Candles are used a lot for ritual purposes. They are often symbolic of spirit or energy, or they can represent all the five elements. Candles can be used as a focus device in meditation, or to set a gentler mood in a room. If you've ever lit birthday candles, made a wish and then blown them out, you've participated in the most popular candle ritual in the world!

Many people work with some form of bulk basic candle if they burn candles on a regular basis. Votives, tea lights or the classic white household style candles are all perfectly good options. Candles without perfumes or colors will burn more cleanly, something to consider if you are going to regularly burn candles in one particular location. Natural beeswax candles are lovely, but more expensive. Often rolled from honeycomb wax, they give off a light natural honey scent while burning.

If you choose to pursue candle magic further, there are more elaborate uses of candles in ritual. Many more advanced practitioners of candle magic will dress their candles depending on the usage and ritual. This is a type of cleansing and energizing of the candle to hold a strong and more specific energy for your spell or prayer. Candles are “dressed” by anointing them with an appropriate essential oil that lends strength to your purpose.

Dressing a candle is like a little mini ritual unto itself. Center and ground yourself. Take a small amount of the chosen oil and rub over your hands. Hold the candle so that both your palms have good contact with it, right hand above your left. Visualize the energy you wish to put into the candle. Rub the oil over the candle with your right hand, moving from the candle center to the tip. Repeat with the left hand, but move this hand from the candle center to the base of the candle. Repeat alternating until you sense the candle is ready. You can either proceed with whatever ritual you had planned or store this dressed and charged candle for future use.

A lot of components of color magic and candle magic overlap. Some people work with complex color choices in their candle magic, others opt for something simpler. If your altar has a theme or is dedicated to a particular deity, a specific color may be appropriate. Some people like to have a set of candles in white, gold or silver as honorary to the gods, then other smaller colored candles to represent other elements or energies. It is also appropriate to have your candle holder be decorative and use a plain candle.

What types of candles you burn depends on what you have access to and what works best for you in terms of safety. 

Tapers - Tall, thin candles which often stand upright in short candleholders or in candalabras.

Votives - Several inches tall, round candles, most often white but sometimes colored, often burnt in short glass holders.

Pillars - Candles that are three inches or more thick, can be any height ranging from squat to tall.

Tealight - Very short, round candles, most often in metallic cups.