Votive Candle Questions and Answers

[chatocamacho]

Hi I recently started practicing candle magic and I was wondering if we could use votive candles insted of offertory candles?

[catherineyronwode]

Votive candles are great! When placed in a proper holder, they burn for hours and are safer than tall taper candles. Additionally, they work well on small altars.

Browse and purchase them here:

VOTIVE CANDLES SPIRITUAL SUPPLIES PRODUCT LIST
https://www.luckymojo.com/products-candle-votive.html

How do practitioners choose between votives and offertory free-standing candles?

Well, the form of a cylindrical or tapered candle -- whether tall and thin like a 6" offertory or 12" taper candle, short and thin like a 4" altar light or birthday candle, short and squat like a votive candle, tall and fat like a 9" Jumbo or Pull-Out, or long-lasting like a glass-encased Vigil Light -- is a matter of choice and convenience. Selecting candles with forms other than a straight cylinder or taper is another factor that some people consider important -- figural candles such as Adam and Eve or 7-Knob or Crucifix are utilized for various types of work, for instance.

Your decision about which form of candle to use may be influenced by the culture in which you were raised; the choices of family members, friends, or teachers who brought you into the work; your own aesthetic preferences; and what is most readily available to you at a price you can afford.

Another consideration you will want to explore is the candle's colour, which, for many practitioners, is an aid in visualizing the type of spell being cast.

However, in my opinion, the form and even the colour of the candle you choose is not as important as your intention, your focus of Will and your work manipulating candle prior to lighting it by means of old-time hoodoo techniques such as loading it, carving it, laying a petition paper beneath it, and/or dressing it with conjure oils and herbs, then praying over it for success.

Votive Light Candle, Mixed Dozen

CAN-V12-ZZZZ
Votive Light Candle, Mixed Dozen
$8.00





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/candlemagic.html#votive

These matters, and more, are discussed in far greater depth on the free "Hoodoo in Theory and Practice" web page titled "Candle Magic." If you haven't already read it, it may answer some of your questions. If you have further questions, please post them here. The URL is

Candle Magic at Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode
http://luckymojo.com/candlemagic.html

Good luck!

[Dark_Damicelle]

Greetings ladies and gents,

I was wondering if I could use votive and offertory and in the same way as figural candles (e.g., male figure, devil, etc.) candles if they are dressed with appropriate oils and sachets/herbs?

Also, if I have an encased candle is it ok if I should pour the oil on top, and whatever else I'd like, pray over it, and light it up, instead of poking holes into it to dressit?

Thanks

DD

[jwmcclin]

You can use votives, altar, glass encased, tea lights figurines or novena candles for various rituals. All can be inscribed and dressed with oils according to your petition. Sometimes its the individuals preference. For the glass encased, it is customary to poke holes into it and pour a few drops of oil (dress) and appropriate herbs. For the votives, altar, tea lights and figurines, you can dress them with oils,herbs, and sachet powders. The figurine candles are used in spell work to represent entities, objects or the person.

Have you looked at the variety here http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocatcandles.html

[CopperFox]

You certainly can use any form of appropriately dressed candles. I happen to favor the 4" & 6" candles for most all of my work; they are inexpensive and burn really well. Plenty of people use regular "household" candles as well. It's all about proper preparation for the work, not the candle itself. Usually I will buy 3 dozen of the 4" candles in assorted colors -- that's only $9 and 1-2 dozen 6" candles at $6/dozen. That gives me enough candles for several weeks of work. I seldom use figural candles and will often replace the 7 knob wishing candles that come with many spellkits with 7 of the 4" candles. I simply prefer how they burn over the 7 knob candle.

As for dressing a glass encased vigil candle yourself, first cleanse the outer glass with something like Florida water, diluted Chinese wash or even salt water. If the wax is dusty, wipe is clean. Determine which condition oils and herbs you will be using and assemble them. Larger roots and herbs should be finely ground. Next, take an ice pick, sturdy skewer or screwdriver and carefully bore 3 holes in the candle wax in a triangular pattern near the wick. Like so: (sorta...)
(0)
wick
(0) (0)
Add a drop of condition oil to each hole, plus a pinch of your herbal/root materials. You can work the herbs into the holes a bit with the tool you used to make them. You can also add personal concerns if you have them now. Next, lightly dress the top of the candle with the oil and add another pinch of your herbs. Don't add too much of either the oil or herbs to the top of the candle or it may not burn well. While you are preparing the candle you should pray and consecrate each item/ingredient for the work you intent it to do. Once the candle is complete, you may wish to take a few more minutes to pray over the finished candle.

You are then ready to prepare your petition paper in the traditional way. Some workers place the vigil candle atop the petition paper (my preferred method) while others with make the petition large enough to encircle the candle like a label and wrap it around the candle glass, attaching it with string, tape or rubber bands.

Good luck,
Michelle

[Dark_Damicelle]

Thanks ladies your advice was great!

Michelle,

I think it was from you that I got the idea about the little candles. The description helps a lot! Thanks...

DD

[catherineyronwode]

We carry votive candles in ten colours. You can buy them by the single, by the dozen of any one colour, or by the mixed doxen. The dozens are sold at a discount, of course. Here's a sample of one of the colours

CAN-V01-GREE
Votive Light Candle, Green
$.80

[Rev Ernest]

In another thread I offered advice to NEFERTARI who wants to start a new business. In my advice I told her to perform a basic space-cleaning job to set her new business up prosperously. I mentioned that she could light "a white candle of any size."

I did not say so there, but for me, the votive candles are a perfect size for jobs that are not so quick you want them to end right away, but not so in-depth that you want them to last for days. Also, votives are less messy than tea lights, less prone to accidents than free-standing candles, and very easy to relight, so you can dress them each time you light them. All you need is a selection of colors and one good votive holder and you can set up a small candle spell anywhere you want.

I know that I am known for my work at the church with Vigil Lights, but for an on-the-go spell, votives have my vote!

By the way, votive candles get a shout-out from Miss Cat in this book:

BOO-GRI-AHCM
The Art of Hoodoo Candle Magic by catherine yronwode and Mikhail Strabo

$12.00





You can order right here in the Forum by clicking on the blue Add To Cart button.

[catherineyronwode]

Here is another helpful book on candle magic, covering many types of candles, with sample prayers and spells for their use.

The enlarged and revised edition of "The Guiding Light to Power and Success" by Mikhail Strabo and Catherine Yronwode was published in October 2020 in time with the Virtual Hoodoo Heritage Festival, but if you plan to attend the Virtual Festival, you will get this book (and others) with your Workshop Box.

The Guiding Light to Power and Success by Mikhail Strabo and Catherine Yronwode

Use in Magic:
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.

Spell Methods:
Lucky Mojo Books are filled with authentic and easy to follow instructions for practical spells of magic and fortune-telling. Enhance your success in spells of love, luck, happiness, and wealth by learning time-tested folkloric traditions of hoodoo, rootwork, psychic reading, spiritual sorcery, and herbalism.

Product Details:
96-page paperback, illustrated

BOO-GRI-GUID
The Guiding Light to Power and Success by Mikhail Strabo and Catherine Yronwode
$12.00





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

[catherineyronwode]

File this glass skull votive candle holder under W for WOW.

Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers member Clifford Low took this photo on his altar of a red votive light in a magenta glass skull holder, for use in a "Dream of Me" spell to get a lover sexually excited and eager to come visit.



Thank you, Clifford. That is AWESOME.

And, folks, you can book Clifford for a reading or for his amazing spell-casting at his AIRR page:

Clifford Low at AIRR
https://readersandrootworkers.org/index ... ifford_Low

[catherineyronwode]

Votive Candles are extremely economical. They burn for a long time, and they are also safer to burn than other candles because of their low, squat profile, which means that they they don't accidentally tip over.

Of course you do need a votive holder to set them in, but here is a tip:

You can pick up used heavy glass holders for votive candles at yard sales, flea markets, and thrift shops. Most of these are plain or ribbed, but some are made in five-pointed star shapes for use on holiday table settings. Once you know what size a votive candle is, you will recognize glass votive holders immediately, by their diameter and the depth of their well.

What if the old glass holders you score are partially filled with filled with dirty wax? (Ugh.)

NO PROBLEM.

You will need an old metal pot to boil water in. These are available at the same sorts of yard sales, flea markets, and thrift shops where you found the votive holders. You will also need a small rag or dishcloth that will only be used for this sort of task. The heavy glass votive holders are made of heat-resistant glass, and they can resist boiling. However, to protect them from direct heat conducted upward through the metal pot bottom, you fold the rag on the bottom of the pot as insulation.

Set the waxed-encrusted votive holder on the rag, fill the holder and the rest of the pot with cold water, and bring the water to a boil. The wax will melt and float to the top. Take the pot off the heat to cool, break off the skin of wax, and underneath, in the water, will be your now-waxless glass votive holder, ready to be washed, and then as good as new

Votive Light Candle, Mixed Dozen

CAN-V12-ZZZZ
Votive Light Candle, Mixed Dozen
$8.00





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/candlemagic.html#votive

We sell ten colours of votive candles as singles and as single-colour dozens, and you can see them all here:

VOTIVE CANDLES SPIRITUAL SUPPLIES PRODUCT LIST
https://www.luckymojo.com/products-candle-votive.html