The Importance of Candles by John Bertrum Ford

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Before I start a discussion how to dress, anoint, light, dispose and create candles, I wanted to go through the importance of candles used in hoodoo and go through how they are different from other traditions.

 

For one thing, hoodoo is actually one of the first magical systems that has ever incorporated figure candles, these candles are special candles that is specially designed for your task. In hoodoo, sympathetic magic is very important, and so hoodoo invented and created specialized candles for those purposes.

 

Candles are so important in fact in hoodoo that its nearly used in every ritual or spell casting. There are various kinds of candles for your needs. So here are somethings you should know about candles :)

 

COLOR SYMBOLISM IN CANDLE MAGIC

In any tradition that uses candles we all known been a Pagan that color is very important. Now, in hoodoo its very stereotypical to be honest with you and maybe a bit racists for those who don't know hoodoo very well. More often than not, conjure men and women use Henri Gemache's instructions for candle burning, it became popular among conjure-workers of the 1940s to burn small free-standing candles or "lights" of various colours to draw luck, love, and money; for protection from evil to even wreak vengeance or exert control over others. Henri Gemache has some of the finest works for conjurors. The color symbolisms ascribed to altar candle colors is influenced by European magical traditions admixed with remnants of African religious symbolism.

 

White-- spiritual blessings, purity, healing, rest

Blue-- peace, harmony, joy, kindly intentions, healing

Green-- money, gambling, luck, bussiness, job, crops

Yellow-- devotion, prayer, money, cheerfulness, attraction

Red-- love, lust, affection, passion, bodily vigour

Pink-- attraction, romance, clean living

Purple-- mastery, power, ambition, control, compel, command

Orange-- change of plans, opening the way, prophetic dreams

*Brown-- court case, neutrality

Black-- repulsion, dark thoughts, sorrow, freedom from evil, vengeance

 

*Unlike wicca and modern paganism, black and white aren't considered an all purpose candle, it is BROWN that is considered a neutral color and therefore can be substituted for any candle for your rituals.

 

FIGURAL CANDLES

In addition to plain offertory candles, spiritual suppliers as early as the 1930s provided figural or image candles for special uses. These are perfect for those who work with candles and sympathetic magic of like creates like. More expensive than plain offertory candles, figural candles are preferred by many practitioners when working unusual or extremely strong spells, because their visual symbolism is easy to see and by carving names or other feautres in them they can be personalized to represent an individual or a cause.

 

For figural candles more often than not you will get the following colors:

Red

Pink

White

Black

Green

Blue

 

Anything other than those colors are actually pretty rare.

 

*Black Cat-- often used in luck spells especially that for gambling.

 

Bride and Groom-- red for passion, pink for reconciliation, white to attract new love or sanctify married fidelity, black to cause harm or damage to a couple, blue for a peace in the home.

 

Lovers-- red for sexual passion, white for new love, pink for romantic love or reconciliation, blue for peaceful love.

 

*Divorce Candle-- cause a couple to separate

 

Lady and Gentleman-- often used when performing spells related to job, school or career-- white to meet someone new; pink for reconciliation or friendship, red to foster love, blue for peacefulness, health, or peace on the job and black for harm or revenge.

 

**"Adam" and "Eve"-- white to meet someone new, pink and red for love, blue for peacefulness at home or to bring about faithfulness, black for harm or revenge.

 

Penis and Vulva-- relating to the sexual behaviour; white to attract a new sex partner and to purify the genital organs, pink for romantic sex or to turn a friend into a lover, red to induce lust and passion, blue to bring fidelity or limit their sexual interest to the practitioner only or to bring healing to the genital organs, black to control a person ability to perform or to cause sexual vengeance.

 

Cross-- used for spiritual divine force or guidance. white for spiritual purity and insight, black for personal power and conjure work, brown for court cases and legal matters, green for money, red for love, orange for change, yellow for devotion, pink for romance and blue for peacefulness and divine favor.

 

***Devil-- red for love, lust, passion, green for money, court case, legal matters, debts, gambling and black for an enemy and cursing.

 

****Skull Candle-- black for meditation on death or for gamblers luck, blue for communion, white for ancestors. 

 

Seven Knob Candle-- burned on seven days, for seven different wishes or for seven-fold strength on the same wish-- white for healing, black to do evil, green for money, red for love etc.

 

* You should only buy candles in those colors mentioned because there is no point using anything else than those

** These candles are very commonly used to represent a person, take full advantage of them.

*** I will get more into Devil's for you later, but it isn't the Christian devil but a Germanic spirit, and there are three colors.

**** These candles are perfect to commune with the spirits of the dead.

 

DOUBLE ACTION and REVERSING CANDLES

Sometimes you get a candle that is roughly 9" long jumbo candles that ahve been poured in two stages, so that they are half black and half another colour. These candles are used for jinx breaking, or breaking of another spell and sometimes but not so much used to gain something else to your desire. These are perfect candles for hex breaking.

 

GLASS ENCASED CANDLE

These candles are used for offertory services to Saints, spirits, Gods and so forth, they are also used in spells or simple spells that you just want to do in a hurry. They are perfect for those who aren't really into ritual and just want to burn one candle. They usually burn between 7 - 9 days depending on the candle, so take full advantage of them. They are very much used.

 

TEA LIGHTS

These are also very common, they are mostly just used for lighting but perfect for quick spells too. 

 

So those are the basics, if you want me to expand and read more into one particular kind of candle just let me know and I will. But this is good for those who just simply want to know what kind of candles we use.

 

DEVIL CANDLE

 

LOVER CANDLE

 

SKULL CANDLE

 

BRIDE AND GROOM CANDLE

 

ADAM CANDLE

 

EVE CANDLE

 

CROSS CANDLE

 

VULVA CANDLE

 

AND OBVIOUSLY THE PENIS CANDLE