Some reflections on candle magic

My reference for the 'textbook' way to do candle magic for this post is Cat Yronwode's page on hoodoo candle magic divination at http://www.luckymojo.com/candlemagicdivination.html, which links to other pages on the excellent Lucky Mojo site about candle magic.

I have recently been rethinking the way I do candle magic. The main thing I have changed is that shibboleth you read in all the books that you must never never under any circumstances blow out the candle. The reason given for this in Wiccan sources, & others that use the elemental approach, is that the candle represents the perfect balance of the elements, & that blowing it out disrupts this. The hoodoo sources don't seem to give a reason for this, but it is still maintained as something you must not do.

I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that no way of putting out a candle does not disrupt the elemental balance (even using a snuffer, which obviously works by making the candle use up a restricted supply of oxygen, thus removing one element of the fire triangle). I have also become dissatisfied with pinching them out as I always find some of the wax dried on my fingers afterwards.

This may sound like an uncharacteristically nit-picking approach to magic for me (at least I hope it does, I'd hate it if I routinely came across as nit picking), so I have taken the bold step of deciding that I will blow out candles mid-spell & not be held to rules laid down by others that don't work for me.

What does continue to do it for me, though, is what happens to the wax, both how it burns, of this more anon,  & also how I dispose of the remains of the candle. The traditional way of disposing of the remains would be to bury it under your doorstep if the spell is to bring something to you, or to put it in flowing water, or a graveyard, if the spell is to get rid of something. If I want something more exciting than a mere vanishing trick to befall the person I like those bins for dog mess. So does the Goddess.

Because this is something that really does it for me - plus I like not having the remnants of spells hanging round - it is gratifying to find that when I'm doing a spell for someone else I can do what they want with the remains of their candle without qualms. I'm obviously not in the habit of doing spells for other people (while *to* other people doesn't bother me at all, if they deserve it), I'd rather teach people how to do it themselves, but in the circumstances where someone can't do it, debilitated by illness for example, I will.

I have recently done three candle spells. I use just candles for them, I don't fret over what colour they are. I do it when the time feels right. The candles I've used for these spells were quite cheap so have burned badly & allowed scope for divination by the way the wax has dripped.

Cat yronwode says that candle workers in spiritual churches are looking for three witnesses to how the spell is working - how it's burning, the appearance of the flame, & what's left at the end.

I'm tending to focus on the first & last of those. The first spell (the first picture) was a healing spell for a person with fibromyalgia.  The candle burned very quickly, with the wax running off in a single stream, until the flame got into the flower-shaped wax thing caused by it running onto the candlestick. There it burned very slowly, it took several evenings to get to the point where it couldn't be lit again.

Now my interpretation of this & that of the person concerned is completely at odds with what I read on the Lucky Mojo website. Because there was a large amount of wax left, the problem should be unresolved - no doubt true with such a chronic condition - & the running wax would indicate tears.

The person the spell was for felt nothing until the long slow burn at the bottom, when she felt all the pain leaving her (which we would equate to the wax running off) & returned her to feeling as normal as she has for ages. Don't you love magic - miracles to order, & frankly who cares if it's psychosomatic, she *feels* better, that's the point!

The second spell (the second picture) was a spell to fix a boss, so the candle - all three candles came from the same cheap box from the shop round the corner - was anointed with Boss Fix oil. This time the wax ran off in multiple rivulets, which knowing the situation the spell was for I feel means the layers & layers of stuff that this boss has caused will be coming out all at once & biting her on the bum.

The third candle (third picture) was for another boss, & anointed with Boss Fix. I seem to be getting a reputation for sorting out bosses. This time the candle burned less quickly, but the wax - and less of it ran off - ran into the sweet little curlicues you see in the picture. Once again I would interpret this as multiple schemes & deviousnesses coming out into the open.

I have no doubt I'll be returning to this subject, I wanted to post on the subject of how the Hound approaches candle magic - that is, not completely as you're supposed to, but you expected that, didn't you?

------------------