Before you burn a candle for a ritual or spell, you should charge the candle. Charging a candle means preparing your candle to make it more powerful. The ways you can achieve this is through cleansing, dressing, and carving your candle.

Cleansing Your Candle

By cleansing a candle, you are removing all negative or psychic energies that the candle might have picked up along the way. It’s like resetting the candle to its original state.

There are four ways to cleanse a candle:

Hold the candle over incense or sage smoke.
Leave it outside overnight in the moonlight.
Bury the candle in sea salt and leave overnight or one full day.
Rub alcohol on it, starting at the bottom, working your way to the top. If you are working with a candle in glass, then rub alcohol on the exposed areas and glass.

No matter what cleansing method you choose, it is very important to always focus on your goal while cleansing. Pray and ask for blessings and cleansing of the candle.

Dressing Your Candle

Dressing is a process in which you anoint a candle with oils. When you dress a candle, you are imprinting your intentions onto it. This makes your spells more powerful and effective.

Despite the various conflicting methods on how to dress a candle, you can’t do it wrong if you set your intentions right!

Some like to rub oil in the middle of the candle and then proceed to rub downward, from the middle of the candle to the bottom. Some rub from the middle to the top.

If you are doing a spell that is bringing you something, rub oil from the top of the candle, downward to the bottom. If you are doing a spell that is getting rid of something, rub oil from the bottom upward to the top. Always stroke the candle in the same direction.

Whichever direction you choose to anoint your candle, make sure you focus on your goal and visualize it while you are dressing your candle. For example, if your goal is to draw in more money, visualize yourself gaining prosperity as you rub the candle.

You may also use herbs, cut or in powder form, in your oils.

Certain oils and herb combination help produce different outcomes. Cinnamon Oil, Clove Oil and Attraction Oil are best for love spells, All Spice Oil and Better Business Oil are good for money spells, and Rosemary Oil and Dragon’s Blood Oil are best for breaking a hex or crossed condition. There are many more oils and herbs that correspond to your spell and desires.

Carving and Inscribing Your Candle

After cleansing and anointing your candle, you may want to carve symbols, letters, drawings or words right onto the candle. You can carve your name or the names of loved ones or symbols like a dollar sign or a heart. If the spell is for a specific event, carve the date onto the candle. This not only helps you focus on your desired outcome but it also sends the intention out to the universe. You can use a straight pin or knife to carve or have it pre-carved with your inscription.

In addition to carving, you can also write out a petition on a paper and place it under the candle or candleholder. If you are burning a candle for someone, placing a picture of him or her under the candle can help with your desired result.

Preparing Your Candle With Sachet and Sprinkling Powders

A popular last step is sprinkling your candle and/or casting a magic circle around your candle. This can be done with sachet and sprinkling powders like Cascarilla. Simply pick a powder that works with your desired spell and sprinkle it on your candle. Creating a circle around the candle acts as protection to you.

As you can see, there are many ways to prepare your candle. You can’t go wrong if your intentions are pure and you speak from the heart!