How To Charge A Candle

“Charging” a candle means instilling it with magical intent. A candle that has been charged fills your personal space with the intention of all four elements into the celestial sphere. Ritual candles are chosen for their color correspondences and carved, “dressed” or anointed with special oils chosen for their own special energy. Herein is a quick guide to candle color magic:

• Black: banishing, absorbing, expelling the negative, healing serious illness
• Brown: home, animal wisdom, grounding, physical healing
• Dark blue: change, flexibility, the unconscious, psychic powers, emotional healing
• Gold: solar magic, money, attraction, the astral plane Gray: neutrality, impasses, cancellation
• Green: money, prosperity, growth, luck, jobs, gardening, youth, beauty, fertility
• Light blue: patience, happiness, triumph over depression, calm, deep understanding, compassion
• Orange: the law of attraction, success with legal issues, mutability, stimulation, support, encouragement, joy
• Pink: love, friendship, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, affection
• Purple: female power, stress relief, ambition, healing past wounds, goddesshood, business success
• Red: strength, protection, sexuality, vitality, passion, courage, heart, intense feelings of love, good health, power
• White: purification, peace, protection from the negative, truth, binding, sincerity, serenity, chastity, gladness, spirit
• Yellow: mental power and vision, intelligence, clear thinking, study, self-assurance, prosperity, divination, psychism, abundance, wisdom, power of persuasion, charisma, sound sleep

Once you clarify your intention, cleanse your candles by passing them through the purifying smoke of sage or incense. Further charge your candle by carving a symbol into the wax. You can warm the tip of your ritual knife using a lit match and carve your full intention into the candle wax. As you engrave the appropriate magical words onto the candle, you are charging it with energy and the hope and purpose of your spell. Some highly successful examples of this I have used and witnessed in circle gatherings are: “Healing for my friend who is in the hospital; she will recover for renewed and increased health.” “I get the raise I am asking for, and more!” “New true love enters my life in the coming season, blessed be.”

Next, you should “dress” your candle with a specific oil. Every essential oil is imbued with a power that comes from plants and flowers of which it is made. You can also use oils to anoint yourself at the crown of the head or at the third eye to increase mental clarity. By using the inherent powers of essential oils, you are increasing and doubling the energies by anointing both your tool— in this case, the candle—and yourself.

Essential oils are highly concentrated extracts of flowers, herbs, root, or resin extract, sometimes dilated in neutral base oil. Try to ensure you are using natural oils instead of 
manufactured, chemical-filled perfume oil; the synthetics lack any real energy. Also, approach oils with caution, and don’t get them in your eyes. Clean cotton gloves are a good idea to keep in your witch’s kitchen for handling sensitive materials. You can avoid any mess and protect your magical tools by using oil droppers. Find a trusted herbalist or the wise sage at your local metaphysical shop; usually their years of experience offer much in the way of useful knowledge you can use to your advantage. I have included as much as I can in this at- a-glance guide to oils.