Romani Vixen
January 25th, 2006, 04:31 PM
The Altar
Why have an altar? There are many reasons. Specifically in candle magic, you'll want a place to do your spells. It needs to be a place which you can have candles, and a variety of other objects on. Mine is in my bedroom (private)**, I'm going to be getting a small table from an unfinished furniture place, so that I can do some work on it. A simple altar cloth (pick a meaningful color to you, or change by the season, or whatever spell work you're doing). Your altar will be the place that you cast spells, the place that you meditate, the place that you commune with the Gods. Take your time.
**My shrine, similar to an altar, but more dedicated to the Gods, is now in my living room. I live alone, and so I don’t have to worry about others disturbing it. I also like to have the reminder of seeing it there all the time. My cloth is white, for purity, and remains such.
Basic Tools
This is a very rough example of some tools which you'll want to get for your altar. This isn't a complete list, but this list is very heavily focused on Wicca and similar faiths. My Kemetic shrine has Icons, candle holder, water and food offering dishes, and insence burner.
Athame (a-tha-may) -- Ritual knife. Traditionally not used for cutting physically. I use mine for physical as well as spiritual cutting though, as well as inscribing candles.
Scribe tool -- if you don't have an athame, or don't use it for physical cutting, you'll need something to inscribe the candles with. A sharp rock, a needle, a nail. Find something that works for you.
Censer -- aka insence bowl. place sand in the bottom to stick in stick insence, or lay charcoal on top to burn. Is also useful for burning paper in ritual.
Candle holders -- of course an essential for candle magic. Make sure that you have a few, and ones that will work for all the types of candles that you have.
Snuffer -- some people feel that blowing out a candle offends the element of fire. If this is you (or you don't like the messy wax all over) get a candle snuffer. They can be found at thrift stores occasionally. I also saw them at Jo Ann's for $1.99.
Crafting tools
Some of these tools you'll want to purchase. Others can be made right at home.
Athame is unfortunately one that I do recomend purchasing.... though... my first was a quill pen (air, pen is mightier than the sword).
A censer can be a large bowl from a thrift store. You can also make one out of fimo or sculpy. You can also use a shell as a censer, just be careful when burning paper!
Candle holders are fun. Craft some from sculpy. You can also take a small log, saw one side flat (so that it will lie still) and drill holes for candles.
Please see the Arts & Crafts in the CoT (taught by Kalika) for further ideas on crafts that you can make.
Meditation
Meditation is what I feel to be an essential part of magic. You must know your self. You must also be able to focus and visualize. Meditation helps with all of these things.
Candles can be used for basic meditation. The color of the candle can vary. If you would like to meditate on something in particular, choose an appropriate color. If you just want a general meditation, use white. This candle can be used over and over again until it's gone, or get a big bag of tea lights for cheap and use them!
Sit in a comfortable position with the candle about a foot in front of you. Light the candle and ground and center. Feel the tension flowing out your feet and fingers. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, then exhale for four seconds, then repeat. this will create a slow methodic rhythm to your breathe which will allow your muscles and mind to relax more, aiding in a meditative state.
Focus on the candle's flame. If you get other thoughts in your head, let them flow out, and continue focusing on the flame. Maintain your breathing.
After a few moments of focusing on the candle, close your eyes. Hold on to the image of the candle, particularly the flame. Your mind's eye should see the flame flickering. If you loose the image, open your eyes again. Do this for a total of 10-15 minutes each day.
This also works with a regular fire. If you have a fireplace, try it out. You can also do it while camping, etc. You probably have already! Most people notice that they'll look at a fire and end up "zoning out". This is meditation, but non-focused and accidental.
Chakra meditation:
If you like working with your chakras, you can use a candle to open them. Choose a color appropriate to the chakra you want to open, and meditate on the candle, and visualise the area of your body glowing with that color. See the CoT Chakra's class for more info on Chakras.
Homework:
Practice candle/fire meditation. Please do it once a day for a full week. You may try different colors of candle, different music or insence in the background. Keep a log of what you used and your results. Post the results at the end of the week in this thread. If you'd like to keep it simple, you don't need to change anything from day to day, or you may just change one thing.
Why have an altar? There are many reasons. Specifically in candle magic, you'll want a place to do your spells. It needs to be a place which you can have candles, and a variety of other objects on. Mine is in my bedroom (private)**, I'm going to be getting a small table from an unfinished furniture place, so that I can do some work on it. A simple altar cloth (pick a meaningful color to you, or change by the season, or whatever spell work you're doing). Your altar will be the place that you cast spells, the place that you meditate, the place that you commune with the Gods. Take your time.
**My shrine, similar to an altar, but more dedicated to the Gods, is now in my living room. I live alone, and so I don’t have to worry about others disturbing it. I also like to have the reminder of seeing it there all the time. My cloth is white, for purity, and remains such.
Basic Tools
This is a very rough example of some tools which you'll want to get for your altar. This isn't a complete list, but this list is very heavily focused on Wicca and similar faiths. My Kemetic shrine has Icons, candle holder, water and food offering dishes, and insence burner.
Athame (a-tha-may) -- Ritual knife. Traditionally not used for cutting physically. I use mine for physical as well as spiritual cutting though, as well as inscribing candles.
Scribe tool -- if you don't have an athame, or don't use it for physical cutting, you'll need something to inscribe the candles with. A sharp rock, a needle, a nail. Find something that works for you.
Censer -- aka insence bowl. place sand in the bottom to stick in stick insence, or lay charcoal on top to burn. Is also useful for burning paper in ritual.
Candle holders -- of course an essential for candle magic. Make sure that you have a few, and ones that will work for all the types of candles that you have.
Snuffer -- some people feel that blowing out a candle offends the element of fire. If this is you (or you don't like the messy wax all over) get a candle snuffer. They can be found at thrift stores occasionally. I also saw them at Jo Ann's for $1.99.
Crafting tools
Some of these tools you'll want to purchase. Others can be made right at home.
Athame is unfortunately one that I do recomend purchasing.... though... my first was a quill pen (air, pen is mightier than the sword).
A censer can be a large bowl from a thrift store. You can also make one out of fimo or sculpy. You can also use a shell as a censer, just be careful when burning paper!
Candle holders are fun. Craft some from sculpy. You can also take a small log, saw one side flat (so that it will lie still) and drill holes for candles.
Please see the Arts & Crafts in the CoT (taught by Kalika) for further ideas on crafts that you can make.
Meditation
Meditation is what I feel to be an essential part of magic. You must know your self. You must also be able to focus and visualize. Meditation helps with all of these things.
Candles can be used for basic meditation. The color of the candle can vary. If you would like to meditate on something in particular, choose an appropriate color. If you just want a general meditation, use white. This candle can be used over and over again until it's gone, or get a big bag of tea lights for cheap and use them!
Sit in a comfortable position with the candle about a foot in front of you. Light the candle and ground and center. Feel the tension flowing out your feet and fingers. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, then exhale for four seconds, then repeat. this will create a slow methodic rhythm to your breathe which will allow your muscles and mind to relax more, aiding in a meditative state.
Focus on the candle's flame. If you get other thoughts in your head, let them flow out, and continue focusing on the flame. Maintain your breathing.
After a few moments of focusing on the candle, close your eyes. Hold on to the image of the candle, particularly the flame. Your mind's eye should see the flame flickering. If you loose the image, open your eyes again. Do this for a total of 10-15 minutes each day.
This also works with a regular fire. If you have a fireplace, try it out. You can also do it while camping, etc. You probably have already! Most people notice that they'll look at a fire and end up "zoning out". This is meditation, but non-focused and accidental.
Chakra meditation:
If you like working with your chakras, you can use a candle to open them. Choose a color appropriate to the chakra you want to open, and meditate on the candle, and visualise the area of your body glowing with that color. See the CoT Chakra's class for more info on Chakras.
Homework:
Practice candle/fire meditation. Please do it once a day for a full week. You may try different colors of candle, different music or insence in the background. Keep a log of what you used and your results. Post the results at the end of the week in this thread. If you'd like to keep it simple, you don't need to change anything from day to day, or you may just change one thing.