Pull-Out Candle Questions and Answers

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:11 pm

Could the pull-out candle be used as a stand-alone pillar candle? I rather like the idea of something a little wider in diameter than the 1 1/2" altar candle, but if the wax isn't appropriate for use outside of the glass, I guess it's not a good idea.

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:08 pm

I have burned pull-outs as stand-alones. They work well, often with quite a bit of runny wax, which is nice for divination purposes, if you go that route. Be prepared: either a rolled-rim cookie sheet or a metal circular under-plate beneath the candle is a good idea. In fact, everyone who burns candles on a regular basis would benefit from having a circular brass metal under-plate on hand.

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 9:23 am

I love cerumancy.

I've gotten interesting messages that way, even when it's not the intention of the burn.

Not sure I want it so much for what I was thinking for this one. I have a few brass plate holders and have even used them to burn incense.

Thanks for the info.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 1:43 pm

i found the burning of votive, offertory and pillar candles to be excellent for offerings, meditation, divination, and the occasional spell through the course of my adult life. the honey jar spells catherine and i have done with anointed couple candles on sequential Fridays were very effective, and i would recommend this to anyone! only recently (this year?) have i begun to use glass-encased candles (even black ones!) for spellwork, as compared simply for devotional offerings (usually for my God or to the occasional guest), and i had never even heard of a pull-out candle until i came to Forestville.

pull-outs i've used have a hollowed-out tube through them with a suspended wick on a metal disk at the bottom and so their initial burn clogs up this hole and effectively makes them into a pillar candle. they're a bit wider and shorter than the 9" pillar candles that Lucky Mojo carries, since they're designed to be inserted into used Novenas, and they also seem to be made of a different, harder kind of wax than what comes (at least these days) in the Novena candle, and so i think that they do make a lovely pillar alternative if one expects they may be messy.

before i started studying witchcraft, and particularly folk magic which featured candle work, i geatly enjoyed burning multiple melty-wax candles upon bottles and table altars until they caked over so much that i could no longer see the candle holder -- it was psychedelic and inspiringly plural! in reference to pull-outs and general melty candle-burning, i can recommend, beyond the brass plate already mentioned, or indeed other types of plates, a brass bowl for such candles. it is helpful if the bowl has a somewhat flat bottom, but if not, then one can melt a bit of wax under the candle to fix it and keep it from tipping over.

such bowls are especially helpful if you want to burn old, broken, fragmented, or strongly fluidic candles that are liable to run and you want their flowing wax contained. for a few years i burned many of the broken rejects from the Lucky Mojo shop, some good number of these were glass-encased candles that were broken or cracked and these had a tendency to shatter (very slowly) and leak wax out all around them. a series of concentric bowls (atop a plate or two) worked very well to contain this, allowing a cascading fountain effect and protecting the altar from most spills (in fact, this altar has had many wax melts on it, and even a smoldering coal or two; my main aim was to prevent the wax from reaching the floor!). if such a bowl can contain this kind of fountain, i'm sure it can corral any melty pull-out that one might burn.

An Alternative 'Pull-Out'?

glass-encased or 'Novena' candles have been shrinking from 9-day candles (the literal meaning of 'novena') to a currently-estimated 5-day (120 hour) burn. their durations vary somewhat, from 5-9 days, the average being about 6-7 days from my experience. sadly those who are making pull-outs aren't (yet?) very carefully coordinating their diameter sizes with those who have shifted to narrower glass-encasements, and so the pull-out will occasionally not fit into a used glass. I found that pull-outs may produce more smokey burns that make it a little more difficult to evaluate in divination, but they are fine generally for offerings and candle spells.

one may therefore wish to try using a pillar candle as as pull-out. I've done this a few times and found it quite effective. I can recommend against doing this way with a double-action (inverted), or reversible, as the containing glass heated up and the space between the pillar and the glass allows all the wax to melt together and fill the bottom of the glass, spoiling the 'reversing' effect it might otherwise produce.

that said, sometimes the effect for the reversible was quite interesting nonetheless, since the center of the pillar retained its red composition through time, emphasizing a lovely gothic effect i adore about these candles as sacrifices to my God, resembling blood with trickling black tendrils intruding into its center).

one way to amend this pull-out diameter issue might be to melt some wax and pour it around a pillar candle centered in a used glass. this would (because the glasses are generally about 8" tall and the pillar candles are 9" high) produce a vaguely lingam-yoni look, and may burn more clearly than a conventional pull-out inserted into a used glass. I've done something similar a few times and enjoyed the result. I can imagine a red pillar with poured red wax around it in the used glass, producing an excellent love spell! experiment and report back!

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:42 pm

Thank you, nagasiva, for all the additional information from your experience with encasements and pull-outs. I've not had experience with vigil candles before and only have just recently added one to my altar where I used to use a pillar. I like that I can leave this one burning without close attendance.

YouTube · Unread post by **Miss Bri** » Fri May 01, 2009 8:27 pm

EcleckticMama wrote:Could the pull-out candle be used as a stand-alone pillar candle? I rather like the idea of something a little wider in diameter than the 1 1/2" altar candle, but if the wax isn't appropriate for use outside of the glass, I guess it's not a good idea.

I have used vigil lights for years and I love them, but I have always been concerned about their environmental impact ( I recycle them but still) and the fact that the quality of wax has really gone down hill over time so that now most vigil lights are made of paraffin. I have a strong preference for beeswax and have recently begun to experiment with burning beeswax pillar candles, anointed with the appropriate dressing oils and herbs in glass hurricane candle holders. I sprinkle sand in the bottom of the glass and then set my pillar in their and let her burn. So far I have had great results with the burn and the melting beeswax makes the air in my home feel fresh and clean. My next project is to make some beeswax vigil lights myself. And of course when I am up at Lucky Mojo I still will buy a few vigil lights for client work that I am doing--and because I love the labels!

Bri

Unread post by **Devi Spring** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:44 pm

I've worked with pull-out candles once or twice before and really preferred the way that I can get my hands all over the refill candle to dress it. I'm also concerned with greening my conjure practice as much as possible, so I wanted to be putting a little in the trash/recycling as possible - so I bought some pull-outs with glass holders to use.

I was just wondering - how do you go about getting the litte remaining wax coating from these glasses once the candle has burned out? Can you place the glass into very hot water and melt that bit of wax off?

I know I would be cleaning the glass itself with florida water & VanVan after the work, probably passing it through some VanVan incense, too.

But how about that pesky wax film?

Thanks for the advice.

Unread post by **Turnsteel** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:52 pm

Hot water really helps but be careful, if you use water that is to hot you might shatter the glass.

Unread post by **Devi Spring** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:03 pm

That's what I figured.
Thanks!

bellasr34 · Unread post by **bellasr34** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 5:57 pm

Hi,,I was hoping someone can help me with this..I have lit a st martha jar candle and it burned just fine jar was clear so i used the jar and put a pull out candle in it i carved it with the targets name and petition also anointed it with all the oils needed...what I found was that after lighting it, the jar started to get soot all over the top the flame was really high(this was last week The third tuesday)then I sniffed it before i went to bed,,This past tuesday I lit it again and it was fine clear until I snuffed it out there was alot of smoke now the jar is dark again and the wax at the bottom has dirtied the jar at the bottom...is this normal with the pull out candles(its was my first time using a pull out candle...I had also lit another vigil jar last tuesday and it burnt clean.

Unread post by **Devi Spring** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:11 pm

I have this problem with pull-outs, too. I don't know what it is about them, but by the third day they burn sooty, and it has nothing to do with the case at hand. I tend to snuff them, clean the soot away with Florida Water, wait for it to dry well since alcohol is flammable, and then re-light with prayers. It's just part of my pull-out routine now.

Unread post by **Joseph Magnuson** » Sun May 23, 2010 2:08 pm

Perhaps it is cause by the pockets of air surrounding the candle. My pull-outs fit in the glass holder with space left and that seems to be the only variable I can consider...

Odd...

-Joseph

Unread post by **jwmcclin** » Sun May 23, 2010 7:47 pm

I agree with you Joseph, the space between the candle and the glass probably causes the burn. I too had the same issue.

LilCassandra · Unread post by **LilCassandra** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 1:40 pm

I've always dressed pull out candles then put them back into the glass holder to burn. This time, since it was a reconciliation spell, I put it in a shallower heart shaped dish since i thought it was more symbolic. Does this give these candles a tendency to collapse or something? B/c, for the first few days, it was burning slowly but steadily with absolutely no wax residue. Then last night, I wake up at one point, and there's a good amount of wax that's poured out. It's just built up over the day to the point where there's more wax leftover than I've ever seen for a candle. It's on an altar for four people, and primarily the wax is based on the side with the other woman and with my husband. There's also tear shaped residue between them and on their sides. My side and the other man's side have wax residue but less than the other two and no tears. It's still burning but, umm, huh?

Unread post by **Devi Spring** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:31 pm

Pull out candles are not designed to burn without the proper glass. They are not pillar candles, even though they share a similar shape. They require that full glass jar to burn properly - otherwise what happened to you is going to happen: the wax will pool and then just spill out all over the place. It's just wasting wax, as well as time and effort to not burn a pull out in the jar intended for it, as well as making a terrible mess.

I would start over again and put the candle in its proper glass.

LilCassandra · Unread post by **LilCassandra** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 5:09 pm

Wow, I'm an idiot *blush* Thanks bigtime! And here I was having a nervous breakdown for nothing. :-p.

Unread post by **Joseph Magnuson** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 9:19 pm

I learned about the pull-out candle the hard way too... no big deal, as long as we learn from our "mistakes," right?!
Good Luck

-Joseph M

DeborahHarris · Unread post by **DeborahHarris** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:58 am

Thanks for this answer. I was searching the forum trying to find something on the pull-outs and why they smoke up the glass (I thought it was just me).

Maria95 · Unread post by **Maria95** » Sun Sep 04, 2011 6:54 am

Hello,

I was burning a red pull out candle, and as it was almsot finished burning, the glass cracked, a big crack on the side of the candle, and it broke. The flame got big, and I had to cover it with a pot after awhile to put it out. What does that mean?
Thanks,

M

Unread post by **jwmcclin** » Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:36 am

Linked here (http://www.luckymojo.com/candlemagicdiv ... ml#signsC3) is the answer to your question. You didn't mention the purpose of the red candle spell. Still read what a cracked vigil means.

Maria95 · Unread post by **Maria95** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:14 pm

thx..purpose was love/passion.

Unread post by **Rev Ernest** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 9:38 am

Hello, all --

I would like to expound briefly on pull-out candles.

These candles made their impact on hoodoo beginning in the late 1970s. The price of wax was significantly lower than the price of glass, and so it became economical to re-use a vigil glass by sliding a pull-out candle into the empty glass. This was also easier at the time because virtually all vigil candle manufacturers but one used the same diameter and height of candle glass, and so any pull-out would fit into any glass.

These days the fluctuating price of wax has caused manufacturers to make glass cases of varying dimensions. In addition, the hard wax has been replaced by various typed of "solid oil" with air bubbles whipped into it to increase the volume.The old nine-day novena candle became a seven-day vigil light, and now almost all of them burn for only five days, no matter who manufactures them.

Because of these variations, the old standard pull-out no longer fits every manufacturer's glass, and some candle makers have stopped making pull-outs at all. We continue to order them from our regular suppliers, but we don't always get them in.

It may be that in a year or two the pull-cout candle will be a thing of the past, as obsolete as the rotary phone. Hoodoo will go on, but a little bit of history may be lost.

Unread post by **Rev Ernest** » Wed Oct 27, 2021 7:39 am

Our prepared 8" glass-encased vigil lights come with a dressing of oils and herbs and will burn for 5 - 7 days, depending on ambient temperature and other factors.

If you wish to set a traditional Novena of nine days, you will either have to start and stop the candle (which can result in a smoky glass), or purchase two candles to run continually over the 9-day period.

Always practice fire safety when setting vigil lights. If you must keep them lit when you are away or asleep, be sure that no pets or children can get into the room with them, that they are not near curtains or flammable cloth or paper, and that you have a smoke alarm in your house. Placing lit vigils in the bathtub is quite common, but you must not have a shower curtain if you use this method. Setting them into a fireplace is ideal, as there is a ready-made chimney for them.

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