Katie: It's February. I can't believe it already. What's happening to the year, what's happening to time, and most importantly, what's happening with our wheel of the year?
Jim: Time is not real. That's right.
Jim: If it's the beginning of February, That means it's time to make candles.
Katie: Woo. But why? Why are we making candles?
Jim: Well, it's halfway between the winter solstice, also known as Yule. Oh, yes. And the spring Equinox. Also sometimes known as
Jim: what I was testing you. Is it llamas? No, that's the other end. No remembering the eight Ostera?
Katie: Ostara!
Jim: Which is maybe a made up word, but the spring equinox, so the winter solstice and the spring equinox.
Jim: Right in between is February 1st or second or somewhere around there? And we call that either, well, the Christians call it candle mass, and the pagans call it Imbolc. Happy Imbolc.
Katie: Happy Imbolc.
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Katie: And so we know that it's between these two times, but why is it significant?
Jim: I think the first thing to do is To experience what's real around you. So we've been in, it depends where you are. If you are in, well at the moment, I happen to be in New Orleans and the purple, gold and green, you can see behind me if you're watching the video on YouTube. But if you are listening, New Orleans is further south in the latitudes and it's warmer.
Jim: but the wintertime starts to bring some storms and it's warming up a little bit, starting to get those 75 degree days showing up already.
Jim: But if you're back up in Seattle or in the Midwest or in the east, still kind of chilly. But if you look around. The trees have buds Yes.
Jim: That are already coming out. Have you noticed
Katie: I have out with the dog. I was like, look at these little guys starting to pop out already.
Jim: Yes. If you're in Ohio, if you're in New York if you're in upstate, if you're in Canada, you might notice that through the even in a few weeks, there might be little shoots of green.
Jim: The crocus might be sending up its first shoot through the snow. The earliest, earliest signs of the promise that, oh, winter's not forever. And so this is a celebration. This is a time when you can see, okay, the sun's days are really lengthening and we can see that.
Jim: We can see the days are starting to get longer. The dead of winter is starting to be overtaken by, the sunshine. And so because of this lengthening of days, there's this idea that we can start to celebrate that and get us through these long winter days.
Jim: Down here in the south. Well, new Orleans is not really the south. You gotta go north to go take it to the South . But in New Orleans, it's been a party ever since Christmas because the Christian idea is Lent is approaching and that's that period before Easter when everyone gives up. Or fast has this solemn time before Easter, and so it's been partying and party, until Mardi Gras.
Jim: All the Christmas decorations has turned into Mardi Gras decorations here and it's a great big party.
Jim: So candle mass has occurred, and that's the time when the blessing of the candles occurs for the church. But people also bring their own candles and bless them. And so there's a big tradition around candles.
Jim: And so I thought today, well, and you thought, we both thought, Hey, let's talk about candle making. For candle, mass and Imbolc.
Katie: It makes sense even though like Yule, we welcome back the sun, the times are turning, this is the time that I really feel it. I'm actually seeing, oh yeah, it's not, Pitch black at four.
Katie: And, there are some brave little spriggs coming through and showing signs of life. So even though it's kind of lean and dark and cold still, it kind of sparks that new life feeling. And I guess that's why candles come to mind for a lot of people at this.
Katie: Totally.
Katie: You had said that your tradition, you make candles around this time of year.
Jim: Yeah, as part of our celebration, we will make candles and candle magic is a really powerful type of magic as you well know. And this is a time when we can really flex into that. This is a time when we have traditionally made candles for the entire year.
Jim: And there's a few different ways and a few different types of candles that we have made in the past. So we've made the candles, those are the candles that are in the glass votives, the tall glass votives. Mm-hmm. . So we've melted wax on top of the stove in a double boiler, large, amounts of wax, and then poured them into the seven day holders. And we've done that in different colors to represent the cardinal directions or we've poured them with different colors and herbs and oils for different purposes like abundance or healing or transformation of some kind.
Jim: So we've done them for magical purposes as well, and we've just had them then available. For different purposes throughout the year, should we ever need a healing candle or we need a, open roads candle or a abundance candle, or a money drawing candle.
Jim: The other way that we've made candles is rolling sheets of beeswax.
Jim: So you've seen those they look like honeycomb,
Jim: but they're really molded honeycomb. Yeah. You take a wick and you roll that those, and so we've
Jim: rolled beeswax sheets.
Jim: Into taper candles
Jim: and those are really great to use.
Jim: Now we haven't used those for our directional candles cuz they burn very, very quickly. Mm. But they're great for spell candles. Oh. You can infuse them with herbs and oils and energy and they burn pretty quickly.
Jim: And so your intention can be achieved relatively quickly and they're beeswax, which are natural wax. So that's a really fun thing to do. Yeah, that's, and it's a fun group activity.
Katie: Yes, exactly. Well, and the way you're talking about it sounds like, if you're doing it for the whole year. That's kind of a powerful like shot of energy to have on something that then stocks your shelves for any time.
Katie: Yeah. It's fun that you could make it for something, but to just restock your witch's toolbox is really cool. And , we don't always take time to do that sort of thing, especially if it's a big group project. So a nice way to get community together in time where, it's still nice cuz it's cold and it's gray.
Jim: that's right outside. Right. It's a nice indoor activity. It's warm cuz the wax.
Jim: If you're pouring candles or you're making candles in containers. Mm. It's warm, it's cozy. Everyone's working. I recommend using natural waxes like soy. Or other waxes that you can pour.
Jim: I recommend using natural oils and just a little bit of them. So it's also a beautiful sense that are there sprinkling a tiny bit of herbs at the top of your candle, putting little tiny chips of stones. Mm. Like amethyst or quartz or rose quartz or anything like that in the top also.
Jim: And it's just such a warm, cozy, beautiful smelling activity for everyone to do together. It's a great group activity to do and you really is perfect for a colder day.
Katie: I can just picture like a punch bowl of those hot toddies that Runa was telling us about in the background when you're making candles Mm.
Katie: Get lit while you're making candles. I love it.
Jim: Oh well, you wanna be careful. Hot wax can be dangerous, but yes,
Katie: that's true. Drink responsibly, heat responsibly.
Katie: So we can make candles out of different material.
Katie: There's also different ways to light and extinguish your candles, which is sort of an interesting concept.
Katie: Before getting into candle magic and magic in general, I never thought, is it bad, quote bad, or might it do something if you're blowing it out versus snuffing it out?
Katie: That whole thing kind of blew my mind where you're like, oh, well, don't blow away your dreams, symbolically. But of course, whatever you believe can also be true.
Katie: So if you feel like that's blowing it into you, that kind of works too.
Jim: Right. So there's this thought that you don't blow out a magic candle that you snuff it out. And we tend to follow that rule guideline. Advice, whatever you want to call it. That our tradition is to snuff out the candle.
Jim: Now, you can do that with a candle snuffer. You can also, lick your fingers or use your fingers to pinch it out. My fingers are very sensitive. So I am always very cautious about pinching out the flame on a candle.
Katie: I always end up getting the wax when I do
Jim: that. Yeah. It's ouch. I always, yeah.
Jim: I don't know how people do that. I'm too timid. But the snuffer is the traditional way to put out a magic candle. And you can do that with a shot glass. You can do that with a wine glass , any kind of cup you have. Even a plastic cup could do it. But I don't recommend a plastic cup. So that's the way to do it.
Jim: When you blow the candle there is this idea that you are sort of dispersing the energy. So people tend to advise you not to blow out a magic candle, but , as you wish. If it is aligned with your intent to blow out the candle you can, if you are really imagining like, oh no, this is about an oriented , intention. Mm-hmm. this is about blowing away the person. Every time I do this, I'm intentionally blowing this because it is about blowing away what I don't want. And if that makes sense to you, then sure. There might be a reason that you're intentionally blowing out the flame.
Jim: Certainly. But we tend to snuff out the candle when we do that. Interesting.
Jim: And you also were interested in how we anoint the candle. Yes. So let's talk about that. How do you anoint your candles when you put oil on the outside of your candle? What was your thought?
Katie: Well, Your best advice, which we have said even already here in this episode is don't overdress.
Katie: Right. Don't overdress the candle and also don't let it like burn until it sets everything around it on fire too.
Jim: So let's share with everyone what even is dressing a candle. Putting a little suit on it. Is it taking Barbie clothes? That's right. And putting the Barbie clothes on the candle.
Katie: You knitted a sweater and then you put it right on the candle.
Jim: Welcome to Knit a Candle. That's right. Our new podcast.
Katie: Or it's putting a little bit of oil that may match the intention or have the smell that you want to bring in. And then with that on it, it is a little bit sticky.
Katie: And so if you want to roll it over some herbs or I guess some tiny. Crystals that probably would stick to it on the outside. Or glitter. Yeah. Oh, or glitter. Yes. You can't go wrong with glitter. Those are great ways to dress it.
Katie: Also, you can dress, like we said, the outside of it once, it's all rolled and everything too.
Katie: So if it's a gift candle, you can dress it with, a nice piece of linen or ribbon, and then maybe there's like a cinnamon stick, or some dried oranges things that would support the candle's intent, who you were gifting it to as well.
Jim: Right. And the key is, if you're rolling a beeswax candle, before you roll it, sort of put oil on the sheet oh, of beeswax. And very sparingly. Yes. Very, very, very sparingly Sprinkle tiny bits of your. Or resin or whatever the thing is on the sheet. Mm-hmm. Extraordinarily sparingly because it's gonna be many, many layers of that as you roll it up. And so a, a tiny, tiny bit goes a long, long way.
Jim: If it's a solid candle, dipped candle. Then once you put a little bit of oil on the outside of the candle and you sprinkle or you roll the candle in the herbs, that as it burns, it will ignite the herbs on the outside. And then it will become this flaming torch of madness that especially if it's beeswax you wanna make sure that you have it in a a fireplace?
Jim: Yeah. It will become very smoky. You'll get a lot of soot. It will become a bonfire. And if that's in your bedroom or on your altar.
Katie: Yeah, you're gonna have a bad time. I can show, maybe I'll take a picture of the burn mark that I've made on my table from the torch that I had on here.
Katie: That's a one-time is forever learning experience.
Jim: And I admonished Katie about this.
Katie: I know, I was like, oh, it'll go out any second. It didn't, take care of it in advance.
Jim: Mm-hmm, take care of it.
Jim: It's okay to manage your candle.
Jim: The other thing with candles is, and it says it on there and I'm gonna say it to you. Yes. We're gonna say it together. Never. Burning candle. Burning candle. Unattended. Unattended.
Jim: Oh, Katie, say it in your like Siri voice.
Katie: Oh.
Katie: Never leave a candle unattended while burning.
Jim: How does she do that? How does she go from Katie to like robot voice? It's amazing.
Katie: Psychosis. I don't know.
Jim: Yeah. So as you're doing your spell, you want that intention very badly. Burn the candle while you're with it, while you're in the room, while you're doing other things.
Jim: But never leave a burning candle unattended. Yes. When you're ready to leave, put the candle out. Magic Candles will burn your House down just as much as non-magic candles. So go ahead and snuff that out. Thank you. And when you come back, light it again. Yes.
Jim: And this is important for you to pay attention to it and be there, even if you're just sitting there in meditation and only burn it when you're actually looking at it or meditating with it.
Jim: That's fine. Let it take many days for that work to happen. Yeah. So these are some pro tips from people who have had unfortunate experiences with candles. Yes.
Jim: And if you need to blow it out because it's burning something, do that.
Jim: Yeah, that's fine. Or put a plate over it or have something else where you can, put it out. It's fine. The magic can't be totally screwed up just because you need to blow it out because you didn't have something and you need to put it out. It's.
Katie: Safety first. The magic understands.
Jim: So back to this idea of candle mass or of Imbolc. Making candles for Imbolc is fantastic and we have great ideas for you, and I think we're gonna talk about those after the break.
Katie: That's right, yes.
Katie: So let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.
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Katie: And we are back. So, Jim, on the break, we were talking about how you love to dress, already made candles, which I think is great for people who just don't have time or are like me and kind of hesitant about having the hold to do and it being messy.
Jim: So for Imbolc, making candles is super fun with a group of people and having those ready made is a wonderful thing to do. And not everyone out there has a group of people to do this with. Good point. If it's just me, guess what I'm not gonna do? Make candles, make hundred candles.
Jim: No, not gonna do that. Hmm. So what I do when I'm making a candle for someone, and I'm sorry, in air quotes, making a candle for someone. Yes. I go to the co-op near my house. They happen to have a whole like end cap at one of the food aisles, which has candles. And there's a brand that I'm able to get close to me that's called Good Lights.
Jim: There's also a brand that's beeswax only. And I can't remember the brand, but I get paraffin-free taper candles. You can also get paraffin free candles in a shape of the pine cone or frogs and other things.
Jim: You can find these paraffin free or beeswax candles and they're a little bit expensive, but for a magical candle, that's important to me that it's not paraffin.
Jim: So these are standalone not in glass containers, candles. And so what I do is I'll take the shaped candle of either a pillar candle or a frog or a pine cone or some other shape that's relevant to what I want to do.
Jim: And I'll dress that candle. Or I'll make that candle into a magical candle. How will I do this? Hmm. So for Yuletide I made someone a prosperity candle out of a pine cone shaped candle because pine cones are known to be associated with prosperity for, the holidays and for the new year. Mm-hmm.
Jim: And so I took this pine cone shaped candle and I put. Gold leaf on the ends of the pine cone tips. So I took my gold leaf paper and just kind of tapped it around. Mm-hmm. And the gold leaf sticks to the beeswax really, really well. Smart. I anointed then it with prosperity oil all over. I just stripped it all over and then I sprinkled some glitter on it and very lightly, some herbs, and it looked amazing, smelled fantastic.
Jim: There was some money drawing oil that I put on there, some prosperity oil that I put on there. On the bottom I inscribed the rune for prosperity, it looks kind of like an F.
Jim: Then I just put a card in tissue paper in a box, and I wrote a little card with a big run on it that said, may this year bring you prosperity. In abundance and I put that card in there and I didn't know who this was going to cuz it was , a random sort of Santa. And just picks a box and picks a gift under the tree and then gives it out to someone randomly.
Jim: And whoever got that, opened it up and found this candle and read the card and we're like, oh my gosh. And it was really a surprise and they got to burn that magic candle. It was really cool. Wow.
Jim: Another way I've done it, With a pillar can, I'm sorry, with a taper. And you can take that taper and you can dress it for someone again lightly with oil.
Jim: Put the oil on in an upward direction if you're wanting to bring something in or create something positive or something that you want.
Jim: In a downward direction if you're banishing or wanting to get rid of something.
Jim: Some people do it from the center out if it's sort of a neutral thing.
Jim: And very lightly dress it with either like cinnamon, you can use things in your cupboard, Rosemary. If you want healing, you can put gosh, anything. There's so many things that are healing. You can look those things up online what the thing is that you want on that candle.
Jim: And then you can inscribe even with. Pen or anything that's pointy. Yep. Even before you dress it, you can inscribe on there what you want. You can place a small piece of paper underneath the candle plate, whatever you're gonna put it on, with what your intention is on a piece of paper.
Jim: Hmm. Then you can burn it or you can give it to a person as a gift. So these are a couple ways that you can dress a candle that's already created.
Jim: You can buy a candle from someone who already makes candles. Either , a Bex candle maker or like Madame Pamita at Parlor of Wonders makes candles for you to create and to dress.
Jim: You can find her YouTubes also on how to do that properly. But these are some examples. Dressing already made candles rather than making them from scratch.
Katie: That's a great point too. If you don't have the ability, desire to make your own candles, but you love someone who is making their dreams come true by creating their own candles to supply to people, support them. you don't have to do everything yourself. You can support people who are already making that part of their expertise and then customizing it exactly to the parameters. Mm-hmm. that you want, like you said, with the dressing afterwards.
Jim: Because Madam Pamita makes pre dressed candles, you can pillar candle or a candle that's already ready already. That's true with the herbs and all the things that you already need in that candle . You can get those from magical shops probably in a town near you. Here in New Orleans, I can go across the street to the Botanica.
Jim: They will dress a candle for me and hand it to me. Wow. And whatever I need, they'll say, oh we need to put this in it, and this and it, and this and it. They'll drill a couple holes in a candle. Mm-hmm. , they'll dump the stuff in it and they'll hand it to me.
Jim: It'll become a torch and I gotta watch it. But that's what I can do with that candle and they'll do it for you. You're supporting the botanica, you're supporting that business. You get a magical candle done by the botanica. You take it and you do that. Most major cities, even medium sized cities, will have some sort of botanica or you can order that online.
Jim: Madam Pamita is an example of someone who sells already dressed candles and even go a step further. You can order a spell kit from Madam Pamita, or she can do the spell for you, a real witch can do that for you. So there's lots of ways to have pre-made magical candles from trusted ethical sources like Madam PTO or others that are already made for you.
Jim: So that's another way to do that work.
Katie: I have found that going to places where you may not think you'll find interesting, candle options will often have really cool and often inexpensive candles. So, for example, I went to. Ocean Shores, is that the one that's just down south of us, like a couple of hours?
Jim: Yes. South of Seattle. Yep. Ocean Shores is on the coast.
Katie: It's a cute little Oceanside community, has lots of little shops. They had one shop that was all consignment stuff from little local businesses, one of which made all these beeswax candles in little cute shapes. I don't think this person was a magical practitioner necessarily, but.
Katie: They were so great. The prices were great. They were in hearts and stars and all sorts of things, 100% beeswax, stunning, beautiful candles. I just felt like I hit the jackpot.
Katie: So finding things in places where you may not think. Thrift stores also, I've found really great candles in even like estate sales and things. People love candles.
Jim: Some of the stuff that you buy in thrift stores and estate sales, it's good to purify it some way before using them.
Jim: So you can do that energetically. You can do that with either smoke or smudge or a little bit of, to be careful with saltwater because you don't wanna get the wic wet. You can do that sort of symbolically on the outside. So there's certain things that you can do.
Jim: Those are great tips. You can also find containers at thrift stores or at dollar stores. And some of those containers are really great to fill with wax if you do melt down some wax which is actually not that hard. And make a candle that way pretty easily.
Jim: And of course, thrift stores are really great to find candle holders. Oh, yeah. For all your magical needs or plates for candles, I always find those at thrift shops or dollar stores.
Katie: As long as they are heatproof, that is like the main point there.
Jim: Wait, you, you mean my styrofoam C cup Can't hold a candle?
Katie: Yeah. I mean, that funny cardboard thin juice container. I don't know if that's gonna like, handle it over the long run maybe, but weird also, maybe not. weird.
Katie: I've seen a lot of like Instagram reels and listicles of like how to make your own magical candles and this and that.
Katie: Not all of the hacks are good. I would say some of them are downright toxic. So just use your head a little bit, and validate the source. But otherwise, yeah, keep proof. Containers are where it's at.
Jim: I think that a certain level of aesthetics matter.
Jim: Sure. I think if it looks beautiful, it's gonna help your magic because it's gonna help your mind, believe what you're doing. There's something to be said for like quick and dirty, magical work. But I think that there's something to be said for the aesthetics and that the aesthetics of, wow, the plate that I'm using is really beautiful and I only use it for this.
Jim: Mm-hmm. And the candle I have is really gorgeous and I did spend a little extra money on this particular candle. Not extravagant, not something that you can't afford, but I did do something special for this, and I did do something special to make this because I care about it. That makes a difference.
Jim: Yeah. At your level and at what you can afford, but. Put some effort into it and make it special.
Jim: I have this particular plate that is a luster wear plate mm-hmm. that I love using for magical intention. Luster wear has a iridescent, like a pearlescent luster to it. Oh my gosh. And that is a magical plate to me.
Jim: I only have one, and when I use that for magic, it's just so fantastic because I know that it's really special. Yeah.
Katie: Oh, similarly, I have had items where, like you said, I was like, man, this is like the perfect container for this project, but it's like a yogurt glass like. Mm.
Katie: It's not that exciting.
Katie: But I just did like a little bit of painting on the outside, decorate it, put a cover on it, wrap it in some ribbon with some glue, and suddenly it was like, oh, I love it. Right. It's totally different.
Jim: So, yes. Yeah. It was a jar.
Jim: It was a pickle jar. Mm-hmm.
Jim: And now it looks like
Jim: this stained glass candle holder.
Jim: These are things that we can do to our everyday items that make something really special. And I think that those are things to really look at too.
Jim: How do we make decorate a container and make it really special when it was. A really bland looking thing otherwise. Mm-hmm. Or it had a cute shape, but it lacked a little pizzazz.
Katie: Yeah, exactly. Something that you would probably just throw away or recycle otherwise. So do the real recycling and do something with it that's even better.
Jim: Upcycle it. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Jim: Well, I hope we have inspired you to do some Imbolc candle mass candle magic. At this first signs of spring season and Katie, happy Imbolc.
Katie: Oh, thank you. Happy Imbolc to you too. And for our listeners who are curious to learn more about creating your own candle, do we have a freebie?
Katie: Yes, we have a freebie. Yes, of, of course, we do. June created a amazing guide that we're gonna release in our newsletter, the Knit A Spell newsletter. So for anyone who is currently subscribed, You'll be getting it soon in your email. For anyone who is not yet subscribed, do so now so you don't miss out because it will be our new freebie for any of our new subscribers by the time you're listening to this episode. So subscribe today.
Jim: Awesome. Yay, do you all next week.
Katie: All right. See you then, Jim. Bye-Bye.
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