Over the holidays, I lit a lot of candles. Mostly I did it for the ambience, but some of them were with magical intent. Especially around New Year’s itself, when there was such a good opportunity to symbolically start fresh.
I’ve always liked candle magic, especially the prep work. I love dressing my own candles with oils, talismans, and glitter. The whole process is part of the ritual, and I’ve often spent hours doing it.
But occasionally, I buy candles too, ‘fully loaded’ with pre-set intentions. And if you want to go that route, there are a lot of excellent candle companies out there offering a whole slew of traditions and magical formulas to choose from.
But ultimately the type of candle you use in candle magic doesn’t really matter. A plain white votive that’s been buried in your drawer is as effective as the most elaborate candle anyone could design.
Magic comes from within. It’s nothing more than the intentional direction of your will in an attempt to manifest a particular goal.
When you light a candle with the intent to either attract or repel a specific energy, you’re focusing your mind on a reality you wish to create.
Though what you want is certainly not guaranteed to materialize just because you will it, using a ritual to develop a clear focus on your goal can be one of the first steps to making it happen.
If only on a psychological level, candle magic can be very empowering.
But it’s not a way to make the impossible possible, or to solve problems without making change on a practical level.
And that’s true whatever candle you use, or pendulum, or crystal ball, or Tarot deck, or any magical tool. The magic isn’t in any of the objects, it’s in you.
