Hoodoo Candles and Lamps

From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers

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AIRR Readers
and Rootworkers
Who Prescribe
Spiritual Supplies
for Clients
A variety of love lights for clients, including a pillar candle (one to two days), a fixed oil lamp (perpetually refillable), a glass encased vigil light (five days), and a 6" offertory light (four to six hours)

Candles and Oil Lamps play a powerful role in the practice of hoodoo, conjure, and rootwork. Not only do candle spells form a distinct type of magical rite on their own, candles and lamps may also be utilized in the fixing and preparation of mojo bags, placed on container or jar spells, and employed on altars or in acts of religious veneration and devotion.

The earliest sacred lights were oil lamps of various types, utilizing fuels such as olive oil, clarified butter or ghee, whale oil, or petroleum-based kerosene or lamp oil. Since the early 20th century, candles have become more commonly used than lamps. They can be made from beeswax, petroleum wax, or soy wax. Freed from their utilitarian use for lighting, noth candles and lamps are now often considered a spiritual supply, and most metaphysical shops carry a wide array of them.

Contents

Offertory or Household Candles

A money spell to draw income through a steady job; three offertory candles are burning, and the prepared mojo hand will be sent to the client
Because tea lights are economical, they are often set in groups when creating a community altar or a church service for a number of people
A small altar light or chime candle on a star holder is used in a simple rite to prepare and fix a mojo bag bearing talismans against the evil eye under the watchful eyes of a picture of Moses
Uncrossing and spiritual cleansing work with figural candles and small taper candles. to remove negative energy from a couple and to restore their joy, peace of mind, and natural sexuality
A Catholic spell for the healing of a client; it makes use of a black clay skull, a Mexican amuleto or talisman, a string of pink skull-shaped lights, and a red-glass vigil light, as well as three eggs and a rosary that will be used in a rite of hands-on cleansing
A kerosene oil lamp set on a plate with a ring of herbs, flanked by a bottle spell and a bottle of perfumed lamp oil
A homemade vegetable oil lamp dedicated to Frederick Douglass; it is composed of a shot glass filled with vegetable oil and a floating wick that has been placed inside a decorative glass with a printed picture

Offertory candles are straight-sided candles in the 6 inch height. Also called "household candles," they are larger than 4 inch Altar Lights or Chime Candles and are intended for use with prayer, when casting a magic spell, or doing hoodoo candle work. Jumbo 9" candles are thicker, burn longer, and come in double-colour combinations as well as in single colours. All of these types of candles can be inscribed, dressed with conjure oils, oiled or waxed and rolled in herbs or incense and used for spiritual practices and magical spells. Taller and thinner than household candles are tapers, which, as their name implies, are not straight-sided, but taper to a rounded tip at the wick end.

Tea Lights

Tea Lights are very small disk-shaped candles poured or fitted into aluminum or plastic cups. Originally designed to be used at the table to keep foods and drinks warm (hence the name "tea light"), they make great refills for glass votive holders, are extremely economical, and are relatively safe to burn. Their small size is also an advantage for busy people who wish to do continuing candle magic on successive days without leaving large candles unattended. While their diameters are fairly standardized, their heights can vary somewhat. They come in a variety of meaningful magical colours that can be chosen for the work being done. It is common practice to inscribe the top of each tea light with a short petition and to dress it with a magical conjure oil. Tea lights used to always be supplied in aluminum cups, which gave rise to the technique of popping the wax disk out of the cup and using a scribing tool to write initials, glyphs, or words in the aluminum as a form of petition paper. The wax is then dressed with a magical oil, replaced in the cup, and when the candle is finished, the rootworker folds the rim of the aluminum cup inward to form a square packet or container spell, which is buried in order to keep the work going. Modern tea lights are often supplied in plastic cups, rendering this old way of working impossible, but the aluminum cups are still available for white tea lights, and are much preferred by professional rootworkers.

Votive Candles

Votive candles are candles molded to fit into a glass or ceramic votive holder. They can be burned as free-standing lights (sometimes called "stubbies") rather than placed in holders if you wish to "read" the way their wax melts for the purposes of divination. Most votives are 2 inches tall and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. When in a holder, they burn for 10 - 15 hours. They will fit in most sizes of glass or ceramic votive candle holders or can be used as free-standing "stubbies", which will make for a shorter burn time.

Chime Candles or Altar Lights

Altar candles are straight-sided candles in the small 4 inch height. Altar Lights are convenient to use as they burn faster than the more commonly found 6" Offertory Candles during prayer, when casting a magic spell, or doing hoodoo candle work. Jumbo 9" candles are thicker, burn longer, and come in double-colour combinations as well as in single colours. All of these types of candles can be inscribed, dressed with oils, and used for spiritual practices and magical spells. Metallic, glass, stone, and ceramic holders of many styles are widely available for household and jumbo candles, but those who prefer to burn 4" altar lights soon find out that their candle-stand options are limited. For the convenience of those who select 4" candles, manufacturers have devised inexpensive star holders in two sizes, to accommodate both 4" and 6" candles. Star holders are particularly adapted for use in temporary altar set-ups that employ multiple small candles.

Jumbo Candles

Jumbo candles are 9 inch tall candles that are thicker and burn far longer than the 4" Altar sized chime candles or 6" Offertory size candles. No star holders are available for this size of candle, but they are broad enough to stand on their own, and commercial holders of glass, metal, ceramic, or stone are available as well. Jumbo candles are supplied in all of the usual magical candle colours as well as in double-colour combinations, which are called Double-Action candles and are utilized primarily in spells of reversal or uncrossing. Both single-colour and double-action jumbo candles can be inscribed, dressed with oils, and used for spiritual practices and magical spells. They lind themselves well to burning in sections over many days because they are easy to relight.

Pillar Candles

Larger than Jumbo candles are Pillars, which come in a variety of heights and diameters, and burn for varying lengths of time. Their large size makes them convenient to decorate, and such add-ons may include coating them with whipped wax "snow," affixing metal or plastic beads to them in regular patterns, rolling them in glitter, and so forth. Because pillar candles are so varied, and are often manufactured as seasonal novelties, they are not usually carried in a full range of magical candle colours or stocked in depth by metaphysical shops, even though they are quite suitable for spiritual practices and magical spells. . On the other hand, they do have the advantage that if one is crafts-oriented, they can be poured at home with enclosures of various typed hidden within the wax, including crystals, and personal concerns. Pillar candles can be dressed with oils, and the fact that they often burn with a "well" at the center means that oils can be renewed during the course of a long burn.

Figural or Image Candles

For more information, see Moving Candle Spells

Figural candles are made in many forms, including men, women, couples, body parts, angels, devils, skulls, cats, and snakes. They are supplied in colours that are magically appropriate to the kind of spells being performed. They are employed in hoodoo rootwork, folk magic in a manner similar to that of doll-babies, where their resemblance to various entities helps the practitioner concentrate on the objective to be achieved. It is considered good practice to "load" such candles with a personal concern of the person represented, or with appropriate herbs or minerals, or a small petition paper. Figural candles can be burned in place as stationary objects, either in sections or all at one sitting, but they are also important components in the design is moving candle spells, in which the figures are first lit and then may be brought closer together and tied or confined, turned back to back and walked away from one another, or toppled over or put out before they finish burning out naturally to signify a desire to end a situation abruptly and with negative force.

Glass-Encased Candles or Vigil Lights

For more information, see Setting Lights

Glass-encased candles are made in clear or coloured glass tubes and may have colourful paper artwork labels or silk-screened labels with spells and prayers on the back. They are filled with soft wax in white, or in colours appropriate to the conditions for which they are used. These candles will burn continually for at least 120 hours. The fact that stay alight for many days has earned them the names "novena" (nine day) candles, "seven-day candles," "church candles," and "vigil lights," that last name adopted from a long-gone brand-name for glass-encased candles made by the Vigilite company. It is customary to dress vigil candles with anointing oils as they are burned and to set them atop photographs, company logos, legal paperwork, or petition-prayers, as if setting a hen on a nest of eggs. Many professional psychic readers and rootworkers set such lights for clients, as part of a candle-burning ministry.

Oil Lamps

For more information, see Lamp Spells

Oil lamps employ a liquid fuel, held in a reservoir. The flame springs from a wick, either free-floating or clamped in place. The fuel may be any kind of liquid animal fat such as butter or lard; a mineral or petroleum oil such as kerosene or lamp oil; or a vegetable oil such as olive oil, almond oil, or cottonseed shortening. Roots, herbs and curios appropriate to the spell are traditionally placed in the reservoirs of oil lamps. The fuel may be dyed and perfumed, and the reservoir may be enhanced with a label that indicates the lamp's intended use.

Candle Colour Symbolism

For more information, see Colour Magic

The colour symbolism ascribed to altar candle colours is influenced by European magical traditions, admixed with remnants of African religious symbolism:

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See Also

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