Candles

Exploring Candles

Are you a candle lover?

Have you ever thought of all the reasons people use candles – for celebrations, romance, spiritual purposes, to light up your dinner table or just for relaxing?

AMBIANCE – Light and fragrance are the most effective and easiest way to improve your home’s mood and ambiance.  Home interior candles allow you to provide both.  They create elegant subtle lighting and beautifully decorate your home with texture and color. Their fragrances can be tailored to fit any mood or environment. Studies show that soft light is calming on the body. Relaxing with candlelight can help reduce stress.

GIFTS

Candles can be used as gifts for all occasions. Stumped for an anniversary gift? Tired of giving blenders at wedding showers?  Create a candle-lit dinner for two.  Line a picnic-style basket with linen napkins, two crystal champagne flutes, elegant brass or silver candle holders, and long, romantic taper candles.

MEDITATION

We love candles because they captivate, stimulate, celebrate with us, warm us, calm and excite us. Meditation can be enhanced with candles. By lighting a candle that is infused with color, botanicals or essential oil, these fundamental energies are released into the atmosphere and are absorbed by the individuals within the area of the candle. The auric field absorbs this energy, and it is taken into the body.

One of the most beneficial and powerful means of healing through meditation is to arrange candles in geometric layouts around yourself or around an individual. Geometric energy is applied in arranging the candles for specific types of healing. It is said that different geometric shapes will alter and enhance the effects of color and scent. It involves understanding what particular geometric patterns can do by using that particular layout around an individual to heal. Meditating within the center of these configurations, can heighten the entire experience.

Here are some examples: The Square: setting candles in the formation of a square stabilizes the entire physiological system. It grounds, calms and settles the basic life force around the color, scent or meditation being used.

The Triangle: setting candles in the formation of a triangle works as an amplifier. It increases the power of healing especially if the meditation is utilizing color, botanical or scented candles. It makes the meditation more cleansing.

The Cross: setting candles in the formation of a cross will assist in balancing the elements of fire, air, water and earth in the individual thus allowing the benefits of the candle to work more effectively. It affects the heart center (chakra) and can be used with all problems associated with it. It balances our physical energy.

​Types of Candles for rituals and Spells

 Birthday Candles

Since a lot of spells require you to burn the whole candle down until it goes out by itself, it pays to use smaller candles. Birthday candles are cheap, found in most larger stores, and come in a variety of colors. Since they are designed to go into cake you can easily stick them in bread, cake, or even a bowl of sand or salt instead of a holder. These birthday candles have different colored FLAMES which is so awesome!

Spell Candles

Spell candles are taller and thicker than birthday candles but are still relatively small. These are slightly more useful in my opinion than birthday candles, as they do take a slightly longer time to burn down. This gives you time in case you were doing some long and lengthy ritual, or if you wanted to do some meditation or journeying whilst you were doing it. They also come in a wide variety of colors. However, they do require a candle holder and it can sometimes be a bit hard to find one to fit.

Tealights

Tealights are a good alternative to spell candles, and I prefer them. They’re easier to get hold off as homeware stores tend to sell them, and you don’t need to buy a ‘candle holder’ for them – but you do need to place them on a heat proof surface like a plate. 

Tea Lights come in many colors and scents. You can gently heat the surface of the wax prior to burning with a hair dryer or heat gun and then gently press herbs or crystals into the surface for an easy way to make your own spell candles.

Votives

Slightly larger than tealights and normally comes in a jar, but the same idea.

7-Day Candles

These are either spell candles of offering candles to specific Deities, Saints or Spirits that are pre-made for your working. They come in a glass jar with a picture of whoever the candle is for, and they often have oils or herbs inside the candle.

Shaped Candles

Shaped candles have a specific purpose for each candle.  Skulls are a popular candle choice, ostensibly for binding, but you can also use them for shadow work. And the figure candle is always a good one to pick up as a ‘just in case’ item.

Church Candles/Altar Candles

Not to be used for spells unless you burn it for a few minutes each day and then extinguish.  If you like to work by candlelight, or give candles offerings each day to a Deity, then this is a good use for that kind of candle. Burn times can be from 75 hours to 200.

Crayons

Emergency candles. Comes in a wide range of colors. They require a holder and be careful when lighting them.

Jar Candles

Jar candles can range from votives up to seriously heavy-duty ones. When you buy jar candles, always buy from a responsible manufacturer. If you make your own, make sure you buy jars made for candles.