magical tools – Marble Crow

I love candle magic, but I don’t do it quite as often as I’d like for one simple reason: It usually requires letting a candle burn completely, ideally uninterrupted, and who’s got that kind of time? There are options for getting around this, of course, but a lot of them are less than ideal. If only there was something smaller, that could burn more quickly. Something like… oh, I don’t know. A birthday candle.
There’s gotta be some kind of birthday candle witchcraft out there, right?

Burning candles against white textile. — Photo by Jill Burrow on Pexels.com

What do you do if you can’t leave a candle burning?

So, you’ve got a candle spell to work, and one big problem — you can’t just leave it burning while you go on about life. There are some suggestions in old books, things like placing the candle in a cauldron or bathtub with an inch or two of water in it, so it’ll be immediately doused if it falls over. As someone who grew up with a firefighter, however, these suggestions make my teeth itch.

Fortunately, there’re better options out there than “stick a candle in your bathtub and hope for the best.” If you absolutely have to, you can snuff a candle and re-light it when you’re able to pay more attention to it. You might even be able to work this into your spell itself, by performing it every night for a series of nights and only burning a little of the candle at a time.

The other option, of course, is to use a really tiny candle.

There’s nothing wrong with using birthday candles in spells. They pack much of the same characteristics of full-sized candles (the element of Fire, the act of burning, the presence of a flame, the wax and wick being consumed) in a tiny package. There are a couple of things to consider before swapping all of your pillars, jars, and chime candles for a package of birthday candles, though.

The Pros of Using Birthday Candles in Spells

They’re tiny

Birthday candles are little and don’t take long to burn completely. When time is of the essence, or you can’t afford to take your eyes off of a candle for even a second (hello, friends with children or pets), then you need something that can work quickly.

That aside, there’s another reason why you might want to try using birthday candles: portability.

I have a crane bag. For Druids/Neodruids, this is a container of tools for field work, power objects, and/or everything that you might need for performing a ritual at any time, in any place. I’ve got tiny incense sticks, small statues, stones, bits of wood, airline-sized bottles of whiskey, a small bowl, a tiny bell, a rattle, etc. Birthday candles fit nicely here, and I don’t have to worry about disposing of a plastic or aluminum cup like I would with a tea light.

They’re inexpensive

Birthday candles are cheap and plentiful. You can find them in any grocery store, in decently sized packs that should last you for a while. Honestly, you’ve probably already got some in a junk drawer or the back of a cabinet in your kitchen right now.

They already have positive magical associations (that other candles don’t)

In cultures that celebrate birthdays with cake and candles, there’s a tiny ritual associated with their use. The candles are placed on the cake, one for every year of the recipient’s age, and lit. The recipient closes their eyes, makes a wish, and tries to blow out all of the candles in one breath.

Cupcakes on a table with lighted candles and balloons. — Photo by Cup of Couple on Pexels.com

Honestly, if you mention birthday candles to anyone in the US, it’s likely that one of the first things they’ll think of is making a wish. Sure, it’s a cute little ritual primarily targeted at kids. It’s still a ritual, though. It’s still a positive association between birthday candles and wishes.

This is something that other candles don’t really have. Can you imagine parking an eight-inch-tall pillar candle in the middle of a sheet cake? Eleven or twelve tea lights? A massive jar of something labeled “Sun Dried Cotton”?

Depending on your particular birthday candle witchcraft goals, that connection with wishes is something you can tap into.

They’re easy to clean up

As a candle burns, the wax turns to liquid and is carried up the wick to be used as fuel for the flame. This process is more efficient for some candles and some types of wax than it is for others. Scented candles, for example, produce a lot of liquid wax to let the fragrance dissipate. Taper candles are used primarily for light, not scent, so they have a different shape and generally don’t produce much messy liquid wax. Birthday candles are only supposed to burn as long as it takes to blow them out, so they burn pretty neatly. Maybe a drop or two of dripped wax, if that.

If you’re not a fan of either cleaning old wax out of your candle holders, or digging holes to bury the remains of spell candles, birthday candles offer easy clean up and disposal.

The Cons of Using Birthday Candles in Spells

They’re difficult (if not impossible) to engrave

The small size of a birthday candle doesn’t give you a whole lot of real estate for inscribing sigils, words, etc. If you have a particularly steady hand, you may be able to do something with the tip of a straight pin or sewing needle. Otherwise, if your spell calls for inscribing a candle with something, skip the birthday candle witchcraft and go for a chime, votive, or even pillar instead.

They blow out easily

Unlike other candles, birthday candles are meant to go out easily. This can be a pain if you’ve got a situation that makes it tough to keep a candle lit. A stray breeze, whether from the outdoors or sudden movement, can leave you scrambling to re-light your candle mid-spell. It’s a major concentration breaker, if nothing else.

They’re a pain to use in long-running spells

Some spells call for snuffing a re-lighting a candle, generally over a period of several days. Taper, knob, or pillar candles are good for this. Birthday candles, not so much. Can you imagine having to mark a tiny birthday candle into seven equal segments, and burn one single segment each night for a week? By the time you got it lit, you’d need to immediately snuff it again.

You might have some trouble finding a good holder for them

Birthday candle holders usually come in the form of either those little plastic or metal cups with a spike on the bottom, or an entire cake. Neither of these are particularly ideal when you only need to burn one candle, on a flat surface.

If you have trouble figuring out how to securely set up a birthday candle, get yourself a basic glass votive or tealight cup, and a handful or two of sand. Poke the birthday candle into the sand, and you should be good to go. If any of the melted wax gets on the sand, it’s easy to scoop it out and bury or otherwise dispose of it along with any other remains of your birthday candle witchcraft.

Like I said, I love candle magic. I also have three cats and the attention span of a brine shrimp, and I need candles that I can easily travel with. For me, birthday candles are a valuable and useful magical tool.

When I was a tiny child (very tiny, maybe six or seven), my grandma taught me to crochet. I didn’t learn much — my clumsy little hands weren’t able to do more than work a piece of string into a basic chain — but it was something I’ve wanted to get back into. So, as part of my desire to continue reskilling this year, I picked up some merino yarn and a basic #5 hook and got to it.

(So far, I’ve managed to make one tiddy portion of a bikini top in single crochet, and most of a scarf that I accidentally did entirely in slip stitch. This is okay, though. Even if you do crochet wrong, as long as you do it wrong enough and consistently enough, you’ll most likely end up with a useable item once you’re done anyway.)

Close up photo of teal yarn and a copper colored crochet hook. — Photo by Castorly Stock on Pexels.com

So, since I’ve ended up with a number of odds and ends of string, I thought it’d be a good idea to point out its many magical virtues and uses.

Witches and Pagans — at least, the ones I know — are nothing if not resourceful. Every weed, seed, stick, stone, empty jar, scrap of paper, and bit of string has potential. Sure, supplies from a local metaphysical shop are beautiful and fun, but you’d be amazed at what you can get up to with the contents of your trash.

(Literally. One of my most successful workings involved nothing more than a Sharpie, some toilet paper, and about ten seconds a day for a week.)

Anyway. String.

The Magical Uses of String and Yarn

Witch’s Ladders

One of the most recognizable uses of string/yarn/floss/twine/thread/etc is the witch’s ladder. This is a length of cord knotted at intervals, often with feathers, leaves, stones, or other curios placed within the knots. Ultimately, the ladder is a talisman — as it’s made, the creator imbues each knot and curio with their intention for the ladder.

Wikipedia describes a specific instance known as the Wellington Witch Ladder, the first recorded instance of someone finding a witch’s ladder in an old house. Charles Godfrey Leland discovered that it was remarkably similar the description of a kind of folk charm used in Italy. Witches would utter a baneful spell as they braided the cord (along with locks of the victim’s hair and feathers from a black hen) and place the finished piece under a victim’s bed, in order to cause them pain, illness, and misfortune.

(As a magical device, a witch’s ladder isn’t solely for baneful magic. The inclusion of different curios and chanting a different spell would, by necessity, give the finished product a different effect.)

Knot Spells

String, envelopes, and a pocket knife. — Photo by Fotografia Eles Dois on Pexels.com

A more stripped-down version if the witch’s ladder is basic knot magic. This involves taking a length of string and tying knots (usually nine) at intervals, starting with the center, then both ends, then working back toward the center. Each knot is accompanied by a chant.

This is useful as a kind of magic “bank” — each knot holds a portion of the spell and, when the knots are undone, the spell is released. One way to use this involves untying a knot once a day for nine days. I’ve also used them to tie around my wrist or ankle. Once the string breaks, the spell is released.

Magical Pouches and Sachets

Strings also have the more mundane use of securing magical sachets and pouches. In Hoodoo, the traditional knot for this is the miller’s knot. Other traditions may have their own methods that call for a particular knot (or number of knots), or none in particular. Here, the string is mostly just intended to keep the contents of the pouch from falling out, but it’s easy to apply basic techniques like color magic if you so choose.

Embroidery Sigils

If you know how to embroider, it’s easy to apply this skill to creating sigils or other magical images. Embroider them onto pouches, clothing, altar cloths, or any other fabric items sturdy enough to handle them. This is a great method for magic you wish to keep with you — think workings for protection, prosperity, or attraction.

Strings as Sympathetic Magic

Lastly, strings have a powerful symbolic component. Take the photographs of two would-be lovers, for example, place them face-to-face, and tie them together with red or pink string for a love spell. Or, use a string as a component of cord cutting magic, to help you visualize and act directly on the “etheric tethers” that hold you to old relationships, situations, or other undesirable things. Strings represent the “ties that bind,” for good or ill, and you can use them to either strengthen or sever these ties as you wish.

Choosing Your String (or, How to Not Become a Magical Hoarder)

Okay, so. Like I said, I’ve been crocheting. I’ve ended up with a lot of odds and ends of yarn as a result. I probably don’t need all of these bits of yarn, so it pays to be a bit selective in what I decide to keep. If you hold on to odds and ends of string for magical purposes, you’re likely to end up in the same boat.

So, how do you decide?

First, I recommend against using synthetic fibers for magical purposes. This isn’t because I feel like they’ll necessarily have a bad impact on the magic itself — they’re just not practical. They don’t break down like cotton, hemp, linen, silk, or wool do, so they’re not great for spell cords that need to fall apart eventually. They also don’t burn well (and, when they do, tend to melt and produce awful, migraine-inducing fumes), so they’re not great for any spells that involve burning cords.

Close up shot of blue yarn in a wicker basket. — Photo by Miriam Alonso on Pexels.com

Second, you don’t necessarily need a ton of strings of the same length and color. You probably know what spells you tend to work the most, and what it makes sense to hold onto. (For example, if you’ve been focusing a lot on money magic, you probably don’t need an ever-increasing stash of red strings.) If you don’t, that’s fine — shoot for white or black strings, and one or two in other basic colors. Develop your preferences from there.

Third, destash periodically. There are a ton of posts and vlogs about people who fall out of practice, or struggle to find the motivation to continue regularly doing magical workings. Let decluttering your magical supplies be a reason to use them. With knot magic, this is especially practical — knot your cords, recite your chants, and put what you’ve made to good use. (Or gift them to your witchcraft-inclined friends.)

Often times, working magic means seeing the potential in what would otherwise be discarded. A plain piece of string can be everything from a curse to a love spell, from a healing charm to a magical battery.

Tag: magical tools

Can you use birthday candles for magic?