The Magickal Cottage

Bealtaine has arrived and with it comes summer and the time of fire! What better way to honor the fire element than to make some magickal candles for your energy work?

The method I use to make my candles is made easier by using a slow cooker. You can actually do some kitchen multitasking while your wax melts, and who doesn’t appreciate that?

Here is what you will need:

A slow cooker like a Crock Pot

Cleaned, heat proof jars.I prefer jars with no markings on them, so jam jars or pickle jars with labels removed work well. Canning jars generally have the company name imprinted on the jar, and since you want your intention in your candle work to be focused, you don’t want any confusing words like “Ball” to get in the way. Make sure the jars have been cleaned well and cleanse them energetically using your preferred method. Make sure the jars are short enough to fit in the slow cooker with the lid on.

Candle wax in flake form. I prefer soy wax since it gives a nice clean burn.

Candle wicks that are long enough to reach a few inches above the top of the jar.

Clothes pins to hold wicks in place.

Herbs (dried or fresh) and oils based on your magickal intention.

A table knife, or anything narrow enough to fit in the jar and easy to clean, for stirring the wax.

Embellishments to decorate the outside of your candle.

To begin, fill your jars to the top with candle wax and set them in the slow cooker to which you have added a few inches of water.

Place the lid on the pot and set the temperature to “high”.

Allow the wax to melt all the way. This may take an hour or so depending on the size of your jar.

You will notice that the wax really shrinks each time it is melted. The idea is to keep adding wax to the top of the jar and allowing it to melt until you have a jar almost full of melted wax. Leave some head room to allow room for adding your herbs.

Now you want to carefully remove the jars from the slow cooker and place them on a heat proof surface such as a few sheets of newspaper. Allow the jars to cool about 5 minutes while you get your herbs and oils ready to add to the wax.

Now carefully add the herbs to the wax, stirring them in with the table knife.

After about 5 more minutes add your oils. I prefer essential oils because they carry the plant energies. I add between 10 and 20 drops of each oil to a single candle. Fragrance oils smell stronger but they don’t carry those great plant energies because they are….well…fake…. Give the candles another stir. Every few minutes, for the next 30-40 minutes, continue to give the candles a stir until they look cloudy and have the consistency of pudding. The reason for all the stirring is to distribute the herbs all throughout the candle. You don’t want all the herbs to settle on the top or bottom of the candle. As the wax cools it will hold the herbs in place where you have put them.

Now you are ready to add your wick. Make sure the wick is nice and straight. Thread the top end of the wick through the small hole in the clothes pin. Place the wick in the center of your candle, making sure it reaches all the way to the bottom of the jar. Be careful not to press it down too much or your wick might bend inside the candle. The clothes pins work very well to hold the wicks upright.

Now you leave the candles to cool (probably overnight) before you trim the wicks and burn them.

In the mean time feel free to embellish the jars with crystals, colored ribbons and whatever else inspires you that corresponds with the energy you wish to work.

Now I’m on the hunt for other ways to embellish my candles. I figure it might be nice to reuse the jars (after a good cleansing), so the embellishments I used are all removable. But feel free to paint your jars or add designs in other ways if you aren’t going to reuse the jars.

One thing I wanted to mention: lots of candles you see for sale have crystals mixed right in with the wax. I get that the creators of the candles wanted to add the crystal energies in this way, but for some reason this bothers me. I’m not sure why. I have a thing about putting crystals in hot wax. Maybe some tiny bits of crystals would be ok. But for larger crystals I prefer to place them on the jar. Let the candle light shine through the stones and radiate the crystal energy into the cosmos. Right?

I plan to bless these candles at our Bealtaine ritual, place some sigils of intention on paper, place the papers under the candles, and light them for the highest good. As a gentle reminder, always burn candles in a safe place where they won’t catch things on fire and burn the house down. I have a little altar in my fireplace…with a screen in front.

If you make some candles I’d love to hear how they turned out, so tell me in the comments below. Happy candle making!

Bright Blessings,

Sarina 🦉🌜