Types of Candles

By Michael Forde

Over the last 4 years, living closer to pagan communities, much emphasis was placed on the type of wax a candle was made out of. I came to understand why people preferred good quality beeswax candles.

From my viewpoint high ceremonial magic should be done with natural wax and hand made into candles specifically for that purpose. That said, my spiritual traditions never had use of beeswax candles nor any fancy candles for regular paraffin wax household or sanctuary/novena vigil candles were the rule of the day. These seemed to work with all types of spirits both holy and unholy...saints, angels, entities/daemons, intelligences, orishas, ancestors, Hindu deities and the list goes on.

I think all the fuss could be pinned to personal preference and magical tradition. There is a deep magic in the beeswax which most people are not aware of. It stems from the kabbalistic view of the work of bees and their products: honey and wax. The honey is called a perfect food as it contains all the elements in one fluid which nourishes both the physical and spiritual soul. The beeswax can be used to make an image of a man which can be bought to life through application of the creation formula of the Hebrew letters. Only pure substances such as beeswax and virgin clay can be used for this purpose. The wax is said to contain the music of the earth transported from the bees and the purest wax available. In African traditions palm wax replaces beeswax as the wax of choice.

Now the size of candle used is up to your preference and application. In many traditions “eternal lights” are used for ease. These are wax in bottle candles which last 3-14 days depending on the size. They are found in many colours and dedicated to many saints/spirits by printing of pictures and emblems of the saints/spirits on the bottle. Some people prefer to pray with dinner candles/ household candles and continue praying until they are consumed whilst others use small spell candles which burn rather quickly.

For many years there have been speciality candles on the market which are shaped for convenience.

These include:

Candles shaped like people for representing people during rituals
Candles in the shape of a married couple for marriage rituals or a couple engaged in coitus for sex work
Candles shaped like a male penis for male rejuvenation and magical energy work or the female vulva for fertility, passion and obtaining a mate.
Candles shaped like a skull for working with particular saints or spirits like St.Anthony, Baron Samedi etc. These can be used for hexing or hex removal work. Many use these for more negative spirits
Candles shaped in 7 or 9 knobs called wishing candles as they are used for special petitions. Here the colour used is specific to the wish to be made.
Candles in the shape of a cross or angel used for protection and special requests.
Mermaid shaped candles for working with the water spirits and goddesses.

Many stores now carry speciality candles which are handmade or blessed commercial candles. They add herbs and mystical oils to the candle for the intent of the devotee. These types of candles are many and varied and come according to the traditions of the devotee and store owners.

Personally I prefer pillar in glass or eternal lights as they are called. These are easy to use economical and can be left unattended without wax dripping everywhere. Of course extra precaution would be to place them within a glass lamp or sanctuary holder.

I also like to use pillar candles out of the glass jar when I need to “fix” or “mount” the candle for a purpose. These are most versatile as one can write petitions on the candle using a new pin. Paraffin wax is fine for most things in my view but if I am doing ceremonial invocation work I do make all attempts to use clean and exorcised beeswax candles, preferable full colour throughout and not dipped.