In this thread we shall address basic candle magic techniques, including how to trim, carve, load, petition, pray, dress, and light magical candles.
To start the dialogue, i will provide a reply to the all-time most-asked question: "How do i dress a candle with oil -- top to bottom or bottom to top?"
The question is one that many root doctors have answered -- in several ways. Each way derives from a method that is based on its own logical and symbolical reasoning, and each way has its own set of devoted practitioners. And, to make things more complicated, the several ways are each quite distinct and different.
As a teacher, i feel it is my job to tell people the tradition -- that is, to teach ALL of the ways that fall within the history of conjure.
If you come from a family that practices hoodoo, and in which you have been taught to dress candles one way, then your family's way will be found among the set of methods i teach and i will not be put into the unhappy position of contradicting your grandmother.
If hoodoo is new to you and you have never heard of dressing a candle with conjure oils before, then you can try the various traditional methods i tell you and select the one you prefer -- and start a tradition in your own family.
In this forum professional rootwoctors are here to answer questions from seekers, and to share knowledge with one another.
For me, the best way to kick off a discussion of the many ways to prepare candles is to refer back to the first time these methods appeared in print. Books on hoodoo date back to the 1930s and 1940s, so let's take a look.
In 1931 the African-American folklorist and novelist Zora Neale Hurston published a series of candle spells that she had collected in New Orleans in the late 1920s. They appeared in an academic journal with limited distribution, and each spell was told in the form of a short narrative story. Hurston reprinted a few selections from this material in a 1935 book called "Mules and Men." At some point in the 1940s, compilations of the majority of the candle spells that had previously only been available in the "Journal of American Folk-Lore," including their narrative format, were reprinted as "Black and White Magic of Marie Laveau" -- and over the years, new editions and new authors brought in additional candle spells and other magical information as well. In 2019, i prepared a composite of all the extant variant editions in one collection and published it as --
Genuine Black and White Magic of Marie Laveau, ed. by cat yronwode
Hoodoo's first grimoire and spell-book, originally edited by Zora Neale Hurston, holds a historical place that no other conjure book can claim, for it provides the modern practitioner with guidance and training in authentic New Orleans rootwork, as it was in 1928. Although the author was certainly not Marie Laveau, the more than 50 rites and rituals in this volume present the classic hoodoo spells of the Crescent City, using herbs, roots, candles, incense, powders, baths, and mojo hands to get your way in matters of luck, love, friendship, family, money, jobs, protection, jinx-breaking, court cases, and cursing. Restored, Revised, and Edited by Catherine Yronwode from the original writings of Zora Neale Hurston, Anne Fleitman, Larry B. Wright, Dorothy Spencer, Cyril Arthur Pearson, Helen Pitkin Schertz, The Allan Company, Franz Hartmann, Abe Plough, and the mysterious "H. F."
BOO-GRI-BAWM
Genuine Black and White Magic of Marie Laveau ed. by cat yronwode
$9.00
You can order right here in the Forum by clicking on the blue Add To Cart button.
For more information, see:
http://www.luckymojo.com/genuineblackan ... aveau.html
A hugely influential book on candle and herb magic in hoodoo is the 1936 "Legends of Incense, Herb, an Oil Magic" by Louis de Claremont. De Claremont recommended burning each candle in a triangle and energetically "magnetizing" each candle with an appropriate oil by stroking halfway up on one side and halfway down on the other.
Legends of Incense, Herb, and Oil Magic by Lewis de Claremont, ed. catherine yronwode
"Legends of Incense, Herb, and Oil Magic: Esoteric Students' Handbook of Legendary Formulas and Facts" by Lewis de Claremont, ed. catherine yronwode. From 1936, when it burst on the scene, until 2006, when it went out of print, Legends of Incense, Herb, and Oil Magic was an occult shop classic. The first non-academic book that taught African American hoodoo folk magic, it was advertised in Black-owned newspapers nationwide and became many a rural rootworker's introduction to the convenience of mail-order spiritual supplies. <p>The author, whose name was certainly not "Lewis de Claremont," took the secret of his identity to the grave, but the formulas he introduced and his descriptions of down-home tricks with herbs, candles, incense, powders, baths, and talismans are recognized as the foundation of modern hoodoo. <p>On the 80th anniversary of its original publication, the Lucky Mojo Curio Company is proud to present a restored and revised edition of this important text, edited by catherine yronwode. Filled with curious lore and useful tips, this beautifully illustrated book belongs in every conjure worker's library.
BOO-GRI-LIHO
Legends of Incense, Herb, and Oil Magic by Lewis de Claremont, ed. catherine yronwode
$9.00
You can order right here in the Forum by clicking on the blue Add To Cart button.
For more information, see:
http://www.luckymojo.com/legendsofincen ... magic.html
You can read more about Louis / Lewis de Clairmont / de Claremont at this web page.
http://luckymojo.com/young.html
Then there are the methods of candle usage described by Mikail Strabo in the 1942 book "The Guiding Light to Power and Success." He had an entirely different way of working with candles and conjure oils, and his techniques are extremely popular today as well.
The Guiding Light to Power and Success by Mikhail Strabo, edited by Catherine Yronwode
This ground-breaking work was originally sold via ads in Black-owned newspapers, and it opened up a nation-wide conversation on the increasing importance of conjure work with candles. The author was a participant-observer and documentarian who respectfully verified the sources of his information from workers in the African-American Spiritual Church Movement, to compile a complete manual of home and church altar candle services for use in churches and by home practitioners. This famous hoodoo grimoire contains more than 50 candle and lamp spells for protection, love, wealth, and luck. Now, with 32 additional illustrated pages by editor catherine yronwode, The Guiding Light is back in print, bigger and better than ever. Chapters include: How to Set Up a Candle Altar, One-Candle Rites with Psalms, Seven-Candle Planetary Rites, Eight-Candle Sacred Octaves, Nine-Candle Catholic Novenas, Ten Ancient Oil Lamp Devotions, Twelve-Candle Zodiacal Rituals, How to Use Seals with Candles, and Candle-Magic Around the World. An inspirational occult classic, it remains a popular source-book to this day.
BOO-GRI-GUID
The Guiding Light to Power and Success by Mikhail Strabo, edited by Catherine Yronwode
$9.00
You can order right here in the Forum by clicking on the blue Add To Cart button.
For more information, see:
https://www.luckymojo.com/guidinglightt ... ccess.html
You can read more about Mikhail Strabo at this web page.
http://luckymojo.com/strabo.html
Another early book on candle and oil magic is "The Master Book of Candle Burning," a 1942 publication by Henri Gamache. We sell it in the shop. You can read a bit about Mr. Gamache here as well:
http://luckymojo.com/young.html
Then there is "The Magic Candle" by Charmaine Dey," which first came out in the early 1970s. It is also popular, and it spins its own take on the work of dressing a candle with a conjure oil, through the lens of Neo-Pagan Wicca. We sell it in the shop as well.
And finally, there is my own book. "The Art of Hoodoo Candle Magic:
The Art of Hoodoo Candle Magic by catherine yronwode and Mikhail Strabo
"The Art of Hoodoo Candle Magic: Conjure and Spiritual Church Services in Rootwork" by catherine yronwode and Mikhail Strabo is a complete guide to candle magic, one of the foundational practices within African American hoodoo folk-magic. Spell-casters of every level of experience within the community know the value and efficacy of setting lights, This book is actually three books in one filled with history, teachings, traditions, and instructions on how to become a candle magic practitioner, how to provide candle ministry services to clients, and how to conduct public candle-light services.
BOO-GRI-AHCM
The Art of Hoodoo Candle Magic by catherine yronwode and Mikhail Strabo
$9.00
You can order right here in the Forum by clicking on the blue Add To Cart button.
For more information, see:
http://www.luckymojo.com/theartofhoodoocandlemagic.html
So, to answer your question, some say up, some say down, some say from the middle outwards. Some -- like me -- vary the directionality of the ritual oil dressing depending on the type of work to be done.
In addition to the usual "draw the oil upward to bring in blessings," "draw the oil downward to remove unwanted conditions," and "magnetize the candle from the middle, by rubbing oil up on one side and down on the other," there are quite a few ways to dress a candle with oil that are specific to certain candle forms or usages.
For instance:
A healing image candle is generally dressed with oil on the afflicted area of the body only.
When dressing a penis candle or a vulva candle with oil, most people handle it and rub it with oil exactly as they would if it were the living member of the one upon whom they are working their spell.
I would dress a single free-standing black break-up candle with Break Up Oil from the middle outwards toward both ends, creating a "split."
But if i were dressing two image candles placed back to back on an altar, where they were going to be "walked" apart as they burn, i would put the Break Up Oil only on their backs. On the front of the "returning lover" candle i would put Return To Me oil, and on the front of the "bad outside lover" candle i would put Hot Foot Oil to cause that person to get away. In this case i would also have a red image candle for the "good lover in the home" and that would be dressed front and back with a combination of Return to Me Oil and Love Me Oil.
It's a complex subject, you see, and there is no one "right" answer. It's like baking a cake -- there are a lot of good recipes out there!
And now, let the questions begin!
