enhance spiritual awareness,spiritual and emotional purification and cleansing, brings the protection and comfort needed to make life changes

Jasmine: soothes the nerves, producing feelings of confidence, optimism and euphoria, revitalizing and restoring energy, and an aphrodisiac.

Vanilla: reduces nervous tension and agitation, promotes relaxation before sleep, inviting sensuality and relaxing inhibitions, an aphrodisiac

Rose: soothes and harmonizes the mind and helps with depression, anger, grief, fear, nervous tension and stress, assists self-nurturing, self esteem and dealing with emotional problems, imparting a feeling of well-being and happiness, an aphrodisiac

Lavender: Open communication, the oil of truth, self-expression, connection to our highest self, balances emotions, reduces stress and anxiety, promotes sleep

Lemon: Cleansing, uplifting, energising, joyful, improve focus and decision making

Herbs for Anointing

You can basically use the above oil descriptions to choose a herb. Herbs are optional, but a lot of witches use them. All you need to do is get a plate, the herb of your choice, and your oil anointed candle, and just roll that sucker in the dried herbs and you’re done! Easy peasy.

Using Your Candles

The good part! Unfortunately, for you, it honestly depends on the spell. Some spells have you light the candles first, and others have you light them last or somewhere in the middle. We personally recommend doing it after you channel your energy and intention into the candle.

How to Read Your Candle’s Flame

This part is pretty easy if you follow this wonderful guide:

• Normal and Even: spell is going as planned and you can expect to see good results

• Strong: results will happen relatively quickly

• Very Strong or Tall: spell will be better than expected. Your requests are likely being heard and even propelled forward by the immense energy behind your spell (we’ve only had this happen a couple of times, when we really went all in on a spell. It was exhausting!)

• Small and Steady: spell is working, but there is not enough energy. The results may not be timely and could be less than for what you were hoping.

• Small, But Bending and Flickering: spell is not working either because of poor timing or the unlikely result of your intended outcome

• Overcome by Melting Wax: Your request is not going to be granted (bummer!)

• Strong and Dancing: good indication that the spell will be successful, but you may encounter obstacles you may have to overcome to see it to fruition

• Flickering On and Off Repeatedly: this is a great sign if you are trying to invoke a spirit or deity.

Crackling or Popping: Obstruction of outside forces; either someone is messing with your spell or a spirit is trying to communicate with you

• Will Not Light: the spell which you are attempting will not have the outcome you desire, or you may not be ready for the spell yourself. Try cleansing and meditating before trying again

• Extinguishes Before It’s Time: Your desires are not what is best at the time and try moving onto something else

• Inextinguishable: your spell is not quite resolved. Go back over the spell and make sure you didn’t miss anything. Then try to make up for it.

• Blue Flame: a higher spiritual being has taken an interest in you

• Burns Quickly: spell is filled with lots of passion and energy

Reading Smoke Signs

• Lots of Smoke: the air element is present

• White Smoke: blessings upon you from the spirits around you

• Black Smoke: NOT GOOD. STOP THE SPELL IMMEDIATELY. Cleanse yourself and the area.

• Blowing Away From You: not successful unless directed toward someone else

• Flowing Toward You: captivating what you desire

Wax Reading

• Crater in the Wax: lack of energy or effectiveness of the spell

• No Wax Drips: Spell is going according to plan and everything has been done correctly

• Wax is Favoring One Side: something is unstable and off balance inside of you

• Black Candle CRAP: unforeseen consequences await you

• Black Soot: if only present at top of candle, then bad energy was overcome. If consistent and covers the candle, your spell needs to be redone at a later date.

• White Soot: you had spiritual assistance with your spell

• Candle Breaking, Falling Apart, or Exploding: Your magic has been rejected by a preeminent power

If you want to read your wax for symbology. Just look up the shapes you see in the wax. It’s your reading. Don’t go on Facebook and let others perceive your reading! That’s not how it works! You have to use your own energy coupled with your own intuition. There are lots of symbology resources out there on the internet. Here are some common symbols.

Putting Out Your Candle

Again, do not blow it out. If you must pause and stop your spell, snuff it.

Let us know if you have any questions by submitting the contact form or by using the chat button on the bottom right corner of your screen. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE. As always, we are always here for you and love all of your encouragement and support.

Love and Learning,

Madeline XOXO