The Spellcaster's Source Hoodoo and Voodoo Witchcraft Blog of Talia Felix

Baptized candles have a tendency to display either current or to-be behaviors of their subjects. Skull candles, which are used for the purpose of magically controlling a person's thoughts, seem to "weep" with a certain frequency. Some of this is just due to the shape of the candle -- the eyes being one of the shallowest points, therefore make it likely that the liquid wax will pour out of that spot -- and one must be cautious with candle readings to comprehend what is normal burn behavior for a style of candle. Nonetheless, a weeping skull candle can indicate many things. I might suggest he subject is upset or will become upset by thing thing you're requesting, or it might indicate that he or she is already unhappy. If you get a sobby little skull candle as part of your work, consider whether your demands on the person might be too emotionally damaging to them!  Domination and control work requires careful judgment about how hard to push—this is one area where...

It's not unusual to find magic spells -- especially Wiccan style ones, or older hoodoo works -- where objects are thrown into a fire and burnt in order to unleash their effect. This is often done indoors in a small cauldron or fireproof bowl that will fit atop an altar.  If you've ever done this, however, you might have found most of your mental energy devoted to simply keeping the fire going and getting your items to actually burn. Common fuels like paper scraps, lit charcoal and piles of matchsticks often don't produce adequate heat to really burn ritual items -- even in cases where the item being burnt is just more paper and dried herbs! Recently I had the disappointment of a spell that requires burning small pieces of onion proving too moist for the pathetic piece of charcoal I had going (which the spell's original author had even recommended for creating the fire.) Not only did the coal make the house stink of lighter fluid, but it wasn't proving an...

I am sometimes criticized for sharing and recommending spells that I myself have never tried; however, I consider this somewhat akin to expecting a doctor should have personally tried every drug he might prescribe to his patients. If the doctor doesn't have the same disease as the patient it will do no good at all, and different people have different reactions to the same medicines anyway: thus there is no advantage in the doctor's having actually used the same drugs to good effect or not. Thus we get to the matter of this old time breakup spell which was given in a book by Zora Neale Hurston: "Take nine needles, break each needle in three pieces. Write each person's name three times on paper. Write one name backwards and one forwards and lay the broken needles on the paper. Take five black candles, four red and three green. "Tie a string across the door from it, suspend a large candle upside down. It will hang low on the door; burn one each day for ...

In magic, almost anything can become an omen.  From the speed of a candle's burn to the quantity of wax left behind, everything takes on significance in traditional spellcasting. I should mention here that while certain burn patterns have a "traditional" meaning, I do not actually find all of these to be reliable. In fact, the only thing I've found to have a consistent and reliable meaning of any sort in my own practice, is if a candle goes out prematurely -- that is always inauspicious and indicates the work is really having a hard time coming through. Unless you're dealing with a defective candle, it probably means that it will not come to pass. Some other common phenomena that are used to read omens are: Candle burns clean, with little to no residue or remaining wax . As I was taught, this is desirable and a sign that that spell has taken and that there is nothing "left behind" to create further obstacles or that needs more work. However,...

In the Roman Catholic Church, candles are placed before a statue of Jesus or of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Often, in older or traditional churches, this will be before a side altar. Candles used may vary from long, taper-type candles to tealight candles. Tealight candles are either placed in holders or just on a platform in front of the statue. Long candles may be placed in a special holder. The longer candles seem to be more common in Europe -- the above photograph is from a French cathedral.

Figural candles, also called image candles or iconic candles, are like a halfway point between a candle and a so-called Voodoo Doll or poppet. Some people even use the wax candles in place of dolls for certain workings, since they come easily available and already shaped. Interestingly, I have found that when using figural candles for magic spell casting -- after having prepared them according to the method in Denise Alvarado's Voodoo Doll Book -- they behave differently from other candles. They take on personality, and are uncommonly good for predicting the future outcome of the spell based on the behavior of the wax. Once I did a spell using a figural candle on a person who had been using some other magic of their own. It was a multi-day spellcast, but after a few days the target became aware that I was working on her. The candle on that day exploded, went out, and shot a lump of wax at me that looked like a hand making a particular rude gesture. Another time I was doi...

When one performs a candle spell, often there is leftover wax remaining. Some people like to use this wax to detect shapes, which they perceive will relate to the final outcome of the spell. The images or symbols one will see can generally be broken down into four categories, which are: NATURE. Shapes to do with the organic world, such as flowers, mountains, branches, stars, etc. These can be indicative of circumstances that are beyond your power to control, and the general environment in which the spell is cast. PEOPLE. Shapes to do with human beings, such as full-body silhouettes or body parts like hands, ears, mouths and so on. These are said by some to be indicative of the role we, or the spell target, is playing or will play. Others also say that they represent actions which are being taken or will need to be taken. ANIMALS. Shapes that resemble animals found in wax are sometimes said to represent personal qualities that we, or the spell subject, are express...

A few weeks ago, on a visit to Chicago, I was able to visit my first botanica that did custom dressings for the candles. So I got a dressed Steady Work candle. The candle was dressed with rose petals, white mustard seed, rosemary, rue, gold glitter and some kind of perfume oil poured over the top of the candle. (Reminds me of the Milionario oil I got at a different place a few years ago.) They also had me write my name on a tiny piece of cardboard which they seem to have wrapped around the wick. Haven't burnt the thing so don't know how well it works, but figured I'd share this interesting info with others who don't get to see their own botanicas very often.

Paraffin, the primary ingredient of most modern spiritual candles, was only discovered in the 19th century; and it seems that just because it was known did not instantly make it the market leader. Lard and tallow candles continued to be used for a while yet, at least until lightbulbs made non-decorative candles a thing of the past. If you want to try some old-school hoodoo, here's a recipe from the 1870s for wax for making lard candles: Dissolve a quarter pound alum, and a quarter pound saltpeter, in a half pint of water on a slow fire; then take three pounds of lard cut into small pieces, and put into the pot with this solution, stirring it constantly over a very moderate fire until all the lard is dissolved; then let it simmer until all steam ceases to rise and remove it at once from the fire. If you leave it too long it will get discolored. Lard is available at most groceries, and alum and saltpeter can be had with only a little trouble from many online retaile...