Pagan Magic with Candles and Herbs

Candles increase your chances for a successful spell immensely. In fact, Candles are so effective in magical workings that one could work magic with only candles as their tools. This type of magic is called "Candle Magic"

It is important that the color of the candle is appropriate for whatever type of magic you are working, so I've included a list below as a kind of reference.
On the list, you will find out which color you should use to increase the strength of your spell.

There are many types of candles and many colors. This page will explain which colors and types of candles are best for different kinds of magical workings. Small tapers are good for short healing spells and ritual, white pillar candles are good for long term use.

Normal sized Tapers are VERY good for those rituals and spells that will last a whole morning, afternoon, or night. Votive candles are good for clearing bad vibrations in a certain room (in your house or office), and when healing another person with crystals.

How to Dress a candle for magical purposes

The dressing of candles with oils & herbs is believed to enhance their powers.
You should ALWAYS anoint and "handle" your candles when used for magical purposes.

You will need:

  • Candle 'Taper & pillar' candles works best for this, but any candle can be used
  • Annointing oil *keep in mind your intent. Ex. Cinnamon oil for success
  • Herbs or flowers *These can be cut or powdered
  • Waxpaper
  • Blue Candle
  • Candle holder

Find an appropiate color candle for your task. Clean candle even if it's brand new (use rose or lavender water for this and let dry) Place your tools on your altar, light the blue candle for power and strength. If you are going to carve any symbols or names into your candle, now is the time to do that. Take some oil and place it in the palms of you hands, starting at the middle of the candle, rub oil from middle to top for to "Banish" energy away from you and from middle to bottom to "Attract" energy to you. Clear your mind and keep your intent strong. Next take a piece of wax paper and sprinkle your herbal (or flower) mixture onto paper. You can use fresh or dried herbs & flowers Now take your "oiled" candle and roll onto herbs (flowers) until the candle is covered to your liking. Keep your intent in mind while doing this procdeure. Place oiled & herbed candle in your clean candle holder. You now have a "dressed' candle. This candle must be watch closely as the herbs can catch fire. WARNING NEVER LEAVE ANY LIGHT CANDLE UNATTENED! You can also use glass encased candles and dress the top only.

Candle snuffing

It is a magical belief that `blowing` out a lit candle, would be an insult to the elements, so buy and use a 'Candle Snuffer' instead, you can keep it on your altar with your other magical tools. Also snuffing candles prevents wax from spraying, and keeps the wick centered. If wicks get off- center, the flame can get too close to the holder and cause breakage.

Essential Oils for Candles

Zodiac Sign Essential Oils Uses
Aries cedarwood and pine Cedarwood is useful in all matters of the spirit and pine for protection.
Taurus rose and geranium Rose is for love and geranium for fidelity.
Gemini lavendar and lemongrass Lavendar is for harmony and lemongrass for magick.
Cancer jasmine and sandalwood Jasmine is for good dreams and sandalwood for sexuality.
Leo orange flower (neroli) and juniper Orange flower represents happiness and juniper is a protective oil.
Virgo patchouli and lily Patchouli is for material success and lily for self-radiance.
Libra marjoram and magnolia Marjoram represents insight and magnolia intuitive awareness.
Scorpio lemon balm and myrrh Lemon balm is for healing and myrrh for self-exploration.
Sagittarious rosemary and frankincence Rosemary enhances memory and frankincense* spirituality.
Capricorn cypress and vetivert Cypress represents letting go of the past and vetivert money.
Aquarius lemon verbena and coriander Lemon verbena is for romance and coriander for reconcilation.
Pisces chamomile and ylang-ylang Chamomile represents your inner world and ylang-ylang sensuality.

Be careful when using Frankincense oil unless diluted, as it can be a skin irritant.

Any of the Moon oils, Jasmine, Lemon balm, Myrrh and Sandalwood, are perfect for candle magic.

Sabbat Candle Colors

Imbolic: White and pastels
Spring Equinox: Green, yellow, gold
Beltane: Red, Dark green.
Summer Solstice Bright Rainbow colors, Yellow, Red
Lughnasadh: Yellow, Orange
Mabon (Autumn Equinox): Orange, Brown, yellow
Samhain: Black, Orange
Winter Solstice (Yule): Red, Green, Silver, Gold

Candle Magic Colors

Red: Element of Fire; Energy; Strength; Passion; Courage; Career Goals; Fast Action; Lust; Blood of the Moon; Vibrancy; Driving Force; Love; Survival, the base chakra.

Orange: Business Goals; changes, Property Deals; Ambition; Career Goals; General Success; Justice; Legal Matters; Selling; Action, the sacral chakra (belly botton)

Copper: Passion; Money Goals; Professional Growth; Fertility in Business; Career Maneuvers

Gold: The God; Wealth; Promote Winning; Safety and Power of the Male; Happiness; Playful Humor, The solar plexus chakra along with yellow.

Yellow: The Sun; Intelligence; Accelerated Learning; Memory; Logical Imagination; Breaking Mental Blocks, the solar plexus chakra.

Pink: Romantic Love, planetary good Will, healing of Emotions, Peace; Affection; Romance; friendship, Partnership of Emotional Maturity; Caring; Nurturing and sympathic magic.(Magic for others in need)

Green: Earth Mother, Element of Earth; Physical Healing; Monetary Success / Prosperity; Abundance; Fertility; Tree and Plant Magick; Growth; Personal Goals. The heart chakra.,earthly matters.

Blue: The Element of Water; Good Fortune; Opening Blocked Communication; Wisdom; Protection; Spiritual Inspiration; Calm; Reassurance; Gently Moving, womans magic, Creativity, the throat chakra.

Purple: Influencing People in High Places; Third Eye chakrsa, Psychic ability; Spiritual Power; Self assurance; Hidden knowledge.

Silver: The Goddess; Full Moon Magic, Telepathy; Clairvoyance; Clairaudience; Intuition; Dreams; Astral Energies; Female Power; Communication, Also crown chakra along with white, Silver is the color of planet Mercury.

Brown: Influence Friendship, Earth magic, Prayers to mother earth, Special Favors, grounding and centering.

Black: The God; New moon magic, Male energy, Banishing Magic, Protection; Repelling negativity; Binding, Shapeshifting. Use black candles for mirror scrying. Traditional for rememberance at Samhain.

White: Moon Goddess, Moon magic, Cleansing, Spirituality, Purity, Seance.

"It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness"

Rose Love Candles

These are wonderful for use in spells to draw love...
Use red for passionate love, or true love, Pink or white for romantic love.

You can also place a single rose in a vase on your altar as a powerful love-drawing aid.

To make a love candle:

  • Melt 9 pink/red household size (6") candles over low heat.
  • When they are completely melted, remove from heat,
  • Add two pink or red rose buds (ground if dried) (cut up into tiny pieces if fresh
  • Add 20 to 30 drops of Rose Oil or Lavender Oil.
  • Pour melted wax into a prepared glass jar (with wick and metal tab attached).
  • Allow the candle to cool and harden,
  • Burn during Full Moon in Taurus, or Waxing Moon cycle on a Friday

A Money Candle Spell

Financial improvement or stability.
Improved cash flow and resources.
Prosperity.

In the center of a large fishbowl, place a green candle marked with symbols of the Earth and words that are personally meaningful for financial abundance.

Anoint the candle with Basil , Cinnamon or Money oil before affixing it to the bottom of the bowl.

Every day for a month, beginning on a Full moon, toss a coin into this magic well (the bowl) and light the candle for a few minutes. (use a number that has personal power to you EX, 3, 7, 9)

Add a simple incantation such as;

"Saving for a rainy day,
will help more money come my way."

Have this bowl nearby and the candle lit when you balance your checkbook or when tending to money matters.

Timing;
Full and blue moons, waxing phase.
Moon in Taurus Virgo, or Capricorn.
Thursday or Friday, if possible.

Candle Sense

Candles are an essential part of magic. Their mysticial flame lets your imagination soar, unfortunately they can also get to be messy.

Here are some tips and hints to make your life with candles a little easier

When relighting a used candle, make sure you pinch off a bit of the wick, keeping it short and burning at a managable flame.
If you drop some wax on clothing or rug, set an iron on medium and NO steam. Place a paper towel over waxed area and set iron on paper towel. Hold for 30 seconds (do not move iron around) repeat until wax is gone.
Refriderate candles several hours to overnite. Candles will burn slower giving you a much longer burning time.
Birthday candles are great to use instead of matches for lighting bigger candles. Most spells require lighting of candles without matches. Keep a small container 1/4 full with salt and place birthday candles in salt and store on altar.

Candle Tips & Hints

Selecting candles for magical use

Modern witches & pagans have an enormous amount of different types of candles to choose from. Some types are common, inexpensive, and easy to come by. Others are more costly, or less easily obtained. Perhaps this list will shed some light on the subject!

Dinner Tapers - these slightly tapered candles are readily available in several colors and lengths. They are generally made of an oil-based wax called stearine, and start with a white or uncolored core. The various colors of dinner tapers are usually only a thin shell. Inexpensive.

Traditional - these candles are similar to dinner tapers, but have straight sides and a fluted base. Nearly as common as dinner tapers, but slightly more expensive. Colors are generally solid to the wick.

Household Candles - small and inexpensive straight sided candles, 4-6 inches long. colors are solid, but limited range available. White is the most common and least expensive.

Pillar - These large, solid color candles come in many sizes and shapes. some of the largest sizes have multiple wicks. Many are fragranced. Moderate to expensive.

Beeswax & Blended - Beeswax candles are easily available from ecclesiastical supply companies, but are costly. 100% Beeswax candles have a warm golden color and smooth, sweet natural fragrance. Beeswax candles are among the most expensive, but worth the price if you enjoy their special warmth. They are available in many styles and sizes, from rolled 'honeycomb' sheets to mammoth cathedral candles. Some colors are available, especially in the rolled style candles. A less expensive option is a beeswax blend candle, the most common being 51% beeswax and 49% stearine or other material. These candles are whiter than 100% beeswax (when color is a deciding factor) and more economical, but still have some of the same pleasing aroma as their more costly cousins.

Votive, food warmer or tea lights - These small, oil-based candles must be burned in a container, as they liquefy when burning. They come in several sizes, from a 3-hour burning time to a 15-hour. White candles will remain the least expensive, with many colors and fragrances available. These are generally inexpensive candles, and can be used for many different purposes.

Candles in containers - There are many sizes of 'jar candles' also known as 'religious', '7-day', 'novena', or '14-day' candles. The most common being the 7-day or novena candle. For magical use, the best choice is a candle in a clear glass container with the color in the wax itself. These candles liquefy when heated, so care should be taken in their storage and transportation.

Earth Mother Candle Ritual

Imbolc is a time of year when many people celebrate change and growth, and bid farewell to things no longer needed.
For this spell, sweep a circle with a broom to symbolically remove the old to make room for the new.
It is also a tradition to burn candles on this night as an offering to the Earth Mother so that her divine power of fertility
may soon awaken from its winter slumber and bring forth springtime. Light a green candle and recite thrice the following incantation:

"Mother Earth, awaken from your silent winter rest.
Let the springtime goddess of green magic manifest.
Mother Earth, awaken now and hold us to your breast.
We honor thee with love, for we are truly by thee blessed."

Home Made Luminary Lanterns

Drill a pattern of holes in a tin can. (coffe etc.)
Stars, Moons, or even a Pentacle (use a paper pattern to outline patterns on can.)
Spray cans with black, gold, silver spray paint. (let dry)
If you want to hang them from trees, drill a hole on the top of each side of can add string.
Fill bottom of cans with salt or sand about 1/4 the way up
Fit in votive candles. lite !
Looks great in the garden, walk way, steps, trees.

Enjoy !

Pressed Herb & Flower Candles

Materials needed:

  • 3" or 6" pillar candle-white or off white (3" diameter)
  • pressed herbs and flowers: leaves of geranium, rue, ferns, roses, any flat pressed flowers
  • votive candle-white or off white
  • grapevive wreath-6" diameter
  • dried flowers, statice, baby's breath
  • glue gun
  • paint brush
  • old pan to heat wax in

Melt votive candle in old pan until melted. Use votive the same color as the pillar candle that is used. Arrange herbs on table to a suitable design for your candle or randomly place herbs and flowers you'll use on your candle. Take your small paint brush, and dab a little melted wax onto candle where you plan on placing first herb or flower. Quickly place herb or flower on top of dap of wax. Do this with you whole design, making sure you get just a THIN layer of wax on the top of the herb. When finished with design, brush a THIN layer of melted wax over whole design. Decorate the outside of the grape vine wreath using dried flowers, ribbon, baby's breath or whatever, attaching these flowers with your glue gun. Take a hot dryer to the wreath when your done and those little glue gun strings will disappear. Place the finished candle into the center of the wreath for a wonderful herbal gift!

Continue reading here: Invocations for Magic Spells and Ancient Rituals

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Readers' Questions

  • fatima
    How to dress a candle for healing?
    5 months ago
  • Dressing a candle for healing is a practice often used in candle magic or spell work. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to dress a candle for healing:
    1. Choose the right candle: Select a candle that is suitable for healing purposes. White or light blue candles are commonly used for healing, but you can also choose a color that resonates with you personally.
    2. Cleanse the candle: Before dressing the candle, cleanse it of any negative energies it may carry. You can do this by gently passing the candle through the smoke of sage, palo santo, or any other cleansing herb or incense of your choice.
    3. Set your intention: Clarify your intention for the healing work you wish to perform. Focus on a specific healing goal, such as physical, emotional, or spiritual healing. Visualize the outcome you desire while holding the candle in your hands.
    4. Anoint the candle: Use healing essential oils, such as lavender, eucalyptus, or frankincense, to anoint the candle. Apply a small amount of oil to your fingertips and then rub the oil onto the candle, starting from the middle and moving upwards.
    5. Meditate and infuse positive energy: Light a stick of incense or some herbs that promote healing, such as rosemary or chamomile. Hold the candle between your palms and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths, visualize healing energy flowing from your hands into the candle, and recite a healing affirmation or prayer.
    6. Decorate the candle (optional): If you wish, you can decorate the candle further by adding symbols, stones, or herbs that are associated with healing, such as a quartz crystal, rose petals, or a small piece of amethyst. Place these items around the base of the candle or tie them to its wick with a string or ribbon.
    7. Light the candle: Place the dressed candle on a safe candle holder or a fireproof surface. Light the candle with a match or lighter, and as you do so, reaffirm your healing intention.
    8. Focus and let it burn: Sit or stand near the candle, and focus on the flame as it burns. Visualize the healing energy being released into the universe, bringing about positive changes and healing to the intended recipient. Let the candle burn completely, or snuff it out if you prefer not to leave it unattended.
    9. Remember, dressing a candle for healing is a personal and spiritual practice. Customize it according to your beliefs, traditions, and the specific healing goal you have in mind.