How to Do Candle Magic

You're probably already done some candle magic. Have you ever blown out the candles on a birthday cake and made a wish? Candle magic. Lit a candle in a church or other holy place as part of a prayer, or even in place of a prayer? Candle magic.

Candle magic can be as simple as the examples I've listed above, or it can be incredibly complex. The level of complexity is always up to you.

There are a few basic rules.

• Once you have dedicated a candle to a specific purpose, it can't be used for anything again.
• The candle should eventually completely burn down to a stub, so don't use a big huge three-wick pillar candle! You can use a tiny tea-light in a metal tin, or a taller votive candle.
• It's best NOT to use a candle in a jar; although of course you want to put the candle you are using in a holder.

To dedicate the candle for a purpose, you can do a number of different things. You can simply hold it in your hands and "charge" it with your energy and your wish. You can write your wish in a piece of paper and place it beneath the candle (in a way that it won't be able to catch fire). What I like to do is carve my wish, or a symbol of my wish, onto the candle with an old pen (one that's run out of ink). For instance, if I was doing a money spell, I would just carve a dollar sign onto a green candle. For love, I'd carve a heart on a pink or red candle. I also impart my energy into the candle, of course.

That brings us to the next stage: color. What color should your candle be? White is good for everything. If you don't know what color to use, use white. If you are trying to banish something, you can use black. For instance, you may want to banish your debt. Carve the word "debt" in a circle with a slash across it on a black candle. At the same time, you might burn a green candle for increased money. Green is also good for healing, as is blue. Pink for romantic love, red for passionate love or for increased energy.

The more time you take with your candle magic, the better it will work. Yes, in a hurry, you could burn a little white birthday candle, but taking an hour or two to sit with a burning votive or tea light, contemplating your wish, will work a lot better. You may even think of a way to achieve your wish...that's one way it can come true.

When your candles gutters out, take the shreds of wax that are left, and the piece of paper you wrote your wish on if you did that, and bury it outside under a nice tree (on your own property, or where you have permission to dig).

Never leave a burning candle unattended. Always burn candles in an approved container.