Leo Vinci - The Book of Practical Candle Magic: Includes Complete Instructions on Candlemaking, Anointing, Incense, and Color Symbolism, as Well as a Selection of Candle Rituals

This edition first published in 2015 by Weiser Books,

an imprint of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

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www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright 1981 by Leo Vinci

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Originally published in 1981 by Aquarian Press, a part of the Thorsons Publishing Group, ISBN: 1-85030-271-4.

ISBN: 978-1-57863-578-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request

Cover design by Graham Lester

Text design by Jane Hagaman

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It is better to light one candle than curse the darkness.

Dedicated with love and affection
to my mother, Mona Vincent,
and Pat Arthy

The candle (the root word appears in the Latin verb candere, to shine) forms the subject of this book. The use of ritual candles in one form or another has been with mankind for centuries, and so throughout this book the reader will find, as well as the various methods of burning candles for ritual purposes, some reference to their religious usage, history, and folklore, together with many of the myths and legends associated with them. The main subject of the work, however, is candle ritual and its method of performance.

Most people have at some time or other practised candle magic, perhaps without even realizing it. Remember your birthday cake with its candles? One for each year of your life? You were told to close your eyes, concentrate hard and make a wish, and then with a deep breath blow them all out. That was your first candle ritual. Although the history of the candle could fill many volumes, we shall only touch upon the subject briefly here.

Lamps (lucern) were in early use among the Greeks and Romans, as among the Eastern peoples. Much earlier devices for lighting, such as tapers, torches, and candles, of various materials and manufacture, have been found, especially among the poor. Primitive lights were readily available from splinters of pine and other resiniferous woods. These and other combustible materials, steeped in animal fat, oil, or tallow and fastened together with bark strips, were used as torches. Torch cases of clay and metal filled with suitable materials produced a bright, steady flame. None of these proved to have the convenience for ready use of the primitive candle, which consisted of a wick of oakum, or the dried pith of reeds and rushes, which had been steeped in wax or tallow. Furthermore, molding and shaping could produce artistic effects which probably helped to establish them firmly as a religious symbol.

The translation of candles into the early Christian faith, as with incense, was not an easy one. Many powerful voices were raised against their use and inclusion. There was strong antagonism towards these heathen customs, and the corrupting effects they were considered to have on the new dispensation. Tertullian (a.d. 200) came out strongly against their use, and Lanctantius (a.d. 300) proclaimed the folly of heathen worship regarding lights: They kindle lights to Him as though He were in darkness; if they would contemplate that heavenly light we call the Sun, they would at once perceive how God had no need of their candles....

Fortunately, these protests proved futile against the full-tide of heathen customs which began to enter the church at this time, and from the fourth century onwards the practice of using candles was not only firmly established but held in high honour. Everywhere in worship, and especially on high occasions, we find candles being used, and holding a central position in processions, baptisms, marriages, and funerals. They stand on the altar; are placed before images and on shrines; and are used as votive offerings to God and the saints, or with prayer and invocation for recovery from sickness and requests for many other benefits. There are few ceremonies in which their use is not observed. Candles, when blessed, were thought to be a sure protection, a shield against thunder and lightning, protection against the blighting of crops and fields, the disease of cattle, and all manner of evils, in particular the wiles and snares of Satan. It was decreed that candles should be made solely of wax, in particular the wax of the bee, and not of tallow or other substances. The fragrant wax, the labour of the bee which dies when its work is accomplished, has a mystical significance. It has drawn from the best juice of plants, and has the highest natural worth as material offerings. Tradition holds that bees originated in Paradise.

Though it may not prove to be its original name, Candlemas is the old English name for the Festival of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 2 February, the Venerable Bede recording the custom in the early part of the eighth century. La Canelire in old France, Candelara in Italy, Kendelmass among the Danes and Lichtmesse or Missa Luminum among the Germans, all celebrate the use of the candle in this important rite. Its name refers to the actual custom of carrying lighted candles, torches, and tapers in solemn procession on this day. The Blessing of the New Fire, which must, according to Mozarabic Rites, be newly struck out of flint, may perhaps link the Festival of Candlemas with the rites of Celtic heathendom.

The Celtic year began with Samhain on 1 November and the lighting of the Samhain Fires. We still keep this day as All Saint's Day or Hallowe'en. February 1st, called Brigantia, Imbolc, or Oimelc, is the first day of Spring. Candlemas (discussed later) took the place of Brigantia in the Christian calendar, but since it could not be made to match exactly, fell on 2 February. An old Scottish proverb tells us:

If Candlemass Day be dry and fair,

Then half o' winters come and mair;

If Candlemass Day be wet and foul,

Then half o' winters gone at Yule.

May 1st marked the beginning of summer with the kindling of the Beltain, Baal, or Bel Fires, the need fires, and the Church decided this day should be given over to the Apostles. The fourth and last of these great festivals was 1 August, Lammas, a feast day of the Sun god Lugh, the Lughnasad Fair or Lammas Day. There are still Lammas Fairs in some country towns, and the Church takes this day to honour St. Peter.

As these occasions were all marked with fires it is not difficult to connect the Blessing of the Fire with the great rites associated with them. The Scots celebrated Candlemass Bleeze or Blaze, in honour of the old goddess Brigit, whose later Christian counterpart became St. Bride or St. Brigit. Brigit was the daughter of the powerful tribal God, the Dagda, and her feast day, La Feill Bhride, fell on 1 February. She is, in keeping with many goddesses, often portrayed in Celtic art, in Roman Gaul and Britain, as a group of three, as one of three sisters, or as a triple goddess. Even the Christian Brigit has a great deal in common with her pre-Christian counterpart. At Kildare a sacred fire was kept permanently burning at her shrine, tended by nineteen nuns in turn, and on the twentieth day by St. Brigit herself. No man was permitted to breath on the sacred flame or come anywhere near it. In outline this resembles many of the pagan cults which were exclusive to one sex or the other. In Scotland she was known as the Virgin Mary's Midwife and in this role she has often proved more popular than the Virgin herself. She is invoked in matters of childbirth, particularly by the midwife while in attendance on the expectant mother. If it was thought she had been displeased, a sacrifice was offered to her. A cockerel was buried alive at a point where three streams or rivers met, in recognition of her threefold nature. The people concerned with the sacrifice burnt incense on their hearth, hardly a Christian custom.