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Episode 17: Candle Magic
1.2k Plays2 years ago
Welcome back Witches! This week's episode is going to be hot because we're talking all about that Candle Magic! As always we'll give you a little background and history, talk about candles and their magical properties, as well as correspondences that will get you started! So get in losers, and lets discuss Candle Magic!
We would be forever thankful if you left our podcast a 5-Star review. If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Supercast & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft or email us at weredoingwitchcraft@gmail.com. You can support our show through our
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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
- Cabot, Laurie. Penny Cabot & Christopher Penczak. Laurie Cabot’s Book of Shadows. (2015). Copper Cauldron Publishing, LLC.
- Cunningham, Scott. Cunningham’s Book of Shadows: The Path of an American Traditionalist. (2018). Llewellyn Publications.
- Moura, Ann. Grimoire for the Green Witch: A Complete Book of Shadows. (2020) Llewellyn Publications.
- Silverwind, Selene. The Witch’s Journal. (2009) Fall River Press.
- Smith, Erika W. A Beginner’s Guide to Candle Magic. (2019) Refinery 29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/what-is-candle-magic-meaning
- http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/the_elements/fire.asp
- Murphy-Hiscock, Arin. (2017). The Green Witch. Adams Media.
- Illes, Judika, (2004). The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells. Harper Ellement.
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Transcript
Introduction to Witchcraft
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft in the occult, but feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey. Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we have learned about
Understanding Candle Magic
00:00:17
Speaker
the craft. So get in witches and let's talk about candle magic.
00:00:32
Speaker
So what are we talking about today? We are talking about candle magic. I am really excited about this episode because it's one of my favorite things. I know this is something that you practice pretty often. It's the foundation of your practice, isn't it? You mostly do candle magic. Yes. I haven't done it. So researching this topic, I learned so much stuff. And I've always been someone who's kind of new to this.
00:01:01
Speaker
in general, it seemed intimidating until I started researching it. And I'm like, this is probably like next to, I mean, herbs are probably harder. Herbs are something I went to because I was like, you could just put this in your food. But I feel like candle magic probably is one of the easiest things. It really is. It's the easiest thing. I mean, you have to like be able to set your intentions or whatever, but like, it's literally like, let me get this candle. Let me set my intentions and
00:01:30
Speaker
Light it and go about my day. Exactly. Yeah. It is. Who knew? I think the easiest form of magic.
Accessibility of Witchcraft Materials
00:01:35
Speaker
So second, like starter magic, I would think for some, it really is. This is a good place to start. You know, like we talked about in our previous episodes on like budget witchcrafting and everything, you don't have to have. Different colored candles for all these different correspondences. You can just use what you have at your house. Like it doesn't have to be anything crazy. So.
00:01:58
Speaker
You are a robot right now. I don't know if it's recording you as a robot, but you're like, you're like flickering around on the screen as you move. Like it's like, and then you're like, sound like a robot. Uh-oh. I think you're better now, I think. Okay. Hopefully that's good. We'll see.
00:02:16
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully my internet. I mean, it could have been on my end too. I was just maybe, maybe just in case that way it doesn't come across as a robot. And then you're like, look, we have to cut all this out. I know. Right. That would be terrible.
The Role of Fire in Candle Magic
00:02:30
Speaker
Before diving into candle magic as a topic, it's important to understand more about the element of fire and its correspondences to practice candle magic, because you should understand fire as an element and respect its power. Candle magic at its core represents one of the four natural elements, which is fire. Fire is associated with passion, creativity, and projection, and it is an active element.
00:02:54
Speaker
It's also considered a masculine element associated with change, motivation, drive, and sensuality. Fire is what our ancestors used to warm their homes, cook their food, and to ward off the darkness. So because of this, fire is life and it's light. And it's the only natural element that doesn't exist in a natural state in nature. And its physical form can only take place when it consumes another of the natural elements. It's also transformative because it creates ash, smoke, heat, and light.
00:03:24
Speaker
So reading something that kind of corresponds to all this, I was reading an interview on Refinery29 and they were interviewing this woman named Holly Castle and she's from Witch Cake. So she has her own little business where she bakes.
00:03:41
Speaker
That's cute. And it's, yeah, and it's named. Yeah. So she says that candle magic is an alchemy where all elements are represented. Fire of the flame, air to feed it, melted wax for water and solid wax for earth. So I think that kind of like corresponds to everything that you were saying.
00:04:04
Speaker
Yeah, I absolutely love that quote so much. When I saw it in the notes, I was just like, oh my God, I love this. Like this is perfect. Like Refinery29 can be a hit or miss with their articles. Sometimes they're a little, I feel like they come at things a little uneducated sometimes, but they've had quite a few recently that I've actually used in our
00:04:27
Speaker
research for witchy topics, which is awesome because not a lot of like companies go out and do that, you know. Yeah. I think that's really awesome. So according to the white goddess, in order to gain benefit from its energy, we need to control and understand its destructive aspect.
00:04:47
Speaker
So when we light a candle, we are not just calling upon the energy of fire. We are limiting its power. Fire shouldn't just be seen as destructive. It should also be looked at for its benefits. An example of this is clearing away underbrush to give way to new life that is laying dormant in the earth. So this is something that we see a lot and like farming and you know, all ancient civilizations did this. So.
00:05:12
Speaker
It's a good point. We've talked about it in the last episode, actually how they would like use the ash and embers from the fire and spread them like on the farmland and stuff for like luck. And like, it's something that's been practiced. And knowing that about fire, like, I mean, obviously.
00:05:27
Speaker
you need to be safe when practicing fire magic and just using candles in your practice or just in daily life too. But the fact that you know we should be looking at fire not just for the fact that it can be destructive if not contained but by containing the fire it can bring that life that we
00:05:48
Speaker
we've talked about many times on the podcast.
History and Evolution of Candles
00:05:51
Speaker
Okay, so just a little brief history of candle magic. I mean, very, very brief. The earliest use of what we would refer to as a candle dates back to approximately 3000 BCE. The first candle, I know it was the longest time ago, right?
00:06:09
Speaker
That's so long, I guess. Yeah. It makes me wonder like how stuff like this was invented. Well, and I, I want to say I came across something to you that talked about how like the original candles were made with like lards, like frats and stuff. Yeah. But I don't, I honestly don't remember the full history of it. I just, that stuck in my mind and I was like, that's interesting. Yes, literally. Um, the first candles combined wick with wax.
00:06:39
Speaker
Oil or solidified fat yummy and the most common type was what you were saying it was it was tallow, which is animal fat and according to like what I was reading apparently it smelled absolutely terrible.
00:06:55
Speaker
So, you know, I would imagine, yeah, like I can't even, it just sounds really gross, but I never would have thought about that. And I wanted, I didn't even light up like when paraffin was invented, but I always will like romanticize like the past, but you know, everything just stunk really bad. Everything was really smelly.
00:07:17
Speaker
including the candles was not trying to steal your thunder with that one. I didn't read through your notes. And then you're like, yeah. So anyway, no, no, no, no, no, no. I think it was, no, that was a great segue to it because that's, that is exactly what it is. Like they made it out of, which I had heard tallow candles before, but I didn't know what it was. And so when I was reading it, I was like, how's that?
00:07:42
Speaker
And then like underneath it, it was like, oh, animal fat. And it smelled really bad. And I was like, what? Ew. Yeah. Well, thank you. I'm romantic at all. Imagine like a candlelit dinner. Exactly. So if you didn't smell like piss and shit during like the middle ages, if you, yeah, if you had money, you probably smell like animal fat.
00:08:09
Speaker
which is gross. After paraffin began being used, tallow was less commonly used for candles, which I'm so glad because gross, but you can still find it in Latin America as some magical traditions still use tallow candles, which obviously like, I don't mean gross as in like anyone who uses tallow candles are gross, but like, I just wouldn't be able to deal with the smell. I just couldn't do it. I don't think I could.
00:08:39
Speaker
Today though, candles are usually pretty cheap and easy to find, and they're a plethora of different types of candles ranging from paraffin, petroleum, beeswax, coconut, bayberry, and candelilla. So candles are considered one of the witch's most important tools, and they have multiple uses in both rituals and in magic. And then a lot of times too, just like getting in the right headspace, sliding a candle or a certain scented candle can help, like help you get into the right headspace for your practice.
00:09:09
Speaker
They symbolize the element of fire, like Sam said earlier, but they can also be associated with directions, with deities, and any other number of things. So one thing to note is when we talk about candle magic, there's this question of why candles? What is so special about candles? I mean, you see just in movies and in books and stuff,
00:09:33
Speaker
Anything that romanticizes paganism, witchcraft, Wicca, anything, you always see candles.
00:09:41
Speaker
What I think is so special about it is when you think about magic, what magic is at its core is changing your physical world around you based on your energy and conscious thought. So all a candle is, is really a representation of your energy and a focal point to focus your energy on. So using the element of fire and its correspondences that, you know, we've discussed earlier to manifest what you want in your reality
00:10:08
Speaker
I mean, that's just the basics behind candle magic. And I think this kind of goes back to what we were talking about at the beginning, where when you're new to this and you don't really know
00:10:19
Speaker
you know, how to work a spell or where to start with. Candle magic is probably one of the easiest and most inexpensive forms of magic to do. All you need is a candle, a way to light it, and then your own intentions. It doesn't have to be a fancy candle. It could literally be any candle that you have in your house already. And we'll talk about it more later, but you could even use birthday candles. And we've said this before in other
00:10:47
Speaker
several other episodes, I believe we've mentioned, you know, substitute a birthday candle, or if it's like, you need a pink candle to do this spell, you can use a white candle. So it's super inexpensive. You don't have to have a plethora of colors. You don't have to have a specific type. And then all you really need is to be able to set your own intentions and to be able to light that
Performing Candle Magic Rituals
00:11:07
Speaker
candle. So from that same interview that I referenced earlier, the Refinery29 interview,
00:11:12
Speaker
Holly Castle also said that candle magic is fast working and intense. So be sure that what you're asking for is something that you really want and something that you're ready for. At the base, candle magic is just getting a candle, charging it by saying out loud what the scandal is gonna be for while you're holding it, adding any corresponding ingredients, which we'll talk about dressing a candle later, and then setting your intentions and lighting your candle. That's it, you just set it.
00:11:41
Speaker
light it and then don't obsess over it, let it burn out, walk away. I mean obviously safely don't walk away from it in a space where it might catch something on fire but candle magic is considered self-sustaining also since once you light the flame it burns of its own entities so this means that you don't have to keep putting your own energy into it or obsessing over it for the magic to work. Like I said once you set your intentions and light it you're good to go about your day.
00:12:10
Speaker
But again, practice candle safety. If you have to leave your candle unattended at any point, like if you need to run an errand or something, don't be like Sam and I. Snuff your candle out and then relight it when you're able to be present again. And then always use heat safe containers like
00:12:32
Speaker
your cauldron or candle jars. If you buy like a Bath and Body Works or a Yankee candle, those glass jars are rated for heat safety. So you could even save them and just pop any candle in them and let them burn in there and they're not going to break or explode. So some types of candles and their suggested uses.
00:12:53
Speaker
I wanna preface this by saying, use what you have, use what's within your budget. You don't have to go out and buy specific candles to do these things. But if you have them, use them for these particular types of work. And then you can even, again, you can even substitute a birthday candle if you're short on time. You can do candle magic with any type of candle, just as long as your intentions are there.
00:13:19
Speaker
So the suggestions would be for spell work to use a votive or a pillar candle. For ritual work, to use a taper candle. For meditation and divination, use a votive, a pillar, or a taper. For just general aura or atmosphere, you want to use a votive, a pillar, or a contained candle in a glass jar.
00:13:42
Speaker
And then for specific spellwork, you can still use just a votive or a pillar, but you might want to use like a carved candle, like a figure of a man or a woman, an animal based on animal correspondences. If you're working a spell that has to do with the mind, you would use a skull-shaped candle or any other carving.
00:14:02
Speaker
And then for a five to seven day spell, it's suggested to use a knobby, a pillar, or a glass container candle, just burning a portion each day until the end of your spell. So with that, when you're using candles in your spellwork, you need to be able to allow your candle
00:14:22
Speaker
to burn out completely for your spell completion. So use candles that are going to fit within your time frame. And this again is where birthday candles come in handy. So if you have a limited time frame, a birthday candle is going to burn pretty quickly. So that would be a good option. Many spells call for candles to be used for various corresponding reasons.
00:14:42
Speaker
whether that be like color, element of fire, or any other like symbolic correspondences, whether it ties to a deity or an animal or, you know, the shape like I mentioned earlier. But again, you don't have to do that. You can use whatever you have, you can use a white candle, you can use a birthday candle. These are just suggestions that if you want to use something different or to amplify it differently, you can use these things.
00:15:09
Speaker
You can dress your candle with oil, herbs, and inscriptions, or you can add symbols, words, or other decor to the candle or to a jar if your candle is contained in a jar, and this can help amplify the intentions of your spellwork. Or you can simply just like write down your intentions on a piece of paper
00:15:29
Speaker
and then set your candle on top of it while it's burning. If you don't want to do that, you can just speak the intentions out loud and visualize what you're trying to manifest or what you want the end result to be. Placing a lit candle in your window is said to guard your home while you're asleep.
00:15:47
Speaker
Candles contained in glass jars are great for this. And again, practice fire safety. If you have curtains, you don't want to have your candle sitting there where it can light your curtains on fire or on a small space where it might get knocked over. I personally would not burn candles while I'm sleeping because I have cats and a dog, a giant dog who thinks he's a small dog.
00:16:10
Speaker
he runs into everything, but make sure you're just, you know, being conscious of things if this is what you're wanting to do. If you sprinkle cinnamon on either a yellow or a blue candle, this is a great way to raise the energy around you and help you to focus and help keep you protected.
00:16:26
Speaker
This is a suggested use when you're trying to study or finish a project, or if you're doing research, doing this is said to help you focus and keep unwanted distractions from coming in while you're trying to do these things.
Candle Color Correspondences
00:16:46
Speaker
In terms of deities, candles can be used to represent them. An example of this would be using a green or a silver candle to represent the goddess.
00:16:56
Speaker
and her association with the earth or the moon. Or you could use a red or gold candle to represent the god and his association with the sun. When working with deities, it's said that goddess candles belong on the upper left and god candles belong on the upper right of your altar. And then if you work with a deity, just research their color correspondences and then use a candle of that color to represent them on your altar or in your spellwork.
00:17:24
Speaker
Or again, you can substitute a white candle if that's what you have. So with that, there are a ton.
00:17:35
Speaker
of candle color correspondences. So I'm going to be giving you a lot, like Sam and I both are gonna be giving you a lot, but there are still more out there. I didn't even like cover all the colors that I came across because I was like, this is getting out of control. And we'll be here for like four years just talking about what colors of candles are for. So this is going to be a lot of information. And I'm just going to preface this by saying, whatever you're doing,
00:18:05
Speaker
research it, like research what the colors are for or think about what that color means to you before just like going and starting something or again use a white candle because that can be substituted for anything. You can also use multicolored candles if your intentions or like your spell span across different areas.
00:18:27
Speaker
You can like use layered colored candles or whatever, like a swirled candle. So here are some correspondences. So red would tie to love, power, passion, fast action, driving forces, courage, lust, career ambitions, strength, vibrancy, sex, war, conflicts, masculinity, optimism, responsibility, confidence, and health.
00:18:56
Speaker
It can also be used in spells where you're trying to manifest luck or fertility. If you're trying to defy death in any way, like there's a sickness or something, and it's also an anti-evil eye color. So you can use that in those sort of spells.
00:19:11
Speaker
So red also rules Tuesday, the planet Mars, and it's associated with Aries, like our little Samantha here, little firecracker. For the chakra, it's the root chakra, and it's tied to the waste system, lower lens, and it attributes to security and life force.
00:19:32
Speaker
also to like, I know obviously like you were saying, like it rules the planet Mars and associated with Aries. If I'm doing a spell that's deeply personal to me, and it's about a goal that I'm wanting to achieve oftentimes, like I will use a red candle and I will go one step further and I will carve the ram horns into the candle.
00:19:52
Speaker
with like a little knife or even like a needle. I've used a needle before and that's just a way like if you're wanting to work with like your zodiac sign and stuff, this is a great way to do that. So next we have pink. Pink stands for romantic love, positivity, goodwill, peace, affection, emotionally mature partnerships,
00:20:15
Speaker
caring, nurturing, successful marriage, and emotional health. It can also be associated with friendship, and it's a beneficial color when working with children in mind or performing a spell on behalf of children. So Pink Rules Friday, the planet Venus, and it is connected to Libra and Taurus.
00:20:37
Speaker
Uh, so orange is going to be career ambition, business, goals, property deals, selling success, self-confidence, strength, justice, encouragement, ego, pride, and materialism. For orange, it also is tied to the chakra, um, your abdomen. And for body parts, it's tied to reproductive organs and its attributes are sexuality and reproduction.
00:21:04
Speaker
Yellow, this one is persuasion, intellectual pursuits, the mind, learning, intelligence, long-term memory, philosophy, the nervous system, attraction, charm protection, travel, divination, and confidence. And it can also be associated with love, romance, power, and personally, I use this in prosperity spells. The color yellow can also be used to kindle the imagination for creativity.
00:21:34
Speaker
It's tied to the solar plexus chakra. The body parts are the digestive system and its attributes are intellect and ego. Then we have green. So green is tied to prosperity, harmony, fertility, pleasure, femininity, patience, train quality, and love. And it can also be associated with healing, money,
00:21:58
Speaker
growth and anything to do with the earth. Green is the primary color of the earth and the earth mother. It's tied to the heart chakra, to the heart as the body part, and it attributes healing and growth. And for
00:22:13
Speaker
Just a note, like for the fertility portion, fertility can take many forms so this can mean actual like conception of a child. It could be plant fertility, it could be career fertility, like it doesn't have to be about having a baby, unless that's what you're wanting. And it's also the color of prosperity in
00:22:34
Speaker
Is it feng shui? I always say it wrong. It is, yeah. That's how I say it anyway. Yeah. I feel like I heard someone say it that way and I ran with it. You know, like that's just how I say it. So next we have blue. This is healing, communication, tranquil energy, calm, patience, trust, compassion, and confidence. And this is also the most potent color for protection and anti-evil eye.
00:23:04
Speaker
Blue rules Thursday, Jupiter, Sagittarius, and Pisces. It's connected to the throat chakra. The body parts for blue are going to be the throat, and it attributes to communication. Purple is spirituality, power, or high-powered people. You'll often see purple tied to royalty. Ambition, self-assurance,
00:23:30
Speaker
psychic abilities and hidden knowledge. It can also be associated with sex, passion, and anything that's commanding or dominating. Purple rules over Wednesday and Mercury, and it's associated with Gemini and Virgo. It is the color of the third eye in the sense of indigo, which to me, I thought indigo was more blue, but I found like this was listed under purple in one of the books that I was using for research. So I was like, okay, I'll keep it there.
00:24:00
Speaker
Yeah. But to me, I thought third eye was more blue, right? And isn't indigo is more blue than it is purple or is it a combination of both? I think it's a combination of both of them. Okay.
00:24:11
Speaker
And then next is white. So white is protection, purity, childhood, motherhood, pure love, innocence, peace, the higher self, sincerity, and truth. And it also can be associated with initiations of any kind, creativity, lunar spells, healing, and protection against ghosts.
00:24:33
Speaker
I have not heard that one and that's interesting definitely going to have to look that one up more. And then, as we've said multiple times already in the episode white can be used as a stand in for any color because white is both the absence of color and the combination of all colors so.
00:24:52
Speaker
You can always use white if you don't have a different color candle. For black, this one was protection and banishing is what I found. And it can also be associated with fertility, healing, hexes, repelling and reversing spells. And it's great to use during the dark moon. So the color black rules over Saturday and the God Saturn who protects the home and is connected to Capricorn and Aquarius. This be why I love to wear black all the time.
00:25:21
Speaker
It's associated with the aspects of life that are difficult, harmful, or evil. For gold, this is tied to masculinity, wealth, and winning. It is the primary color of the sun, and it rules Sunday. It represents the archetypal god, meaning that it can represent all gods also, and it's connected to Leo. For silver, this one's tied to femininity, intuition, and psychic abilities.
00:25:49
Speaker
It's connected to the moon and rules Monday and cancer, and it represents the archetypal goddess, meaning that it can also represent any goddess. Brown is gentle, banishing, and it's used to stop harm without cutting a person completely out of your life. It can also be used for grounding and stabilizing effects during divination and psychic journeys. It's a color of nature, but it's associated with animals, not plants.
00:26:16
Speaker
So I'm just going to apologize now if you can hear my cat trying to break into my room. She's a turd. No, it's Freya because she's the only one that does this.
00:26:27
Speaker
So that is the color correspondences that we're going to go over. Just know there are more out there. Obviously we didn't cover every single color, but we covered a lot. So make sure you're doing your research and just kind of making sure that what you're using is going to fit in with what you're trying to do, or it has symbolic meaning to you.
00:26:47
Speaker
So just some extra little tidbits that I found that I really like. These were just like random beliefs on candle magic that not everyone practices, but some people feel that they are kind of like the all when it comes to candle magic. So some believe that you should never blow out your candle because it's offensive. That candle should always be snuffed out.
00:27:08
Speaker
But another belief is that blowing out the candle actually blows away your intentions. So like if you set an intention and you blow out the candle, you blow that intention out and it doesn't get to like come to fruition. I've heard both of those. Yeah. I let my candles go or I snuff them out. And like the little candle snuffers are super cheap on Amazon. Yeah. I have like an old one that was given to us like a billion years ago. And it's like this old like,
00:27:35
Speaker
heavy antique like brass candle snapper.
Techniques for Enhancing Candle Magic
00:27:40
Speaker
Some believe that you have to light your spell candle from another candle and that you can't directly light it from the match or a lighter. I couldn't find like the reason why but I saw this across like three different things that I used in my research and I was like that's really interesting but I want to know more.
00:28:00
Speaker
Some believe that for candle magic to be successful, it's best to do it after dark. And in divination, seeing a candle represents illumination.
00:28:10
Speaker
innovation and inspiration. Candles themselves were also used in divination in a couple of ways. So sometimes you could burn a candle and allow the wax to melt down onto like a plate or onto a solid surface. And then you would read the melted wax based on the shape of it or like how it puddles. And then another way is to just watch the flame and see how the flame moves or how it behaves.
00:28:36
Speaker
the movement shape or intensity of the flame can be assigned to explore further. So now that we've discussed different candle correspondences and the history about candle magic and general steps on just candle magic in general, let's talk about how to perform candle magic.
00:28:54
Speaker
It's very easy. The first thing you need to do is decide on your goal. We've kind of discussed this already in multiple different podcasts. I'm not going to go too deep into it, but essentially set your intention, be specific, realistic, and actually believe in the goal. And, you know, we referenced this, like I mentioned back in previous episodes, one specifically that we've talked about this at length is the manifestation episodes. So go back and listen to that if you haven't yet.
00:29:18
Speaker
Um, but essentially you want to get rid of any negative self-talk or doubt or belief that your spell isn't going to work because if you allow those thoughts in, then your spell probably won't work. Also, it's important to try to narrow it down to a single sentence. Oftentimes whenever I am doing candle magic, I will narrow down my intention to a sentence and I will chant it like a mantra because I feel like spoken word as well also helps to boost that spell with the candle magic.
00:29:48
Speaker
So loud gives it power. It really does. Yeah. So if you have it narrowed down to a single sentence that you can memorize, then that's perfect. I think also visualize your end result, focus on your intention or what you want to manifest and.
00:30:02
Speaker
I feel like working with candles and having candles is that visual representation of what you're trying to manifest is great because it helps you to visualize more what you're trying to manifest. So when picking a candle, I mean, it's really just about being intentional. There are many different schools of thought on what candles correspond to what.
00:30:23
Speaker
And there are many different charts on the internet Pinterest Etsy that you can reference really just like Tiffany said do your research. But I think one of the most powerful ways to work with candles and Tiffany you had mentioned this already is to really decide what the candle corresponds
00:30:38
Speaker
to you. So for example, let's look at a pink candle. We mentioned this already, but oftentimes pink candles reference self-love, but that doesn't mean that it equates to self-love for you. Maybe red reminds you more of self-love or purple, for instance, or maybe you're a person of color and you found an amazing and beautiful brown candle that reminds you of how beautiful and powerful you are in your own skin.
00:31:04
Speaker
So whatever the case may be assigning that correspondence yourself without relying solely on what books and the internet says is okay. Whatever the case may be assigning that correspondence yourself without relying solely on what books and the internet says is totally okay. When it comes to candle magic, like this, isn't like with other things where we've talked about, definitely look at the correspondence, like especially with herbs, like it's very important to understand what those correspondences are and to make sure you're working intentionally.
00:31:34
Speaker
with what these herbs represent. But with candle magic, you can be very creative with it. It's felt like a loose guide.
00:31:42
Speaker
Yeah. And then even with, you know, cause Tiffany, you mentioned this, um, already, but like white can be a candle that you can, it's like a place that are candle, like you can put it in place of any different color, whatever. If you don't have access to any different colors, but I've seen some people on the internet, what they will do, and I've read this in books too, they will anoint their candle with oil and then roll it in a colored glitter for if, you know, if, I mean, just with a white candle.
00:32:10
Speaker
to create a different colored candle, depending on what they're trying to manifest, which I think is pretty cool. I've also seen that done with herbs and flowers. So like using a maybe rose petals or whatever, grinding them down into a powder, dressing your candle with oil and then rolling it in that powdered like rose petal, whether it be like pink or red roses or whatever, just to add additional color to it. So that is beautiful.
00:32:41
Speaker
Well, and then you're using rose, which also has its own magical and medicinal properties. So, so outside of picking the candle that you want, decide on the size of your candle. There are tons of different candle sizes and shapes out there. So along with the color correspondence, decide what kind of spell you are performing. Does the spell require a candle that needs to be burned over a seven day period? If so, that's probably not going to work well with a birthday candle.
00:33:09
Speaker
Um, yeah, because I mean, I should, it's going to be burnt down within like 30 minutes, maybe 10 at the most. Um, are you performing a spell before you go to bed? Because your children have been up your ass all day and you haven't had a quiet moment to do spellwork. That's probably not a good idea to use a large candle.
00:33:29
Speaker
If I'm doing a spell at night before I go to bed, even votive candles sometimes take a while to burn down. I mean, they're like what, a three to four hour burn period for a votive. So yes. Yeah. So just understand how long it will take that candle to burn. And if you're doing something late at night, you know, I wouldn't recommend doing something that's not going to burn out completely before you go to bed. So a birthday candle at night is totally fine to use like, or just whenever, but just make sure that you're intentional.
00:33:59
Speaker
about every decision when it comes to your magic, because that's what's going to make it more powerful.
Charging and Personalizing Candles
00:34:07
Speaker
So once you've decided on the color candle, the type of candle, exactly what your intentions are, and you know the spell that you're going to work, the first thing that you'll want to do is charge your candle.
00:34:20
Speaker
And we had a whole episode on cleansing, charging and banishing. So check it out if you haven't, but just a quick overview of how to charge a candle. Basically what you'll want to do is hold the candle in your hand and focus on the desired goal of the spell. So clasp the candle with two hands, sandwich it between your clothes, hands, close your eyes, clear your mind and take a few deep breaths. While you're holding the candle, focus on the energy flowing out of yourself and into the candle.
00:34:50
Speaker
And, um, I also cleanse my candle before I perform a spell. And before I charge the candle, I usually do this with smoke from incense. Ask if it's just smoker. Yeah. I do it with incense usually. I mean, you can do it with like crystals and stuff too, but, um, I always just use instance. It's just easy. I tend to do incense just cause it's super easy and it smells amazing. Yeah.
00:35:17
Speaker
And I know that I could have that going and it not mess up anything in my home. Yeah. Yeah. I'm just going to make it smell nice.
00:35:27
Speaker
Yeah. And another thing that you can do, you know, Tiffany, you mentioned this already is carving into the candle. Obviously this is not going to work with a birthday candle, but this will work on any smaller spell candles, any large taper candles, any pillars, anything like that. And if it's something that's encased in glass, you can just carve on the top of the candle instead of the sides, obviously.
00:35:50
Speaker
And to do this, you can use any sort of carving tool, a knife, um, Swiss army knife is perfect to use to carve into candles and also a needle. I, you know, at the stores at any store, you can get a package of needles and they always have those huge ones that, what would you even use this for? Yeah. Perfect for carving into candles.
00:36:12
Speaker
or a toothpick. If you're like us, we keep a thing of toothpicks in the kitchen for testing like cakes and stuff. Yeah, that's a really good idea. Yeah. Never actually use toothpicks. I should probably try to use toothpicks. Yeah. I'm usually like going after it with a knife or a needle. Which can be unsafe if you're not doing it correctly, but that's just what I do. So I really like this. It's
00:36:39
Speaker
You know, just something that I read online, but I think it's amazing when it comes to candle magic, because this is essentially what you're doing. When you are performing a spell and you're using candle magic, it's essentially the candle. If you're melting it completely, it disappears. You know what I mean? Like it's, it's, it goes from a big candle or whatever type of candle using to something very small, a puddle of wax. And a great thing that you can do is visualize that the candle will disappear.
00:37:08
Speaker
And whatever is carved into the candle will be transmitted into the universe. Should it be carved into the wax? That is really cool. So when you're carving symbols, sigils, or runes into your candle, if you want to draw something towards you, you're going to carve it into your candle from the top to the bottom. And then if you're trying to dispel something, you're going to write it from the bottom to the top of the candle.
00:37:35
Speaker
like pushing it away. Like imagine like the bottom of the candle is like cut from you. So when you're working it towards the top, you're pushing it away. When you're working it towards the bottom, you're pulling it into you. If you visualize how it would be to carve into a candle anyway, like usually you're holding like the bottom of the candle close to like how I do it. It's like close to me or close to my abdomen while I'm using
00:37:59
Speaker
like my other hand to like carve into the candle. So if you visualize it as in like pushing it out away from you or bringing it in, that's a really great way to visualize it.
00:38:10
Speaker
Um, also if you're creating a sigil into the candle, this is can be done in many different ways. It is super easy. There are tons of videos online on how to do sigil work, how to create your own sigils. You could use runes and stuff as well. But, um, an example that I just want to briefly cover is something called a word sigil. And all you need to do is going back to that short sentence.
00:38:38
Speaker
that you created for your intention if you write that down on a piece of paper. I usually do this before I start working the spell just that way whenever i'm working on the spell I don't have to keep flipping back and forth different places what i'm going to do it's all just laid out perfectly for me, but what you can do is.
00:38:57
Speaker
write out that small sentence on a piece of paper, then cross out any repeating letters. You can also cross out any vowels. And what you're left with is just a few remaining letters. And what you can do is take those letters and just kind of create your own little sigil. Be creative and it doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be beautiful. It just
00:39:20
Speaker
is something that you've created that comes from you. And this is a wonderful way to make your spell more powerful and more personable to you. You're not copying somebody else's sigil off the internet. You're not copying any runes or anything like that. You're creating your own sigil and you're carving it into your candle. And there's, I mean, there's so much power that goes into that.
00:39:41
Speaker
i've seen this done to where they take. they'll do like letters one through eight or numbers one through eight and then they'll write the alphabet out underneath each of those so that the letters correspond to one of the one through eight numbers and then they draw like a.
00:39:58
Speaker
like almost like a little clock divided into eight sections and then whatever letters are left. And once you've crossed out your vowels and your double letters, taking that and drawing a sigil based on the numbers that those letters correspond to. And like, whatever you're left with is your personal sigil that you made. Yeah. It's, I mean, it's beautiful. There's so many different ways to do it and they're all really easy.
00:40:26
Speaker
Once you've carved a sigil or a word or whatever you're wanting to carve into the candle, lastly, what you're gonna wanna do is dress your candle with anointing oil. You can make your own anointing oil, or if you're lazy like me, you can use olive oil. I've actually never made an anointing oil, and I've been wanting to do that, but I would have to like figure out how to make a small batch because I'm trying to make like a huge batch that's gonna, I'm not gonna be able to take with me whenever we leave.
00:40:56
Speaker
Yeah, or wait until you get there. So same thing with carving. When you're anointing your candle, you do so from the top of the candle downward to its face because this is going to be bringing the magic towards you and anchoring the magic in the candle for burning. And once this is all done, oftentimes like I will roll my candle in herbs that correspond to the spell that I'm performing.
00:41:21
Speaker
Okay, so when performing a spell, as you know, like you could just walk away, but I like to stay for a few minutes afterwards and just kind of watch the flame. So outside of just normal fire safety that you know Tiffany's already discussed, watching the flame can give you insight into your spell.
00:41:39
Speaker
If the flame is bright and steady and it's healthy looking, usually that indicates that the magical forces that you're working with, they're with you. Um, if you see a low or struggling flame, that doesn't necessarily mean that your spell will fail, but it can be indicative of maybe opposition working against you, maybe your own worst enemy. Maybe you have some negative self-talk or doubt, or maybe there's going to be some obstacles in your way to getting what you want to manifest to come to you.
Flexibility and Personalization in Witchcraft
00:42:08
Speaker
So when is a perfect time to perform candle magic? There's really no specific time on when you should use candle magic. There's a lot of information online of people saying like do it here or there or Tiffany, I think you mentioned like somewhere online was saying we do it after dark, which is really cool. I think that.
00:42:26
Speaker
In the dark, there is a lot of magic there too, but you can do it anytime. Like there's no specific time or day of the week or whenever to perform a spell. There are online, if you look, there's Norse gods that correspond to different days of the week. And depending on it, like say, if you follow the Norse pantheon, the Norse pagan pantheon.
00:42:48
Speaker
then you can look up the corresponding days of the week and figure out, okay, if I'm going to be doing something that corresponds to, I mean, I don't even know self-love or just love in general, wouldn't that like, I mean, that corresponds to like Freya, right? And Friday, so that might be something you do on a Friday, but it doesn't matter. I never like, like look up the days of the week and figure out, should I be performing this spell on this day? I never do that. I honestly, the issues with it.
00:43:18
Speaker
I honestly didn't know that that was a thing until recently and it just came up in something else that I was researching for an episode and I was like, Oh, I didn't realize that like, you know, Wednesday is tied to Oh, I knew that from reading.
00:43:34
Speaker
American Gods because one of his nicknames is Wednesday in the show. But like I didn't think about it being Wednesday as tied to Odin, so this is a good day to do these types of spells. Yeah. Like be amplified by that. So I thought that was interesting, but also like, don't confine yourself to that.
00:43:53
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah. I think it's cool. And I definitely want to do more research about that because I think it's really interesting, but at the same time too. Yeah. Like you're saying, you don't have to confine yourself. You don't have to, if you really want to perform a spell, you don't have to worry about like, Oh, well, you know what? It's not.
00:44:09
Speaker
Tuesday. So waxing moon. Yeah. I can't perform this spell. No, whenever you are pumped and you're in a good head space and you know what your intention is and you believe in it. That right there is a great time to perform a spell. Not any other time. You don't have to wait for anything whenever you're inspired.
00:44:29
Speaker
Exactly. One thing that I do follow, like it's been, as you mentioned, the waxing moon, I usually follow the moon cycles and incorporate them into spells. I do spell work all the time without really paying attention to the moon, but I do try to perform a spell or a ritual depending on
00:44:49
Speaker
a specific moon cycle, if that makes sense. Like I will still go out and like, for instance, like on the new moon, that's great for starting things. So every new moon, I'll try and like perform a ritual or a spell that, you know, if there's something that I want to achieve or there's something I'm wanting to start, I will set that intention out on a new moon. For a waxy moon, this is a great time. You know, this is a time when the moon is getting bigger. So this is a great time to amplify things in your life. So whether that be like self-esteem,
00:45:18
Speaker
self-love, anything related to your career, that this is a great time to perform those spells. The full moon is a great time for seeking clarity of a situation and just being appreciating of what you have because the moon is at its fullest, it's at its peak, it's only gonna get smaller from here. And then the waning moon, the waning moon is obviously getting smaller and this is great for releasing things that don't serve you.
00:45:47
Speaker
So, I mean, you can incorporate moon cycles into spell work. I think it can make it more powerful, but really, like we said, do what works for you. And if, you know, you don't get inspired by the moon, don't do spells around moon cycles. Like it doesn't matter. Do what works for you. And don't listen to people that tell you that you have, like you can only do it on
00:46:10
Speaker
This like if you're inspired to do a spell and sure the new moon might amplify it, but it you know you don't. It's like already passed and you want to do the spell now like it's okay to do it like you don't have to do it on a Wednesday to work with Odin if.
00:46:27
Speaker
you're inspired to do it on a Friday. Like just whenever it works for you, that's what's I think great about witchcraft. It's more like personal. It's what works for you. What inspires you? What are you passionate about? It's not just like a one size fits all thing. Like everybody practices so differently.
00:46:49
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah. I, that's what I love about it as well. Like there's no right or wrong way unless you're doing something that like is very painful and you have no business doing that or we've mentioned in the past doing like love spells and stuff, or you're culturally appropriating as long as you're sticking away from those like really problematic topics and you're doing your research, do what works for you. I'm with candle magic. Like I love candle magic. So.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:47:18
Speaker
If we've missed something or say you practice differently than how we practice, let us know, like tag us in any spells that you're doing, that you're comfortable sharing. And we would love to see how you're incorporating candle magic into your everyday life.
00:47:42
Speaker
That's it for this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode linked in the show notes. If you loved this episode, we would be forever thankful if you leave us a five-star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get In Loser content, check out our Supercast link provided in the show notes or search the Supercast website for Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft.
00:48:06
Speaker
There you can purchase a membership to our podcast and obtain exclusives like getting episodes early, shadows on the show, access to our Ask Me Anything forum, our monthly newsletter, a promo code for merchandise, and more. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Get In Witches or email us at we'redoingwitchcraft at gmail.com. Check us out next week where we will explore grounding. Until then, blessed be witches.