The Magic of Candles

The Magic of Candles

One of the most popular kinds of witchcraft

In candle magic we choose a candle in the color that suits us, carve a symbol or a keyword into it, and anoint it with essential oil to create the magic. Let us take a look at the simple mechanics behind creating candle magic. Let us imagine for a moment an imaginary spell – our spell is created by a gentle woman who wishes to cultivate love and self-confidence.

Choosing materials: To begin the spell she sits and thinks about the desire she wants to realize. Everyone told her that red is the color of confidence, but she never liked red, so she decided on yellow, which always reminded her of the sun. She chooses a yellow candle and looks for a word that might match the desire she wants to empower. She also gathers for the ritual something thin and sharp such as a needle, a porcupine quill, or a sharpened pencil, a stable and beautiful holder for the candle, and an oil with which she will bless the candle. The young woman in our story loves the scent of ginger, and the intense warmth of the root reminds her of the desire she wants to realize.
Finding keywords: “Confidence and love” are the words she chose, since they briefly define everything she wishes to draw into her life.

She is ready to begin the ritual.

Beginning the ritual: She finds a place where she will not be disturbed, takes the candle, and blesses it with the desire she wants to realize. “Confidence and self-love,” she whispers to the candle again and again, until in her heart she feels the desire growing steady.

Carving the request into the candle: She takes the needle or the quill and gently carves the keywords she chose into the body of the candle. She blesses it with every letter and word.

We bless the candle with oil: She takes ginger oil or extract and a base oil, such as almond oil. She mixes them together with focus and intention and rubs the oil onto the candle while repeating the keywords.
“Confidence and self-love,” she says again and again, until she feels that the candle is charged with energy, ready for the climax of the ritual.

Releasing the energy: She takes the candle and with complete focus she says: “When the candle burns out, the wish will come true” (or something along those lines). She lights the candle and sends the remaining energy into the flame.
She places the candle in a safe and stable spot and lays her hands on the ground, releasing the energy back into the earth. The spell has been cast.

Notice that I did not name a single color that is ”correct” for the ritual, nor a single oil that is ”correct” for every situation.
In the end, just like the character in our story – you will need to choose the color of the candle, your oil, and the keywords according to what is most right for you.

The meaning of candle colors
White symbolizes purity, the masculine element, life (in certain cultures in the East, white
symbolizes death), clarity, the sun, the seventh chakra symbolizing the connection to the universe.
Black protection, mystery, the night, the moon, the dark goddess, the crone, femininity, witchcraft, the dark goddess.
Blue emotions, the water element, serenity, the moon, sleep, quiet, healing, protection, the throat chakra
symbolizing expression.
Green material abundance, growth, nourishment, the earth element, health, life, balance, the heart chakra
symbolizing emotions.
Red passion, life, the fire element, love, will, sexuality, the root chakra symbolizing
our life force.
Yellow will, the sun, ability, self-worth, health, understanding, clarity, speed, joy and positivity, the third chakra symbolizing self-perception.
Pink love, emotions, childlikeness, innocence, joy, sensitivity, the element of the heart.
Brown home, nourishment, the earth element, matters connected to our grounding to the earth.
Gold the sun, life, the God, light, joy, success, health.
Silver the moon, the goddess, the subconscious, mystery, magic, mysticism.
Purple mysticism, magic, deep knowing, the sixth chakra (also called the third eye)
symbolizing the connection to the hidden world.

More complex forms of candle magic may combine different candles symbolizing different parts of the desire we wish to realize, and even different stages of the spell, for example: one for love and one for confidence, or one for self-acceptance and another for self-love. Some witches make their own candles themselves.
This is an artistic and wonderful subject, and creative witches may very much enjoy it.

A few more important points:
•The candle can be burned all the way down or saved for next time. If you choose to keep the candle, note that it is best to purify it from its previous purpose, or perhaps use it again if you want to cast a spell on a similar subject (I, for example, have a permanent protection candle that sits in my living room at home).
•Never bury candles in the ground unless they are earth-friendly and ecological (you do not want to pollute the earth during a ritual, right?)
•Always be careful with fire. Candles should be placed in a safe spot, perhaps in a candle holder standing in the center of
a wide bowl of water, for protection.

From “The Witch and the Moon Dance – A Practical Guide to the World of Magic / Elizabeth Zohar

To order the book:
https://practicalmagic.online/book/