Light has been an important part of spiritual ceremony since man has learned how to control fire to light his hearth to heat his food and to light the darkness of the night around him. Whether to light the face of the teller of the tales or to burn as a novena candle in church, candles have been an important part of spiritual ritual since their creation.
Candles are considered an ancient light source, but have actually only been around for approximately 2000 years. As of this writing, the oldest actual candle found has been dated to the ancient Romans near the time of Christ. Prior to candles, oil lamps, pith lights and tallow lamps were used for light. Beeswax has been reserved for the best light – the purest light due to its excellent strength and burn rate and consistency when used as the wax for a candle. In fact, candles made for modern churches are normally made with a certain amount of beeswax because of the clean burn and specific timing that can be made with the purer beeswax component.
Candles are an excellent way to focus for meditation or prayer. By utilizing the candle as a focus for our intent, we can become clear in our own mind about what it is we want to manifest. It today’s modern culture the candle has become a sign of spiritual oneness and caring. Even Elton John used the light of a candle to honor Princess Diana in his song “Candle In The Wind.” Many modern marriage ceremonies include a joint lighting of a “unity candle.” Churches and sacred houses the world over have candles that can be lit to help lift the prayers of supplicants to the heavens. Anyone who has lit a candle in honor of someone they loved because they had passed on has used this type of candle focus. “I’ll light a candle for you in the Church every Sunday.”
It should be noted that many modern commercial made candles (especially pillars) are a white or natural color (the color of the paraffin, soy or wax medium being used – commercially that’s normally cheap paraffin frothy white) that has been over dipped with a color or poured into a colored wax shell as a filler. In other words when you burn the candle you actually see the outer skin of color and inner core of white wax. Some say that burning this type of candle can send a confusing message or focus. Many times the candle section of your grocery store will have novenas (normally 2” pillar candles in glass containers which have a religious picture or saying on them). If your budget is short, try the votives in the candle section – they’re normally colored all the way through. There are also a tremendous number of candle vendors on the net. For those who want the purest burn (more eco friendly) look for candles made of beeswax – they burn longer and cleaner.
One of the first associations with candles is their colors. Burning candles of a specific color are believed to help heighten the intention (prayer) of the person lighting the candle. Here we offer you a selection of colors of candles and what the focus or intent that color is meant to convey. It should be noted that the associations for the individual colors remain true throughout many of the new age associations such as element associations, directional associations, meanings of the color, moods developed with the color, etc.
It should be noted that although these pages were written with candle color in mind, the associations of the color remain true pretty much across the board. Wearing a color is a good way to use color energy. For example, a grey suit (grey being “void” color) may be perfect for negotiations where the black may be too imposing. Learning the basic associations can help put a powerful resource at your disposal.
