Divination signs from candle burning

here are some of the things to watch for when burning candles:

A free-standing candle lets out a lot of smoke but burns clean at the end

The divination of signs by looking at burning flames is a form of Pyromancy or divination by fire. You can also perform pyromancy with a campfire or by watching the flames in your fireplace.

To perform a pyromantic divination with candles, it is best to work by candle light only, in an otherwise dark or dim room. If the behaviour does not stop, then it is to be considered a sign, and not simply a physical coincidence.

The candle flame flares, dips, bends, or gutters repeatedly

To be sure that any unusual behaviour of the candle flames is not caused by the mundane fact that you have set the candle in a draft, it is helpful to keep a few non-specific altar lights going in the room, so that you can truly judge the activities of the flames on your spell-lights against some simple blessing candles. If you have altar lights set, you can immediately tell if all the lights in the room are "dancing" or if only the lights on your spell candles are affected. If the flames are jumping on all the candles, it may be necessary to close the doors or windows or to move the spell candles somewhere else.

• If a candle flame "dances" or "bounces" or forms a high spiral of flame, it is often seen as a sign that the person on whom you are working is greatly affected by the work; your message is getting through; watch out, though, because if the flame flares up tooo high, the candle may burn up overly fast or you may end up with a candle that flames up into a fire hazard.


• If a candle shows repeated flaring up and dying away or guttering of the flame, alternating between high and low flame, or even briefly winking out and then relighting itself, it is often seen as a sign that the person on whom you are working is subconsciously aware of your actions and may be responding partially, then fighting off your influence, then responding again.


• If you are burning two or more candles, named for specific people, and the flame of one tends to lean or bend toward the other, the person so represented is attracted to the person signified by the other candle. The one whose flame is taller is the dominant one.


• If the flame on a candle that was named for an individual leans or bends away from a named candle representing a lover or away from a central candle that represents some person he or she was supposed to protect, or if they gutter down, then the person so signified is emotionally repulsed by the lover or derelict in his protective duty toward the person signified by the other candle.

The candle flame hisses, sizzles, pops, or makes other noises

A "noisy" candle is usually interpreted -- especially by those in the Spiritual Church Movement -- as a sign that spirits (of the dead, of angels, or of other entities) are trying to "come through," that is, to communicate. Pay attention! You may learn something important.

A free-standing candle runs and melts a lot while burning

This gives you an opportunity to observe the flow of wax for signs. For instance:

• If you are burning a bride-and-groom type candle for love, and the woman's wax runs all over the man's, then the woman desires the man more than he desires her -- and this holds true of all colours, including black for break-ups, white for new love, pink for friendship and romance, red for passionate love, and pale blue for peace and healing.


• If the bride side of a bride-and-groom candle -- or a separate female candle -- burns faster than the groom side of a bride-and-groom candle -- or a separate male candle -- then she's more affected by the spell work than he is, and vice versa.


• If the woman's wax runs around the base of the man's, she's trying to cling to him, and vice versa.


• If you are burning a green money candle and the wax melts and runs down onto the monetary offering, then the spell is "eager to work" and the candle is "blessing the money."

Some people try to influence the way melting wax runs. They do this as an intentional part of the spell-work, to increase the likelihood that things will go the way they want. Others prefer to let nature take its course and to watch running wax for signs, without interfering in its movements.

If a free-standing candle smokes excessively at the outset, but ends up burning cleanly, it is a token of hidden trouble or someone working against your wishes. Things will not go well at first, but with repeated work you will overcome.

A pin or needle on a marked free-standing candle drops -- but it clings and won't fall

Either the client (the person for whom the candle is being burned) is clinging to past conditions or someone or something from the client's past is unwilling to let the client go.

The term "past conditions" means events or memories from the client's past.

The term "someone or something" means that it may be a living person, or a hostile spirit sent against the client, or a spirit of the dead, or the spirit of a drug or illness.

• If the client is the one who is clinging, you will probably know it by knowing the client's case.


• If someone or something is clinging to the client, it is likely to be the same someone or something that is the cause of or is a part of whatever is the client's problem or situation that you are working to remedy.


• If, based on your knowledge of the case, you don't know which situation applies (i.e. whether the client is clinging to him/her/it or he/she/it is clinging to the client), you will do a simple divination on which situation is the operative one at this time.

Once you know which it is, then you can address the issue through spiritual and magical remediation:

• If the client is the one clinging to the past, then cleanse the client by administering a Black Walnut bath to break ties with the past.


• If someone or something is clinging to the client, then give the client a cleansing Van Van bath followed by a Cut and Clear rite (or, in a pinch, simply add Cut and Clear Dressing Oil to the client's candle) to break that thing off.


• If what is clinging to the client is very strong -- for instance, if it is the spirit of a drug or a bad companion who hangs around -- you may also have to do some Cast Off Evil and/or Hot Foot work.

The candle burns unusually slowly or "won't go out"

This is a very troubling and frustrating situation. How you deal with it will depend on the reason you were burning the candle in the first place.

• If your light was lit for simple increase or decrease without respect to the will of another being (more wealth, less illness, etc.) then this is may be considered a bad sign -- a negative reply from the world of spirit to the question implied in the work.


• If the candle was set in open opposition to the will of another person (e.g. a coercive love spell, an antagonistic spell, etc.) then this sign may either be a negative reply from the world of spirit to the question implied in the work or it may be a message from the other person, implying resistance, blockage, reversal of your designs, or sending harm back onto you or your client. Such a dousing of your lights may indicate that someone very strong is working against you or against the person on whose behalf you are setting the lights.

In any case, if the light goes out, you will have to relight it. Do so with a prayer.

• If the light goes out or is put out a second time, this a sign that you may need to use stronger means than you first employed to reach the goal. Try relighting it again, with a stronger and more focussed prayer.


• If it goes out a third time, you may try to splint the wick (that is, re-wick the candle) and pray over it very intently before relighting it, and you may also wish to consider adding a second "helper" or "back-up" light on the altar.


• If no amount of effort on your part enables the candle to burn, and the helper light goes out three times as well, you should consider the need to start the entire job over from the beginning.

The candle burns up overly fast

Generally a fast burn is good, but an overly-fast burn (compared to other times you have used the same kind of candle or to other candles that are being burned at the same time in the same ritual) means that although the work will go well, it may not last long. You might have to repeat the job at a later date.

• If you have set lights for several people and one person's candle burns faster than the others, then that person is most affected by the work, but the influence may not last long enough to produce a permanent change.


• If one candle out of a set burns out hours or days before the others, the choice of what to do is yours, essentially. Some folks would take it as a sign that the work is fast but not long, while others might take it as a sign but would not like what it signified and for that reason they would light another candle to replace it.

Should you light another candle in its place? Well, there are no "rules" governing this sort of situation, and the best i can recommend is that you let spirit guide you.

Which course of action you choose will be determined by your own personality and your level of activity or passivity toward the world generally; the level of your activity or passivity with respect to your relationship to magic, omens, this ritual, and its desired outcome; and other factors such as whether more candles are readily available in the time frame of the ongoing ritual.

You might do a pendulum divination over the candle remains and ask the question. Or a card reading. Or Bibliomancy.

You might try handling it one way this time and another way next time it happens (because, if you burn many candles, you will see these kinds of anomalies more than once), and from such experiences you may understand more deeply how you will wish to handle such events in the future.

What would *i* do? I can't say, because at different times i have handled this differently, according to the factors i listed above. But if i had any negative feelings about accepting the premature burn-out as a sign, i would do a pendulum divination over the candle remains, with simple yes or no questions, to determine if i should set another light.

The candle goes out before completely burning

Sometimes a candle seems to take forever to burn, or there may be a little stubborn stick of wick at the end that keeps pulling in wax and just won't go out. I have seen some candles run 10 to 20 hours longer than manufacturer estimates, flickering at the end, but never quite extinguishing. This slow type of burn can necessitate dramatic watchfulness, but do not get impatient and blow such a light out prematurely. Watch and wait and observe what happens.

Generally a very slow burn signifies that the work is very slow in coming to fruition, but what that means in any given case will, of course, vary based on the purpose for which the candle was set.

• If you see an overly slow burn on a candle set for positive-outcome petition, it means that it will take time before you see results, but if and when they do come, they will last.
• If the candle is being burned because you wish to end or resolve a negative situation, the candle's refusal to finish at a normal rate may mean that the target of your work, your opponent or enemy, is resisting being finished with the situation, despite your efforts.

The candle tips over and flames up into a fire hazard

If a candle falls over or if it flames up so high it puts your curtains on fire or destroys a portion of your altar, you know you are in trouble. An out of control fire is both dangerous and a very bad sign in terms of spirtual workings. Once you get the flames under control and take stock of the damage, it is wise to accept that the event is a sign that not only will the spell probably fail but there may be increased danger ahead for you or the client. In order to accomplish anything, you will have to start the entire job over from the beginning -- but first do a thorough Uncrossing spell for everyone involved and ritually clean the premises before setting any more lights.

The candle wick forms a "knot" or forms "twin flames"

When a free-standing candle burns with a "knot" or "knob" or lump at the tip of the wick or breaks apart to form "twin flames" or two diverging wicks, you can get a good reading on the situation by letting it burn as-is, or you can trim the wick, which is what candle manufacturers recommend.

• On a free-standing candle, a knot or knob or lump indicates a stubborn situation, but one with a lot of intensity. The clumped-up knot signifies resistance.
• On a free-standing candle, the twin flames -- especially if they eventually rejoin -- indicate that after delays a union or reunion may be foretold, or that there may be a flirtation, separation, or parting before the union or reunion of two parties.

When a glass-encased candle burns with a knot, knob, or lump at the tip of the wick or with twin flames or two diverging wicks, the reading of the flame is greatly complicated by the fact that these formations will almost always (not always, but ALMOST always) result in a smoked-up glass, so that the capnomancy or smoke-reading portion of the divination can be expected to be dark, streaky, or sooty, which is not a good thing.

• When a vigil candle burns with a knot, the smoke will almost always end up marking the glass and the darks may be quite dark and sooty.
• When a vigil light burns with twin flames, the smoke will almost always smoke or at least white-streak the glass.

It is passive to let dark streaks or smoke marks form on a glass-encased vigil light if you can avoid it. Why settle for a bad divination sign and set a second light if you can work on the candle and correct it as it burns?

As a capnomancy reader, i already know the upcoming divination score when i see a glass-encased vigil light with a knotted or divided flame, and once i see that, and if it persists and is smoky, i often feel the need to fix it, because what i want is results. I will trim, groom, and work the candle to get the results i want. Many people don't -- God bless them. But then they have to light more candles, until they get one to burn right. For me, it's like raising animals -- if one falls sick, i don't just buy a second one to replace it. I nurse it back to health.

One way to minimize knots and double flames is by trimming the wicks BEFORE lighting the candles. Some candles have very long wicks -- maybe you have not had the experience of seeing these, but i have seen vigil lights and figural candles with up to 2" of free wick. I am not talking here about factory offertory candles, but vigil lights and also figurals that are made by hand. Attempting to light a 2" long wick is just a waste of time -- it cannot draw the wax up it. You have to trim it first.

Remember that a knot or twin flame formation may give different reading outcomes on a free-standing candle than on a glass-encased candle, due to the way we perform smoke-reading or caponomancy of the candle-glass in the latter type of candle. What looks interesting and ends well on a free-standing candle may look interesting but end badly in the glass of a vigil light.

SIGNS LEFT IN THE WAX RESIDUE FROM A BURNED-OUT CANDLE

The divination of signs observed in melted wax is called Ceromancy. In addition to observing the waxleft behind when a candle burns "naturally," it is a common Ceromantic practice to tip a candle over a shallow bowl of water and let some wax pour into the water, then observe and identify the shapes taken by the solidifying wax. These images can be read in the same manner as tea-leaf readings, using the same symbol system.

The candle gives a clean, even burn with no tokens or signs

This means things will go well with the spell or blessing and that one will most likely get what one wishes for. If a glass encased vigil or novena candle burns and leaves no marks on the glass, that is best. If a free-standing candle leaves little or no residue, that is best.

A free-standing candle burns down to a puddle of wax, forming transient or persistent images

Transient images are those which occur while the candle is burning but disappear by the time the candle flame has gone out. Persistent images are those which are left in the form of solid wax after the flame has gone out.

When wax melts and forms images, most workers will examine the shape of the wax for a sign. You may see something of importance there, for the shape may suggest an outcome regarding the matter at hand.

One transient image that often forms while a candle burns, but may disappear by the time it is finished, is a run of wax droplets down the side of the candle. These are called "tears" and they denote that someone will cry before the spell succeeds.

If the tears melt away and are gone by the time the candle is finished, the sorrow will pass in due time.

If the tears persist after the candle is finished and either hang down like icicles or form tall columns or spires of unburned wax tears, the sorrow will be of long effect.

After the candle is finished, the wax puddle that remains can be examined and its meaning related to the spell. For instance, a heart-shaped wax puddle is a good significator if you are burning a red Eve image candle or a pink Adam image candlefor a love spell -- but a coffin-shaped wax puddle is a good significator if you are burning a black devil candle against an enemy.

Wax puddles come in all kinds of shapes; most candle-workers treat them like tea-leaves when they "read" them.

A vigil candle burns down but leaves up to 1/2" of unburned wax at the bottom

Unburned wax at the bottom of a glass-encased vigil candle is a classic sign of "unfinished business." What that means will depend upon the nature of the condition for which the spiritual work was being done:

• If the candle was being burned to rid someone of sickness, then the sign means that some sickness remains; it has not been completely cured.


• If the candle was being burned to draw in new love or return an old love, then this sign means that the person will not come completely, just part-way, due to issues not caused by the client, but rather due to "unfinished business" on the part of the client's loved one.


• If the candle was being burned to harm someone, it may hurt them, but not not severely; if it was intended to cause death, it may damage them but it is not going to kill.


• If the candle was being burned to keep the law away, they may stay away for one reason, but some other, older, "unfinished business" may draw them back.


• If the candle was being burned to draw money, then the sign means that the money may come part-way, not completely, and that there may be "unfinished business" to be handled before the petition is granted.

SIGNS LEFT IN OR ON THE CANDLE HOLDER, STAND, PLATE, SAUCER, GLASS, OR LABEL

It is quite common to read the smoke patterns left behind in a candle glass for divinatory purposes. This is a combination of Capnomancy -- divination by smoke (a word that can also refer to reading patterns in "live" smoke -- that is, incense smoke or the smoke from a candle) and Ceromancy -- divination by wax (a word that can also refer to reading patterns formed by dripping wax into water). It is therefore known as Capno-Ceromany or Cero-Capnomancy-- divination by smoke and wax.

A glass encased candle burns half clean and half dirty

A grey or black and sooty top which fades down to a clear bottom indicates that there is hidden trouble with the person for whom the lights have been set or that someone is working against your wishes. Things will not go well at first, but by repeated spells you may get them to go better.

A dirty, black, sooty burn marks the candle glass or holder

This means things are going to go hard -- the spell may not work, the blessing may fail, the person is in deeper stress or trouble than you thought.

• If the work is being done for gain or increase in love or money, or for job-getting, then the subject of the spell -- the beloved or the one who has been asked to provide the money or the job -- is "resisting" the work and "throwing up obstacles" against the person on whose behalf the light has been set.


• If the work is being done against an enemy and the enemy's candle burns sooty and dirty, then it is likely that the enemy is fighting your influences.

Sometimes there are distinct images seen in the haze or soot left by smoke that clings to a candle glass. You may see an angel, a skull, a playful dog, a human face, or a heart. These signs, and many others, can be interpreted in the same way as tea-leaf patterns or the images discovered in melted wax by the practice of ceromancy.

The glass or ceramic candle holder, saucer, or plate cracks or breaks

Breakage is never a "good" sign -- but it is not always "bad," either. If the spell is for increase or amelioration, a broken holder or base is unfortunate; if the spell is one of aggressive expulsion, the break can indicate the suddenness of the rupture to come, but . You need to consider what kind of candle it is in order to interpret the meaning.

• If the crack or breakage results in dripping wax, the indication is for tears or loss of blood.


• If the crack or shattered glass is "dry," the outcome is not likely to involve tears or blood.


• If the spell is being done to gain something or to change conditions for the better, the meaning of the breaking glass depends upon the conditions involved.

Here are a few specific examples of how i might interpret a broken candle-glass as a "bad sign":

If a Stay With Me that you were working to keep your husband from divorcing you and the glass cracked, i'd call it a bad sign.


• If you were burning a Blessing candle to help someone recover from a traumatic brain injury and the crack was near the top (head) of the glass, i'd call it a bad sign -- a notice that there would be some remaining deficit in cognition.


• If you were burning a Reconciliation or Return to Me candle to draw your ex-lover back home, a broken candle glass would be an all-around bad sign -- he has split from you and wants to stay split.


• If you are burning a Love Me candle to cause someone to care more for you, then the broken glass and dripping wax could mean tears and separation and a broken relationship.


• If you are burning Money Stay With Me candle to control your financial losses, then the broken glass with dripping wax could mean inability to control outflow of money and failure of the spell.

Sometimes the breaking of a candle glass is neutral, or functions as a warning.

• If you wanted to make a winning bid or offer on a house that is for sale, and you set a House Blessing or Money House Blessing candle on a picture of the house and the glass cracked, i'd take the cracked glass as a sign that there make be hidden flaws in the house itself. This is a warning sign to you -- and as such it is neither a "good" nor "bad" sign -- but heeding the warning might save you a bundle of money on down the road, which is good.


• If the candle is being burned in opposition to someone, like an enemy, for instance, the breakage of the glass may signify resistance, fighting back, or a reversal of the spell.
  

Sometimes breaking a situation apart is exactly what you want to do, and in those cases, the broken glass may be interpreted as a sign that your spell is going to succeed, although the split will be harsh, abrupt, or painful:

• If you were working Separation candle to break your apartment lease prematurely so that you could move into a new apartment, i'd call it a fairly good sign.


• If a Separation or Break Up candle glass breaks, it might signify a very complete and abruptly shattered break-up (with tears of sorrow)


• If a Separation or Break Up candle glass breaks, and you had knowledge that the work is being performed against resistant people, and the break was accompanied by a lot of black soot in the candle glass or burning of the candle label, it could signify their break would be temporary or incomplete, due to their resistance to the spell.


• If an Intranquility candle breaks, it may mean that the target is resisting or is shielded by spells and that your attempt has shattered against those defenses; it may also mean that the Intranquil Spirit, who is called upon in this spell, does not wish to work for you.
A broken Essence of Bend-Over candle may mean that the one whom you wish to control or bend to your will is fighting back and breaking your spell.

In some cases, the breakage of the candle glass is ambiguous and further divination over the candle is necessary to settle the question.

• If you were burning a Road Opener to break through a log-jam between your union and the company you worked for on contract issues, i'd take it as a sign that there would indeed be a break-through, and soon ... but not necessarily for the best, because, as the wax ran out, so too might some employees be forced to "run out."


• If you were burning a Break Up candle to break apart your wife and her outside lover, and they did split up, this won't ensure that your wife stays faithful from now on, so you'd want to do some more work on her, too.


• A broken Cast Off Evil candle might signify that the evil spell was suddenly broken (possibly with tears, bloodshed, or God-knows-what-all) -- or that if the evil was embodied in a bad person who was hanging around (as opposed to a bad habit or substance abuse, for which these candles are also often used) then the breakage of the glass might signify resistance on that persons part and their refusal to be "cast off" from the person whom they are parasitizing.

In other words, the symbolism of a broken glass varies based on the type of candle and there is an art to reading the signs, which cannot be neatly summarized by a set of "rules." You may do a divination on the result to further clarify the signs -- and remember to combine the meaning of the cracked glass with other signs, such as soot, burned label art, etc., in order to get the fullest picture of what the outcome will be.

In the end, no matter what the kind of case you are handling, the action i personally would take when a glass candle breaks would be to set another of the same sort of light on the same situation; that is, i would re-do the work because i would not consider a broken candle and spilled wax to be a positive outcome unless the candle was lit for a negative petition, and even then it would have negative side-effects (tears, blood, loss).

Seriously speaking, and with no attempt at frivolity or triviality, it must be noted that the best way to avoid a broken plate, saucer, or holder is to not use glass or ceramic in this capacity. A worker who persists in the habit, especially after breaking more than one such article, is a worker who is ungrounded in the real world, whose spirituality may aim high but who fails to take note of the physical laws that govern and set limits on our daily lives on Earth.

AN ACCURATE DIVINATION DERIVES FROM A PROPER BURN

To sum up, in considering the methodology of candle divination, you will see that it consists of THREE forms of divination combined:

• Pyromancy -- divination by flame.
• Ceromancy -- divination by wax.
• Capnomancy -- divination by smoke.

What an experienced candle setter -- such as a deacon at Missionary Independent Spiritual Church or a well-experienced home practitioner, or a professional rootworker -- is looking for is a single divinatory narrative that combines the "statements" of the three "witnesses" to the burning: the flame, the wax, and the smoke.

In addition, sometimes there will be other "witnesses" -- the glass may crack, the label may scorch.

Again, the experienced candle setter consults ALL of these "witnesses" to the work.

It is all too problematic to light a candle and start worrying over it as it burns. Resist that temptation.

I suggest that if you want to develop a deep understanding of candle divination, and not just hack around at lighting candles and fuss over them in times of crisis, you buy some books on the subject of candle magic, and read them. Then i suggest that you pay for a half-hour magical coaching session with an experienced AIRR rootworker worker. The one-on-one coaching you get that way will drive home some of the things you will read in the books and will take you to a new and higher level of understanding.

Here are four of the best books ever published on candle magic; two were written in the 1940s, one in the 1960s, and one combines a 1940s text with material from the 1990s through the 2010s. These are time-tested, reliable, and detailed instruction manuals that every practitioner ought to be familiar with.Each is different and contains different spells and concepts, with very little overlap.

Source: luckymojo.com

	THE ART OF HOODOO CANDLE MAGIC IN ROOTWORK, CONJURE AND SPIRITUAL CHURCH SERVICES  by Catherine Yronwode and Mikhail Strabo Candle magic is one of the foundational practices within African American hoodoo folk-magic. Spell-casters of every level of experience within the community know the value and efficacy of setting lights, This book is actually three books in one filled with history, teachings, traditions, and instructions on how to become a candle magic practitioner, how to provide candle ministry services to clients, and how to conduct public candle-light services. 96 pages, paperback.	$9.00 BOO-GRI-AHCM
	THE MASTER BOOK OF CANDLE BURNING  by Henri Gamache Originally published in 1942; this is a revised 1998 reprint. The classic text on hoodoo candle burning in the pre-Santeria era; covers everything you need to know about colour symbolism, figural candles, dressing candles, altar layouts, etc. The author was beyond doubt the best early 20th century writer on hoodoo. 96 pages, paperback.	$7.50 BOO-GRI-MSCB
	THE MAGIC CANDLE  by Charmaine Dey Originally published in 1982; this is a facsimile reprint. After Henri Gamache's "Master Book of Candle-Burning," this is our next-most requested title on candle magic. The two make a great set or pair, as each covers slightly different aspects of the work of dressing, fixing, and setting lights, doing altar work, and casting magic spells with candles. Dey provides a handy guide to the employment of novelty and image candles in practical work. 64 pages, paperback.	$7.00 BOO-GRI-MCCD
	THE GUIDING LIGHT TO POWER AND SUCCESS  by Mikhail Strabo A classic text from 1941 on the practice of candle magic by Mikhail Strabo, the former proprietor of Guidance House, an old-school New York City spiritual supply company. Highly recommended. 64 pages, paperback.	$6.95 BOO-GRI-GUID