There are many ways to increase the power of your candle magic. Choosing the candle best suited for your needs will increase the likelihood that your desired outcome is achieved. To enhance the intensity of a ritual, it is helpful to dress or anoint the candle before lighting it.

Dressing Your Candle

The actual process of anointing is simple. By dressing a candle, you create a link between your intentions and the candle. During the dressing process, you to charge the candle with your personal energy. As you focus on your goal, the candle becomes an extension of your thoughts and mental power. First, choose a candle that is in sync with your desire. Once you have your candle in your possession, you can begin the process of dressing it.

To Draw Money

Begin by inscribing the candle. With a straight pin, rose thorn, nail or other sharp object, carve the amount of money you wish you come to you onto a green candle. You can also inscribe the candle with a word or mantra, such as prosperity or wealth. Take the candle in your non dominant hand. Place a few drops of Quick Money Oil or Money Drawing Oil on the fingertip of your dominant hand and rub it onto the candle starting at the top and going from wick to base, leaving just enough room at the bottom of the candle for you to be able to hold it with your other hand.

Repeat this action, dipping your index finger into the oil and rubbing it from the wick to the base until the entire candle is covered with oil (except the very bottom of it where you are holding it). As you are dressing your candle with the oil, visualize the outcome you desire. Just as you will visualize as you cast the spell, use visualization as you dress your candle. Never rub your candle up and down. Always wipe the oil in the same direction.

To Bring Love Your Way

To try and find love or to strengthen the love you already have, inscribe a love-based symbol such as a heart on a pink candle or red candle. Feel free to carve the name of the person you desire into the candle, or your initials and their initials. Inscribe your carvings lengthwise on the candle, stopping approximately one inch from the candle base.

Using Desire Me Oil or Seduction Oil, follow the same steps as in the money-drawing dressing. Start at the top of the candle and work your way down to the top. Focus on your lover as you anoint your candle.

When drawing influences, such as love, money, or success, some folks prefer to work in the morning, as the sun rises. Hoodoo practitioners say that the candle should be lit when both clock hands are rising, in the second half of the hours between six and twelve.

Additionally, some people like to sprinkle glitter on their candle. Glitter tends to stick and gather certain places as the candle burns, sometimes creating shapes, which can be used to gain insight into the condition they are doing magic for. This process adds to the divination aspects of the ritual or spell. When using glitter, choose a color appropriate to the task. Interpretations are highly personal, and ultimately you should rely on your intuition to discern the messages formed on your candle during your spell.

To Remove a Hex

If you are casting a spell to get rid of a hex or curse that has been placed on you by an enemy, start by carving their name into a black candle. If their name is not known, simply carve ‘my enemy’ into the candle. Inscribe the words ‘shatter’ and ‘purify’ into the base of the candle.

Next, inscribe your name on a purple candle. Rub Jinx Removing oil onto both candles starting at the bottom and going from the base to the wick. Continue rubbing on the oil from base to wick until the entire candle is covered with oil. Remember to visualize your goal as you dress your candle with oil. Picture your oil filled with magical energy.

When repelling or casting off influences, it is best to dress and light your candle as the sun is setting. Wait until both hands of the clock are falling, in the first half of the hours from twelve to six.

Dressing a Devotional Candle

When anointing a glass-encased candle, like our 7 Day Candles, it is helpful to have a dowel, letter opener, screwdriver, or rod to sink down into the soft wax. Your goal is to create wells into which the oils are poured. An odd number of holes are traditional, with three or five fitting quite well on the top of the candle. If your instrument is long enough, you can get all the way down to the bottom of the glass. Do not worry if you cannot get that far down into the candle. Going in just an inch or so will serve you fine.

Some people choose not to create indentations at all, instead pouring a few drops of oil on the exposed top of the wax, opting instead to use their finger to stir the oil in a circle. The goal is to release as many of the magical ingredients as possible while the candle burns. If too much oil pools on top of the candle, it will drown and extinguish your wick, negating your spell.

There is no exact science to candle dressing. Develop your own technique and style in working with candles and soon it will become second nature to you. Allow your creativity and instincts to guide you and you will be amazed at how simple, yet powerful, the invocation will be to help manifest the things in your life that you desire.

For more on candles, read Dressing a Candle for Specific Outcomes, Part 2 and Candle Color Meanings.