Revisiting Candle Magick

Considered sympathetic magick, Candle Magick is one of the oldest and most widely practiced artes included within any rite around the world with it’s origins not known, but there is evidence that beeswax candles were used in Egypt and Crete as early as 3000 B.C.E.  The use of candles has it’s own strong qualities I feel is sometimes either neglected, forgotten or just not known to even the most adept that use candles within their rituals.

One of the reasons why candles have been such an integral part in rituals is because of the properties that fire itself contains which predating most of mainstream spiritual paths today. Some state that staring into a flame, one could enter an altered state of consciousness and see gods and spirits, or see the future. For me like any element I connect to, Fire can be quite mesmerizing and can take over your psyche as if was a deity within it’s own so one should always treat this great force with respect.

 In a way I like to think of Candle Magick as to illuminating your petition to the gods, otherwise, in the darkness for none to aiding to your rescue. The vibrations that go into making a candle should never be taken for granted (some of my best work come from the way I use candles and herbs) which is why it is always best to purchase candles from sources you trust but even better making candles yourself! If you are into making your own candles, you should be aware that there is a ritual all in itself during the formation and hardening of the wax that increases the potency of any candle especially when combining the candle with the necessary herbs and other complementary ingredients needed for the desired result.

As part of the preparation for using candles within your ritual, by rule never use a used candle. It’s best to use candles without the glass as these are easier to “dress” however should you prefer and only have glass candles there are some advantages there as well in that you don’t risk breaking your candle in anyway after it’s dressed.

Choosing your Colour

• Black
  Burning black with any other color dissolves negative energies! Protection, hexbreaking, reversing, banishing, destroying evil or negativity, binding, and repelling. Also used for healing very powerful illnesses.
  
  
• White
  The Balance of all colors: Spiritual enlightenment, cleansing, clairvoyance, healing, truth-seeking, purity, innocence, clarity and unity, Dawn, purification, peace, truth, protection, spirituality, General work, cleansing, repels negativity; use to bring peace, spiritual strength, truth, purity; heals emotions, and provides protection. Note: White can be used in place of any other candle color and is suitable for any ritual
  
  
• Green
  Abundance, growth, money, success, wealth, physical healing, health, marriage, fertility, employment, balance, Stimulates growth, healing, financial success, good luck, new job, good harvest, nature appreciation, love.
  
  
• Red
  Energy, vitality, and strength, health, passion, sex, love, protection, fire, fertility, fast action, strength, potency, lust, blood, Physical love and passion, courage, warmth, energy, attraction, magnetism, desire, action, physical strength, power, willpower. Strengthens magnetism in a ritual, creates Ram and Scorpio energies.
  
  
• Yellow
  Intellect, wisdom and honor, action, inspiration and creativity, studying and intelligence, concentration, memory, logic, learning, attraction, confidence, Mental powers, intellect, inspiration, concentration, retention of memory, energy, cheerfulness, sunny disposition, changes, endurance, stability and security. Yellow strengthens the imagination and concentration in a ritual. Is used in rituals in which the trust of a person is gained or in which one wants to convince someone.
  
  
• Orange
  Cleanses negative attitudes, situations and places, Happiness, business deals, attracting good things, success, career, goals, stimulation, attraction, power, luck, sudden changes, Warmth, energy building, enthusiasm, attracts success and prosperity, emotional healing, attracts friends, courage and ambition.
• Blue
  Communication, truth, peace, calm, loosing weight, wisdom, understanding, protection, harmony, inspiration, truth, patience, health and happiness, luck, communication, loyalty, peaceful, cooling, contentment, healing, idealism, harmony, devotion, meditation,
• Brown
  Earth, a balanced color. Rituals for material gain, eliminates indecisiveness, furthers powers of concentration, learning, telepathy. Expands financial success, finds lost items. Material prosperity, Home, friendships, balance, animal magic, earth magic, concentration and studying, wealth, success, intuition, psychic powers and ESP. Protecting pets, Said to help find lost items.
  
  
• Purple
  Use with white candle to neutralize effects of karma and ego. Ancient wisdom, the third eye, psychic powers, meditation, spirituality, success, confidence, hidden knowledge, protection, divination, All forms of expansion, expands what you already have, spiritual protection, power, wisdom, healing, recognition, enhances psychic ability, Recognition in work, contact
  
  
• Pink
  Devotion, love, tenderness and faith, friendship, romance, honor, spiritual healing, caring, affection, forming partnerships, peace, emotional healing, Universal love, purest form of love, love that is unconditional, spiritual love without sex connotation, raises vibrations, sensitivity, healing. Designed to attract attention and achieve a purpose in rituals. The color of femininity, Honor, Pleasantness – enhances joyful and lively conversation.
  
  
• Gold
  Enlightenment, protection, success, wealth, money, masculinity, playfulness, luck, divination, victory. Enhances communication and attracts the power of cosmic influences; Useful in rituals which are designed to gain fortune or money
  
  
• Lavender
  Mother consciousness, manifestation and selflessness, Spirituality, compassion, understanding, inspiration, make contact with Higher-Self, attract spiritual assistance, very calming.
  
  
• Rose
  Compassion for self and others, higher mystical powers, humor, Love, romance, opening the heart, forgiveness, compassion, healing, joy, creativity, endurance, strength, stability and security.
  
  
• Violet
  Strength, Success, Idealism, psychic revelation; Ideal for rituals which are designed to secure Ambition, Independence and financial success or to establish contact with the other, spiritual world; Enhances Neptune energy.
  
  
• Silver/Grey:
  Victory, Stability, Meditation, Developing Psychic Ability, Removal of Negative Power, Repelling Destruction,
  Cancellation, Neutrality, Stalemate. Silver is primarily associated with female deities.
  
  

Knowing the performance of a Candle
The performance of the candle during the ritual should also be paid attention to as it signifies what one should look out for and will let you be aware if there are energies working with or against your petition. The reading of the flame of a properly dressed candle should help direct if you need to seek alternative measures:

Pay attention to your candle flame. Does it flicker constantly, burn high or low?

• Low flame
  The power to manifest your wish may not be working very well, you may have a contender for the same desire or someone is quite aware of your desire and has already set out to block you A low flame also indicates that manifesting will take longer so you may need to perform your ritual again.
  
  
• High flame
  This usually indicates that your candle may be working to manifest your desire without any problems.
  
  
• Longer Flame
  When the candle takes longer than usual to burn down, it indicates your desire is hard to manifest. There may be many obstacles. A very slow burn signifies that the outcome is very slow in coming to fruition or that it will take time before you see results.
  
  
• Smoke
  Lots of smoke indicates hidden trouble or someone working against your wish. Things may not go well at first, but with repeated effort, you may overcome.
  
  
• Crackling flame
  You may run into harder means to attaining your desire
  
  
• Flickering flame
  There may some indecisions on either your behalf and or the other person this ritual is for
  
  
• Black out
  If your candles are going out for no reason and there isn’t an obvious draft the gods are clearly letting you know to back off and not do the ritual.
  
  
• Soot
  If there is black soot that arises within your candle you can know that there are forces against you but you can be assured that the means through your magick is combating this. This is a good thing.

Be sure to that you “read” your candle when it has completely finished. Reading your candle is sort of like getting the signature of evidence of around what will manifest as well as weeding out the issues that caused the problem etc.

Timing`

One complete cycle of the moon takes exactly 28 days to complete. There are a number of parallel correspondences to calculate the timing of a given ritual but for the closest and profound influence I will focus on the lunar aspects, for more information, the internet is saturated with references.

The different personalities the moon presents throughout her cycle have perhaps the most profound affect on ritual workings than any other Time Correspondence. In order to coordinate your ritual workings with the cycles of the moon, you can follow the generalized guidelines below or the more advanced guidelines.

• The Waxing Moon
  Magick for increases that mirror the increasing size of the moon including: healings, prosperity, attraction, success, gains, love, increases, friendship, protection and any other positive magicks.
  
  
• The Full Moon
  For the rituals that require the most potent and powerful magick, the fullest phase of the moon is most appropriate. Though there is some controversy over what kind of magick is most appropriate during the full moon, protection and any other dire situation in which a great deal of energy is needed in order to attain ritual success are universally accepted as appropriate at this time. The full moon is the point when the moon reflects all light from the sun back to the earth. It is the most potent time of the lunar cycle.
  
  
• The Waning Moon
  Magick for decreases that mirror the decreasing size of the moon including: banishings, exorcisms, cleansings, magick to rid yourself of a bad habit, any type of ritual to rid yourself of negativity whether it is from human or spirit sources. The horns on the crescent you see in the sky during the waning phase of the moon are facing to your right.
  
  
• The Black Moon
  This particular phase of the moon carries some controversy. Some practitioners insist that no magick be performed on this night, however, next to the full moon, the black moon is the second most potent time of the lunar cycle. Either highly difficult banishings that have been resistant to rituals performed on other nights of the waning moon can be abolished during this night when the moon is at it's blackest in the sky. However, take care to perform these banishing before the moon is at it's darkest point otherwise the moon will no longer be the Black Moon, but the New Moon which is associated with beginnings rather than endings.
  
  
• The New Moon
  The new phase of the moon begins when the moon is hidden from sight due to the earth's position between the sun and the moon. No sunlight is reflected back down to us from the moon's surface. This phase is sometimes mistaken for the Black Moon, which directly precedes it. The New Moon and all it's accompanying characteristics can be relevant from three days after the darkest point of the moon. Experiment to determine how best this system works for you. During this time, the following types of ritual/spell work are most appropriate:
  • As the newest and earliest point in a new moon cycle, the new moon is seen by most practitioners as the most appropriate time to begin new projects, new spells and any rituals that require many days to complete.
  
  
• The Waxing Crescent Moon
  Magick performed on the waxing crescent moon is very similar to the waxing gibbous moon (they are both in the waxing or increase phase) and indeed you don't have to pay attention to the distinction between them if you choose not to, but you should be aware that the closer the moon comes to being full, the more powerful it's increasing potency becomes. This can be useful to know because sometimes we all have the luxury to wait a few days until after the half gibbous moon has passed into the more powerful phase, the waxing gibbous phase. With rituals that require less lunar potency or are the first in a line of several consecutive rituals that lead up to the full moon, you can confidently use this phase of the moon. For example, a healing performed to ease a cold or mild chronic illness can easily be started during the waxing crescent phase of the moon. However, a more serious illness would be better served during the waxing gibbous phase.
  
  Ideally, with some minor examples, nearly all magick would be best divided out between the full or new moon, but this is such a short period of time each month, that we delegate certain phases to certain less important tasks. However, remember two things. For veryserious illnesses the full (for healing the illness) or black (for banishing the illness) moons are the best choices, but they are not always necessary for more minor problems. Also the time does come sometimes when we have no choice but to do ritual work during incompatible times. In emergency cases, don't let bad timing stop you. Use other Nature Correspondences or the other types of magick (Mental or Spiritual Magick) to offset your lack of timing.
  
  
• The Waxing Half Moon
  This unique time of the month allows for all forms of positive magick that can otherwise be performed on the waxing phase of the moon, however, the waxing half moon is special in that you can perform magick during this time if you are engaged in a situation that is teetering on the edge of two resolutions and you want the result to turn out in your favor or in some positive fashion. For example if you wanted to do a spell for the success of a surgery in which the doctor predicts the patient has a 50-50 chance of survival, you could do the spell on the half waxing moon to ensure that the situation will have a favorable outcome.
  
  
• The Waxing Gibbous Moon
  Similar to the waxing crescent phase, you can perform all actions compatible with increase during this time period. However, magick that requires more lunar energy than the waxing crescent can provide should if possible be delayed until this time period because of it's closer proximity to the full moon. Of course minor magickal workings can also be performed during this time as well, but the added energy here may not be absolutely necessary.
  
  
• The Full Moon
  The moon in it's fullest phase reflects all the light sent to it by the sun. The earth is completely out of the path between these two bodies and the energy of the moon is at it's most potent. The full moon is the most potent time of the entire month and the time when many traditions of witchcraft hold their esbats, or ritual gatherings or celebrations.
  
  
• Since there is so much controversy over what actually begins and ends the cycle of the moon, there is some discrepancy over what kind of magick is best performed during this time. Technically, the full moon is the middle of the moon's cycle when the positive aspects of the moon's influence are at their peak, however many practitioners view the full moon as an downslope rather than a peak and thus either of the two types of magick below may be performed a full three days before the full moon depending on your personal preference. Many people prefer to only perform full moon rituals on the day of the full moon, but as with all other things in magick, feel free to experiment. What works for one person may not work for you and vice versa.
  
  Positive magick of any kind including completions of spells begun during the new moon or any other positive spell that requires massive lunar energy to propel a ritual intention into being. Fortunately not all spells require this much energy and some magicians consider performing trivial workings during this time as "overkill". However, you will have to decide for yourself how serious a working is to you to decide whether it warrants waiting until the full moon. Experience is the best teacher here.
  
  Negative magick as in banishings, exorcisms, cleansings or bindings. Protective magick while not necessarily negative is extremely effective when performed on the full moon.
  
  
• The Waning Gibbous Moon
  The relationship between the waning gibbous and waning crescent phases of the moon are opposite to those of the waxing phase because as the moon approaches the darkest point, it's decreasing potency grows. Thus as it moves from waning gibbous to half waning to waning crescent, it becomes more powerful in decreasing energies. So for minor decreasing and banishing rituals, the waning gibbous moon is more appropriate because not as much lunar decreasing energy is required to be successful. However for more serious decreases and banishings, the waning crescent moon is most appropriate because of it's closer proximity to the black moon (the greatest point of decrease).
  
  
• The Waning Half Moon
  This is another unique time of the month which allows for all forms of banishing or decreasing magick that can otherwise be performed on the waning phase of the moon. However, the waning half moon is special in that you can perform magick during this time if you are engaged in a situation that is teetering on the edge of two resolutions and you want the result to turn out in your favor or in some decreasing fashion. For example if you wanted to do a spell to keep yourself from being audited (in essence decreasing the problem) and you thought that you have about a 50-50 chance of this happening, then you could do the spell on the half waning moon to ensure that the threat of an audit will diminish and eventually disappear.
  
  
• The Waning Crescent Moon
  Rituals that require more energy for banishment though not necessarily the raw power of the black moon are best performed during this time as the waning crescent phase of the moon is close enough to the black moon that it carries a good portion of its lunar decreasing energy with it.
  
  
• The Black Moon
  The Black moon, also called the Dark Moon and the Lost Moon, is the point when the moon is at it's darkest in the sky. It is the end of the moon cycle when the absence of light in the sky reflects a void. Therefore by this theory, the black moon is the most appropriate time to perform banishings, cleansings, exorcisms and other rejectionary forms of magick. Do your own experimentation to determine which system (or both) is right for you.