CANDLE MAGICK BASICS

WHAT IS CANDLE MAGICK?

Candles in magick fall under the fire element which represents action, will and creation and it is the fastest working compared to all other elements. It is one of the simplest, least expensive and safest form of magick. Fire has the ability to create change, (both positive & negative) – it can warm us from inside with a campfire or it can cause serious destruction like a forest fire. For centuries, candles have been used to send off magical wishes and every culture and religion has some form of fire magick they practice without them even realizing they are performing magick. The one form of simplified candle magick that each and every one of us have practiced in our life time is making a wish and blowing out our birthday candles. We light a candle, we make a wish or visualize an outcome and blow on the candle hoping for it to materialize in the physical world. Candle magick works in the same way, except that here we focus on preparing a candle with a particular intention, corresponding oils, herbs and symbols.

Candle magick is very adaptable – a candle spell can be customized for anything and any situation. A beginner can use a single candle, an oil, everyday kitchen herbs and spices and create a simple yet very effective spell for themselves.

Every time we prepare a candle, speak our words of power into them and light it up, it connects us to our intentions and brings out our inner power.

Candle Magick is like cooking or creating art, where you need to understand how to combine the right herbs and spices for a recipe, have the right tools and right color for the painting, adding the right corresponding day of the week, astrological signs or phase if you want to make your spell work successful.

CANDLE TYPES

This are some of the candles available and can be used for candle magick:

1. Taper candles – slim / thick / tall
2. Chime candles- - slim / thick / short
3. Tiny tapers / birthday candles
4. Pillar candles – about 15cm
5. Votive candles
6. Floating / teal light candles
7. Double action - have the power of two colors for faster action
8. Triple action – have the power of three colors for faster action
9. Figurine – (eg male / female / couple)
10. Vigil / Novena Candles/seven-day glass candles / pullouts – popular in Hoodoo, Voodoo and folk magick, available at metaphysical shops and sometimes come ready dressed.

Every candle has the power to be used for magick, however depending on the situation and goal the size of the candle matters – a small goal would work with a small quick candle spell while a bigger goal would require some bigger and multiple candle workings over a period of time. As a beginner I would advise that you start with small candles and work your way upwards. If in doubt, it would be advisable to consult a practitioner for guidance on the right working for you.

 

COLOUR MAGICK

Bringing color to your magick adds an extra dimension of power and support to a working so choose a color or colors that correspond with your intentions.

Black –Banishing, transformation, uncrossing, endings, domination, protection, reversing, repulsion, freedom from evil, cursing, breaking patters, removing, trapping, shielding from evil eye.

Blue –Reconciliation, harmony, peace, kindness, healing, ideas, intelligence, wisdom, loyalty, sleep, meditation, communication, creativity, dream work, trust, forgiveness

Brown – Justice, balance, grounding, court cases, legal matters

Grey – Neutralizing or undoing prior spell work, working in between worlds, secrets, occult

Green – prosperity, abundance, wealth, generosity, money, luck, career, growth, fertility, gambling, business, a good job, healing, connecting with fae and nature spirits, heart chakra

Lavender – healing, calming, tranquility, spirituality, meditation, divination, sensitivity.

Purple – empowerment, controlling, commanding, domination, power, influence, spirituality, divination, psychic ability

Gold – Luxury, fame, prosperity, generosity, victory, sun magic, magnetism, charisma

Silver – Dreams, intuition, psychic work, moon magic, glamour spells, deities.

Orange – New opportunities, new ventures, new beginnings, encouragement, opening the way, removing blocks, courage, optimism

Pink – Romantic love, friendship, soul mates, sweet feelings, emotional healing, heart connection, affection, family love, forgiveness, beauty, unconditional love.

Red – passionate, love, energy, action, attraction, sexuality, magnetism, anger, fire, courage, warmth, lust, desire, excitement

White – All purpose, cleansing, purity, blessing, healing, truth, connection to spirits and spirit world, moon magick, devotion, harmony, peace, purification

Yellow- Happiness, good luck, attraction, success, confidence, knowledge, learning

Black & White – Reversal of general negativity, bring in blessings, duality, yin & yang.

Black & Red – Reversing negativity around love, relationships and passion

Black & Green – Reversing negativity money and prosperity

Black & Orange – Reversing, unblocking the path and opening the roads to new opportunities

Multicolored – chakras, 7 day candles – burning one color each day, symbol of gay pride.

Green & Yellow – luck + prosperity, job success

Blue & Pink – reconciliation or communication in love/ romance

Purple & Red – power or control and will

Red, White, Blue – vitality, blessings, healing

Orange, Green, Yellow – open roads, prosperity and success

HERBS, ROOTS & SPICES

They have their own vibrations, energies, medicinal and magical properties and are also used to help boost and add extra power. Although they have to be activated before using them and a simple way of doing it is to recite your intentions that align with your magical need before using it.

Dried herbs and spices – to be used on and around the candles.

Fresh– to be used around the working or on the plate. (Do not put fresh herbs on the candle itself)

Magical properties of basic kitchen herbs & spices:

Allspice – luck, business, attraction, money

Basil – happiness, money, love, confidence, protection

Bay leaves – wish granting, success, wisdom, power, psychic visions

Catnip – attraction, love, sexuality, peace

Cardamom – lust, love

Cinnamon – money, speed or energy boost, success, sexuality, protection

Cloves – money, luck, love, protection, exorcism

Chamomile – money, sleep, love, purification

Chili peppers – lust, passion, hex breaking

Ginger – love, money, success, power

Eucalyptus – breaking bad habits

Hibiscus – lust and seduction, passion

Jasmine – love, feminine energy, sexuality, spirituality, peace, money

Lavender – peace, sleep, healing, happiness, astral projection, love, purification

Lemongrass – road opener, cleaning and purification

Lemon – purification, love, cleansing

Nutmeg – luck, energy boost and raise vibrations, money, increase psychic awareness

Black pepper – return to sender, hex breaker, protection

Rose – love, peace, sexuality, romance, beauty

Rosemary – Cleansing, protection, love, health, studies & education, mental clarity

Marjoram – love, happiness, protection, health, money

Mint – healing, travel, money, lust

Rice – abundance, prosperity, rain, money, fertility

Orange – love, divination, luck, money

Parsley – Lust, protection, purification

Patchouli – luck in love & money

Sage – Wisdom, spiritual cleansing, fumigation, calming

Salt – protection, banishing, cleansing, protection.

Star Anise – Luck, granting wishes, psychic powers

Sugar – bring in sweetness

Vanilla – love, lust

Thyme – luck, money, financial stability, peace

Yarrow – love, psychic development, healing, mental health & clarity

Yerba Santa – beauty, healing, psychic powers, protection

Caution – Dried plant material is highly flammable so use sparingly, do not overload the candle, keep away from the wick and flame. MORE HERBS DO NOT MEAN A MORE POWERFUL SPELL.

SPIRITUAL OILS

Used as a base to dress the candles, a good handcrafted quality oil contains a base oil, herbs/spices/resins, essential oils that are high vibrational and support the magical intentions and work. Spiritual oils are usually available from a practioner (like myself) or any metaphysical shop.

However, in a case where you do not have a spiritual oil, you can substitute with any oil have available – some popular ones are olive, sunflower, grapeseed, almond oil or even an essential oil.

WORKING YOUR CANDLE

If you need a candle spell now - then do it immediately or as and when you need to, however if you can plan and wait a few days then you can work with the days of the week, moon phases, or astrological days that best aligns with the intention to perform your working to give it an extra boost.

WORKING WITH DAYS OF THE WEEK

Sunday – Sun

Any kind of working can be done on this day – success, prosperity, wealth, new job, healing, health

Monday – Moon

Dream work, psychic work, emotions, spirituality, marriage, childbirth, fertility, family, home, glamour

Tuesday – Mars

Aggression, courage, vitality, strengthening, conflict, break ups, banishing, destruction, victory, competition

Wednesday – Mercury

Communication, business transactions, negotiations, travel, faster results, gambling, creativity, speaking, writing, messages

Thursday – Jupiter

Power, wealth, success, leadership, money, business, legal, attracting clients and business growth, expansion

Friday – Venus

Love, sex, lust, beauty, harmony, prosperity and money, luxury spells, attraction, friendship, pleasure

Saturday – Saturn

Motivation, creating structure, binding, block buster, limitation, boundaries

WORKING WITH MOON PHASES

NEW MOON – best a day after the new moon - Great to plant seeds of things you wish to grow or bring into your life.

FULL MOON - A powerful time to do any spell or working – celebrating, success, gratitude, boosting & amplifying with the Full moon light, putting ideas into physical reality, spells to reach out further or big goals.

ASTROLOGY

If you are familiar with astrology, then you can use it to amplify your spell work.

ALTAR PREPARATION

Prepare a dedicated space or altar to perform all your rituals and magick, one that works for you and your personal circumstances. This is your space so personalize it with objects that you feel called to, you can make it a simple or as elaborate as you would like to. However, a powerful altar has a representation of all the elements and any offerings you wish to give to your spiritual team, deities or ancestors you choose to work with.

Air – incense, smudge bundles, feathers

Water – water, alcohol, tea, coffee, wine, any other beverage

Earth – flowers, plants, crystals, earth from your garden

Fire – a candle

CANDLE PREPARATION

Select the candle type, color, oils, herbs, spices before starting the preparation of the candle.

Cleanse all the tools and your space with an incense, Florida water or a smudge stick.

Make sure you are in a quiet space and in the correct mind space before you start prepping. Candles absorb energy so any background noise and mental chatter will affect the final result – some deep breathing, meditation, listening to corresponding music or affirmations can help.

Sit with your candle in between the hands, meditate, sending your intentions into it. Then you can use a pen, nail or a sharp object to carve in your names, date of birth, words of power, affirmations, a sigil or symbols corresponding with your intention.

Apply the oil of your choice. They are many variations on the ways to do this but a simple one is:

• To bring something to you: face the wick towards you, apply the oil from base to the wick, bringing the intention to you.
• To remove something from you: face the wick away from you and apply the oil from the base to the wick sending the intention away from you.

 
Next, enchant your herbs and sprinkle just enough all over the candle. The spiritual team are more likely to be attracted to a beautiful looking candle so if you feel called to feel free to add glitter to bring in an additional layer of color magick to the candles.

Set it on a fireproof dish or candle holder. Decorate around the plate with flowers, fresh herbs, add crystals and charms should you wish to.

Finally, you can send your intentions to the candle again and you are ready to work your candle in your sacred space or altar.

Before lighting the candle, you can light an incense, give your offerings, chant your words of power and focus on sending energy to the candle. Once you feel ready, you can light it and meditate with it visualizing the desired outcome already manifested. Be open to hearing any messages the universe sends to you while meditating and after, noting them down in your journal. A spell is only complete once the whole candle burns down and switches off on its own. Once completed, you can give gratitude to your spiritual team and dispose the wax remains while you wait for the results.

HOW LONG DOES A SPELL WORK TAKE TO WORK?

It depends on the circumstances around the situation. If the situation is complex, then a set series of workings would be required to get things moving. A simple situation can take hours, days or weeks to manifest. Depending on the spell, and if it doesn’t manifest then you might have to go back to the drawing board and re-do the spell or change the spell. You can always get a reading / consultation on the situation from myself or another practitioner around your area to guide you.

CANDLE SPELL SAFETY

• Candles with herbs and oils are highly flammable so make sure you are always keeping an eye on it.
• Keep them away from area free from things that can burn such as curtains, furniture, books or flammable objects. Away from vents, ceiling fans and keep in a well ventilated area, out of reach from pets and children.
• Keep wick trimmed as it burns and keep the wax pool free from trimmings or herbs
• Burn in candle holders and fire proof dishes and trays
• Wax can get very hot so watch when handling it
• Use a snuffer to extinguish, never blow on ritual candles
• Never extinguish candles with water. Combination of wax+water=fireball and can cause serious fires and damage
• Snuff out a candle if it smokes too much or flames becomes too high, let it cool, clear the wax pool and trim the wick and re-light.
• Never leave candles un-attended if you are leaving the house or at night. Snuff out and re-light when you get back or the next day. When re-lighting, recite the intentions over your candle again.
• Do not blow on the candle, always use a snuffer or something similar to put it off.

 

SIMPLE SPELLS

INTENTION: Business / cash flow

COLOR: Gold, yellow, green

DAY OF THE WEEK: Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday

HERBS: Patchouli, basil, ginger, mint, thyme, cinnamon

 

INTENTION: Money

COLOR: Gold, yellow, green

DAY OF THE WEEK: Sunday

HERBS: Allspice, basil, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon sugar

 

INTENTION: Success + luck

COLOR: Gold, yellow

DAY OF THE WEEK: Thursday, Sunday

HERBS: Allspice, nutmeg, star anise, Bay

 

INTENTION: Emotional Healing

COLOR: White, blue

DAY OF THE WEEK: Monday, Friday

HERBS: Lavender, rosemary, roses

 

INTENTION: Attraction

COLOR: Red, pink

DAY OF THE WEEK: Friday

HERBS: roses, cinnamon, ginger, jasmine, clove, catnip

 

INTENTION: love

COLOR: Red, pink

DAY OF THE WEEK: Friday

HERBS: roses, basil, patchouli, lavender

 

INTENTION: Passion

COLOR: Red

DAY OF THE WEEK: Friday

HERBS: Ginger, jasmine, cinnamon, hibiscus, catnip

 

INTENTION: Banishing bad stuff

COLOR: Black, white

DAY OF THE WEEK: Saturday

HERBS: Rosemary, eucalyptus, sage

 

INTENTION: Cord cutting.

COLOR: Black and white, Black and black, Black and red

DAY OF THE WEEK: Saturday

HERBS: Rosemary, salt, lemons

 

FINAL TIPS

Magick is not a one size fits all, not an instant fix and definitely not a solution to all of life’s problems but it’s a tool, a very powerful one that can assist you in your spiritual practice to improve and transform your life.

Magick does require learning, practicing and consistency so do not rush yourself to buy all the expensive tools and master everything overnight. Take your time with your workings, understanding and connecting with all the materials and elements. There are so many aspects to magick, so learn about them to get a better understanding. Look within your culture/family/religion background to get a deeper understanding of the role magick played there.

Experiment with different herbs and colors. Make your practice your own, don’t just follow instructions but take the information that works or resonates with you and weave it in your life. Leave what doesn’t until you are ready for it. Once you have mastered the foundation, you will automatically find it flowing through you.

Keeping a journal of all your workings, spells and information will help you understand what and how your spells worked.

Grounding & Centering, meditation, practicing visualizing and working on your mindset can also strengthen your practice and manifestation.

If you decide to incorporate spirits, deities, saints etc. in your work, please do research on what they require and if it is something you can fulfil/resonate with before incorporating them. Whatever you do, respect them, remember to leave the offerings and always give gratitude. Make sure the relationship between you and your spiritual team is balanced, do not make demands or control them. If you are not comfortable working with any, it’s also perfectly ok. When you are ready, they will reach out to you.

Look out for the universe – the universe only gives out those who look out for the universe.

Take pride in your work, own your practice, enjoy it, believe in yourself and your magick will be popping.

Lastly, always remember the fire and magick of the flame doesn’t only come from the candle, it also comes from within you so use that power.

Blessed Be.

Written by Shabanu Ismail

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/tarot_with_shabanu/