Candle Magick …you can put a spell on it!

A lot of people are talking about spell candles, candle magick and using candles in general when it comes to doing magickal work. Candles have been part of ceremonies and rituals for thousands of years. Candlelight is one of the most used light sources throughout the entire world, and what would a romantic evening/night be without candles?

You see, candles are part of our life, and we use them for all sorts of occasions. 

We are in the season of Alban Eifer. Cerridwen o’r Tan, Cerridwen of fire. What a great time to talk about candle magick. 

Before I write more about it, let us quickly talk about the history of candles. 

We believe that the first candles were made by the ancient Greeks 1600 BCE, followed by the Romans around 1000 BCE. The Romans were dipping pith, the spongy cellular tissue in the stems and branches of many higher plants, into molten tallow. There is also evidence of the use of candles made from whale fat which were used in the Qin Dynasty 221–206 BCE. One of the first candles made for the use in temples is mentioned in India where wax extracted by boiling cinnamon bark was used for temple candles. We really do not know a lot about the exact point in time when beeswax candles were used for the first time. One of the earliest pieces of evidence of beeswax candles were found in the Han Dynasty 202 BCE – 220 AD. The Jizhupian dictionary hints that candles were made of beeswax, while the Book of Jin (completed 648) did make a solid reference to the beeswax in candles regarding its use by the statesman Zhou Yi (1). 1848 was the birth year of the paraffin wax candle and during the following decades, many different waxes were used for candle production. There is so much more to write and mention but that shall be enough about the history of candles for now.

There are a lot of historical paintings, carvings and tapestries showing us the use of candles for spiritual work. And again, we really do not know a lot about when all this started and who came up with the idea of using candles for spell work. However, what we know is that spell candles work, and that alone shall be reason enough to use them, right?
Always remember that traditions were once new ways of doing things, passed down over many years and practised by many people in succession. With that in mind, let us now talk about candle magick. 

Candle Magick is my passion and literally my life. I, for myself, only use pure Beeswax Candles. Did you know that Cerridwen gave the bees as a present to the Welsh people? But this is something I would like to talk about in another article.

There are very complex spell candles but also simple ones. It is completely up to you what kind of spell candle you want to use. Important to know is that as always in practising magick, it all depends on what you put into your magickal work. 

Always remember the rule of 3: 

1 Never force or harm someone/something.
2 Never send anything without permission.
3 Never put negative intention into your magickal work.

As it is the general rule in magickal work, be VERY precise and VERY clear about what kind of spell you weave into your candle!  I cannot stress this subject often enough. ALWAYS use pure intentions, focus on the outcome and how you want to invoke the process of this specific spell. 

 

Weaving a spell

I really do not want to write a ‘how to’ because each person is practising magick in their own way. However, I can offer some guidance and show you how I do it. Magick has to flow freely and with pure intentions.

For example, if you want love in your life, do not ask just for love itself. Focus on what you need to attract love into our life. Do not direct the spell onto a single person –  that will not end well. Ask Cerridwen for guidance so that you will find genuine love. You could ask the following: ‘Cerridwen, Dark Mother, Goddess of Inspiration, Death, Transformation and Rebirth. I am ready to attract love back into my life. Please guide me and send me the energy I need to find true love’. 

It is the same for health, healing, wealth and so on. Never just ask for health, it really does not work at all. Ask always for more than that. Ask Cerridwen to provide you with the things you need to get healthy again, to be able to heal, to help you in times of hardship and so on. Things will take time; nothing will come just seconds after you started your spell work. Always think bigger. If you are unhappy in your current job and want a change, do not just ask for a change. You could lose your current job and that is a change you really do not want, right? I think you will get my drift. To change your situation, you should ask for precise things. You could ask the following: ‘Cerridwen, Dark Mother, Goddess of Inspiration and Transformation. I am ready to move on in my job. I ask you for guidance to help me to find the right job for me’. 

Each of us will find themselves in situations where we feel the urge to change a situation for the better. You know that a loved one is in a very difficult and poisonous relationship, or someone is harming people on purpose. For example, let’s talk about war. Most of us know and feel that war is wrong. If you want to create a spell for this specific reason, then never just ask for the war to end. It will create more problems than you can think of. Think much bigger. You could ask for the following: ‘Cerridwen, Dark Mother, Goddess of Death, and Rebirth. I ask you to send the needed energy to solve the current wars in this world. Please send healing and forgiveness for all wrong things done by so many people. I ask you for peace, love and understanding for all beings on earth’. In my point of view that is the way to do it. Think bigger and always be aware of the impact your spell can have.

Now you have an idea about how to create your spell. Let’s go to the next step. Creating your spell candle.

Before I go deeper into this subject, let me be clear about something. There is no rule on how you MUST create your candle. There is no right and no wrong. Yes, you can buy fancy candles, BUT you can also use the smallest and simplest candle you can find. You create this candle magick, you set the rules on how this candle will look! 

Coloured candles

Many people use different coloured candles. There is nothing wrong with that and it really makes sense to do so. Yes, I am totally biased because I just use pure beeswax candles due to the nature of my profession, so please do not think that I condemn coloured and non-beeswax candles. If you want to use a specific colour, you will easily find the right candle for your spell. But what can you do when you really cannot find the right colour, or you really cannot afford to buy a candle, or whatever reason you might have. No worries, always remember that you can be as creative as you want/need to be. For example, you want to make a Love Spell Candle and you need a red candle, but you do not have a red candle. What to do now? Easy answer, you could paint the candle, use a red ribbon, place the candle on a red dish etc. 

 

Decorating your candle

Now we are talking about something where your own creativity will be in charge. Stay as simple as you want or go as wild as you can. Everything is possible, as long as it is safe to do so. If you use ribbons, make sure that they do not catch fire while your candle is burning. Be very careful when you use essential oils. Most of them are flammable and that can be a not so nice surprise if the oil might catch fire. Paint or carve symbols onto the surface of your candle. Use flower petals, crystals – you name it, you can use it. The most important part is that you use common sense when you decorate your candle. If you are careful, no harm will come to you, or the people you are making the candle for.

 

Making your own candle

If you are in the lucky position to be able to make your own candles for your magickal work, then you are one of the luckiest people on this planet. The whole wide world of candle magick is there for you to explore. Be creative and go with the flow. 

Now it’s time to dive into the process of making spell candles. I am going to explain 3 ways of making spell candles. Everything will be done on a step-by-step basis. We start with a simple but great way to use already made candles, then we look into rolling your own candle and the last way will be about how to make a spell candle from scratch.

 

First things first

Before I start any kind of magickal work, I create a sacred space. I call upon Cerridwen, invite Her to join me in my sacred space and ask Her for guidance and to bless me and my work. After all, SHE was calling me at a time in my life when I was broken and full of emotional pain. She lifted me up, gave me strength and pointed me in the right direction so that I can serve her and the community with everything I do.

 

Candle Magick with ready made candles

So, you are in a sacred space, and you have all the things you need in front of you. Now focus on what kind of spell you want to create. While setting your intention, take the candle in your hand, feel the shape, and think about what you want to do with the candle. Do you want to write or carve something on it? Let your inner feeling guide you and go with the flow. Build up your spell while you are working on the candle. Create spell layers and imagine that you store them inside and on the surface of the candle. As soon as you feel that the spell is created, and the candle is nearly ready, think about whether you want to use any kind of oils or herbs/flower petals and so on. If so, always use the best essential oil and herbs you can afford. Bless the oil/herbs, put a drop of oil on your finger and while you are saying the intention of the spell, spoken or in your mind, use your finger and gently spread the oil on the surface of the candle. Now it’s the right time to use the herbs. You can take a pinch full of herbs and stick them to the surface. If they do not want to stick, you can use a bit more oil. Do not use too much oil, a few drops will do just fine. When you can feel that everything is right, the spell is cast and the candle is ready, just take some time to reflect on the spell. Close your eyes, ask Cerridwen to bless the candle and the spell. Do not forget to open the circle again. Your candle is now ready and can be lit whenever you, or the person for whom you created the candle wants to use the spell. 

Roll your own spell candle

This method is quite easy and can be done very quickly if you are in a hurry. But I always suggest that you take your time when creating a spell candle. You will need to organise a wax sheet, a candle wick and all the materials you want to use. Because you are rolling the sheet, you can easily use herbs, flower petals, crystals, essential oils, incense and so on. Less is more when you roll your spell candle, so please do not overdo it when you layer your materials on the wax sheet. But let us start now. Follow the first steps again. Create a sacred space and prepare yourself for creating the spell. Place the wax sheet in front of you. Focus on the spell you want to create and start with building up your spell layers. Most of the time I start with my herbs, followed by flower petals, then crystals and finally a few drops of essential oils. When you feel that the right moment has come to roll your candle, position the wick on the end of your wax sheet. Fold the edge of the wax sheet over your wick, gently press on the edge so that the wick is imbedded in the wax. Then start rolling the edge while gently putting a tiny bit of pressure on the slowly growing roll. When you reached the end of the wax sheet make sure that the end is facing downwards, put both your hands on the roll and gently increase the pressure while rolling backwards and forwards. Now make sure that when you pick up your roll you don’t let the roll go. Use your finger to gently stick the end bit of the wax sheet to the wax roll. That will take a bit of practice but soon you will find the best way to do it. When your rolled candle is done, you can think about if you want to decorate the surface or leave it plain as it is. It is completely up to you. At this point I am using a few drops of essential oil to coat the surface of the candle. You could use more herbs and flower petals or crystals if you wish to do so. 

 

Make your own candle from scratch

To make your own candle from scratch will take some time and you will need quite a few things. That includes the wax of your choice, a wick, a melting pot for your stove, a candle mould, or a tin where you can layer your wax, essential oils, herbs, flower petals, crystals and so on. I like to listen to some music while creating my candles. Start with carefully melting your wax. Make sure that you do not overheat the wax. That can end up in a disaster. The next step is to prepare the mould, or tin. Dip the wick a few times in the wax so that everything gets soaked and coated with wax. Now you have to centre the wick and make sure that you use, for example, popsicle sticks to hold the wick in position. The wick should touch the bottom of your mould or tin. You could use some glue to fix the wick to the bottom, just to make sure that everything stays in place when you pour the wax. At this stage everything is prepared for making your candle. Now it is time to create your sacred space and focus on the spell you want to weave. I would suggest that you build up layers of wax and each layer will contain some of the materials you want to use for the spell. Start by adding essential oils into the molten wax. Do not go overboard with the essential oils you use. Less is more. Pour a bit of the wax inside the mould or tin. Now you should wait a bit until the first layer is set. You can use the time to place some of your materials into the first layer. Build up as many layers as you think are needed and focus on weaving your spell into the candle. When all layers are completed, you can rest for a while until the wax has set. That will take a few hours. If you do this work before you go to bed, you can leave the candle overnight which gives the wax enough time to set. If you are using a mould, de-mould the candle and now would be the best time to decorate the surface of your candle. Be as creative as you want. If you are using a tin, your spell candle is ready to use whenever you want. 

I could write so much more about candle magick, making different types of candles and many, many more subjects related to it. But that shall be all for now. 

Thank you so much for reading this article. I am so honoured to be part of the Cerridwen Kin and that I got given the opportunity to contribute something so dear to my heart for this amazing newsletter. After all, we serve Cerridwen and the community. 

MoV von Avalon

 

Note:

1. Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 1, Physics. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. pp. 79–80.

 

MoV von Avalon – Priest of Cerridwen in training

Yorkshire, England

MoV is part of OBOD and currently in the first spiral of becoming a Priest of Cerridwen. He is a Sustainable & Historical Beekeeper, Master Candle Maker as well as the Creator of Beeswax Magick. MoV lives by the motto: ‘I take care of bees and the bees are taking care of me’.

www.greenmanhoney.co.uk
AvalonCandles.co.uk 
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