Just exactly how much do you know about candles and magick? Allow me to tell you a few things that I know here. Then we will continue with the spellwork. The candle itself contains the Elements of Water, Air and Earth. When lit,the elements of Fire and the Spirit are then employed. Throughout history you will find many references to the use of candles in everyday activities, but especially in magickal workings. Fire was the ultimate tool used for banishing and cleansing, destruction and worship, life and death. During Candle Magick, the smoke from the lit candle is what carries our energy or wishes out to the cosmos, thus creating a simple act of magick. The direction of the smoke can tell us a lot. If the smoke heads to the North, to the Earth element, it can indicate that true manifestation will be revealed, a physical happening is occurring. Physical labor may be indicated or a need for stability. If concerning health, you might wish to seek a second opinion. This warns you to be cautious and pay more attention to your health needs. If concerning finances, make sure your checkbook is in balance, take inventory of your spending habits. Take care with your finances. A Southerly direction to your flame or smoke is the direction of the element of Fire. This is an excellent sign as it means that the energies are being taken directly to the cosmos. If it concerns health, recovery is imminent. If it concerns love, a passionate love affair is soon to be. If it concerns the home, you will find new ideas and the energy to expedite these ideas. If it concerns work, success is on its way. Although this all sounds great, you must remember, fire can also burn you if you get too close, so keep your head on your shoulders and you should be fine. If you have an Easterly flame, this is the direction of the element of Air. There will be some mental labor involved here. Follow your head in this situation. Practice logic and patience. Think before you speak. Make no rash decisions! If applied correctly, success will be yours. If you encounter a Westerly flame, this is the direction of the element of Water. This is the direction of the emotions and you will have all sorts of emotions inundating you on every side. This could be indicative of a period of intense emotions. A warning of excess could be indicated. You could be too close to the situation and need to back off for awhile. Or it could indicate that you need to clarify it even more. Ground yourself. Clear out the emotional aspect of it and look more towards the logical. Candle spells are simple & do not have to be time consuming. First, carefully choose an appropriate color for the candle. Pick according to correspondences, according to what the spell is for. Is it a prosperity spell, a healing spell, or perhaps a spell to improve communication with someone? Be as specific as possible. Choose your candle according to your needs. You may also choose an herb, a stone, an oil or another item or two to correspond as well. Never limit it to just one. Personally, I would choose something that I could carry around with me as an amulet until the spell was accomlished & sometimes afterwards for various reasons. You may end up choosing an item that has more than one attribute, say prosperity and strength. With one herb, stone etc you can accomplish two goals during the same time period. I choose the color of the candle by the main goal or purpose of the spell. For a healing spell, blue, to get rid of the negativity, black. The same applies to the other items. Use whatever you have in your possession. There are so many correspondences that it is generally unneccesary to go out & stock up on such things. Now that you have gathered your correspondences, charge them with the purpose of the spell. There are a few things that must be utilized for this part of spellworking. Meditation, Visualiztion, Energy Direction, & Concentration. You should have learned this by now and if you haven't, then you might as well go back and do it, because you won't get anywhere if you don't.
Some basic cautions: For candle spells, the flame must be allowed to burn until it goes out on its own. Candles in large glass jars are good for this & much safer than votive or tapered. You can sprinkle your herbs on the top of them if you like. Never, never leave a burning candle near drapes or near anything flammable and keep in mind that if you leave home while it's burning that it must be placed in a safe place & not atop something that might burn. A good idea would be to place the candle in your bath tub, just in case. If for some reason it gets knocked over, there is nothing likely to catch fire in there & if you have pets, be certain that they are not left where they may accidently bump the candle etc. Personally I would suggest never leaving home with a candle lit, but the final choice must be yours. For positive spells, once the candle is out, use the stone as a talisman. Carry it with you or put it someplace where its presence will have an affect. For banishing spells, very carefully remove all remnants, of the candle, especially the stone, without touching it. Wrap the remnants in white paper and bury it outside, preferably some distance away. Remember to write down your spells! You can either keep these spells in your Book of Shadows or elsewhere. A few rules of thumb are to never do anything, magickal or otherwise, to manipulate, control or harm another. Don't forget the threefold law of Wicca & that "Honor above all else" from the Celts does not constitute manipulation for no primary purpose. To do this at all, you'd better have a darned good reason. But then I'm not worried. I'm not the one that will have to take the consequences. heh... Now that you have everything ready, you may begin by drawing your circle. One way to do this is to visualize it. Using your power hand, which would be whichever hand is your strongest, usually the right hand for right handed people etc...you point it to each of the quarters in turn going clockwise, visualizing white light coming from your fingertips as you do so. If you want to call the quarters, you may do so but it isn't necessary. Now you should annoint your candle if you haven't already and then light it. Watching the flame, visualize your desire coming true. You must use your powers of meditation and concentration here. Focus and meditate on this for awhile. Keep visualizing. If you have written your own spell, you may say the words now as you continue to see your wishes coming true. You may also burn the paper that you have written it on, if you wish, especially when banishing. Another method is to write your spell and desire on paper and place it in an envelope as you do your visualization. Then you seal it and keep it in a safe place until it has had time to work its magick. When using a spell written on parchment or paper, and it is burned, gather up the ashes and blow them to the wind in the appropriate direction while at the same time, thanking the elements for this " taking up" of energies for you and fulfilling your desires. When you are finished, it is time to thank the God and Goddess. Then you should ground yourself (remember the techniques) and release the circle. Point your hand in a counterclockwise direction and turn, watching your circle fade and vanish. If your candle is still burning, you must wait until it is finished to gather your talisman or amulet, whichever the case may be. Once doing so, continue daily to hold the charm and visualize your goal. Repetition only makes your magick stronger. Blessed Be!
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Lessons in the Craft
Strength be to me and to thee."
Blessed be!
© The Olde Way |