Witchcraft 101: Candle Magick

Happy birthday to you … happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday, dear … your name!

Happy birthday to you!

Yay! Make a wish then blow out the candles!

A lot of people recall at one point celebrating their birthday and blowing out the candles after making a wish. This is one of our first instances of casting a spell. It might not have been intentional to cast a spell, but it definitely was.

This instance of using candles to attract (or manifest) something to us is still used today. Candles are lit during rituals, as offerings to spirits; as a mode of contact with the spirits, the flame acting as a door to the spirit world; and as a medium itself to transport and send your energy and intention into the universe.

The candle has been crucial to practitioners of the secret arts for millennia and for good reason.

A candle can be lit in any magical scenario (unless the situation calls for no candles); it’s one of the most versatile magical tools out there.

Combine your candles with essential oils, herbs, and firm intention and you’ve got yourself a spell!

Let’s take a deeper dive into the history of candle magic, how to prepare a candle for a spell, and some tips for reading the candle.

Candle Magick Goes Way Back

We see actual candles being made as early back as 500 BCE during the time of the ancient Greeks.

Other civilizations at that time such as the Romans and during the Han Dynasty, used tallow and animal fat as flammable material.

Incense was also used around this time, and we see an origin of candle and incense ritual use in the Indus Valley and in ancient Egypt.

Though, candle magic and candle spells go further than just using a chime or seven-day candle.

Before candles were created, anything that created a flame (or could hold one) was a magical object. The flame was the light of God and the source of creation.

Gaston Bachelard, a French psychoanalyst, and philosopher even said that fire was “a phenomenon both monotonous and brilliant … it speaks and sours, and it sings. … To be deprived of … a burning fire is to lose the first use and the truly human use of fire.”

Light One for Artemis (& For Your Life)

Tradition and legend have it that candle magick can go way back to the ancient Greeks. The ancient Greeks were thought to have invented the tradition of a birthday cake yet not quite used for birthdays.

There would be a celebration of the Greek goddess Artemis once a month. The goddess Artemis is the goddess of the moon, hunting, animals, and modesty. Priests would make an offering of a sponge cake sweetened with honey and decorated with nuts and fruits.

Though not necessarily made with flour and eggs, it was a type of sponge cake. Ritual candles were set on top and lit on the cake as an offering.

The Light of God

Following such traditions that the fire is a deity itself, Abrahamic religions set the flame as the light of God itself.

When you light a candle, it’s an aspect of God that must be respected and cherished. The bible has some quotes that actually speak of lighting candles in conjunction with ritual incense for devotion and worship. This scripture is from the book of Exodus chapter 30 verses 7 and 8.

“On it Aaron shall burn fragrant incense. Morning after morning, when he prepares the lamps, and again in the evening twilight when he lights the lamps, he shall burn incense. Throughout your generations, this shall be the established incense offering before the Lord.”

Using Candles In Spells

Cleansing & Banishing

Use black and white candles to banish negative entities and energy. Combine the black or white candle with salt, black salt, hyssop, and/or angelica root to strengthen protection and purification.

Candles can also be used during rituals such as the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, or LBRP for short.

We have an in-depth article about how to perform the LBRP and how to properly cleanse a space!

Attracting & Manifestation

Candle magic is particularly useful for attracting things to you and for manifestation. You’ll often see candles being used in all kinds of love spells.

A candle spell using oil of choice, herbs, and a petition is a basic and simple way to perform a love candle spell!

Scrying

The flame itself is what you’ll be looking into. When you light a candle and stare into its flame, meditate on your intention and desire.

Keep your concentration and focus, remembering to allow the dancing flame to gently drift you into a more suggestible state of mind.

For a more in-depth look at scrying, check out this article we wrote. We go into a brief history of scrying and more ways you can use scrying in your own practice.

Deity & Entity Specific Candles

Some deities and entities require burning candles to speak with. In these cases, the flame is a portal to the spirit world. It’s a way of connecting to the immaterial world.

The flame itself can be an indicator if the spirit is present with us and if they accept or deny our request. Most candles for saints, deities, and ancestors will be votive candles. A votive candle is specifically for prayers and offerings.

Saints & Votive Candles

If you go to a local botanica or any apothecary, you’ll find beautiful votive candles made specifically for saints. A lot of these saints are from the Christian faith, but the energy of these saints is worked within multiple traditions.

In the Hoodoo tradition, for example, Saint Expedite is worked with closely. You can work with Saint Expedite as a start when you need something urgent and fast. You must either use specifically a red candle or a candle made just for Saint Expedite (a white candle is acceptable if what’s available).

When you work with saints, it’s important to first understand if they have any required offerings. Working with these energies, and all energies, requires a transaction, an exchange. Saint Expedite, for example, enjoys pound cake, red roses, and public declaration as an offering and tribute for granting your request.

It’s rumored that Saint Expedite prefers the Sara Lee brand of pound cake!

Angels, Demons, Ancestors, Spirits

Similar to deities and saints, these spirits require a candle as well. If you look back into magical grimoires, you’ll see plenty of summoning rituals that require candle magick and the use of complex sigils.

Candles are especially essential in ancestor worship, as a candle is a gateway to the other side.

For any saint, deity, and angel, you’ll usually see these in a tall glass candle case. These candles are called seven-day candles and are meant to be used for over a course of days, seven days to be exact!

Candle Correspondences

Candle colors have their own energy and magical intent. Your candle color of choice can be dependent on the type of spell you’re doing!

White

White candles are general. They can be used in replacement of any color candle for any spell, any ritual, and any situation.

Black

Black candles are used for darker magic and protection magic. Use a black candle to hex or curse someone, to send negative energy, or banish negative energy.

Red

Red candles are used for love and lust spells. Use a red candle shaped like a skull to get into the mind of your lover or target.

Blue

Blue candles are used for divination, ancestor worship, and astral rituals. Use a blue candle when contacting any spirit, and to connect to your higher self.

Green

Green candles are used for money, prosperity, luck, and abundance. Use a green candle to draw money to you, get a raise in your job, to get the job you want, or send lucky energy to someone you care about.

Orange

Orange candles are used in bringing opportunities to you. Use an orange candle in road opener spells and uncrossing spells.

How To Work the Candle

Working your candle means energizing it. Let your candle do its thing!

You have to feed your candle magick with your emotions: feel excited, feel the passion, feel protection, and believe in what you are doing.

Your mind, body, and soul must be aligned with the candle magic process.

Trust the process and feel the divine fill your heart.

Anointing the Candle

You’ll want to first carve your intentions into the candle.

If it’s love magic, carve your lover’s name or birthday. If it’s a money spell, carve the amount of money you need or desire. If it’s for self-love, carve your own name and what part of yourself you want to work on loving. You can add more symbolism and imagery to the candle as you wish.

For love, carve the symbol of Venus or the rune for love and Freya.

Then you’ll grab your anointing oil. This can be bought or made yourself. If you don’t know how to craft an anointing oil (or any oil for a spell) we have an article about how to make your own to use in any situation.

Pour enough anointing oil into your hands and rub the oil into the candle. Speak your magical intent with clarity, assertiveness, and certainty. Tell the candle what you need it for. Command the candle with all of your energy to work with you. If you want a softer approach, you can kindly ask the candle to work with you and thank it for accepting your request.

The candle, in this case, is a medium to send your energy. It’s a physical representation of the working of your spell, your desire, and your intent.

Dressing the Candle

After you’ve anointed your candle with oil, you can begin dressing the candle. Dressing the candle means dipping, rolling, or sprinkling your candle into dried and powdered herbs.

We’ve written extensive articles about the type of herbs you can use for different spells, check them out here!

Dressing the candle is a meditative process; you’ll want to focus your intention and energy while applying the herbs to the candle.

Next, you’ll get a piece of paper and a permanent ink writing utensil, such as a Sharpie or a pen, or even paint! Traditionally, you should use paper from a brown paper bag that you rip into a square with your hands. Don’t cut the paper but rip it.

If you’re performing an obsessive love spell, on your piece of paper, write your name all around the corners without letting up your pen. Sort of like writing your name in cursive multiple times all around the edge of the paper. Within the perimeter you’ve written, write your target’s name the same way. This symbolizes your entire being capturing their hearts and minds.

Next, you’ll either have a spell jar ready and you can put the petition inside the jar and place the candle on top. If you don’t have a spell jar, you can just place the candle on top of the petition and let the candle burn on top of the petition.

Candle Reading Tips & Tricks

Ensure a successful burn

Often we can mistake a candle malfunction as a sign of spirit.

While wild flames, different color flames, and crazy candle happenings can be signs of a spirit, we often don’t recognize these happen due to human error. More often than not, the reason we’ve had a weird flame, weird burn, or other odd happenings is due to mundane reasons.

For most candles, you’ll have to trim the wick to get a clean and successful burn.

Herbs, oils, and other things you dress your candle with will be flammable. So, if you have overdressed your candle, you’ll notice that you might have a candle that goes out on its own or that has a strange and wild burn.

Timing is important to a successful burn and spell cast. Make sure you conduct your ritual under a new moon or a full moon.

Look into the planetary hours and days to see if the day is proper to perform a candle burn.

Reading the flame and wax

• A flame turning blue means the ancestors or spirits have accepted your request, and the spell will have success manifesting.
• A flame going out on its own means the energy was not received well. You either had unclear intentions or a blockage. Do a cleansing ritual or an uncrossing spell and road opener spell. Retry the spell at another time.
• A dual flame means there’s another entity working with you to complete this spell, or that your target is receptive to your spell.
• If the smoke comes near you, that’s a good sign. If it moves towards you, that can be a sign that the spell wasn’t received well by spirits. If this is for uncrossing, cleansing, or hexing work, you want the smoke to go away from you.
• Smoke color can mean many things depending on the ingredients used to dress the candle. Black smoke throughout the burning is a negative side and you should re-do the spell after cleansing and uncrossing. White smoke is a positive sign meaning spirits are with you and your spell is successful.
• When your candle burns clean and there’s no melted wax left, this is a positive sign that your spell was successful.
• Sometimes a candle doesn’t burn all the way, especially in a glass casing. But if the candle burns and there’s about an inch or more left of wax, the spell was blocked and you must retry the spell after doing cleansings, uncrossings, and working on personal matters.

Putting out the candle

If you’re out of time and need to go somewhere, or for some reason can’t watch the candle the whole time, make sure you put out your candle the proper way.

Speak to your candle. Say something along the lines of, “Thank you for your assistance. I will put you out until next time.” Then put the flame out by either blowing over it or cutting off its air.

Then when you return, you can approach the candle and say, “Thank you for your assistance. I light you to [state intentions].”