If you haven’t taken a look at the post I put up a few days ago with some questions about what you think of the site and what you’d like to see in the future, please take a look. The polls run until Sunday but the comments are always open.  I’ve been looking for a few thoughts from readers about what they’d like to see and to give me some ideas of what to do here next.  One comment was a request for more how-to’s.  So I’m starting with the basics and we’ll build from there.  I thought that we’d start off with something basic, but important.  Candle dressing.

Candle dressing is something that can be very simple or extremely complex.  It all depends on what you feel drawn to do at a given time and for a given candle.

Let’s start with thinking about what “dressing” means (I think we understand what a candle is, right?).  When you consider some of the dictionary definitions this is a really great word for the real purpose of dressing a candle.

Definition of DRESSING
1  a : the act or process of one who dresses b : an instance of such act or process
2  a : a sauce for adding to a dish (as a salad) b : a seasoned mixture usually used as a stuffing (as for poultry)
3  a : material (as ointment or gauze) applied to cover a lesion or wound b : fertilizing material (as manure or compost)

The first meaning is pretty self explanatory.  The second is oddly fitting in that we do, in a sense, create a “sauce” to place on the candle, on made of oils and herbs.  And the last, well I like “b”, fertilizing material.  In a lot of ways the things we dress a candle with do help to fertilize our intentions within the candle.

So when we dress a candle we’re using oils and herbs to season and fertilize our candle, in a sense, with added energy and intent.

Dressing a candle needs to start with a clean candle.  By clean I mean both physically and energetically.  Beeswax candles need to be handled with care in this process, palm wax candles too because they can crack, but if you’re using a solid candle made of something like paraffin, you can easily wash your candle with cool or lukewarm water and little gentle soap.  Hot water can cause melting and can also cause dipped candles, candles that are white on the inside and colored only in a few layers on the outside, to run.  Use whatever method is best for your candle.  The idea is to make sure that the candle is clean on the outside.  Next you want to deal with the proverbial inside of the candle by addressing the energetic aspect.

Holding the candle in both hands, close your eyes, and allow your energy to meld with the candle.  When you feel connected visualize a clear or opalescent light flowing from your heart chakra, down your arms, out your palm chakras, and into the candle.  Feel and visualize that light destroying and breaking up any negative or unwanted energy in the candle.  You may not think there is anything there to remove or you may just not feel it at first, but from the place where it was made to the people who packed and shipped it to the store or website you bought it, that candle has encountered a lot of people.  There is no way of truly knowing what kind of energy that candle could have picked up.

When you’re done with this you’re ready for the herbs and oils.  Pick your ingredients based on intent; ideally you’ve picked your candle color based on intent as well.  Take a moment to charge each of your herbs based on intent.  You can carve symbols into your candle to represent either you or your intentions.  Now is the best time to do that because you can use these carving marks to hold some of your herbs.  When you carve, carve deeply and carefully.  Take your time and do this with energy and intent.

The next step that I usually go with is rubbing the candle with oil.  The anointing part serves a few different purposes.  When you’re rubbing the oil into the wax you’re building up energy with intent as you should have your goal in mind as you do this and ideally be visualizing your goal, putting this into the candle as you work with it.  The oil also adds more energy to the candle and builds on the energy you’re been putting in there.  This of this as the gravy to your turkey on Thanksgiving.  It adds more flavor and gives it a little “something” extra; it ads another layer to what’s happening.

Candle anointing has certain patterns that can be used as well.  I was once taught a somewhat complicated one that had about five steps.  Personally, I like the simple ones.

These simple patterns have always been what I have worked with and have found effective and simple.  Naturally, you may be drawn to try something else or over time you may find some other methods that work for you, but I think if you’re just getting started these are simple and they always make for great patterns to fall back on in the future.

When you’re finished with the oil take your herbs and try and pack some into the grooves from the carvings.  Herbs are going to stick all over when you do this, and that’s fine, we’re going to be dealing with that in a second, but the oil in the grooves and around the candle will help make packing in herbs a little easier.

Once you’re done with this you want to dress the rest of the candle in herbs.  There are a few ways to do this.  My preferred method is to take all my herbs and put them on a plate, blend them well with my hands, and then firmly roll the candle in the mixture until the candle is as covered in herbs as possible.  Another way is to just simply try and press the herbs onto the surface of the candle.  Be careful when you do this to keep herbs off the wick.  When you light the candle any herbs on the wick can cause it to burn faster or, depending on the herb itself, possibly pop or explode.  Be sure to clear away the top and the wick as much as possible before lighting.

When you’re done with this you’re ready to work with your candle in your spells and magick.  Place the candle in an appropriate holder and send a little more energy to it before going into your work.

Get creative!  There are a lot of other things you can add to this process.  Smudge your candles with herbs before you begin carving and dressing.  Add glitter to your candles in the grooves instead of herbs to give them a lot of sparkle!  Use candle decorating pens to draw your symbols on your candles!  There are a lot of ways to work with dressing and preparing candles for magick to make them truly your own.

In future posts we’ll talk more about candle magick including working with different types of candles, different and creative ways to charge candles, and different spells and ways to work candle magick.